Category: Weekly digest

Life
Got out early on Saturday in the hope of a good sunrise. Weather was perfect and not only got some cracking images but it was good to get out and about. Got a walk in through a totally deserted forest – loved it.

Media
All or Nothing:Manchester City – enjoy a good doc and this one on Man City is well worth a watch. They got some amazing access to both manager and squad.

Links

• These are the best movies of the 2000s – The Washington PostStrong list
• Introducing the Aqua Screenshot Library – 512 PixelsThis is a total labour of love and is a huge resource showing how the Mac software has changed over the years.
• The Untold Story of NotPetya, the Most Devastating Cyberattack in History | WIREDLot’s of detail on what really happened with this attack.
• The UK’s giant aircraft carriers – BBC NewsBalanced view from the BBC on the carriers. Whatever your view, they are are impressive feat of engineering.
• Serena Williams: French Open bans ‘superhero’ catsuit from next year – BBC Sport
  Serena Williams will be banned from wearing her black catsuit at the French Open from next year, with the tournament set to introduce a stricter dress code.
  Bullshit of the highest order. If this was a white woman I bet this wouldn’t have even been considered.
• Gartner’s Great Vanishing: Some of 2017’s emerging techs just disappeared • The RegisterTime for Gartner’s trends to disappear too.

Life
Too much social media angst. Instead thinking about money, pensions, shares…you know, really positive thinking 🙂

Media
A quiet weekend so treated myself:

Batman Begins – Well made with great performances. A new darker Batman.
The Dark Knight – The best bad guy performance in a superhero film. Ledger lifts this and alongside a great story and some strong performances this still feels fresh despite it being 10 years old.
The Dark Knight Rises – Good but not great, the overall film just doesn’t land and despite the ball of rage that is Tom Hardy it doesn’t match The Dark Knight.

Watched them all in 4K and HDR. Batman Begins looked OK but the other two really shone especially the sections shot in IMAX format. There’s also an obvious difference between a 4K Blu-ray and 4K streaming. Tried some scenes on iTunes which was also 4K and HDR and the difference was notable.

Links

• On Getting My Hair Checked By TSA – Great Escape – MediumThere’s a different world out there. Some of these stories are awful.
• The bluffocracy: how Britain ended up being run by eloquent chancers | The SpectatorThis column nails so much thats wrong with todays politics. Crooks and chancers.
• Why I Quit Twitter, a List – Derek Powazek – MediumWhat a list this is and many are hard to argue against. Shame.
• The real reason Twitter keeps tripping over itselfNeeds a management change.
• Talking Tech with Elon Musk! – YouTubeReally good video with Musk and Marques Brownlee. Brownlee’s videos are some of the best on the net at the moment.
• Elon Musk Details ‘Excruciating’ Personal Toll of Tesla Turmoil – The New York TimesBless but it’s hard to feel sorry for him.
• DVD ISO: connects att vision of the future 1993 att dvdr : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive25 years ago and AT&T put this video of the future together. Cheesy as hell but I’m pretty impressed at how close they’ve got with some of the predictions.
• After Hip Surgery, Andy Murray Struggles to Regain His Footing – The New York TimesI’m amazed at what he can still do on the court.
• ENHANCE.COMPUTERVisit this on Chrome…and good luck with getting it to work with accents or is it just me?
• How would English sound if it were phonetically consistent?It would sound pretty alien. Fun video which must have been hard to shoot.

Life
End of another great sporting event in Glasgow. This one was a wee bit different in that the time trial passed my street. The speed these top cyclists can reach is impressive.

Media
Deadpool 2 – more of the same and pretty average.
Succession – off to a really strong start.
No Mans Sky – still enjoying. Updates have delivered a much better game.

