Tag: 5things

Things of note for the week ending Friday October 14th, 2016.

A tech heavy edition this week; I make no apologies.

1. PSVR

Yeah, I got one.

I don’t really know where to start on this one. The PSVR, to me at least, is the first true consumer-facing VR unit that is genuinely and truly accessible.

And. It. Is. Amazing.

It came with a demo disc (a ton of first levels from a bunch of game) and I bought VR Worlds (lots of different games) plus Arkham VR (you can be Batman); all of it is fantastic.

I wrote a lot of my pre-purchase PSVR action for Plaaayed way back when and stand by all of it. Arkham VR is a £16 game and you get to BE BATMAN. It’s so so so so so so GOOD. I also managed to get my hands on a copy of EVE: VALKYRIE and, as a space shooter, pulling barrel rolls, chasing down enemies – I have audibly wooped several times (here’s a gameplay video).

In short: it’s amazing. Any questions? Ping me. I have answers.

PS. I’ve let my son play on Google Cardboard but I doubt I’ll let him on PSVR (yet). That’s my decision though. Experts are working on their own opinions.

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2. PIXEL

I moaned about the price. But then I played with one and now I want one. And by want one I meant ‘I’ve bought one’ – it arrives next week (while I’m in Cairo – long story), expect more on this next week.

In the MEAN TIME, here’s a fantastic behind-the-scenes look at the Pixel, via Bloomberg.

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3. THE VOICEMAIL (181)

I do a podcast.

It’s called The Voicemail.

We just published Episode 181 (literally, like, two hours ago).

If you’ve never heard it before, why not try now?

Lots of VR talk, some Pixel chat, and a whole bunch of random other things too.

Yes?

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4. HILARY/TRUMP SHUFFLE

This is excellent.

Hit the button and the website will find something from each of the candidate’s fifty year history.

Brilliantly done.

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5. RE-BALANCING TECH

Documentally is giving up his iPhone.

Intriguing.

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6. SPEAK, MEMORY

“It had been three months since Roman Mazurenko, Kuyda’s closest friend, had died. Kuyda had spent that time gathering up his old text messages, setting aside the ones that felt too personal, and feeding the rest into a neural network built by developers at her artificial intelligence startup. She had struggled with whether she was doing the right thing by bringing him back this way. At times it had even given her nightmares. But ever since Mazurenko’s death, Kuyda had wanted one more chance to speak with him.”

Dark.

Chilling.

True.

The Future.

More.

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7. THE END OF BLACKBERRY

I had a running bet with a friend many years ago that Blackberry would be over ‘by the end of the year’. I think it ran and ran and ran – and I’m surprised it’s still going.

Only just.

This is a great read on the how and they why – and what happens next.

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Bonuses this week are all Ogilvy related:

• McDonald’s closed its YouTube channel and then Digiday asked me for an opinion. In short: dated strategy with no thought to paid support. Silly.
• A good interview with our CPO (Chief Production Officer), Clare Donald. Worth a read.
• Related: super flattered.

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And that is me. I’m out.

It’s late.

I’m tired.

And I’m in Cairo tomorrow (long story).

 

Until next time x

 

Things of note for the week ending Sunday October 9th, 2016.

Yeah, we may as well commit to the whole ‘it’s gonna be on Sundays from now on’ thing. Maybe a re-brand around issue #200? What do you think?

While you mull over clearly the biggest decision in the world, I’ll crack on.

Shall we?

1. GOOGLE PHONES / PIXELS

I’m sure you’ve seen these already.

Nexus phones are famous for their accessibility. Pixel phones however, not so much. The larger one of the two, the Pixel XL, (5.5-inch + 128GB) will set you back a cool £819 SIM-free (this is a LOT of money). Matching, pound for pound, the largest options available for iPhone.

I was not convinced.

On Friday I was invited to a private Google event to not only try out the new phones for myself but also try out Google Daydream VR (think Google Cardboard but with phone-sync and made from much nicer material with a remote control to help navigate).

It was a LOT of fun.

Sidenote: the Google Daydream VR experience had a teaser of the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them VR experience and, in the secluded demo area, Google laid on individual free-spinning stools for the guests to sit on. A small touch but it made a huge difference and has made me reconsider how I might use VR in future. Food for thought.

Over the past month or so I’ve been using the Huawei P9 and, if you’re looking for a phone that takes incredible photos (and doesn’t cost a fortune), I’d recommend – and have been recommending – that to everyone.

However, if you’re a software-led kinda person. Wanting to experience the next baby steps in mobile VR as well as, of course, the new and improved Google Assistant (with a not a too bad camera at all) and you don’t mind paying for a flagship, then Pixel is an obvious choice.

