It’s been a long time coming - but just noticed that it is finally here.
Shantaram is arriving on Apple.
No apology - I loved the book - not so much the sequel. Be interesting to see how it translates.
New Zealand drowning in mānuka honey after a boom in beekeeping.
You wouldn’t think that based on what they want to charge you for in the Supermarket.
I don’t always remember to put up the readwise quotes that catch my eye when I see them - so here’s a collection for you
Fareed on Education
Geoffrey Moore
No comment on increasing disorder at all levels!
Robert M. Pirsig
Something to bear in mind on the ‘journey to the top’.
Douglas Rushkoff
A corollary to finding the problem for your solution?
Venkatesh Rao
George Orwell
Explains some decisions by certain people.
J. R. R. Tolkien
Well - yes - maybe in his day. Is it just me that thinks this no longer holds true? (That is the younf asking questions. Or am I just cynical?
As I understand it Superhuman is an email client …
Thinking
The Five Most Important Global Headlines - According To ‘The Grauniad’
- Economy
- Energy
- Oil
- Health
and … wait for it …
Angela Lansbury
The revolving door that is the lineup of 🎶🎵Yes means that pretty much any lineup that hits the road is the ‘official’ band.
‘Wifey’ … what a horrible term. Why do people use it?
2 days to get an important package from New Zealand. 3 days after that, they still haven’t emerged from the ‘post room’ .. because there is a backlog in scanning the papers into the system.
Galling! I wanted to send docs in email, but they don’t accept emails docs!
Anyone moved to the test electron app .. Spark3?
Anyone else listening to Maddow’s ‘Ultra’?
Season Three Of The People First Podcast Has Started. This first episode is designed to set the scene … it will take less than 5 minutes of your time.
Find all episodes here, to follow and listen on your player of choice.
A case of make your mind up Lachlan?
“I Think Lachlan’s Trying to Peter Thiel Crikey”
“(Crikey) finds it ‘mind-blowing’ that Lachlan is pursing a lawsuit that could, if successful, make it even harder for Australian news organizations, including all of News Corp’s Australian news organizations, to defend themselves against defamation claims.”
and then
“After Lachlan appears at Crikey’s defamation trial in March he will then fly to the US for the Dominion trial, set for April, in which Fox’s lawyers will argue vigorously for free speech. “
“That’s the key point of the hypocrisy,” said Mayne, who still contributes to Crikey but hasn’t been on staff since he sold it. (He’s also an activist News Corp shareholder.) “Being so precious in Australia while running a free speech defense against blatantly outrageous speech.”
I have played around with Dall-E 2 and Midjourney - in a highly amateur way … and really interested where it is all heading - questions abound as to whether this is the end of graphic designers (NO). This piece from Simon Bernes caught my eye : DALL·E 2 vs $10 Fiverr Commissions
Bottom line, AI delivers less than a $10 commission …. at least for now.
We usually share lists of ‘goodness’ - things like best albums, great movies and don’t miss books.
This list from @numericcitizen is a little different …tech stuff that for a variety of reasons he hasn’t stuck with.
Much agreement from this corner of the world.
GAAAAAAAH
File under ‘Lessons for Posterity’
Just running through a podcast recording I did earlier this week. I didn’t use my own Zoom account and forgot to check that the account I was using was set to record separate audio tracks for each participant …
DOUBLE GAAAAAAAH!
“Some napkin math told us that getting people to buy a $20 book is way less advantageous than getting a small percentage of those free readers to subscribe to our newsletter for $200/year.”
A big fan of Chris Lochhead and his category thinking .. this from a substack newsletter that is exploring what different people are doing to grow their business.
Churchill was witty in his public disparagement of him. (E.g. “A modest man with much to be modest about.” “An empty taxi drew up and Clement Attlee got out.”) But he knew better than anyone what a formidable operator Attlee was.
He then references a limerick which is sometimes attributed to Churchill.
There were few who thought him a starter,
And many who thought themselves smarter.
But he ended up PM, CH and OM,
An Earl and a Knight of the Garter.
And then goes on ….
It’s not inconceivable that people might write about Keir Starmer in these terms in a century from now. We shall just have to wait and see.
Umm - really? I’m not seeing it … yet. (John does provide a suitable waiting period!).
… then again - as much as I am not an artist, neither am I a political historian.
I always liked Rackham’s art since I was introduced to it as a teenager.
Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens is a lovely - gorgeously illustrated piece containing this gem.
“A year later, Rackham would revolutionize the technology and economics of book art with his Alice in Wonderland illustrations; Peter Pan became the R&D lab for his revolution, working within the limitations of the three-color printing process then available to create worlds of wonder with his meticulous ink lines, populating London’s familiar landscapes and places with otherworldly creatures of haunting tenderness and strangeness — Shakespearean fairies and talking mice and, of course, his signature enchanted trees.”
I never really thought that about someone like Rackham revolutionizing technology … and having a ‘lab’ - but that’s my ignorance and lack of understanding of the process of art. Makes total sense.