onfocus

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.

Welcome to podcast Saturday! (Also a thing.) NXIVM is (was?) a multi-level marketing self-help system (cult?) that recently imploded. Its senior officers are now waiting for their trials. This podcast tells the story of one senior member who left (escaped?) before the end. I hesitate to recommend this podcast because it requires some serious psychic energy to stay involved. There are descriptions of physical and mental abuse and it gets to be too much at times. Plus it's one of those crime podcasts where you're not sure the protagonist is a protagonist. It is seven episodes of a riveting, difficult story.

Here's another great article by linguist George Lakoff about our current media environment. It's frustrating to see the same dynamics play out over and over again. It's like seeing legacy code in action while lives depend on refactoring. Two other folks I tune into for analysis of the media are Ezra Klein and Jay Rosen and they recently had a conversation about what's happening now. Also also, don't miss Klein's article about Enemy of the People. And after you digest all of that important garbage, a reminder from Warren Ellis: You can tune your Internet connection until it is useful and fun.

This is such a great mystery and investigation that I don't want to spoil it with too many details. We try to keep our phones out of water but we should also try to keep them away from "large concentrations of small-molecule gas".

Welcome to Newsletter Wednesday! (I just made that up so it's a thing now.) Sidebar shares five daily links about web design and it's a good one to subscribe to via email. I've recently been diving down a microcopy best practices rabbit hole and I'm blaming Sidebar for that.

Some amazing architecture and portrait photography of NYC in the 60's and 70's. [via Tecznts] There are a few more photographs by Hofer at Galerie m Bochum.