Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #345

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 (BitCurrent, Year One Labs, GigaOM, Human 2.0, Solve For Interesting, the author of Complete Web Monitoring, Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks and Lean Analytics), Hugh McGuire (PressBooks, LibriVox, iambik and co-author of Book: A Futurist's Manifesto) 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: 

So You Want to Flee the City and Become a Farmer - CityLab - The Atlantic . "This week, the election news settled in, and a lot of people started talking about what to do. California wanted to secede, particularly with the federal government, saying it would pull $1B from the state for its sanctuary cities. Lots of people wanted to move to Canada, so we politely grew a hedge. Some folks wanted to be self-sustaining -- which sounds nice when you care about your carefully-sourced, hand-picked Third Wave espresso. But what's it really like? 'We wouldn't do it if we didn't love it, but it is backbreaking work for little pay.' This is why there aren't more farmers." (Alistair for Hugh).
Doomsday Prep For The Super-Rich - The New Yorker . "Okay, maybe hard work and early bedtimes aren't for you. More of a Mad Max type? Think you could be Jason Bourne, Krav-Maga-ing deer for your food? Perhaps three years at Burning Man made you feel like you could live off the grid? Well, you're not alone. 'My current state of mind is oscillating between optimism and sheer terror'--this from Tim Chang, Managing Director of VC heavyweight Mayfield." (Alistair for Mitch).
Seymour Hersh Blasts Media For Uncritically Promoting Russian Hacking Story - The Intercept . "Legendary investigative reporter, Seymour Hersh, is ... legendary. He was probably always a grumpy old man, and even more so now. What does he think of this whole Trump/Russia thing? He thinks the press are lazy for parroting CIA assessments with no proof. He's no fan of Trump though, and says we haven't seen such a (verbal) assault on the media from governments since the 1930s. But, on the other hand, he thinks that Trump may have exploded the Democratic party, which might not be such a bad idea. So, Russia is overblown, Trump sounds like a 1930s dictator, and the threats to democracy have never been greater. Yay us!" (Hugh for Alistair).
Proof that life is getting better for humanity, in 5 charts - Vox . "I'm the resident pessimist in this trio (with lots of fodder these days!). But, it's good to remember that data shows us that at least some things getting better, much better. Who you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?" (Hugh for Mitch).
How statistics lost their power - and why we should fear what comes next - The Guardian . "Maybe the data does lie? Here's a fascinating (and long) read about the state of statistics in a world where the data can't (really) understand humans and our strange(ish) behavior. The good news is that big data might be able to save the statistics world. The bad news is that big data is big business for many growing private companies. So, what are you going to do when private companies know much more about you than government (hint: they already do, but this is going to scale and it's going to be scary). This is either really good... or really bad news. Place your bets." (Mitch for Alistair).
How Being Bored Out Of Your Mind Makes You More Creative - Wired . "Staring into space. Staring at the tiled wall in the shower. Having nothing to do as you wander the local mall. It's easy to feel like you're not getting much done. It's easy to think that the most successful people that we know are busy, busy, busy. Stop. Stop. Stop. 'Lean into being bored'... you may find your best ideas loafing around there." (Mitch for Hugh).

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

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