Links

• I was humiliated on TalkRadio for talking about my rapeWhy does (did hopefully) he still have a platform?
• The Bullshit Web — Pixel Envy
  My home computer in 1998 had a 56K modem connected to our telephone line; we were allowed a maximum of thirty minutes of computer usage a day, because my parents — quite reasonably — did not want to have their telephone shut off for an evening at a time. I remember webpages loading slowly: ten […]
  Loved this. So much of the web feels broken.
• Here’s How America Uses Its Land
  The 48 contiguous states alone are a 1.9 billion-acre jigsaw puzzle of cities, farms, forests and pastures.
  Love a visualisation
• Magic Leap One Creator Edition preview: a flawed glimpse of mixed reality’s amazing potential – The Verge
  We tried the $2,295 Magic Leap One Creator Edition, the debut product from mixed reality startup Magic Leap — and found an ambitious vision facing serious technological challenges.
  All that hype. Also reads that the marketing team were putting out bullshots that the techies knew they couldn’t deliver. Shocker.
• Scorching Summer in Europe Signals Long-Term Climate Changes – The New York TimesExtreme weather around the whole world…what happens when it’s no longer extreme?
• Will Climate Change Remake Human Biology? – Future Human – Medium
  In 1977, a nuclear power plant in Forsmark, Sweden, began pumping cooling effluent from its reactors into “Biotest Lake,” a manmade, 84-hectare enclosed body of water jutting out from the Baltic Sea…
  Somethings got to change over the years as the climate shifts
• Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2018 best jokes: 25 of the top gags from the Fringe | London Evening Standard
  The city of Edinburgh has been beset with a case of the stitches for the rest of the month, thanks to the return of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Throughout August, some of the world’s best comedic talent will be trying their best to tickle the funny bones of slightly hungover audiences.
  We all need a lift
• Inside Twitter’s Struggle Over What Gets Banned – The New York Times18 folk in a room and they can’t make a decision. Madness. People are leaving due to their indecision.
• ‘It’s our time to serve the Motherland’: How Russia’s war in Georgia sparked Moscow’s modern-day recruitment of criminal hackers — MeduzaModern wars are so different
• It’s not just you, everything looks the same on Instagram — QuartzyHard not to fall into this trap. Sunrises, sunsets, reflections, long exposures. Still enjoy the process and getting out and about though and I find so many locations and shots from seeing what others do.

Life
Weather finally broke and while it’s been great to have a proper summer I loved having a bit of cooler, fresher and wetter weather again. One thing though – why couldn’t it have waited just one more day so I could have shot the blood moon. Bastard weather.

Media
Mission Impossible Fallout – best of the series and a cracking summer blockbuster. It’s a Tom Cruise vehicle but the supporting cast really do well to. Henry Cavill stood out not just cause he’s bloody huge but I can see him being the next big action star. Kudos to Laing Yang who really needs his own film to truly shine but biggest props to Christopher McQuarrie and the stunt team. The action was top notch and the set piece’s coupled with some great locations outdid the best of Bond.

No Mans Sky – Another great update adding multiplayer, better graphics, more missions….and much much more. I might have just bought this for the Xbox.

Links

• How an Ex-Cop Rigged McDonald’s Monopoly Game and Stole MillionsThis is so far fetched…but it’s all true.
• How ‘Fortnite’ Became the Most Popular Video Game on EarthThe money Epic are making through cosmetics are amazing.
• How gamers with disabilities helped design the new Xbox Adaptive Controller’s elegantly accessible packaging – StoriesWell played Microsoft.
• Gallery – Drone AwardsWow. One day I will take a great drone picture.
• Thousands entered the iPhone Photography Awards contest. These are the winners. – The Washington PostWow again. Some of these are jaw dropping.

Life
Impressed yet again with Apple support. Fixing my iPad screen which has a small brightness issue and couldn’t do enough to make sure I was satisfied with the fix.

Media
Darkest Hour – loved it. Oldman was really good.

