Mitch Joel's Blog: Six Pixels of Separation, page 109

Six Links Worthy of Your Attention #549

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (Solve for Interesting, Tilt the Windmill, Interesting Bits, HBS, chair of Strata, Startupfest, FWD50, and Scaletechconf; author of Lean Analytics and some other books), Hugh McGuire (Rebus Foundation, PressBooks, LibriVox) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person “must see.”

Check out these six links that we’re recommending to one another: 

Reverse Engineering the source code of the BioNTech/Pfizer SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine – Berthhub.eu. “From the ridiculous (see below) to the sublime. The BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine is only 4284 characters long. This is an amazing explanation of how this new type of vaccine works, broken down character-by-character. I learned a lot—for example, DNA is like more permanent flash memory, RNA is like volatile RAM. And while it is made of four ‘letters’—A, C, G and U—the vaccine replaces U with Ψ (1-methyl-3’-pseudouridylyl) which makes our immune system completely miss the fact that this is a foreign invader. If you have a working knowledge of computers, prepare to be astonished by how much genomics is like programming. Just, wow.” (Alistair for Hugh).
Dave Barry’s Year in Review 2020 – The Washington Post Magazine . “Dave Barry‘s a pretty good chronicler of our times. Here’s his wrap-up of this annus horribilus. ‘Compared to 2020, all previous years, even the Disco Era, were the golden age of human existence.’ If you feel like 2020 was both instantaneous monotony, and took ten years to unfold, well, here’s a blow-by-blow breakdown of what you missed. What’s astonishing to me, is how much the Internet and a pandemic have shifted our norms—events that would topple an administration in the mid-nineties are now just a 24-hour news cycle.” (Alistair for Mitch).
How Americans Came to Distrust Science – Boston Review . “Skepticism of science has a long history everywhere, and the US in particular. This distrust of science has taken hold not just in the (Christian) Right, where science is often seen as an insidious tool used to promulgate a liberal agenda; but also on the (radical) Left, where science is often seen as a conservative force used to maintain existing power structures to the exclusion of others. In some ways both ideas are true, as well as the more ‘standard’ idea: science offers our best method of solving some of the most critical challenges of the present and future.” (Hugh for Alistair).
How a gorilla got on the International Space Station – BBC News . “You know what the International Space Station needs more of? I do.” (Hugh for Mitch).
In a pandemic we learn again what Sartre meant by being free – Psyche . “During this pandemic, I heard a lot of people saying things like, ‘it’s my right to…’ or… ’nobody said it was illegal…’ or… ‘This is what freedom means to me…’ All lovely thoughts. All fair. All ’true’… to some extent. What is a personal ‘right’ or ‘freedom’ isn’t always what’s best for the rest of us. So, what is freedom? Is freedom about your own, personal rights/choices or what’s best for society at large? We’re seeing this paradox of ‘freedom’ play out in real time. And, if you’re asking me, people are not really able to ‘read the room’ when it comes to expressing their personal freedom when the world gets shifted by something like a pandemic. Freedom also looks like privilege, selfishness, and narcissism all mixed and displayed on Facebook for the world to see (probably not the best of looks when we look back on this moment in time).”  (Mitch for Alistair).
Is Substack The Media Future We Want? The New Yorker . “Here’s another meaty and fascinating piece on the future of publishing and media. The focus is on Substack, but it’s the same kinds of questions that many people were asking when blogging first took hold. Same challenges… different platforms. That, coupled with the current sentiments that the media publishers are dealing with, presents us with this engaging deep dive into what we will think of when we look for news…” (Mitch for Hugh).

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.

Are you interested in what’s next? How to decode the future? I publish between 2-3 times per week and then the Six Pixels of Separation Podcast comes out every Sunday. Feel free to subscribe (and tell your friends ;): 

Julie Zhou On Becoming A Manager – This Week’s Six Pixels of Separation Podcast

Episode #755 of Six Pixels of Separation is now live and ready for you to listen to.