Expect more on this on next week’s podcast (episode 181).

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The next three items are ALL TRAILERS.

Sue me.

2. POWER RANGERS

That’s right, if you didn’t already know, there’s a new POWER RANGERS movie coming and, from here at least, it’s basically BREAKFAST CLUB but with SUPER POWERS (and then a dash of PACIFIC RIM) maybe.

See for yourself.

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3. IRON FIST

This is the last piece of the DEFENDERS puzzle, after DAREDEVIL, JESSICA JONES, and LUKE CAGE (and maybe PUNISHER too, soon) for Netflix is IRON FIST.

Go watch.

Yeah, looks good right?

I have to confess: I’ve not actually found the time to watch LUKE CAGE yet but I’ve heard good things.

While we’re on Netflix…

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4. BLACK MIRROR

Oh yes. Brooker is back. And this time it’s gone to Netflix (think: bigger budgets/stars) and it looks like, as ever, incredible viewing. I don’t have much else to say…

Just watch the trailer.

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5. MEN ARE LAZY AND WOMEN DO ALL THE WORK

At least, in the land of the squirrel…

‘It is not clear what the males are doing above ground’

This is amazing.

Also: quite a good opportunity to share arguably the best photo of a squirrel eating a pizza I’ve ever taken.

Brilliant.

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6. STIK IN SHOREDITCH

The artist’s hidden tribute to a sold-off London.

Worth 9mins of your time.

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7. YELLING AT ALEXA

I’m not sold on the new (for the UK at least) Amazon Echo. My life/house isn’t quite as automated as its imminent-future-proofed voice commands desire and, as such, I’m not wholly convinced I need* one [yet].

This write up both amused and spoke to me.

It may do the same for you.

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*I mean, who needs anything like this. Really. But still. You get the point.

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Bonuses this week are random selections from the past week’s Twitter favourites:

• Infomercials set to The Smiths
• If Britain were a nation of 100 people
• Oh, Buster Keaton

Thanks for reading – I hope you have an awesome and productive week.

Much love,

James.

 

Things of note for the week ending Sunday October 2nd, 2016.

1. FOR LUKE

A man I knew died. We weren’t huge friends. Acquaintances, at best. His imprint on the world will be long. And the sadness of his passing is immeasurable. For more reasons than are obvious.

I’ve said a lot of what I wanted to say already.

God this is painful. Darkness comes to all of us. This hurts so much. More so because I work – or at least feel like I work – hard at raising awareness around the issues on mental health. Specifically for men. And yet still. Yet still it happens.

If you knew Luke, or if he impacted your life in any way, Kai has organised a JustGiving page for the family he leaves behind.

And I guess – that is all.

Oh Luke.

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2. CHAMPIONS OF THE SHENGA

So this is interesting. Champions of the Shenga is currently seeking funds on indiegogo.

What is it? Well:

The video for this is the thing that clinched it for me.

Gaming as a way of finding calm, focus, and flow? I’m in.

There are potentially huge implications for how this could help in other ways too.

Maybe I’m over-thinking it.

Think on it.

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3. EVER CHEAT AT AN EXAM?

I haven’t. But these people have.

Brilliant reading. <- Buzzfeed link. Sorry not sorry.

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4. STOPTOBER BOT

I’ve been working on a number of bot-related things of late. This one however, while originating from Ogilvy London, isn’t one of the them. That said, it is quite brilliant and I’m super impressed with what it sets out to do.

Introducing: Stoptober Bot!

Stoptober, if you’re unaware, is a yearly attempt to help people stop smoking. It takes 28 days to form a habit and breaking one is just like forming one. It’s habitual to do something therefore to not do that thing would also have to be habitual, right? That sentence probably makes more sense in my head.

The Stoptober bot ostensibly takes the place of the SMS alerts you would get in the form of a Facebook Messenger bot.

Know anyone who’s trying to give up this Stoptober? Send the bot their way.

Thanks.

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5. THIS IS WHERE I WORK

I wang on about working at the big O a fair bit but hey, I love my job so.. well, so there.

The new building is ace and, ten months in, Digiday came to find out how we’re all settling in.

Hmm. Lovely.

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6. HOW TO EMAIL

Do you send email? Yes? Do the world a favour and read this.

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7. WANT TO DATE MY FRIEND, WILLEM?

I don’t know if this will work but I’ve got to applaud the effort. My dear, dear [single] friend Willem (you may remember I was on his podcast a while back) has decided to take a new approach to the dating.

And fair play to him for it.

Take a look and please, if you know anyone who fits the bill, do pass it along.

It’d make a helluva story for the grandkids.

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Bonuses are taking some time off this week. They’ll be back again next time.

