onfocus

Sometimes I just assume everyone listens to the same things I do. I feel like this YouTube stream of chill beats to relax/study to by ChilledCow is ubiquitous, but maybe not! I throw this on all the time when I need to relax/study. Lately I've been throwing on a similar playlist on Spotify by Chillhop Music: cozy chillhop beats. It's not just me! Apparently these lofi hip hop streams are a thing.

Podcast Saturday continues with another one of my desert island picks. 99% Invisible is a design podcast that explores the mostly invisible work of planning and design that goes into all the things around us from cities to buildings to everyday objects. It is the Platonic Form of podcasts. Episodes are typically a tight, highly produced 20 minutes with interviews, locations, and music. It is a masterclass in audio storytelling every time. The show's host Roman Mars also started the podcast collective Radiotopia and if you're new to podcasts you won't go wrong browsing through their offerings.

Matt recently visited the Whitney Plantation, the only slavery museum in the United States. It sounds like a harrowing experience—and one that we should all have so we can understand our nation's history.

The Correspondent is an effort to create a news organization funded by news consumers rather than advertisers. They're raising money Kickstarter-style with a goal of raising 2.5 million in 30 days. They also have a nicely designed site if you're into that sort of thing.

Remember podcasts? They're an industry now where people have careers and businesses grow and thrive. Hot Pod tracks this burgeoning industry so you don't have to. I like to pick up suggestions for podcasts I might be interested in, but hearing how companies are investing (or not) in podcasting is also interesting and I don't see this news covered anywhere else. This Newsletter Wednesday was brought to you by Squares...sorry, can't do it.

I’m on team space probe though I’m sympathetic to team hubcap. Looking at the path it carved through our solar system it just has to be a drive by.

I like this framing of the Mastodon vs. All Social Media story. Mastodon doesn't have to supplant Twitter to be a success. If people like me enjoy using it (and I do!) then it's working on some level. Yet every article about Mastodon says, "it has a long way to go to supplant Twitter." When you look at raw number of users, that's true, but do we need massive centralized networks? This recent Mastodon 101 article falls into the same framing trap, but it's a good summary nonetheless: The quest to design an ethical social media platform.

I really enjoyed this 60 second music lesson about the way chords color a melody. It made me think of Raymond Queneau's Exercises in Style. So if you like this thing you might like that thing too. [via mefi]

“The data we are shown is not the only data there is.” A good description of a statistical analysis problem and a reminder to think about causes of data not just data you see in front of you. This reminds me of that old zen saying don’t confuse the moon with the finger that points at it.

In focus on this Newsletter Wednesday is Austin Kleon's newsletter. You may remember Austin from his books about creative work like Steal Like an Artist or his latest Keep Going. Each week he shares 'ten things worth sharing' and I always find interesting fuel for thought. I'm also inspired by the personal tone of his writing and it's something I'd like this blog to get closer to as it grows up.

Dave Pell asks us to vote against hate. Bonus link: Vote for Democrats Everywhere by Brent Simmons. Bonus link 2: Your vote determines the future of others by Sarah Kendzior. Bonus link 3: Why I, a young person, probably won’t vote by Alexandra Petri. Bonus link 4: Nancy. Voters get ice cream.

With elections on our minds (vote Tuesday!) here's Ed Felton describing a new voting system called E2E-V. I'm not sure I get the nuances of the coin-flip challenge voters but it sounds like a much better system than our current black-box, insecure, privately owned machines. And of course my favorite system is Oregon's statewide mail-in system. I'm sure it's not as secure as end-to-end verifiable cryptography but I think the convenience and ease of understanding how it works means more people participate.