Some managers work their way into the position after years of working for other leaders. Many managers, these days, are thrust into the position. That was Julie Zhou. Julie loves learning about people. As one of Silicon Valley’s top product design executives, she leads the teams behind some of the most popular web and mobile services used by billions of people around the world. Julie writes about technology, great user experiences, and leadership on her popular blog, The Year of the Looking Glass, as well as publications like the New York Times and Fast Company. She lives with her husband and three children in Silicon Valley. She was the first intern at Facebook, became a manager there at 25, and left recently after ascending to the position of Vice President of Product & Design. She was there for close to fifteen years. She published her first book, The Making of a Manager – What to Do When Everyone Looks to You, as a way to help new managers figure out their role, and how to help others. Enjoy the conversation…

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation #755.

Before you go… if you enjoyed this, please subscribe (all new content arrives in your inbox). It’s easy, it’s free and it’s right here.

SPOS #755 – Julie Zhou On Becoming A Manager

Welcome to episode #755 of Six Pixels of Separation.

Here it is: Six Pixels of Separation – Episode #755 – Host: Mitch Joel. Some managers work their way into the position after years of working for other leaders. Many managers, these days, are thrust into the position. That was Julie Zhou. Julie loves learning about people. As one of Silicon Valley’s top product design executives, she leads the teams behind some of the most popular web and mobile services used by billions of people around the world. Julie writes about technology, great user experiences, and leadership on her popular blog, The Year of the Looking Glass, as well as publications like the New York Times and Fast Company. She lives with her husband and three children in Silicon Valley. She was the first intern at Facebook, became a manager there at 25, and left recently after ascending to the position of Vice President of Product & Design. She was there for close to fifteen years. She published her first book, The Making of a Manager – What to Do When Everyone Looks to You, as a way to help new managers figure out their role, and how to help others. Enjoy the conversation…

Running time: 1:00:17.
Hello from beautiful Montreal.
Subscribe over at iTunes.
Please visit and leave comments on the blog – Six Pixels of Separation.
Feel free to connect to me directly on Facebook here: Mitch Joel on Facebook.
or you can connect on LinkedIn.
…or on Twitter.
Here is my conversation with Julie Zhou.
The Making of a Manager – What to Do When Everyone Looks to You.
The Year of the Looking Glass.
Follow Julie on Twitter.
Follow Julie on Substack.
This week’s music: David Usher ‘St. Lawrence River’.

Download the Podcast here: Six Pixels of Separation – Episode #755 – Host: Mitch Joel.

Before you go… if you enjoyed this, please subscribe (all new content arrives in your inbox). It’s easy, it’s free and it’s right here.

Six Links Worthy of Your Attention #548

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (Solve for Interesting, Tilt the Windmill, Interesting Bits, HBS, chair of Strata, Startupfest, FWD50, and Scaletechconf; author of Lean Analytics and some other books), Hugh McGuire (Rebus Foundation, PressBooks, LibriVox) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person “must see.”

Check out these six links that we’re recommending to one another: 

Scam the Scalpers? eBay Vigilantes Are Selling Pics of RTX 3060 Tis – Tom’s Hardware. “New video cards sell out fast. They’re not quite up there with sneaker drops, but gamers who want the latest and greatest will pay top dollar—so of course, scalpers buy them up with automated purchasing tools, then sell them for a hefty profit. Turns out there’s an arms race between these buying bots, and accounts selling photos of the card that are designed to trick them. More shades of things to come.” (Alistair for Hugh).
Debunking Fake Videos & Who’s behind 5-min crafts? – How To Cook That – YouTube . “Have you noticed that social feeds are filling up with five-minute cooking hacks? They’re mostly ridiculous, and often outright lies. I went looking for an explanation of the rise of these 5-minute-craft posts, and found this video by How To Cook That‘s Ann Reardon, which explains the economics and business model. Fascinating ‘weak signal’ of things to come with fakery and bite-sized spectacle.” (Alistair for Mitch).
Fermilab and partners achieve sustained, high-fidelity quantum teleportation – Fermilab . “US Department of Energy scientists have successfully teleported qubits of photons, by achieving ‘disembodied’ transfer of quantum states from one location to another over 44km.” (Hugh for Alistair). 
Pink Floyd – Making The Dark Side of The Moon – HDPinkFloyd – YouTube . “Here’s an amazing documentary about the making of one of the great rock n’ roll albums of all time, Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd. Whether or not you are a Pink Floyd fan, this short docco is just fascinating.” (Hugh for Mitch). 
The lost art of deep listening: Choose an album. Lose the phone. Close your eyes. – Los Angeles Times . “Those were some magical moments, back when I was a teenager. It was one of the few (and easy) ways to escape. Grab a new album (preferably one that you were waiting a long time to hear), plug in some headphones, dim the lights, and just sit there with the music (maybe light some candles). Let it soak over you like a warm bath. It didn’t matter if it was vinyl, cassette or even CD. It was all about the headphones, eyes closed, and being alone in the dark for an extended period of time with the music. It was time travel. It was some kind of travel. In the streaming age, it’s too easy to build a playlist or hop from song to song or artist to artist. Choose just one album. Top to bottom. Try this out. It will take a lot of what’s bothering you and make it all go away. I promise.” (Mitch for Alistair).
Reading, That Strange and Uniquely Human Thing – Nautilus . “How did we become such a unique species? A tough question to answer. Many more questions than answers. Now, focus in on reading. How did that happen? We read. We encourage our kids to read. If you can’t read, it makes functioning in our society a tough ride. So, how did this all come to be? Reading. It’s something that I may have taken for granted, and this is a fascinating journey into how reading makes us human… and being a human has a lot to do with the fact that we read…” (Mitch for Hugh).

