Mitch Joel's Blog: Six Pixels of Separation, page 120

Steven Levy On Facebook And Tech’s Greatest Challenges – This Week’s Six Pixels of Separation Podcast

Episode #729 of Six Pixels of Separation is now live and ready for you to listen to.

At the beginning of the commercialization of technology, Steven Levy was there and reporting on it. He still is. Steven is Wired’s editor at large. The Washington Post has called him “America’s premier technology journalist.” His previous positions include founder of Backchannel and chief technology writer and senior editor for Newsweek. Steven has written seven previous books and his work has appeared in Rolling Stone, Harper’s Magazine, The New York Times Magazine, and everywhere in between. He is the author of incredibly insightful books like Hackers – Heroes of the Computer Revolution, Insanely Great – The Story of Macintosh, the Computer That Changed Everything, In the Plex – How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives and many others. Most recently, he published, Facebook – The Inside Story, where he had unprecedented access to Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg for three years. This book is the definitive history of one of the world’s most powerful and controversial companies, especially these days. How should we see Facebook and other technologies? What does the future have in store for us? 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 #729.

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 #729 – Steven Levy On Facebook And Tech’s Greatest Challenges

Welcome to episode #729 of Six Pixels of Separation.

Here it is: Six Pixels of Separation – Episode #729 – Host: Mitch Joel. At the beginning of the commercialization of technology, Steven Levy was there and reporting on it. He still is. Steven is Wired’s editor at large. The Washington Post has called him “America’s premier technology journalist.” His previous positions include founder of Backchannel and chief technology writer and senior editor for Newsweek. Steven has written seven previous books and his work has appeared in Rolling Stone, Harper’s Magazine, The New York Times Magazine, and everywhere in between. He is the author of incredibly insightful books like Hackers – Heroes of the Computer Revolution, Insanely Great – The Story of Macintosh, the Computer That Changed Everything, In the Plex – How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives and many others. Most recently, he published, Facebook – The Inside Story, where he had unprecedented access to Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg for three years. This book is the definitive history of one of the world’s most powerful and controversial companies, especially these days. How should we see Facebook and other technologies? What does the future have in store for us? Enjoy the conversation…

Running time: 59:10.
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 Seven Levy.
Facebook – The Inside Story.
In the Plex – How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives.
Insanely Great – The Story of Macintosh, the Computer That Changed Everything.
Hackers – Heroes of the Computer Revolution.
Wired.
Steven on Twitter.
This week’s music: David Usher ‘St. Lawrence River’.

Download the Podcast here: Six Pixels of Separation – Episode #729 – 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 #522

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: 

The Web Falls Apart – Baldur Bjarnason . “In the early days, we thought the price of social media was seeing a few ads. Turns out that the price was more like a complete upheaval of democracy as we know it. The biggest online platforms combine global reach with ravenous algorithms desperate for our attention. So, it’s no surprise that as these modern-day town squares struggle with free speech, surveillance capitalism, and regulation, they’re coming apart. Dozens of new, niche platforms have sprung up to bridge our social distancing. This piece from 2019 is interesting in hindsight.” (Alistair for Hugh).
6 lessons learned to get ready for the next wave of Covid – DJ Patil – Medium . “Since we started doing this nearly a decade ago, we’ve studiously avoided political links. And I’ve been trying to avoid Pandemic-related ones, too, since there are far better sources than me. Well, one of those sources is DJ Patil, who I’ve come to know over the years through O’Reilly Media. DJ was Obama’s Chief Data Scientist; and he’s spent the last hundred days working tirelessly with California, and governors of many states. For free. Oh, and he helped found LinkedIn‘s Data Science team. This clearly stated post doesn’t point blame—it points the way forward. I really hope our government up here in Canada is reading it too.” (Alistair for Mitch).
Tikanga- Fulu Miziki Kinshasa Music Warriors – YouTube . “A happy thing that I discovered this week was Fulu Miziki, a band from the Democratic Republic of Congo who play on instruments built from trash, and wear crazy costumes.” (Hugh for Alistair).
Fulu Miziki – Kinshasa’s Music Warriors – YouTube . “Once was not enough, so here’s some more from Fulu Miziki!” (Mitch for Hugh).
The travel industry will survive COVID-19, but with big changes – Fast Company . “You might think that airbnb is in trouble because of Covid 19. You would be wrong. You may think that flying by plane somewhere is going to be the same as it was (but with masks and temperature checks). You would be wrong. So much will change about travel until we can get this pandemic under control, and the virus (somewhat) resolved. This has had a massive (and surprising) impact on the the work that I do… and my reason for being. So… what phase of grieving does this find me in? Acceptance… maybe?” (Mitch for Alistair).
Being David Sedaris – BBC . “This one goes back a ways (it was recorded in the late 1990s and last close to three hours long), but it’s filled with brilliant moments of insights. What does it take to lead a creative life? David Sedaris knows. I’ve posted links about him (and his writing) here before… for good reason. If you need to ‘get away from it all,’ but want to understand the value of simply living your best life, this would be a fascinating place to start… If you like this and have access to his MasterClass, I’d tackle that one too.” (Mitch for Hugh).