Links

• Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Recode Decode: Full transcript – RecodeThis is well worth reading. Zuckerberg got in a right mess on a couple of topics.
• No Man’s Sky developer Sean Murray: ‘It was as bad as things can get’ | Games | The GuardianNew update coming this week introduces multiplayer. 2 years since launch and the game gets better and better.
• ‘How we made Now That’s What I Call Music 100’ – BBC News100 Now’s. Wow.
• Sleep Science: In the Era of Screens, Rest is CrucialThe older I get the more important sleep has got.
• IPPAWARDS | iPhone Photography Awards | 2018 Photographers of the YearMore great photo’s from just an iPhone.
• The open-plan office is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad ideaWhy headphones are so important – too many distractions in an open plan office.
• The Dark Knight, 10 years later – PolygonStill a great watch today, especially in 4k.
• Aquaman – Official Trailer 1 – YouTubeComic con, so lots of trailers. This looked like a Black Panther rip off.
• SHAZAM! – Official Teaser Trailer [HD] – YouTubeSuperhero Big? Not sure.
• Godzilla: King of the Monsters – Official Trailer 1 – YouTubeReally liked this. Hopefully see more monsters compared to first one.
• TITANS Official Trailer (2018) DC Universe Series HD – YouTubeDC go dark again. Mmm.
• Star Trek: Discovery | Season 2 Trailer [HD] | Netflix – YouTubeLoved the first series, and this looks pretty good again.
• Watch The Walking Dead Season 9 Trailer (Comic-Con 2018) – YouTubeSeason 9…the end of Rick. Could be the end of me watching as the last couple of years have been pretty bad.
• Every Tom Cruise Run. Ever. – YouTube20 minutes of Tom Cruise running, just in time for the new Mission Impossible.

Life
Great week off work. Needed the break and stayed away from checking mails which was good for the brain. Enjoyed the good weather – Scotland looks great in the sun, bugs and all. Also enjoyed the World Cup. Well played France, unlucky Croatia and something I didn’t expect to say…well done Russia. All the talk of violence turned out to be…all talk.

Media
Gave up and deleted some unwatched The Handmaid’s Tale. Plodding and miserable – there’s enough of that in real life without spending hours watching a drama which looks to have no hope.

Finally watched Ready Player One. While some of it was good, I found so much to dislike. The race for the first key was tiresome, the relationship between Art3mis and Parzival was rushed, there was some changes to the plot which didn’t work for me and the ending was just too saccharin sweet…but it’s Spielberg so probably no surprise. Just read the book and skip the movie. Or watch this homage from Gunship.

Links

• “I Was Devastated”: Tim Berners-Lee, the Man Who Created the World Wide Web, Has Some Regrets | Vanity Fair
  Berners-Lee has seen his creation debased by everything from fake news to mass surveillance. But he’s got a plan to fix it.
  I fear it’s too late. Big business won’t let him.
• Stacking the Bricks: How the Blog Broke the WebDisagree.
• YouTube Debuts Plan to Promote and Fund ‘Authoritative’ News | WIRED
  The video platform is less focused on getting rid of conspiracy theorists than on trying to elevate journalism it considers valuable.
  Noble aim’s but it will take a lot to kill the fake news that is awash on YouTube.
• The best photos of the 2018 World CupGreat images from a really entertaining World Cup.
• How Facebook’s Rise Fueled Chaos and Confusion in Myanmar | WIREDZuckerberg has a lot to answer for.
• Simon Pegg: ‘I was lost, unhappy and an alcoholic’ | Culture | The GuardianHonest and brave interview with Pegg.
• Why Does Every Soccer Player Do This? – The New York TimesWhy indeed.
• The App Store turns 10 – AppleNice retrospective on 10 years of the App Store. Remember before the App Store when software cost money?
• 10 years of the App Store: The design evolution of the earliest apps | 9to5MacLoved this post on the App Store and how design has evolved on some day 1 apps.
• Hell for Elon Musk Is a Midsize Sedan – BloombergHell is probably calling a diver a pedo on Twitter! Musk is the Trump of the tech world.
• The full story of Thailand’s extraordinary cave rescue – BBC News
  It’s a remarkable story of friendship and human endurance – and it all began with a birthday party.
  Speaking of the Thailand rescue, this is a great summation of the whole story.
• What’s It Like To Be In The Room With Donald Trump? How Theresa May Deals With The Deal-Making PresidentYou can’t deal with him. Stable genius my fucking arse.
• Trump and Scotland – BBC News
  The people who hit back at the president
  This is how you need to deal with people like Trump.
• A Complete Guide to Getting What You WantA long read to finish with but a good one.

Life
Scorchio week, well it was for Glasgow. I like nice weather but it’s a bit too hot for me. Also a good week at work with some positive news after a lot of hard graft…although you wouldn’t know it looking at the loons on Twitter. Just shows you should ignore much of the opinions on there or at least question if they are truthful and from a reliable source.

