Six Links Worthy of Your Attention #609

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: 

A Song of Shapes and Words – roon’s Newsletter. “Are you wordcel or shape rotator? Just what we needed: Another way to split humans in two. In 2015, Adam Zeman coined the term Aphantasia for people who can’t visualize objects in their heads. And Wordle has made us all boastful of our vocabularies. This post, by the person who encouraged the split into ‘word smart’ and ‘shape smart’ people, is enlightening. ‘Wordcel’ refers to people who are word-smart (the ‘word’ part) and yet frustrated that their intelligence hasn’t given them success (the ‘cel’ part, borrowing from ‘incel’.) It’s quite the nested portmanteau. And ‘shape rotator’ borrows from machine learning and AI as well as cognitive puzzles that test our ability to manipulate objects in our minds. Mostly, it’s just a way to criticize people who are neurologically different.” (Alistair for Hugh). Just Watch Me – 1970 – CBC – YouTube . “One of the most famous sentences in Canadian history. Confronted with a kidnapping of elected officials by separatists within his own country, Trudeau the Senior responds to reporters on the steps of Parliament. Everyone’s seen this, but I watched it again recently – given the events in Ottawa this month – and Trudeau the Junior‘s invocation of the Emergency Act. It’s seven minutes long, and worth watching, in part because of how Pierre — already a talented lawyer before entering politics — turns the questions back on the reporter. ‘What would you do?’ he wonders, leading the interviewer down a path. We don’t see this use of the Socratic Method enough in interviews, with politicians armed with talking points and worried about any sentence that might be taken out of context and amplified on social channels. Watch the whole interview, instead of the famous soundbite.” (Alistair for Mitch).  Defining Freedom In The Time of Covid – Alumni Webcast – McGill University . “A friend of mine is a public health official, and (legally!) we had a supper together recently. Talking about Covid, protests etc… He suggested this informative and objective discussion put on by McGill, with Pearl Eliadis, Lecturer in civil liberties at the Faculty of Law and Nicholas B. King, Biomedical Ethics Unit, Department of Epidemiology.” (Hugh for Alistair).  How Does Alberta, Canada, Stay Rat-Free? – Mental Floss . “I just learned that there are no rats in Alberta. How is that possible? Well, read on.” (Hugh for Mitch). Crypto + Copyright = – Cory Doctorow – OneZero – Medium . “I need a big pause button for all things politics, pandemics and… well… WAR! in the world these days. It’s getting very heavy for me. So, let’s turn to a lighter topic (but, still, one that should get most people hot under the collar): crypto, copyright, NFTs and… of course… cons! I love this piece, because Cory Doctorow always adds perspective and humor to things that most of us would simply roll our eyes at. Do I believe in the power of crypto, NFTs, Web3 and more? Absolutely! Is a lot of it still a three act clown show? Absolutely!” (Mitch for Alistair). Shopify’s Evolution – Stratechery . “I have a long-standing relationship with Shopify. I go way back – and have friendships – with the founders (and it precedes the company itself). With that, my only investment in the company came shortly after it went public and accessible to all. I do have regrets about opportunities before that, which I did not capitalize on. I was just too busy building my own thing, writing, podcasting and more. This article is a very long and in-depth book at the company. It’s worthy of a read, especially if you’re watching its current stock price (and wondering if it’s worthy of a purchase). I tend to not look too hard at the stock, but rather the management and the customers that are benefiting from the business. In this case, I have a much longer view on the value of Shopify. Most businesses will take about 5 to 10 years before they are successful. Imagine all of the businesses on Shopify that are just getting started (or getting close to that time range)? This is what keeps me bullish on this company and passionate about the things that they are creating.” (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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