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

Tweet Your Voice 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:

Do you think that your kids are addicted to video games? Well, the FDA in the US just approved a new prescription for kids with ADHD… and it’s a video game. Yes, the first prescription video game. It’s called Endeavor RX and, according to the company, “one-third of kids treated ‘no longer had a measurable attention deficit on at least one measure of objective attention’ after playing the obstacle-dodging, target-collecting game for 25 minutes a day, five days a week for four weeks.” The developers of the game very much wanted this to be the start of more prescription-based interventions that are not pills. 
Tweet your voice. Twitter is now letting you express yourself in more than 280 characters. Now, you have 140 seconds to speak your mind and record a tweet with your voice. Will you speak up? 
For someone like me who travels over 100K every year on a plane, Covid 19 has been… interesting. My last flight was at the end of February. What should people do who really miss the hustle and bustle of airports? Songshan Airport in Taiwan is opening for pretend vacations and flights. “The airport is hosting a tour that will allow people to go to the airport, without actually going anywhere. The half-day experience will include a tour of the airport, a mock immigration experience and finally, the chance to board and then disembark an airplane.” Do you miss travel that much? Will the lounge be open?
App of the Week: Hey – a new way to handle email from the makers of BaseCamp.

You can also listen in via I Heart Radio.

Mitch Joel · CTRL ATL Delete – CHOM FM – June 22nd, 2020

Alex Osterwalder On Building Invincible Companies – This Week’s Six Pixels of Separation Podcast

Episode #728 of Six Pixels of Separation is now live and ready for you to listen to.

I’ve been following his work for many years. Books like Business Model Generation, The Team Alignment Map, Value Proposition Design, Testing Business Ideas and more, are not just jam-packed with ideas, but are also visual stunning and hyper-graphical. Alex Osterwalder‘s passion for both making business better and business model creation is contagious. It’s hard not to think differently about business after spending any amount of time with his content. His company is called Strategyzer and they’ve also deployed the Business Model Canvas (along with many online courses). Most recently, Alex and I both took part in a multi-day online event called, SpeakAid 2020 (put together by another great thinker, Dan Pontefract). Out of the multi-day/many speaker event, I found Alex’s to be the best presentation (by far). With his latest book, The Invincible Company, Alex (along with his regular co-author and business partner, Yves Pigneur) are digging deep into how to constantly reinvent your business with inspiration from the world’s best business models. 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 #728.

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 #728 – Alex Osterwalder On Building Invincible Companies

Welcome to episode #728 of Six Pixels of Separation.

