Mostly, I Write

Storia (triste) di un giornalista scientifico e della sindrome da affaticamento cronico che lo ha azzerato, pur non essendo una malattia, secondo la scienza americana. Money quote: “For a man who had once churned out breaking news stories in minutes, it had taken four days, with frequent breaks, to compose the 1600-word piece” https://www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/409534/

Tutto sulla metropolitana di New York. Denso e poco spettacolare. Fondamentale, però. (E, per chi fosse interessato, sono a New York) Money quote: "From the original 28 stations built in Manhattan and opened on October 27, 1904, the subway system has grown to 472 stations, most of which were built by 1940. Their design represents three distinct styles since two private companies – the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) and the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT) – and the city-owned Independent Rapid Transit Railroad (IND), built them. The more ornate IRT and BMT stations were largely open by 1928, while the newer IND, which mostly opened between 1932 and 1948, used a more streamlined, Machine-Age design. The primary difference among the three types of stations is platform lengths. IRT stations have platforms that are generally 525 feet long; most BMT platforms are around 615 feet long, and some IND platforms are 660 feet." http://web.mta.info/nyct/facts/ffsubway.htm

Trump minaccia di censurare le ricerche su Facebook e Google, ma i loro algoritmi verranno difesi dalla Costituzione americana - il mio articolo per La Stampa (a pagamento) http://www.lastampa.it/2018/09/12/tecnologia/trump-minaccia-di-censurare-le-ricerche-su-facebook-e-google-ma-i-loro-algoritmi-verranno-difesi-dalla-costituzione-americana-QAD5nz3m0ZA0Chqjr5KXKI/premium.html

iPhone XS e XR, poche rivoluzioni: Apple vuole fare soprattutto cassa - il mio articolo per Wired.it https://www.wired.it/mobile/smartphone/2018/09/13/iphone-xs-apple-fa-cassa/

La forma di New York è dettata dagli ascensori. È quella la tecnologia chiave. Spettacolare articolo scritto grazie agli Open data Money quote: "As of 2015, there were more than 76,000 elevator devices in New York — basically anything that moves people up and down. The average listed capacity of these is about 2,750 pounds, which means that approximately 18 percent of the city’s adult population could be safely suspended in mechanical elevation or descension at any given moment, if they were so moved.2 There are many more miles of elevator shafts (about 1,570, assuming a reasonable average floor height, etc.) than there are miles of subway tracks (about 840)." https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/new-yorks-elevators-define-the-city/

Un palazzo storico di New York, recentemente restaurato, è quello dove venne installato il primo ascensore. Elemento fondamentale, come sappiamo, per la nascita dei grattacieli e quindi per la forma di quella (e di varie altre) città. Il tutto per aprire un grande magazzino con cineserie e porcellane varie in stile veneziano. Money quote: "Haughwout was a forerunner of the gigantic post-Civil War department stores. Its front was magnificent, a richly sculpted Venetian palace. But instead of limestone, marble or brownstone, the Haughwout store was made from cast iron from the foundry of Daniel D. Badger. The building is credited to the architect John P. Gaynor, but it is just as likely that the Badger company developed the scheme for the facade. Certainly Haughwout arranged for the elevator installed in April 1857 by Elisha H. Otis. According to Dennis A. Barrow, archivist for United Technologies/Otis Elevator, this was the first passenger elevator to have an automatic safety device; it led the way to the tall-building revolution a generation later. The appearance and position of this early elevator have never been established." https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/01/realestate/streetscapes-the-haughwout-building-restoring-a-richly-sculpted-venetian-palace.html

Una vita senza notifiche è possibile? - Il mio articolo per Wired.it https://www.wired.it/mobile/smartphone/2018/09/12/vita-senza-notifiche/

La storia che viene fuori dalla lettera di Elon Musk ai dipendenti sul "traditore" interno è semplicemente pazzesca. Money quote: "I was dismayed to learn this weekend about a Tesla employee who had conducted quite extensive and damaging sabotage to our operations. This included making direct code changes to the Tesla Manufacturing Operating System under false usernames and exporting large amounts of highly sensitive Tesla data to unknown third parties. The full extent of his actions are not yet clear, but what he has admitted to so far is pretty bad. His stated motivation is that he wanted a promotion that he did not receive. In light of these actions, not promoting him was definitely the right move." https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/18/elon-musk-email-employee-conducted-extensive-and-damaging-sabotage.html

Utilizzo quotidianamente (o quasi) Pocket. Strumento fenomenale e gratuito. È stato comprato, tempo addietro, da Fiofox. Adesso sembra che stia per diventare l'arma definitiva contro Facebook. Pensa te... Money quote: "Pocket can analyze which articles and videos from around the web are being shared as well as which ones are being read and watched. Over time, that gives the company a good understanding of which links lead to high-quality content that users of either Pocket or Firefox might enjoy." https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/13/17446660/mozilla-firefox-pocket-recommendations-ceo-nate-weiner-interview-converge-podcast

Un video su come la gente conta i soldi in diverse parti del mondo. Ipnotico. http://digg.com/video/how-people-count-money-world

Federico Viticci di MacStories ha studiato un po' Shortcuts di Apple e spiega meglio cosa sia. Interessante. Money quote: "On the surface, Shortcuts the app looks like the full-blown Workflow replacement heavy users of the app have been wishfully imagining for the past year. But there is more going on with Shortcuts than the app alone. Shortcuts the feature, in fact, reveals a fascinating twofold strategy: on one hand, Apple hopes to accelerate third-party Siri integrations by leveraging existing APIs as well as enabling the creation of custom SiriKit Intents; on the other, the company is advancing a new vision of automation through the lens of Siri and proactive assistance from which everyone – not just power users – can reap the benefits." https://www.macstories.net/stories/shortcuts-a-new-vision-for-siri-and-ios-automation/