Media
The World Cup is eating up much of my time…and it’s been a cracker.

Reporting Trump’s First Year – loved this. First episode showed behind the scenes at the New York Times.

The Handmaids Tale – well made but it’s just so fucking grim. If it doesn’t reveal it’s hand soon I’m bailing.

Westworld – season 2 finale answered some questions but also posed quite a few more. Loved it.

Links

• The Brexit Short: How Hedge Funds Used Private Polls to Make Millions – BloombergSurprise surprise
• ‘Where is the geezer?’ Danny Dyer rages at David Cameron over Brexit | Film | The Guardian
  EastEnders star becomes unlikely icon for remainers after tirade against former PM
  It’s that last ‘twat’ from Dyer. Brilliant.
• Speak for England, Danny Dyer. You’ve blown the lid on Brexit | Marina Hyde | Opinion | The GuardianHe’s not far wrong…and Corbyn has a lot to answer for as well.
• Neil Hamilton’s Ukip supergroup – alt-right Led Zeppelin or white supremacist A-Team? | Life and style | The Guardian
  An Infowars starlet, a former Breitbarter, an anti-feminist vlogger and a man who taught a dog to do Nazi salutes have joined the disgraced politician in the far-right party. What’s the worst that could happen?
  I thought this was a spoof…but it’s not! Dear oh dear.
• Where Is Barack Obama?Obama feels like a lifetime ago.
• The 919 Tribute Tour: On-board record lap, Nordschleife. – YouTubeWhat a lap. What a driver.
• Apple is rebuilding Maps from the ground up | TechCrunchMuch needed but have a small fear that they will be great in California. They are currently well behind in the UK.
• ‘It’s nothing like a broken leg’: why I’m done with the mental health conversation | Society | The Guardian
  Must read – best of the week for me.
• Cindy Otis on Twitter: “Today seems like the right time to do a thread I’ve been thinking about for a while on how to handle the seemingly never-ending deluge of depressing and disturbing news. My tips are based on my time as a CIA military analyst in …Great thread with practical advice on looking after yourself and getting away from the news and social media which can be all too negative.
• Below the Surface – Archeologische vondsten Noord/Zuidlijn AmsterdamThe Dutch drained a canal and put everything they found online and made it easy to browse too. Brilliant.
• The Dunning-Kruger Effect: we are all confident idiotsFound myself nodding away to this one.
• Apple Engineers Its Own Downfall With the Macbook Pro Keyboard | iFixit
  Why is Apple seemingly unable to fix their MacBook Pro keyboards? Here’s our two cents.
  One grain of sand shouldn’t cause this much damage. Bad design.
• AI, Ain’t I A Woman?Powerful. How can AI get the obvious so consistently wrong…is it the programmers?
• Store Robbery – CTV Edmonton News
  Slow burner but stick with it. Total WTF towards the end.
• Winners of the 2018 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest – The AtlanticSome inspiring photo’s and more from the air than ever.

Life
A bit of sun and warmth…makes watching the World Cup in the house all the more enjoyable 😂

Media
Just over a week into the World Cup and I’ve really enjoyed it. Been the best start to a tournament in years.

Mario Tennis Aces on the Switch is a really nice game. Tough multiplayer!

Also giving Fortnite a proper go. Who knew that the most popular game in the world actually plays well.

Links

• Glasgow must review heritage planning following fire, says MP | UK news | The GuardianTotally agree. So many fantastic buildings are left to rot…or mysteriously go on fire.
• Attacking Private Networks from the Internet with DNS RebindingWow. Is nothing safe?
• Above Avalon: Apple Is Figuring Out What’s NextReally smart look at where Apple is heading.
• Here Are the 14 Habits of Highly Miserable People | AlternetThis needs to be read by so many people…including me! A guide on what not to do.
• The Pool – News & Views – Of Course The BBC Are Backing Alan Sugar. To The Media, White Feelings Come FirstHard to disagree. Some people have a teflon coating.
• America’s inhumane child separation policy & our border concentration campsShocking. Kottke’s article is a good summary of how the story broke and a policy quickly unravelled.
• Stop talking about Godwin’s Law: real Nazis are backI only came across Godwin’s Law last year and I can’t agree more. The going’s on in America and also across Europe is worrying and the press needs to get real on the threat.
• The GPS app that can find anyone anywhere | Technology | The GuardianWhat a smart idea – love it!
• Photos: Soccer Fields Around the World – The AtlanticGood look at the amazing places that football is played throughout the world.
• Paul McCartney Carpool KaraokeMaybe the best Carpool so far? Loved it.
• Dancing in Movies on VimeoA compilation of movie dancing. So well put together. Do yourself a favour and find 8 minutes to watch this.