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.

Are you interested in what’s next? How to decode the future? I publish between 2-3 times per week and then the Six Pixels of Separation Podcast comes out every Sunday. Feel free to subscribe (and tell your friends ;): 

Todd Henry On Motivation And Drive – This Week’s Six Pixels of Separation Podcast

Episode #754 of Six Pixels of Separation is now live and ready for you to listen to.

There is no doubt that when it comes to writing business books on the creative process and how it flows in business today, Todd Henry is the gold standard. He bills himself as “an arms dealer for the creative revolution,” and that’s just one of his creative ways to describe what he really does. With his latest book, The Motivation Code – Discover the Hidden Forces That Drive Your Best Work, Todd has teamed up with three other co-authors, dug deep into the research, and is presenting a new perspective on what it takes to really get things done (there’s an assessment and more, as well). His first book, The Accidental Creative (also the name of his incredible podcast) was followed by Die Empty (one of the best business book titles ever!), then came, Louder Than Words, which was followed by Herding Tigers. Todd sees The Motivation Code as a shift in direction and his focus. So, if you’re curious to learn more about what drives you… and what drives everyone around you, you do not want to miss this. Enjoy the conversation…

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation #754.

Before you go… if you enjoyed this, please subscribe (all new content arrives in your inbox). It’s easy, it’s free and it’s right here.

SPOS #754 – Todd Henry On Motivation And Drive

Welcome to episode #754 of Six Pixels of Separation.

Here it is: Six Pixels of Separation – Episode #754 – Host: Mitch Joel. There is no doubt that when it comes to writing business books on the creative process and how it flows in business today, Todd Henry is the gold standard. He bills himself as “an arms dealer for the creative revolution,” and that’s just one of his creative ways to describe what he really does. With his latest book, The Motivation Code – Discover the Hidden Forces That Drive Your Best Work, Todd has teamed up with three other co-authors, dug deep into the research, and is presenting a new perspective on what it takes to really get things done (there’s an assessment and more, as well). His first book, The Accidental Creative (also the name of his incredible podcast) was followed by Die Empty (one of the best business book titles ever!), then came, Louder Than Words, which was followed by Herding Tigers. Todd sees The Motivation Code as a shift in direction and his focus. So, if you’re curious to learn more about what drives you… and what drives everyone around you, you do not want to miss this. Enjoy the conversation…  

Running time: 53:07.
Hello from beautiful Montreal.
Subscribe over at iTunes.
Please visit and leave comments on the blog – Six Pixels of Separation.
Feel free to connect to me directly on Facebook here: Mitch Joel on Facebook.
or you can connect on LinkedIn.
…or on Twitter.
Here is my conversation with Todd Henry.
The Accidental Creative Podcast.
The Motivation Code – Discover the Hidden Forces That Drive Your Best Work.
The Accidental Creative
Die Empty.
Louder Than Words.
Herding Tigers.
Follow Todd on Instagram.
Follow Todd on LinkedIn.
Follow Todd on Twitter.
This week’s music: David Usher ‘St. Lawrence River’.

Download the Podcast here: Six Pixels of Separation – Episode #754 – Host: Mitch Joel.

Before you go… if you enjoyed this, please subscribe (all new content arrives in your inbox). It’s easy, it’s free and it’s right here.