Here it is: Six Pixels of Separation – Episode #728 – Host: Mitch Joel. I’ve been following his work for many years. Books like Business Model Generation, The Team Alignment Map, Value Proposition Design, Testing Business Ideas and more, are not just jam-packed with ideas, but are also visual stunning and hyper-graphical. Alex Osterwalder‘s passion for both making business better and business model creation is contagious. It’s hard not to think differently about business after spending any amount of time with his content. His company is called Strategyzer and they’ve also deployed the Business Model Canvas (along with many online courses). Most recently, Alex and I both took part in a multi-day online event called, SpeakAid 2020 (put together by another great thinker, Dan Pontefract). Out of the multi-day/many speaker event, I found Alex’s to be the best presentation (by far). With his latest book, The Invincible Company, Alex (along with his regular co-author and business partner, Yves Pigneur) are digging deep into how to constantly reinvent your business with inspiration from the world’s best business models. Enjoy the conversation…

Running time: 55:47.
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 Alex Osterwalder.
The Invincible Company.
Business Model Generation.
Value Proposition Design.
Testing Business Ideas.
The Team Alignment Map.
Strategyzer.
Business Model Canvas.
Follow Alex on Instagram.
Follow Alex on Twitter.
This week’s music: David Usher ‘St. Lawrence River’.

Download the Podcast here: Six Pixels of Separation – Episode #728 – 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 #521

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: 

Memos – Sriram Krishnan . “Public communications are often sanitized. But memos and messages—from a CEO to employees, or from one competitor to another, or in the midst of politics—are fascinating. This collection of notable communications is well worth perusing.” (Alistair for Hugh).
Speak, Memory – The Verge . “When Eugenia Kuyda lost her husband, Roman, far too soon, she fed his past messages into a neural network at her AI startup, just to have one more chance to speak with him. Right out of a Black Mirror script, but real. The ethics and temptations to reanimate our friends is just dawning on us—could a Kardashian-obsessed fan create their own captive starlet? Could a digital doppelganger limit our ability to move on from tragedy?” (Alistair for Mitch).
Scientists develop AI that can turn brain activity into text – The Guardian . “We’re going to have to get even more careful about pressing (or thinking) send.” (Hugh for Alistair).
Epic and Honest Mobile Home Commercial – Rhett & Link -YouTube . “A great commercial.” (Hugh for Mitch).
How Humanity Has Unleashed a Flood of Zoonotic Diseases – The New York Times Magazine . “I am just as tired of everyone else from the measures that have been put in place during this Covid 19 pandemic. While I see some of the benefits (family, connections, slowing down…), it’s beginning to weigh on me. I want to get back to work (desperately). I want the kids to have their summer… and much, much more. It pains me that wearing masks have become politicized. It pains me that science is now questionable. It pains me that people are not listening to the science, and we’re seeing another spike in certain parts of the world. This article elevates the pandemic. It’s about humans and what we have done… and what we could do. Very interesting and timely read. I hope people read it thinking more about science and less about politics.” (Mitch for Alistair).
Joe Rogan Experience #1492 – Jocko Willink . “What does a country need? What does a divided country need? What does leadership look like? How do we solve problems of leadership? How do we get citizens to see one another as neighbors (and not the enemy). I don’t know what happened here, but for close to three hours I got sucked into this conversation. It made me realize a few things. One, Joe Rogan really is one of the most interesting and talented human beings alive today (from stand-up comedy and sport commentating to podcasting and acting and beyond). Two, Jocko Willink cuts right to the situation with pragmatic strategies (no time to mess around). Three, as a Canadian, there is just so much that I don’t understand about the US, their politics, racism, the concept of ‘freedom’ and more. Four, I need to keep listening to different voices and perspectives more often.” (Mitch for Hugh).

