🔗 WWW
🔗 Still struggling with emojis on my site - (The link takes you to a quick conversation with ChatGPT).
Most of them render correctly - but odd ones don’t … like this one for example : ❓
In my book that should be red?
🔗 The True Blue Ocean – ProjectVRM (2020 - I know - another old one!)
To understand the problem here, it helps to hear marketing talk to itself. Customers, it says, are targets to herd on a journey into a funnel through which they are acquired, managed, controlled and locked in.
This is the language of ranching and slavery. Not a way to talk about human beings.
Four years later nothing has changed.
🎈029/366 | 🎙️ Is Honesty The Best Policy❓
Don’t worry - this isn’t what you think it is.
If you are married or single, a writer or manager, paid for what you do or just for the love, delivered or received feedback, good or bad this is worth every minute of the 11 minutes and 44 seconds it will take you to listen to it.
I think this is my absolutely favorite podcast.
- Short - so there is always time to listen
- Good story telling, to keep your attention.
- Serious points made with humor.
W H A T - I S - N O T - T O - L O V E ❓
Sometimes There Is No Pleasing People
Another old note, that deserves to see the light of day. I have 🖇️ written before on my position (a fan - not a fanboy), still …
The Masses:
“Apple hasn’t produced anything new since the iPhone.”
But surely: …
- Apple TV
- AirPods revenue roughly equivalent to Netflix
- Apple Watch
- A whole new range of Apple Silicon
- Apple Services …
The Masses:
“Yeah yeah yeah … but nothing like the iPhone. Nothing innovative.”
Apple … hold by beer.
Behold, not just a new product, a new category that we call ‘Spatial Computing’, to give you an idea of what we mean.
The Masses:
“Yeah - that sucks it is going to fail.”
A couple of links.
This is about ‘that’ Andreesen post/ But first … context, because I know - life has moved on.
I am in the process of trying to catch up on a massive backlog of notes that I am steadily
- deleting
- filing in Obsidian
- posting to 🖇️John.Philpin
Not sure if this will end up taking longer than the 🖇️ category deletion. We will see.
This one is in the third category. The news has been and gone now - but my opinion hasn’t changed.
Some of you might have stumbled across Andreesen’s Substack :
TL;DR .. who cares.
Despite what he wrote, he’s wrong … not least of which being that word ‘world’ .. it will be fine - regardless of what Marc thinks. People? Yeah - that’s different. Anyway …
What you might NOT have stumbled across are these;
🔗 Alan Jacobs (pdf)
Just read that …
Hilton, together with 🔗 11:11 (Paris Hilton’s agency) launched a Roblox experience where players can earn 🔗 real-world travel rewards
.. and in all honesty I really do not care, except to say that in case you ever have any doubt … it really is a case of it’s not what you know - but who you know.
📺 Fool Me Once
I have watched a lot of the Harlan Coban mini series on Netflix. The early ones used to be really good … and then somehow I think the way was lost. This latest, while not the best, certainly represents a turning of the order for ‘good story’.
That said .. final episode .. last 5 minutes? Yeah … No. Totally unnecessary.
Fool Me Once on 🔗 Reelgood
🔗 Private Public Letters - I am guessing that it is fully subscribed?
🎬 🔗 Netflix Has The Best Assassin Movie of 2024 — Why Is It Being Buried? (Apple News)
Never heard of it. But then it isn’t coming out until June. Added to my list for sure. But why is it being ‘buried’? Well first we have to ask is it being buried? I am not sure it is?
🔗 Matt Gaetz Reveals Narcissistic Reason He Pushed Out Kevin McCarthy (🍏 News) - one day they will nail him. Funny how little old George was cast out so ‘quickly’ (life is rrelative) - and yet this predator has been hanging out in the hallowed halls for years.
🔗 Microsoft lays off 1,900 Activision Blizzard and Xbox employees
Microsoft is laying off 1,900 employees at Activision Blizzard and Xbox this week. While Microsoft is primarily laying off roles at Activision Blizzard, some Xbox and ZeniMax employees will also be impacted by the cuts.
Sometimes you forget how sprawling companies like Microsoft are. With 1900 gone - there are still over 20,000 left.
And that’s just the ‘gaming’ bit.
🔗 ProPublica Hires First Senior Director for Technology
Awesome. So many congratulations @werd
🎈025/366 | 🐫 Do Not Put ‘Product’ In Charge
Don’t get me wrong. I have a lot of time and respect for 🖇️ Dana Blankenhorn - as you can see … so this one caught my attention
There’s a single rule I’ve learned studying technology this last half century. Product must be in charge.