 

This one’s for you, Luke.

Safe journey onwards, old friend.

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Things of note for the week ending Sunday September 25th, 2016.

It’s Sunday. It’s 19:23. And I’m settling down to write this week’s edition. There are a few things in my inbox that I’ve emailed myself throughout the week and a few other favourites/likes from Twitter that need to go in too.

Shall we dive on in?

1. SNAP / SPECTACLES (DON’T SKIP)

You may have been under a rock  this week if you missed this one. But stay tuned… there’s something really, really interesting here.

If you did miss it however, in a sentence: Snapchat rebranded itself as Snap Inc and, at the same time, announced a new set of $129 glasses (nay – spectacles) that can snap a 10 second circular video that you can then share direct from your phone.

And it’s that last part that has really caught my attention.

A new video format.

Not landscape.

Not portrait.

Circular.

Why circular?

This is what it looks like in action:

So simple. So innovative.

The landscape vs portrait argument: null and void in one fell swoop.

Well done, Snap. I’m certain that Spectacles will be a complete sell out (it helps when on limited sale) but it’s this video capture/sharing technique that’s the real thing to look at here. This will be copied and copied and copied.

Just watch.

Oh – and as a bonus thing here: if you’re talking to someone at a party/over dinner/in the pub and they say ‘Ewww, it’s just Google Glass but for Millennials’ – just reel off this perfect counter point after counter point.

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2. HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED HOW MUCH EFFORT YOU PUT INTO NOT BEING ASSAULTED?

Hard reading.

Incredibly hard reading.

So read it.

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3. I USED TO BE A HUMAN BEING

Another day, another article endorsing the whole digital detox thing. In fairness, it’s barely been two months since OFCOM announced research stating that nearly a third of the UK’s internet users had ditched their devices – so it follows that a few more would be give it a go.

There may be a sense of mockery in the words above but they are merely in jest. I tried this (and dabble with it occasionally – maybe once or twice a year now) way back when I spent a month on the trans-mongolian railway… it was a refreshing experience. One I’d recommend in a heartbeat – both the detox and the train ride.

But this isn’t about me.

This is about Andrew Sullivan, in Select/All.

He writes:

“I had sensed a personal crash coming. For a decade and a half, I’d been a web obsessive, publishing blog posts multiple times a day, seven days a week, and ultimately corralling a team that curated the web every 20 minutes during peak hours. Each morning began with a full immersion in the stream of internet consciousness and news, jumping from site to site, tweet to tweet, breaking news story to hottest take, scanning countless images and videos, catching up with multiple memes. Throughout the day, I’d cough up an insight or an argument or a joke about what had just occurred or what was happening right now. And at times, as events took over, I’d spend weeks manically grabbing every tiny scrap of a developing story in order to fuse them into a narrative in real time. I was in an unending dialogue with readers who were caviling, praising, booing, correcting. My brain had never been so occupied so insistently by so many different subjects and in so public a way for so long.”

The man has a point.

Question: when was the last time you unplugged?

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4. EVER TRIED RIDING 2000 MILES WITH A BROKEN SHOULDER?

Laura Scott has.

I know Laura from the internet. We even met in real life once – shortly before Laura was about to set off on this journey. I followed it closely – across Twitter and Instagram – and the pain points along the way were palpable.

This is her incredible story.

On personal note: I have so much respect for your commitment and effort, Laura.

I can’t wait to read about your next adventure.

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5. DID YOU ENJOY BEING A GIRL?

Plan International published its findings on what it’s like to be a girl in the UK today. The State of Girls’ Rights In The UK (PDF) is sobering reading (so I say to you again: make yourself read it).

Included in the paper are the top ten best and worst places to live in the UK if you’re a girl.

Emerald Street asked two writers what it was like growing up at opposite ends of that list; a stark comparison.

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6. A REAL AND TRUE THING THAT MIGHT ACTUALLY BLOW YOUR MIND A LITTLE BIT

Did you know that Australia is drifting so fast that GPS – that’s the global positioning system – needs to be adjusted so it stays correct. Over the past ten years or so, the continent down under has drifted a little under five feet. As the director of cartography at the National Geographic, Damien Saunder, says: [it would seem] ‘Some countries are more stationary than others’ – amazing.

Amazing.

More here, via Nat Geo.

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7. ‘THE TERM ‘MILLENNIAL’ IS USELESS’

Shocker.

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Bonus items this week are as follows:

• Is this the best Batman film ever made?
• LA / SF
• Tribes
• Google has opened its Daydream VR platform up to developers
• If you were a Symbian user way back when and you REALLY miss the killer Twitter app, Gravity. @Janole has launched Gravity Forever – for Android. Go get.

