Mostly, I Write

Export di armi. Chissà come sta messa l’Italia

Un fumetto online per raccontare la storia di cosa succede quando si vivono momenti epici e devastanti, ricordando chi non c'è più. Money quote: "“The greatest generation” was defined by their suffering. Will we be?" https://medium.com/the-nib/life-during-interesting-times-fd776c82e7ba

Il logo di Jeanne Lanvin, madre e figlia vestite uguali: una storia affascinante Money quote: "A cette époque, Jeanne Lanvin est une chapelière installée au 22 de la rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré, son atelier-boutique dans lequel sa fille joue les mannequins sous l’œil réjoui des clientes. C’est pour les beaux yeux de sa gamine que Jeanne commence à vêtir des poupées, avant de se tourner, rapidement, vers des modèles pour Marguerite. “Par tradition, les petites filles étaient habillées comme leurs mères, et Jeanne a su inverser la tendance, affirme Laure Harivel, en charge du patrimoine chez Lanvin." http://www.polkamagazine.com/laiguille-et-la-marguerite/

Sempre in viaggio e sempre affascinato dagli orologi e dallo scorrere del tempo: il ritmo circadiano non è monolitico, ma ci sono molti elementi diversi da tenere in considerazione. Money quote: "“Jet lag is so awful because you’re not simply shifted, but the whole circadian network is not aligned to each other,” said Prof Russell Foster, chair of circadian neuroscience at the University of Oxford. “If you were completely aligned but just five hours shifted you wouldn’t feel so crappy.” It is also helps explain the extensive range of health risks experienced by shift workers, who are more likely to suffer from heart disease, dementia, diabetes and some cancers. “They’re having to override their entire biology,” said Foster." https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/oct/06/western-society-is-chronically-sleep-deprived-the-importance-of-the-bodys-clock Inoltre, se si dorme poco (da cinque ore in giù) pare che si muore prima https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/may/23/weekend-lie-ins-could-help-you-avoid-an-early-death-study-says

Per la Cassazione tedesca i genitori possono ereditare il profilo Facebook della figlia morta - il mio articolo per La Stampa http://www.lastampa.it/2018/07/17/tecnologia/per-la-cassazione-tedesca-i-genitori-possono-ereditare-il-profilo-facebook-della-figlia-morta-97Zw34Kf4Fi1tgw7e1LRAJ/pagina.html

Nota per me stesso: ecco una nuova espressione da imparare: "Charging economy". Bello l'elettrico ma ci dimentichiamo che gli apparecchi elettrici a batteria devono essere ricaricati. Ecco una storia molto particolare che balla attorno a questo problema. Bird è una startup americana, la Uber dei monopattini elettrici. Si prendono, si usano pagando un dollaro più 15 centesimi a minuto, e si lasciano quando non servono. La notte vengono recuperati da ragazzi e ragazze pagati non male, che li caricano a casa loro. (In Italia i monopattini elettrici, essendo veicoli a motore senza pedali e non registrati, sono vietati) Money quote: "“Charging scooters for Bird is like Pokémon Go, but when you get paid for finding Pokémon,” says Nick Abouzeid, a 21-year-old charger in San Francisco. Several nights a week after work, he and his girlfriend go on walks around the city, collecting scooters and bringing them back to his apartment building to charge in the basement." https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/05/charging-electric-scooters-is-a-cutthroat-business/560747/

Per chi sente il bisogno irrefrenabile di ringraziarmi in modo costruttivo per Mostly, I Write, qualcosa di educativo in tema di scrittura... un corso Udemy (i corsi si possono regalare anche a terzi, cioè me; altro che Prime day...)

Storie di sviluppatori: come si sono organizzati quelli di 1Password per la nuova versione della loro app per macOS (nota: non sono più loro cliente perché sono passati al modello in abbonamento, per il quale ho forti riserve come utente) Money quote: "When considering a paid upgrade, developers have two choices: they can re-use their existing app or submit a new one. Both have their pros and cons." https://blog.agilebits.com/2018/05/10/getting-1password-7-ready-for-the-mac-app-store/

I nuovi MacBook Pro hanno cambiato tastiera (ma non lo dicono) - il mio commento per Wired.it Money quote: "Qual è il grande problema di Palermo si chiedeva Johnny Stecchino, nel film omonimo di Roberto Benigni del 1991? Il traffico, ovviamente. Che, se da un lato non era falso (il traffico di Palermo all’epoca era veramente incasinatissimo) dall’altro non era neanche vero, perché il vero problema ovviamente era la mafia. Ecco, prendetela come una provocazione con il sorriso sulle labbra, però Apple sta usando lo stesso metodo per le tastiere dei suoi MacBook Pro: qual è il loro più grande problema? Che sono rumorose? Vero. Però è il fatto che si rompano con troppa facilità ad essere una notizia." https://www.wired.it/gadget/computer/2018/07/16/macbook-cambia-tastiera/

Classica storia che i giornali amano: donna giapponese di 82 anni impara a programmare e la sua prima app sfonda di brutto (sort of). Money quote: "Upon retiring from a 43-year career as a bank clerk (she began at age 18), Wakamiya spent long hours caregiving for her then-90-year-old mother. Feeling isolated, and seeking connection with the outside world, Wakamiya bought her first computer, then moved on to a Microsoft PC, and later a Mac and iPhones. In between learning the piano, at age 75, Wakamiya eventually joined a computer club for seniors, Mellow Club, learning to create Excel art along the way. Then, this past year came Wakamiya’s focus on creating the game Hinadan. The app, based on the annual Japanese doll festival of Hina Matsuri, invites players to arrange 12 ornamental dolls — representing the country’s emperor, family and guests — in a specific order. The game requires in-depth memorization of various arrangements, and has become especially popular with older women, who enjoy playing it with their grandchildren, Wakamiya said." https://www.aarp.org/work/working-at-50-plus/info-2018/worlds-oldest-app-developer-fd.html