Six Links Worthy of Your Attention #547

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (Solve for Interesting, Tilt the Windmill, Interesting Bits, HBS, chair of Strata, Startupfest, FWD50, and Scaletechconf; author of Lean Analytics and some other books), Hugh McGuire (Rebus Foundation, PressBooks, LibriVox) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person “must see.”

Check out these six links that we’re recommending to one another: 

Good Shepherds  – The Believer. “I’ve been reading a lot on AI, and emergent properties of complex systems, and chaos theory, lately. I think it explains much of what we’re going through as a society, part of a transition from analog to digital creatures. I’ve struggled to put these thoughts into sensible order. Turns out I needn’t have tried, because this stunningly good piece by Meghan O’Gieblyn does it beautifully. Several times while reading it, I found myself nearly yelling, ‘get out of my brain!’ Brilliant and thoughtful.” (Alistair for Hugh).
Are These Effin’ Birds From Canada Fucking With American Democracy? – Reason . “I had not heard of Effin’ Birds. But as a proud Canadian, I approve this message.” (Alistair for Mitch).
The Internet of Beefs – Ribbon Farm . “This was written in January 2020, before the somewhat crazy world went off the deep end, and woosh does it get at something: at how the web, and culture, are now driven by the Internet of Beefs (IoB), an Internet of perpetual conflict where ‘celebrity knights’ engage in high-profile public beefs, with armies of feudal ‘mooks’ (regular folk) rallying to the flags of their chosen knights, and engaging in thousands and millions of mini battles as standard-bearers for their causes. It gets deeper than this, pointing to a deep loss of history, and unmooring from a future we understand.” (Hugh for Alistair).
Charlie Munger – CalTech interview – December 2020 – Compounding Knowledge . “I’ve come back to Charlie Munger (and his more famous business partner, Warren Buffett) many times in these links, because I love the way these old, arch-capitalists cut through the noise and bullshit of our crazy world. Munger is particularly fun to listen to because he’s less generous with his words, and much grouchier than Buffet – so every remark lands with an economy that’s rare to hear.” (Hugh for Mitch).
2020 In “WTF” Science News – Inverse . “I know how much you like stories that involve science… but, what about WTF stories about science? You are welcome…” (Mitch for Alistair).
A Collection of Music To Listen To While Reading – Book Riot . “I have a playlist titled, Read, Write & Think. It’s a long one, and it is ever-evolving. It’s (mostly) jazz, some classical, some instrumental, and various other weird kinds of music (that I like). The trick is – for me at least – that it can’t have vocals in it – or musical lines that ‘feel’ like lyrics. I can’t focus on my reading (or writing) if it has vocals in it. Hard stop. Then, an article like this comes along (filled with tons of music to listen to). So, if you’re a little like me, and love to listen to music (without vocals) while you read and/or write, here’s a little something for you…” (Mitch for Hugh).

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.

Are you interested in what’s next? How to decode the future? I publish between 2-3 times per week and then the Six Pixels of Separation Podcast comes out every Sunday. Feel free to subscribe (and tell your friends ;): 

Big Movies Go Directly To Streaming And More On CHOM 97.7 FM

Every Monday morning at 7:10 am, I am on air at CHOM 97.7 FM radio out of Montreal (home base). It’s not a long segment – about 10 minutes every week – to decode the future. We discuss everything that is happening in the world of technology, digital media and culture. The good folks at CHOM 97.7 FM are posting these segments weekly on i Heart Radio, if you’re interested in hearing more about what’s happening in the transformation of our digital world. I’m really excited about these weekly hits, because this is the radio station that I grew up listening to, and it really is a fun treat to be invited to the Mornings Rock with Terry DiMonte morning show. The segment is called, CTRL ALT Delete with Mitch Joel.

This week we discussed:

Don’t panic if your Google products (Gmail, YouTube, etc…) are down. Google is experiencing a large outage this morning. I thought I was hacked. It’s not me… it’s them.
As the year comes to a close and we head into the Holiday Season, why not take some time to clean-up and declutter your computer and smartphone. You won’t just feel better, it will make your tech run better and faster.
Speaking of staying in for the holidays. Warner Brothers says that all of their 2021 films will be streamed right away. This has massive implications for the movie theater business, but another sign that disruption is everywhere. How do you feel about movies being released on streaming services at the same time as they come out in a movie theatre? Dune, The Matrix 4, Godzilla vs. Kong, and many other hotly anticipated big flicks are coming soon! 
App of the Week: Duet – turn you iOs or Android device into a second display for your Mac and PC for about $20.