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PS. The keen-eyed among you will have noticed the odd numbering of this week’s issue. I numbered last week’s issue incorrectly. Normal service will return at some point soon. Although to be fair, ‘normal’ around these parts is fairly hard to come by.

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Last note: thanks to all of you for the emails, Whatsapps, Tweets, SMS’s, Voicemails (for real), Carrier Pigeons (this is a joke) of congrats re: the new gig.

You know who you are.

Yes, you.

Thank you.

Super super excited and there’s a whole bunch of stuff I’ve been working on that I can hopefully start talking about soon.

Seasons change and, as I am wont to say: bring. it. on.

Until next time…

 

Whatley out x

 

Things of note for the week ending Sunday September 18th, 2016.

Hello fam. I’m just back from a three day work trip to Barcelona (with the best looking team in the world) and it struck me that I hadn’t written this week’s newsletter. Bums. Please forgive my brevity. I am hungover, a touch sunburnt, and very very tired.

Normal service to resume next week. Although I don’t know what really counts as normal when it comes to this thing, mind.

Shall we?

1. WHAT IS SUPERMAN ABOUT?

Although it has a dig at the underrated Superman Returns (really), this piece on what Superman is actually for is pretty bang on.

I enjoyed reading this.

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2. ZAPPED

Dave Trott on why he thinks we’re in ‘Generation Bland‘.

This made me think.

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3. APPLE AND DIVERSITY

Apple wrote an email with the words ‘off the record’ in it. Mic published it. And it’s a doozy.

This made me say ‘fair play’.

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4. MARS

The Mars Rover has been busy again. Stunning.

This one made say ‘Wow!’

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5. TYPECAST AS A TERRORIST

Riz Ahmed writing in the Guardian. Best thing on the list this week.

This one made me go ‘Ach’

UPDATE: NOW WITH LINK.

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6. SEX WITH YOUR PARTNER, EVERY DAY, FOR A YEAR

A good read on learning what you need.

This one stayed with me.

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7. WANT TO SEE THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF SPACE EXPLORATION ON A SINGLE MAP?

Of course you do.

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Bonuses this week are as follows:

• The curse of compulsive phone checking
• Selective Hearing
• Interesting Times

And that’s me, done.

I don’t even have a gif for you.

Oh, hang on.

Let me check.

Yes I do.

This is basically me, in about 30 seconds (after I’ve hit publish).

Have a great week x

 

 

Things of note for the week ending Sunday 11th September, 2016.

1. 15

Fifteen years ago, I was working at Good Morning Television – aka GMTV – on London’s Southbank (literally five minutes from where my office is now).

Working in TV-land meant there were always TVs on everywhere. Everywhere. The one in my office was above my desk. It was coming up to about 2pm I think when someone said, ‘Oh my God, look’. I looked up, and everyone was looking up above me, at the TV.

We were watching a live feed from New York. I remember seeing the second plane hit, live, and being in shock. We had no idea what we were witnessing.

It’s a small, little known fact but back then, GMTV wasn’t just a TV show. It had its own news team, outside of ITN, Reuters, and the BBC etc. It was its own weird little entity.

Within the next 30mins or so, every news correspondent in the building must’ve come into our office demanding flights to New York. ‘We can’t get them. New York is closed.’ we’d say, and we’d carry on watching the TV. I remember a few days later, those flights finally took place (all except for one savvy correspondent, Lara Logan, who flew the other direction – to Afghanistan – but that’s a whole other story).

There were rumours we were going to be evacuated too. Every tall building was suddenly a target. We were right near Westminster, the building was filled with media / news etc… we were surely next.

The brain does funny things in crisis.

Waking up on the 12th was the first time I woke up feeling afraid. Terrorism was something I’d read about / barely remembered from the days of the IRA etc. The world was – and still is – a very different place.

This morning, Sunday September 11th, I woke up, made my son breakfast, drank some coffee and read this account of the movements of Air Force One by those that were either onboard or simply encountering her on that day. A long, sobering piece that you should find the time to read today.

Really.

I wept when I finished it.

A horrid, horrid day.

One that will never be forgotten.

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Hard to follow that.

I’m just going to publish what I’ve gathered this week below with no changes.

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2. WHEN INFINITY GETS BORING (+ PS4 PRO STUFF)

Another week, another post/link/comment about No Man’s Sky (I think this might turn into a general gamery section actually – there are a few other bits to cover off).

New Scientists has published the above named article this week. Quote:

“All of the screenshots that came out to promote the game were phenomenally beautiful. But of course these shots were hand-picked to show the best that the game could produce. Not every world looks like that – and you don’t see such variety when moving from one planet to the next. You need to explore a lot of worlds to find those interesting places. But after a number of them –  20 or 50, wherever your threshold lies – the thrill of planet hopping fades.”

