Things of note for the week ending Friday April 15th, 2016.
Hey gang, a late(r) edition this week. To say that the crayfish of work have been swimming like nuts would be an understatement. Five things on Friday is put together gradually each week. As I find or read things online – either on the tube, or on Twitter, or wherever – I email them to myself for filing until Friday.
This week, I didn’t even have time to do that. So do please forgive the shorter edition this week.
It’s 23:29 at the time of writing, I’m off to Sweden in the morning and really should get an early night.
Shall we?
1. TEXTING IN CINEMAS? NAH, NOT HAPPENING
You may’ve missed it but there was a huge roar of disapproval from the cinema-going public this week when a US cinema chain mooted the idea of allowing the endless glow of the mobile phone into its theatres.
After such idiotic buffoonery, you’ll be pleased to know that AMC has come to its senses and canned the idea completely.
Thank. God.
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2. ON THIS DAY – WE SAY GOODBYE
Do you ‘use’ ‘On this Day’ on Facebook? And I use the word ‘use’ very loosely. These (m)algorithms are often inflicted on us mere users without any of us having any real say in the matter and the ways that they can cause certain triggers and/or upset is often overlooked by the coders of Menlo Park.
Kudos to the awesome Holly Brockwell for discovering exactly how to turn this some-time irritating feature actually off. It’s relatively simple.
If ‘On this Day’ bothers you, then this link is your friend.
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3. KIDS SHOULD COUNT WITH THEIR FINGERS
This, is a really interesting read.
“A few weeks ago I (Jo Boaler) was working in my Stanford office when the silence of the room was interrupted by a phone call. A mother called me to report that her 5-year-old daughter had come home from school crying because her teacher had not allowed her to count on her fingers. This is not an isolated event—schools across the country regularly ban finger use in classrooms or communicate to students that they are babyish. This is despite a compelling and rather surprising branch of neuroscience that shows the importance of an area of our brain that “sees†fingers, well beyond the time and age that people use their fingers to count.”
Got kids? Teach them to count on their fingers.
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4. FAREWELL, HOWARD MARKS
I remember reading Mr Nice when I was in college. I laughed. A lot. I was never one to wear his t-shirts, or to idolise. I just thought it was a crazy tale as told through the eyes of a career criminal who got away with a helluva lot.
His obituary, via The Guardian, is a good read. And reminded me of how much I enjoyed reading the story of his life. Give it a go some time. It’s barely believable. But that’s what makes it so good.
Farewell, Howard Marks.
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5. ICE CREAM FOR EVERYONE
My friend Willem has a podcast. It’s called ‘Ice Cream for Everyone’ – and you can find the details of it right here. Willem interviewed me for it last week (that episode is landing at some point in early May – I’ll probably link to it in a later episode).
Anyway, after Willem interviewed me said podcast, I thought it would be at least half polite to actually go and listen to a few of the previous episodes. And, what do you know, it’s pretty damn good. So yeah, I don’t know if you do the podcast thing, but why not go check it out and see what you think.
His blog ain’t bad either.
……
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Bonuses this week are as follows:
- This K-Pop music video has been knocking around for a couple of weeks now but I love it – watch it on your phone.
- I can’t fathom how much money this Sky TV / X-Men Apocalypse tie-up must’ve cost. Full junior cast? Check. Character abilities showcased? Check. Ton of cash thrown at the screen to sell INTERNET? Check. Wowsers. Fair play though.
- This landing. Still.
And that’s me.
Until next time, you know where to find me.
Whatley out, x.
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