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

Everyone Is Tracking Your Phone 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 – about 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 of me blathering on about what’s happening in 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:

If you’re worried that Google and Facebook know everything about you, maybe you should be more worried about Tim Hortons (or any other app that you download)? Looks like you just ordered a double double of tracking, according to the Financial Post. If you’re concerned about data privacy, Tim Hortons knows all – from where you sleep, work and even vacation! They are not the only ones. Check which apps you have given permissions to with regards to your location, and delete all apps from your phone that you no longer use. 
Twitter developed a technology that prompts people to read articles before they share them. According to MIT Technology Review: “Someone who goes to retweet a link on Twitter without having clicked through to the story it leads to may be shown a pop-up message saying ‘Want to read this before retweeting?’ It’s currently available only in English for people using Twitter for Android.” This is what we have become. We need a technological innovation because we share things without actually reading them? People do this? I don’t do this. Why would I ever share anything that I haven’t read, thought about, and then considered it valuable enough of your time? Sharing something without reading it screams, “This must be important. I haven’t read it. You read it. Let me know…” It’s very lazy. 
App of the Week: Photoshop Camera.

You can also listen in via I Heart Radio.

Mitch Joel · CHOM FM – CTRL ALT Delete – June 15th, 2020

Emily Heyward On Building Brands That People Love – This Week’s Six Pixels of Separation Podcast

Episode #727 of Six Pixels of Separation is now live and ready for you to listen to.

I didn’t blink. I saw the title of Emily Heyward’s new book, Obsessed – Building a Brand People Love From Day One, and I knew it would be right for me. I wasn’t wrong. During Emily’s 12+ years building and running Red Antler (a branding agency for startups and new ventures), Emily has not only witnessed the landscape of business evolve, she has helped shape it. Now with Obsessed, she demonstrates why brands big and small have a hugely significant role to play in driving our culture, through times of great uncertainty and beyond. Since 2007, she’s worked closely with founders to develop purposeful, strategic visions for their companies and has led branding efforts for some of the most disruptive brands on the planet such as Casper, Allbirds, Boxed, and Prose. After beginning her career in advertising, Emily started Red Antler along with her co-founders to directly apply consumer insights and brand positioning to launching and growing new and beloved businesses. In 2018, Red Antler made Fast Company’s list of Most Innovative Companies in Marketing and Advertising and was dubbed the “cult brand whisperer.” Emily was named among the Most Important Entrepreneurs of the Decade by Inc. Magazine, and has also been recognized as a Top Female Founder by Inc. and one of Entrepreneur’s Most Powerful Women of 2019. Let’s get obsessed… 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 #727.

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 #727 – Emily Heyward On Building Brands That People Love

Welcome to episode #727 of Six Pixels of Separation.

Here it is: Six Pixels of Separation – Episode #727 – Host: Mitch Joel. I didn’t blink. I saw the title of Emily Heyward’s new book, Obsessed – Building a Brand People Love From Day One, and I knew it would be right for me. I wasn’t wrong. During Emily’s 12+ years building and running Red Antler (a branding agency for startups and new ventures), Emily has not only witnessed the landscape of business evolve, she has helped shape it. Now with Obsessed, she demonstrates why brands big and small have a hugely significant role to play in driving our culture, through times of great uncertainty and beyond. Since 2007, she’s worked closely with founders to develop purposeful, strategic visions for their companies and has led branding efforts for some of the most disruptive brands on the planet such as Casper, Allbirds, Boxed, and Prose. After beginning her career in advertising, Emily started Red Antler along with her co-founders to directly apply consumer insights and brand positioning to launching and growing new and beloved businesses. In 2018, Red Antler made Fast Company’s list of Most Innovative Companies in Marketing and Advertising and was dubbed the “cult brand whisperer.” Emily was named among the Most Important Entrepreneurs of the Decade by Inc. Magazine, and has also been recognized as a Top Female Founder by Inc. and one of Entrepreneur’s Most Powerful Women of 2019. Let’s get obsessed… Enjoy the conversation…

Running time: 54:51.
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 Emily Heyward.
Obsessed – Building a Brand People Love From Day One.
Red Antler.
Follow Emily on Instagram.
This week’s music: David Usher ‘St. Lawrence River’.

Download the Podcast here: Six Pixels of Separation – Episode #727 – 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.