And, in all fairness, I think they have a point. I’m still playing – dipping in and out, trying to find the perfect ship etc – but it’s just a a grind now and I’m not enjoying it as much as before. I’ve decided to put it back on the shelf for the interim and wait for the next content update.

That said, the game is deeply tranquil and it is still quite enjoyable to just go and fly around for a bit, and find different materials etc… well, we’ll see. But my play-time has definitely dropped off.

Also this week: the PS4 Pro was announced.

The lack of a UHD Blu-Ray player onboard seems like a real misstep for me and was super close to being a deal-breaker. But then two things happened: first, my buddy, Matt pointed out that if anybody has any clear visibility on how well 4K blu-rays are selling, then it’s Sony. It might not be cost effective to put a high-end player in this machine if the whole world is going digital… and I think he might be right. The second thing (also via Matt) was that I watched this 4K Horizon: Zero Dawn gameplay trailer via the 4K YouTube app on my Sony TV – AND IT LOOKS RIDICULOUS. Honestly, if you’re reading this on your phone, then just add that trailer to your YouTube Watch Later list and find a way to see it at the highest quality available… it’s immense.

Can I justify a new machine right now? No, probably not. Especially with PSVR around the corner. Can I campaign my family and friends to get me GAME vouchers for my birthday and Christmas and put them towards this machine? Probably yes.

So let’s see.

PS. If you’re unsure about the PS4 Pro, Kotaku has a good take that’s worth reading.

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3. NEW PHONE TIME OF YEAR

I’m considering a new phone. My Sony Z5 broke and I managed to lay my hands on a Huawei (wah-way) P9 which is really, really impressing me.

It may still be a contender.

If you’re considering a new phone here are two things that might be of interest. One: I asked Twitter what phone I should get – here is what it said. Two: I asked Stefan – my podcasting partner in crime – which phone I should get on Episode 178 of The Voicemail and you can listen to that here.

Hope that’s useful.

Related: this made me laugh.

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4. DUREX EMOJI

The Durex Eggplant emoji flavour story was pretty big this week but my favourite take on it comes from Fast Co Create:

“Last year the brand launched a campaign for a condom emoji, to give young people a way to talk about safe sex that didn’t involve actual words. However, the condom wasn’t added to the the Unicode Consortium’s official emoji alphabet, so the brand may have found the perfect troll to protest the decision. While the new flavor is still just a concept, the brand’s campaign for a safe-sex emoji continues. Until then, feel free to just use an eggplant + balloon.”

Good quick reading.

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5. MCDONALD’S + ADVERTISING

You may or not be aware but apparently McDonald’s has just appointed itself an ‘agency of the future‘ model, via Omnicom. If you know everything or if you know nothing about this, these two opposing views on the news are well worth your time.

• Mark Ritson (for)
• Ad Contrarian (against)]

I must admit, I’m closer to the contrarian…

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6. NEW IPHONE THIS WEEK

Unsurprisingly, The Register was not invited. I’ve had my fair share of run ins with them but, that aside, I had to doff my hat to this epic trolling of Apple’s comms team.

Made me chuckle.

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7. CIALDINI’S 7TH

Familiar with Cialdini’s six six principles of influence? You should be.

Apparently he’s adding a seventh.

Details here.

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Bonuses this week are as follows:

• Here is an exceptional rant on Silicon Valley only choosing to solve the hard problems that it wants to solve.
• When you change the world and no one notices.
• Ach.
• Don’t tell me how to hold my phone.

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Right, I’m outta here.

Things of note for the week ending Sunday September 4th, 2016.

Monochromatic edition. Because why not?

Come on in, the water’s lovely.

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THING ONE: DARK

“It’s been seven months since Emma died and two weeks since I started building a bot from her texts. I’m feeding every word she sent me into the system, every thought, every feeling.”

If you’re reading this near to someone, read the whole thing aloud.

It’s dark, poignant, and beautiful.

‘My Dead Girlfriend’s Bot‘

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THING TWO: LONG READS

It’s been two weeks since the closure of Gawker.com (if you know nothing of what I speak – start here with this New York Times report in May, then read this follow up piece, and then finally this round up from The Guardian) and, irrespective of your opinion who was in the ‘right’ on this one (most people are either: Tech billionaire throws tantrum! or Gawker invade privacy!), in its 14 years of history, Gawker has published some hella amazing articles.

Buzzfeed asked its own staff for their favourite Gawker pieces and pulled together a fantastic list (NOT a listicle) of Stories to Remember Gawker By.

Some seriously fantastic writing.