Apple in tribunale con l'accusa di monopolio con il suo app store per iOS. La difesa però è interessante. (Peraltro, Apple e l'amministrazione Trump sono dalla stessa parte, in questo caso) Money quote: ""Apple is trying to argue that the consumers don't have the standing to sue here because the app developers set the price," says Sandeep Vaheesan, an antitrust lawyer at the Open Markets Institute, a nonprofit that advocates against monopolistic power. "What the consumers are really upset at is how the apps are being priced by developers."" https://www.wired.com/story/pepper-v-apple-supreme-court-app-store-antitrust/

Perché Google e gli altri big non possono fare a meno della Cina - il mio articolo per Wired https://www.wired.it/attualita/tech/2018/09/03/google-cina-brin/

Il problema del lavoro è sempre più interessante. Sta andando in corto circuito per via del digitale e della trasformazione degli assetti della società che stanno cambiando rapidamente. Vecchio articolo sempre molto valido. Money quote: "Therefore, it’s actually a matter of professional life or death to get rid of your low-value work – tasks that mean little or nothing to customers or colleagues. Take an active approach. Design a new, do-able job for yourself. Here’s when to do it" https://hbr.org/2016/06/stop-doing-low-value-work

Infine, chiudiamo ma trilogia sulla lettura di oggi con l’opera struggente di un solitario monomaniaco: ecco Tom Tryniski, l’uomo che dal suo soggiorno ha passato gli ultimi diciannove anni a digitalizzare quasi 50 milioni di pagine di giornale. Ne parla la Columbia Journalism Review. Money quote: “Tryniski has no formal training in archiving and isn’t particularly interested in working with any of the various other online newspaper directories, especially those with regimented archival requirements. He has, on occasion, been approached by companies looking to partner with him or purchase licenses to his archives. He’s turned them all down, including one offer for half a million dollars. “I knew my collection would ultimately be charged for,” Tryniski says nonchalantly, explaining why he declined the offer—for most people, an enormous sum of money. “I really didn’t like the idea of charging a guy to use my site, and then for them to take the biggest profit. You know what I’m saying?” Tryniski, who rarely travels, owns his home in low-cost Fulton, and eats meals at a diner (he doesn’t even own dishes, he says), funds the operation himself. His efforts have been covered in a variety of publications including on Browsings, a blog published by Harper’s Magazine.” https://www.cjr.org/the_profile/tom-tryniski-fultonhistory.php

Altro che 5G: care compagnie telefoniche, chi si fida più di voi? - Il mio articolo per Wired https://www.wired.it/economia/business/2018/09/07/5g-compagnie-telefoniche-fiducia-costi/

Vecchi libri da leggere per diventare molto ricchi. Questo è del 1836 e ha cambiato la vita a una persona in particolare. Money quote: “Warren Buffett is probably the most successful investor in American history. He credits a 1936 book called One Thousand Ways to Make $1,000 (which he found in the library when he was 7 years old) with giving him his initial career inspiration. The book was out of print for decades. But I found it recently and read it, and I'm pretty much blown away” https://www.inc.com/bill-murphy-jr/warren-buffett-says-this-1936-book-inspired-his-entire-career-i-read-it-its-truly-eye-opening.html

Un libro sulla storia di cui ci sarebbe bisogno anche da noi è “Lies My Teacher Told Me”. Purtroppo questo è centrato sulla storia degli Stati Uniti e quindi da noi non funziona. Ma vale certamente la pena leggere l’intervista all’autore fatta da Vox Money quote: “Consider the period of 1890-1940, when race relations got systematically worse every year. America actually got more racist in its ideology than at any other time in history. After slavery, white people convinced themselves that there were equal opportunities, which was a lie. They told themselves that black people were criminals and incompetent and unable to succeed. The point isn’t that life was better for people under slavery; it’s that the story of moral and political progress isn’t so clear. And when we pretend that it is neat and clear, we cause teachers to teach and students to think that progress happens automatically, and that destroys the impulse to change things — to become an activist.” https://www.vox.com/conversations/2018/8/1/17602596/american-history-james-loewen-howard-zinn

Per concludere, sempre in ambito letterario. La vita dopo Henning Mankell: cosa abbiamo capito e cosa ci ha detto lui nel suo ultimo libro. Money quote: “When the University of St Andrews gave Henning Mankell an honorary doctorate in 2008, it announced that the degree was awarded not only for his contribution to literature but also for the “practical exercise of conscience”. That is a formal way of saying “for being a good man”, which is what Mankell was. Now, in Quicksand, published in English less than four months after his death, the Swedish novelist gives us an insight into how he reacted to his diagnosis of cancer and reflected on his mortality. The result is an extraordinarily moving book that tells us a great deal about Mankell’s life and, incidentally, a lot about our lives, too” https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2016/01/henning-mankell-s-quicksand-grave-yet-intensely-beautiful-book

Molto, molto interessante intervista della Paris Review a Chris Ware. La lettura lunga della domenica. Money quote: “I’ve said it many times before, but Charles Schulz is the only writer I’ve continually been reading since I was a kid. And I know I’m not alone. He touched millions of people and introduced empathy to comics, an important step in their transition from a mass medium to an artistic and literary one.” https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/6329/chris-ware-the-art-of-comics-no-2-chris-ware