You can also listen in via I Heart Radio.

Mitch Joel · CTRL ALT Delete – CHOM 97.7 FM – December 14th, 2020

Before you go… if you enjoyed this, please subscribe (all new content arrives in your inbox). It’s easy, it’s free and it’s right here.

Dr. Stefanie Johnson On Uniqueness, Inclusivity And Innovation – This Week’s Six Pixels of Separation Podcast

Episode #753 of Six Pixels of Separation is now live and ready for you to listen to.

Dr. Stefanie K. Johnson is an author, professor, and speaker who studies the intersection of leadership and diversity. She is focused on how unconscious bias affects the evaluation of leaders, and strategies that leaders can use to mitigate bias. If I’ve learned anything in the past little while, it’s that unconscious bias affects all of us. Her recently-published book, Inclusify – Harnessing the power of uniqueness and belonging to build innovative teams, shares the surprising ways the leaders undermine inclusion and provides actionable ways that leaders can pivot to build more inclusive teams. Stefanie is a member of the MG 100 Coaches and was selected for the 2020 Thinkers50 Radar List, comprising 30 international management scholars whose work will shape the future of how organizations are managed and led. She works with the best companies in the world to create more inclusive leaders. She has extensive consulting experience and has created and delivered leadership development training with an emphasis on evidence-based practice. She is an associate professor at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business focused on leadership and inclusion. She is a fellow in the Society of Industrial Organizational Psychologists and the American Psychological Society. She is also passionate about disseminating her work more broadly and has taught two LinkedIn Learning courses on how to increase diversity and inclusion in corporations. Enjoy the conversation…

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation #753.

Before you go… if you enjoyed this, please subscribe (all new content arrives in your inbox). It’s easy, it’s free and it’s right here.

SPOS #753 – Dr. Stefanie Johnson On Uniqueness, Inclusivity And Innovation

Welcome to episode #753 of Six Pixels of Separation.

Here it is: Six Pixels of Separation – Episode #753 – Host: Mitch Joel. Dr. Stefanie K. Johnson is an author, professor, and speaker who studies the intersection of leadership and diversity. She is focused on how unconscious bias affects the evaluation of leaders, and strategies that leaders can use to mitigate bias. If I’ve learned anything in the past little while, it’s that unconscious bias affects all of us. Her recently-published book, Inclusify – Harnessing the power of uniqueness and belonging to build innovative teams, shares the surprising ways the leaders undermine inclusion and provides actionable ways that leaders can pivot to build more inclusive teams. Stefanie is a member of the MG 100 Coaches and was selected for the 2020 Thinkers50 Radar List, comprising 30 international management scholars whose work will shape the future of how organizations are managed and led. She works with the best companies in the world to create more inclusive leaders. She has extensive consulting experience and has created and delivered leadership development training with an emphasis on evidence-based practice. She is an associate professor at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business focused on leadership and inclusion. She is a fellow in the Society of Industrial Organizational Psychologists and the American Psychological Society. She is also passionate about disseminating her work more broadly and has taught two LinkedIn Learning courses on how to increase diversity and inclusion in corporations. Enjoy the conversation…

Running time: 52:34.
Hello from beautiful Montreal.
Subscribe over at iTunes.
Please visit and leave comments on the blog – Six Pixels of Separation.
Feel free to connect to me directly on Facebook here: Mitch Joel on Facebook.
or you can connect on LinkedIn.
…or on Twitter.
Here is my conversation with Dr. Stefanie K. Johnson.
Inclusify – Harnessing the power of uniqueness and belonging to build innovative teams.
Leeds School of Business.
Stefanie’s LinkedIn Learning courses.
Follow Stefanie on Instagram.
Follow Stefanie on Twitter.
This week’s music: David Usher ‘St. Lawrence River’.

Download the Podcast here: Six Pixels of Separation – Episode #753 – Host: Mitch Joel.

Before you go… if you enjoyed this, please subscribe (all new content arrives in your inbox). It’s easy, it’s free and it’s right here.