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THING THREE: NOT COOL

Frith Hookway writes:

‘In a similar vane as name dropping, name bombing is when someone’s name is used as a catalyst for getting something done faster.

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For example, in an email or meeting we might say “so-and-so has asked for this by the end of the day” or “I’m doing work for you-know-who so really need everyone to pitch in”.

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Without even thinking about it, I know I’m guilty of this. Many of us probably are.’

You’ve probably done this. I definitely have.

It’s not cool. I’m going to stop.

Are you?

Read more: ‘Name bombing: the not cool way of getting things done’

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THING FOUR: SPACE, MAN

Next on this week’s list of things, is ‘Never go to space it’s terrible omg‘(yes, that’s the actual title). A brilliant piece from Leigh Alexander that delves into the physical and psychological challenges that lie ahead for any ambitions star-travellers among us.

A sobering read (and bizarrely reminiscent of my recent play time on No Man’s Sky (if there’s one thing that this game manages to do it’s capture the real feeling of insignificance in a truly inconceivably large universe)) it looks at how much work our astronauts have to put into surviving the most hostile environment you can possibly imagine.

The known knowns are interesting.
The unknown knowns blow your mind (the Buzz Aldrin about halfway in, for example).
The unknown unknowns are the things that’ll literally stop us dead.

Our planet will attempt a manned trip to Mars in my lifetime. This piece goes some way to explain just how hard that’s going to be for those that will be onboard.

Go read.

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THING FIVE: DIE DRAGON DIE

One of the wonderful (and yet super hard to communicate clearly) things about gaming online is the huge sense of camaraderie that can come from achieving a seemingly insurmountable feat. With death at hand, a clutch victory in the closing seconds of any match can go down in legend among your fellow players and, in many cases, forge life-long friendships along the way.

I speak from experience.

With that in mind, I read this story this morning about a band of brothers and sisters who put aside their differences to defeat an undefeatable creature and, in doing so, triggered a chain of events that had the senior management at Sony Online Entertainment sit up and pay attention.

Even if you’re not a gamer – this is an excellent read:

The Surprising And Allegedly Impossible Death Of EverQuest’s ‘Unkillable’ Dragon

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Bonuses this week are as follows –

• Weird short vines/gifs.
• I laughed harder at this than I should’ve done.
• Got a smashed screen on that iPhone? I like these.
• I can’t stop watching this amazing queue control.
• Steward and McKellan are coming back to the West End.

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And finally, a couple of years ago I went to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and, with my good friend Robbie, caught 18 different shows/performances/plays over the course of three days.

The very last one we saw was a one woman show by Pheobe Waller-Bridge.

The name of that show? Fleabag.

In my post-Fringe write up I wrote:

And it was.

Utterly, utterly brilliant.

That was three years ago.

Today, Fleabag is back. Waller-Bridge has adapted it for TV and you can find it on BBC iPlayer and, I believe very soon, on Amazon Prime. It is superb.

So superb that it gets its own separate section in this weeks THINGS.

Google it.

Find it.

Watch it.

Talk to others about it.

Then go and read all the other amazing things that have been written about it.

Waller-Bridge deserves every success off the back of this.

That is all.

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Right, I’m outta here.

Thanks for reading.

If you could do one thing for me this week it would be to tell a friend about this newsletter.

Until next time…

 

 

Things of note for the week ending Sunday August 28th, 2016.

It’s 07:45am on Sunday August 28th as I sit down to begin this week’s edition. Work has changed recently (for the better – more soon) and finding time to even open WordPress just once throughout the week is proving difficult.

Note: this is a good thing.

An output of this increased workload however,  is that FToF will arrive more and more frequently on a Sunday. While I’m sure this isn’t too much of a problem for many of you (I mean, can you imagine? ‘What’s that Whatters? This amazing weekly newsletter of quasi-interesting stuff that you do for me completely for free is MOVING its publishing date!!! Screw You!!’ – ha!)  I’m fairly sure that if you had an issue with this you’d just stop reading.

Right? Right.

PS. There’s a LOT to get through this week. So sit back, relax, and PUT THINGS IN YOUR EYES.

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1. THE LOTTERY OF INDECENCY

via @LaSauvageJaune.

The only good thing to say about the horrendous burkini stuff happening in the news cycle over the past week or two is that there might finally be a light at the end of the [very dark] tunnel.

 

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2. USE WHATSAPP? READ THIS.

This has been pretty much everywhere this week BUT I figured I should share it all the same.

In a move that genuinely did surprise everyone, WhatsApp announced a new change to its privacy policy this week that will enable it to share your data with its parent company, Facebook.