Life
Enjoying the World Cup so far. Good games, couple of surprising results and no fan trouble either.

Tragedy at the Glasgow School fo Arts with a second fire in 4 years this one far worse than in 2014. Hopefully the building can be saved and/or restored…it’s too important to lose.

Media
Westworld season 2, episode 8. One of the best so far.

Links

• The 25 best game trailers from E3 2018 – The VergeSome great trailers, but this felt like an E3 waiting for new hardware rather than one delivering for current consoles.
• Cyberpunk 2077 – official E3 2018 trailer – YouTubeCyberpunk was the standout game for me but by all accounts it’s at least 2020 before anyone will play it and probably on the next generation of console and high end PC’s.
• Rogue Amoeba – Under the Microscope » Blog Archive » On The Sad State of Macintosh HardwareWhen you see a post like this laying out how old the current Mac hardware is it’s hard to recommend a Mac to anyone. Shameful. I do hope Apple updates some of the Mac’s in the next few months.
• Tesla workers say they pay the price for Elon Musk’s big promises | Technology | The Guardian
  There’s something not quite right with Tesla.
• Oil Industry Copes With Climate Impacts As Permafrost Thaws : NPRWow. Didn’t know this was going on. Climate really is fecked.
• Andy Murray column: How I’ve recovered from lowest point of career – BBC SportGreat to see him back. 6-8 hours of rehab every day isn’t fun.
• George Lucas reveals his plan for Star Wars 7 through 9—and it was awful | Ars TechnicaThanks goodness we got Force Awakens instead as this sounds complete shit.
• Banks close 2,900 branches in three years, says Which? – BBC News60 branches a week! I knew banking was changing but not at this rate. For some communities with no banks, especially for the elderly or poor, what do they do?
• Listeners Labelled This Call From A Ukipper To James O’Brien The Greatest Call Ever – LBCWow. It would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic.

Life
Quiet week enjoying the weather and then an almighty thunderstorm on Saturday cleared the air. Looking forward to seeing what E3 brings us this week.

Media
Pacific Rim Uprising. Crap. Don’t waste your time with this one.

Links

• WWDC 2018: Apple’s Software Chief Details How iOS Apps Will Run on Macs | WIRED
  In an exclusive interview, Apple’s Craig Federighi explains how developers will be able to get their iOS apps working on Macs.
  Considering it was to be a quiet WWDC there was a lot to like. No hardware but plenty of software to keep us interested including, finally, some interesting Mac updates.
• The Midlife Unraveling | Brené BrownGreat read. Can happen to us any time.
• Anthony Bourdain and the Power of Telling the Truth | The New Yorker
  Helen Rosner writes about Anthony Bourdain, who died on Friday, at sixty-one, and his ability to speak truth to power, especially when supporting his partner, Asia Argento.
  Sad week but liked this post about Bourdain the most.
• Underpaid and exhausted: the human cost of your Kindle | Technology | The GuardianWe all want cheap gadgets but the cost is getting to be too high.
• Your Phone Is Listening and it’s Not Paranoia – VICEToo many stories like this for it not to be true.
• G-7’s Iconic Photo Shows Its Success, Depending on the Angle Amazing photo. Politics right now is wild.
• First Man – Official Trailer (HD) – YouTubeGreat cast and a film about the race to the moon – whats not to like?
• THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER’S WEB – Official Trailer (HD) – YouTubeMore a scene than a trailer but Claire Foy looks amazing.
• Widows | Official Trailer [HD] | 20th Century FOX – YouTubeWhat a cast and a fantastic director. Can’t wait for this.