.. and 🔗then he goes on
I totally disagree, so had to comment and did. Reproduced here for posterity
I don’t disagree on taking the finance wonks out .. but not sure I agree on putting product in … I know lots of companies that lead with product .. and it doesn’t work unless there is wider purview which is often missing in product thinking. Our friends in Cupertino don’t lead with product .. though many pundits think they do .. they lead with vision, experience and story that the product delivers against.
The ‘top’ needs to be market, future market, visionary oriented. Disciplines that used to fall under marketing … though sadly not anymore .. as they are all chasing data and models and RoI .. but those people exist. In all of those disciplines. The dude at the top can still be a focussed finance wonk … their ancillary skill (beyond those three core requirements) is to listen to everyone, take advice and pay attention.
Again .. the man at the top of Cupertino is ‘operations and supply chain’ ( by history ) but to the casual observer, that isn’t so obvious. Meanwhile, the man before him was vision and experience and story .. sure he definitely had a say in product … but from an holistic viewpoint -
Just one slice of the holisticism (is that even a word)… how many ‘product’ people get what good design can do.
If they do .. I mean REALLY do .. why are there so many badly designed, poorly performing products out there?
What Do You Think?
Postscript - sometimes the Leonardo images take a few tweaks to get even close to my underlying message - but in this case - third go - and was only generating 1 image at a time. Sometimes I run out of the 150 free credits that I get every day - and have to choose from a bad lot.
This image just spoke volumes to me as ‘the house that ‘product’ built.
Funnily enough - today’s emoji was also absolutely clear.
🔗 Donald Trump wins Republican primary in New Hampshire
He is representing the American people. He is not out for himself. He’s not out for political gain. He’s not out for financial reasons. He doesn’t need money, he doesn’t need fame and fortune. He already has all of that.
💬 Tina Lorenzo, 63, a Trump supporter since 2016
No comment … you know 🖇️ my position
🎈023/366 | 9️⃣ Highlights From Yesterday
A different theme for today’s 366 … nine links to yesterday’s news - complete with pithy comment - courtesy of this author
1️⃣ 🖇️ Remember my post from a couple of weeks ago?
Well, it turns out that though he might have been expecting .. hoping for that … it might not be a slam dunk.
🔗 Tories hire coordinator to get expat supporters to vote in general election.
Who knew?
2️⃣ 🔗 Trump Says He ‘Aced’ Cognitive Test, Mind Is ‘Stronger’ Than 25 Years Ago
.. not exactly a high bar.
3️⃣ 🔗 Flanders government looks to force TikTok and YouTube to share revenue | Belgium.
Some lessons here. Most Governments pay (they don’t use that word … but that is what they are doing) to attract film production.
I think this is the right way round.
4️⃣ 🔗 Rise in measles cases prompts vaccination campaign in England.
Oh .. so it’s ok to get vaccinated now?
5️⃣ 🔗 The Musical Instruments Market Size Is Expected To Reach $14 Billion By 2027.
Wonder what constitutes a ‘musical instrument ‘ these days?
6️⃣ 🔗 January 21, 2024 - by Heather Cox Richardson
I wonder if Dobbs, with its announcement that when Republicans are given power over our legal system they do not consider themselves obligated to recognize an established constitutional right, will turn out to be today’s version of the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
No Comment. Yet.
7️⃣ 🔗 Thousands of Māori gather to tell New Zealand’s government: you cannot marginalise us.
Got to say .. ‘Cristopher (sic) and crew’ were warned.
8️⃣ 🔗 DeSantis Might Be the Worst Presidential Candidate in Recent Memory
Say what now?
Isn’t The Orange Clown a Presidential candidate? Problem nailed .. ‘they’ve forgotten already .. and he is in the fucking race!
9️⃣ 🔗 It seems that ‘God sent a quitter’
If his campaign is remembered at all, it will be for setting fire to a pile of money big enough to be seen from space in order to win a grand total of nine Iowa delegates.
ROTFFLOL
🔗 LIfe Imitating Art? … that is if 🎬 Love Actually counts as ‘art’?
Thought I’d try out 🔗 paid tinylytics for a while.
Some odd stats there - so now I need to check out what is being checked out!
📺 Ted Lasso
Just marvelous. No point in saying more, since I can’t add to all the other plaudits.
Ted Lasso on 🔗 Reelgood
Steve Winwood and Carlos - and no - I do not know how I missed this 2 to 3 years ago - but missed it I did.
Well worth recording. Well worth a listen.
📼 .. and then a little older. … GROOVIN!