What data? So far the list includes:

• Your WhatsApp Phone Number
• Your ‘Last Seen’ data
• What OS you’re using (eg: Android 6.0 or iOS9 etc)
• Country code
• Carrier info
• Device info

Crucially, there’s no message data being shared. You may recall earlier this year when WhatsApp switched on end-to-end encryption. In short: WhatsApp couldn’t read your messages even if it wanted to.

So when it comes to this, it comes down to personal choice:

Do you care enough to keep your data hidden? Or do you genuinely want ‘better’ advertising and will therefore allow aforementioned data to be shared?

The good thing is: you have a choice.

When the new terms pop up, scroll to ‘read more’ and then untick the box. If you’ve already just hit ‘OK’, don’t panic, you still have 30 days to opt-out. (details via the Independent).

Additional things to be aware of (that will not doubt be circulating in the trades for a little while yet):

First, 2014. Jan Koum, co-founder of Whatsapp, said this on the WhatsApp blog:

“Respect for your privacy is coded into our DNA, and we built WhatsApp around the goal of knowing as little about you as possible: You don’t have to give us your name and we don’t ask for your email address. We don’t know your birthday. We don’t know your home address. We don’t know where you work. We don’t know your likes, what you search for on the internet or collect your GPS location. None of that data has ever been collected and stored by WhatsApp, and we really have no plans to change that.

If partnering with Facebook meant that we had to change our values, we wouldn’t have done it. Instead, we are forming a partnership that would allow us to continue operating independently and autonomously. Our fundamental values and beliefs will not change. Our principles will not change. Everything that has made WhatsApp the leader in personal messaging will still be in place. Speculation to the contrary isn’t just baseless and unfounded, it’s irresponsible. It has the effect of scaring people into thinking we’re suddenly collecting all kinds of new data. That’s just not true, and it’s important to us that you know that.”

So there’s that.

Second: both the UK and the US are allegedly looking into the legalities of this change.

This one could go and go…

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3. BEHIND THE SCENES

I used to work in TV. Long time ago. The vision mixer / director is the person that chooses what you get to see during a live TV broadcast. At one point this was something I really wanted to do (I used to sit behind the people at GMTV and watch them do it – I even completed a couple of training courses on it).

This four minute video, looking at the behind the scenes of perhaps one of the largest vision mixing responsibilities in the world, The Oscars, focuses in on the 1997 awards and, well, it’s really really worth a watch.

Such passion!

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4. A QUANTUM LEAP, BUT FOR REALS

This week, China launched the world’s first quantum satellite. That’s right, China is actually going to try and teleport information outside of the known barriers of space and time.

I think we need to let that settle in for a minute.

…

Done that?

OK.

Now go and read an expert’s take on it.

Truly potentially world-changing stuff.

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5. SHARING A GIF? CAREFUL NOW.

Four days ago, sports writer, Jim Weber, wrote about how he had his Twitter account permanently deleted simply for SHARING A GIF. I know what you’re thinking…

But don’t worry too much. Well. Maybe. Said GIF was from that world-leading and uber-progressive social media content event, THE OLYMPICS.

You can already tell how this is going to play out:

Over to Jim:

It all started when I saw a GIF of her sublime first pass on the floor routine two weeks ago on the front page of Reddit. Wanting to share what an awesome moment this was, I downloaded the GIF and uploaded it to Twitter with these four words: “Aly Raisman: She’s good.”

–

I had read that the IOC was banning the press from using GIFs but I didn’t see how that applied to me. Sure, I didn’t have the rights to any footage at the Olympics — just like countless blogs and users don’t have rights to the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and NCAA footage that they create GIFs out of and profit from every day.

–

But I figured the worst thing that would happen is the GIF would be deleted from my account, as Twitter often does in these situations.

–

Boy was I wrong.

 

Hello Gif, goodbye Twitter account!

The IOC sucks at social media. We know this.

Turns out Twitter decided to play hardball too…

Damn.

 

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Bonuses this week are plenty –

• Here’s a rare interview with Rick Moranis from last year. I think I missed this first time around. Ignore the dated-Ghostbusters-remake-bashing headline and enjoy an insight into where Moranis has (and has not) been hiding himself since Spaceballs.
• Images, Snapchat and Mobile.
• Push and Pull.
• Creatures of the Deep.
• Our nearest habitable planet has been in the news this week; here’s why.
• The First Lady Bake-Off.
• Top tips for taking selfies.

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Right, it’s 10:30 (there were pauses to play Lego) and we’re done.

Until next time, my friends. Hope you don’t mind the casual shift to the occasional Sunday.

Oh, and enjoy the Bank Holiday weekend!!!

Whatley Out.

 

 

Things of note for the week ending Sunday August 14th, 2016.