Sempre più spesso trovo l'orgoglio di programmatori front e backend che si ribella contro tutta questa enfasi sulla intelligenza artificiale, machine learning e trucchi e trucchetti legati a questo approccio. In realtà, si è sempre potuto fare molto con gli strumenti che ci sono da tanto tempo... Money quote: "In a former life, I used to write SQL to extract customer of the week. Basically, select from orders table where basket size is the biggest. We will then email a nice thank you note to this customer and attach a small coupon/voucher.... ...Guess what? 99% of these people became repeat customers. We never needed ML. We just wrote a simple SQL and got this information. We did the same thing for customers who last shopped 3 or so months ago...." https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/987602838594445312.html

Viviamo immersi in una montagna di articoli cialtroni di autoaiuto e di pseudoesperimenti per migliorare e potenziare le nostre capacità. Non parliamo poi di quei casi di pseudo-gonzo journalism in cui il tizio o la tizia di turno provano a vivere in prima persona le esperienze di cui vogliono parlare. Ecco. In realtà certe cose, certi esperimenti, si possono fare e anche bene. Si chiama giornalismo di qualità. BBC? Money quote: "One recent winter, I decided to find out. Working with sleep researchers Derk-Jan Dijk and Nayantara Santhi at the University of Surrey, I designed a programme to go cold-turkey on artificial light after dark, and to try to maximise exposure to natural light during the day – all while juggling an office job and busy family life in urban Bristol. The discoveries I've made have revolutionised my attitude to light ­­­– and how I live my life during the night and day. I now make simple, daily choices that can transform how I sleep, how I feel and perhaps even my cognitive abilities. Could you be doing the same?" http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20180424-what-i-learnt-by-living-without-artificial-light

L’immagine della settimana è una fake news deliziosa

I BitCoin sono una cosa brutta e cattiva Money quote: "In 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto served the world an entirely new kind of currency. It was one that people could move over the internet instantaneously and nearly free of charge." https://medium.com/mit-technology-review/lets-destroy-bitcoin-3211861ce7a3

Al confine tra Usa e Canada due americani di origine messicana parlano spagnolo. E vengono arrestati. Motivo? Parlano spagnolo. Money quote: "“We were just talking, and then I was going to pay,” Suda told The Washington Post. “I looked up and saw the agent, and then after that, he just requested my ID. I looked at him like, ‘Are you serious?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, very serious.’ ” Suda said she felt uncomfortable and began recording the encounter with her cellphone after they had moved into the parking lot. In the video Suda recorded, she asks the agent why he is detaining them, and he says it is specifically because he heard them speaking Spanish. “Ma’am, the reason I asked you for your ID is because I came in here, and I saw that you guys are speaking Spanish, which is very unheard of up here,” the agent can be heard saying in the video." https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/post-nation/wp/2018/05/20/a-border-patrol-agent-detained-two-u-s-citizens-at-a-gas-station-after-hearing-them-speak-spanish/

Una volta era lo standard del giornalismo americano. Adesso sta morendo male. Time, il gruppo e il settimanale, raccontato in una agghiacciante storia orale. Money quote: "There were gentlemen writers and editors and women researchers who stayed up late and often had affairs. People just stayed in the office and would make drinks, or people would go out to long dinners. You felt like you were in some movie version of an elegant magazine." https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/05/19/business/media/time-inc-oral-history.html

Domenica artistica. Ecco Sleep, l'opera fuori di testa del pittore Vincent Desiderio che ha fatto da ispirazione per il video fuori di testa di Kayne West del 2016. Money quote: ""When we make a painting we are building a psychologically charged sensual space of possibilities," Desiderio said in a 2014 interview with Painting Perceptions. "We can build it as a prison or as an observatory. I prefer the latter."" https://www.npr.org/2016/07/03/484402517/a-chat-with-the-painter-whose-work-inspired-kanye-wests-famous http://www.thefader.com/2016/06/25/vincente-desiderio-sleep-kanye-west-famous-video http://www.thefader.com/2016/06/24/kanye-wests-famous-video-premiere-stream

Un progetto interessante: una macchina fotografica e una stampante. Nel mezzo, una rete neurale. Le foto sono in realtà disegni fatti dal computer... Money quote: "Instant cameras are a classic that still delights today. There is something eternally amusing about a physical, unique image, that is uniquely different to digital. Playing with neural networks for object recognition one day, I wondered if I could take the concept of an instant camera one step further, and ask the camera to re-interpret the image, printing out a cartoon instead of a faithful photograph." http://danmacnish.com/2018/07/01/draw-this/

L'articolo è particolarmente critico sull'ignoranza apparente di Mark Zuckerberg relativamente alle cose che hanno a che fare con il giornalismo. Non sono completamente d'accordo però. Comunque, lettura affascinante. Money quote: "Zuckerberg runs a media company that distributes news, but doesn’t have a proper newsroom. He runs a media company that has—with Google’s help—dominated the vast majority of digital ad dollars and eviscerated the journalism industry’s business model, all while preaching about the importance of journalism. He runs a media company that, he says, believes deeply in the need to sustain independent journalism, but won’t pay publishers to license journalistic content. And he runs a media company that has decided to show its users less news from professional outlets—it’s really not what people want to see, he says—in favor of more individual opinions." https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/05/mark-zuckerberg-doesnt-understand-journalism/559424/