1. GROUNDHOG DAY: THE MUSICAL

You’ve just read the headline of this ‘thing’ and you’ve thought one of two things:

1: WHAT? NO. UGH. IS NOTHING SACRED?
2: IT’S OUT ALREADY?! YES! CAN’T WAIT!

Unless you have a third option, which is mine, and it goes like this I’VE SEEN IT AND IT’S GREAT AND YOU SHOULD ALL SEE IT AT ONCE.

To the doubters, I’d say give it get over it.

I went in with a small amount of concern (and why not, Groundhog Day is arguably one of the best comedies/romantic-comedies/Bill Murray films ever made – of course you might be anxious) BUT the fact that it came from the geniuses (genii?) behind the MATILDA musical meant I had a good chunk of reassurance.

I went. I saw. I laughed a LOT.

You should go too.

It’s on at the Old Vic London until September 17th and if you can go, then GO.

It’s wonderful

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2. WHITE HOUSE BOT

This week in BOT NEWS – you can now send a message direct to The White House (read: ‘President Obama’) via Facebook Messenger.

AND IT ACTUALLY WORKS.

LOOK!

I have to admit, it took me a good few minutes (and a couple of rewrites after that) to work out exactly what I wanted to say.

…

Neato.

Via Fast Company.

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3. EVER BEEN IN A CORPSE CUPBOARD?

Aka: what happens when you die on a plane?

There are two ways to find out. One involves dying. Here’s the other one.

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4. LOOK AROUND YOU

Next year – 2017 – this satellite going to be launched into orbit around the Earth.

What makes this satellite so special? Well, this satellite will be carrying the world’s first VR CAMERA FOR SPACE.

SpaceX have confirmed it: it is happening. In 2017, we’ll be able to strap on a helmet and look around in actual space in real time.

Just let that sink in for a minute.

Amazing.

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5. SUICIDE SQUAD

…is a terrible movie.

I wrote a [fair] few thoughts on Teh Twitterz after I saw the movie last weekend but in case you missed that, here are a select quotes from a number of reviews:

Vanity Fair said:

Suicide Squad is bad. Not fun bad. Not redeemable bad. Not the kind of bad that is the unfortunate result of artists honorably striving for something ambitious and falling short. Suicide Squad is just bad. It’s ugly and boring, a toxic combination that means the film’s highly fetishized violence doesn’t even have the exciting tingle of the wicked or the taboo. (Oh, how the movie wants to be both of those things.) It’s simply a dull chore steeped in flaccid machismo, a shapeless, poorly edited trudge that adds some mildly appalling sexism and even a soupçon of racism to its abundant, hideously timed gun worship. But, perhaps worst of all, Suicide Squad is ultimately too shoddy and forgettable to even register as revolting. At least revolting would have been something.

Inverse said:

Even if Suicide Squad was a competent movie and not merely a series of disconnected scenes, it would still have one major problem: The way it handles race and nationality. Suicide Squad is so blatantly, outrageously, almost comically offensive, with stereotypes galore and cellophane-thin characterization, you’d think it was doing it on purpose to be subversive — only, it isn’t smart enough to.

Deadspin:

I suspect the disjointed nature of this movie owes to the fact that it is two separate stories director David Ayer is doing a very half-assed job of trying to present as one. The first is a romance between the Joker and Harley Quinn. This element seems like the result of Jared Leto wanting to make a music video about how badass the Joker is, and Warner Brothers deciding they should build a movie around it using another film they were already shooting, a divorce and morality tale surrounding Will Smith, who must fight powerful monsters with his friends.

There are a ton more I could link you to but they’re all fairly depressing.

In short: don’t see this movie. Suicide Squad is a terribly dull movie and it really isn’t worth your time or your money.

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6. TRUMP TWEETS

Which ones does he write? Which ones do his team write? Someone looked at the data and guess which one they found to be angrier of the two?

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7. SUMMER DESSERT PLANS

Yes. That is exactly what you think it is.

OH YEAH.

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Bonuses this week are all gaming related:

• FIREWATCH (PS4 & Steam) is probably the best example of story-telling-as-gameplay I’ve seen since the highly commended/awarded LAST OF US. And, without doubt, is the best game I’ve played this year. Here’s a short video interview with the creators that give you a small insight into exactly how they did it.
• I’ve gone all in on NO MAN’S SKY and I am LOVING IT. I linked to this piece, from The New Yorker, back in May when I first started talking about it [NMS] so if you missed it then, read it now. If you have no idea what the fuss is about, it will tell you all you need to know.
• Spotify launched Spotify Gaming – playlists for gamers. An intriguing concept given that there are many who enjoy in-game choons but hey, I’ll give it a shot. Will you?

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And I’m done.

Until next time…

Whatley out.