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The weird normalcy of virtual friends

The weirdest thing about virtual friends is not that they exist any more – it’s the fact that they’re already socially accepted and integrated by most of us as part of everyday life.

I can remember almost 10 years ago, when I suggested to my then-girlfriend that I was going to Cambridge for an evening to play videogames with a group of people that I’d only ever spoken to online. She thought I might be slightly mad, which wasn’t helped by the host having the username ‘Spanx‘.

Not only did I return, but over the years we even hosted meetups at our house. Although I can’t blame my ex for scheduling a night out with her friends as we filled the house with consoles, TVs and projectors before 48+ hours of Halo and junk food.

Since Xbox Live and online gaming reduced the need to meet in person, I’ve regularly hung with a new group of people, spread out over a wider area. Some are friends offline, but some I’ve never even seen in pictures, let alone in real life. And yet I speak to them more than most of my offline friends and family.

But whereas people would look at me curiously and consider it slightly odd just a few short years ago, it’s now seemingly acceptable amongst most of the people I know. The growth of social networks, the huge surge in online gaming, and the introduction to friends of friends online means that most of us have connections which are somewhat tenuous. And even non-existent beyond a shared hobby or passion.

In related news, I recently had a message from my American friend Jon, who I met when studying in the U.S in the late ’90s, and who I last saw about 5 years ago when he was on a family vacation. He and his wife Jess left their jobs to see the world in 2012, and came to stay for a few days in the Fens – having lost his phone number when I originally left America, it was only when I happened to spot him on Myspace originally, and then Facebook, that we were able to stay in touch – despite being one of my favourite people to spend time drinking whisky with..

You should check out their new blog, Seeking Fireflies and encourage them to keep going!

 

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Nice interview with Joss Whedon on getting things done…

I’m a big fan of pretty much everything Joss Whedon has done, so it’s interesting to hear him talk about how he manages to do it all. And particularly as he admits to not finishing David Allen’s ‘Getting Things Done’. I’ve had a similar experience with 7 Habits of Effective People…

The full text is at Fast Company.

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Post for admin purposes only

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The real problem with Google closing Reader

So Google Reader will close at the end of this month, and something has really stood out for me in this article on the closure by Wired.

They quote Richard Gingras, senior director, News and Social Products at Google;

“Users with smartphones and tablets are consuming news in bits and bites throughout the course of the day — replacing the old standard behaviours of news consumption over breakfast along with a leisurely read at the end of the day.”

Unfortunately, there are significant benefits to the old standard behaviours in this case. Consuming news in bits and bites is deeply inefficient, as all the studies on multitasking have found. Check out the handy Wikipedia page on Multitasking for a number of references:

Mayer and Moreno have studied the phenomenon of cognitive load in multimedia learning extensively and have concluded that it is difficult, and possibly impossible to learn new information while engaging in multitasking.

I’m pretty sure that in a company as educated as Google, more than one person must realise that swapping a tool which allows you to focus and concentrate on accumulating learning and knowledge for odd grabbed bits of news throughout the day is going to actually lessen what people get from them.

So the logical conclusion has to be that Google doesn’t care if people get stupider, as long as they’re continuing to use Google Now/Google+/Google Search to do it.

Having used Reader for several years, I decided to use the closure announcement as an experiment to see how I could potentially function just by other information sources (mainly social networks and email). My conclusion is that although I’ve been able to still keep up with a superficial overview of my interests, it requires wading through a lot of social updates (which may or may not be of interest) to try and find something relevant. And that’s further cluttered by recommendations from each network which are blatantly a load of old cobblers.

At the same time, there are 2-3 email newsletters I really value, but these are collated links which can be weeks or months old. Great for discovering hidden gems I missed at the time, but not so helpful for keeping up with the latest news and articles on a subject.

In short, as someone who works in an information-heavy industry as a content producer as well as consumer, there is no adequate substitute for a decent RSS reader of relevant feeds, and the options for replacing Google Reader with something that does the job as well are sorely limited. It makes it harder to focus on learning, harder to maintain my own sites and point people to great new articles, and removes the pleasurable experience of a relaxing Sunday morning spent with great writing from around the web.

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Why youthful potential is often best squandered…

There’s a cult of youth almost everywhere you look. In entertainment, sport, business and even academia, it’s all about rising stars and the best under-30. The media jumps to celebrate the next Wunderkind who goes to university at age 9 or builds a new social networking application that changes the world in their teens.

But as even the most lenient age bracket on surveys reminds me I’m no longer in my youth, I’ve found reassurance in a new philosophy. That actually for a happier life, it’s better to have left youthful potential unrealised thanks to the various social temptations.

Imagine for a moment that I wasn’t hampered by a lack of athletic ability, and had become a top football or Formula 1 driver. Imagine further that I’d not only been one of that small percentage that can enjoy a career in sport, but had been part of an even smaller group that won championships. Statistically that would have happened in my 20s. And it’s unlikely to have continued at the highest level in my 30s, even if many sportsman do extend their youth by accidentally spreading later and later birthdays.

Now I’d be looking back on my achievements in the knowledge nothing else would ever be likely to match up to them. Will Mark Zuckerberg launch a new project that matches up to Facebook?

Whereas in reality, I regret not pursuing some youthful endeavours with more effort, but there’s no indication I would have excelled in any notable way.

But the big benefit is that by not fulfilling my maximum potential, there’s a good chance the best is yet to come when I dedicate myself. There’s a real possibility I could be fitter, healthier and more successful by the time I’m 40 than I ever managed in my 20s, and I’m much better placed to appreciate both the journey and the reward.

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More June reading with Gibson and Stross

Following up on yesterday’s graphic novel purchases – I may have also purchased some books to read over the next month or so:

BooksforJune

They are:

 

So that’s my science fiction needs covered this month. I thought I’d covered all of William Gibson’s fiction until I recently unpacked and re-ordered my bookshelf and realised there were a couple missing – also including the non-fiction of Distrust which I’d had on my reading list for ages.

I’ve only read a few works  by Charlie Stross, but so far I’ve enjoyed them all. So looking forward to Rule 34, and also the Wireless collection of short stories.

Combine that with the need to watch all motorcycle racing (Currently the Isle of Man TT is on, plus the MotoGP, WSB and BSB series have started), and trying out the Lovefilm exclusive series Vikings (The beards and hairstyles make it feel like Sons of Anarchy in longboats…) I think that’s my leisure time spoken for…

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Some graphic reading…

When it comes to consuming entertainment, I reached the digital tipping point a long time ago. For cost, convenience, and the distance to occasionally refrain from adding impulse purchases, it’s much more convenient.

But it doesn’t mean that I am averse to buying physical products when I’m able. For instance, if I happen to be somewhere with a decent comic shop. Comics are one of the few forms of media which I personally still prefer in a print format.

ComicsforJune

Preacher Vol 4, Preacher Vol 5 and Transmetropolitan

Hence why a recent trip to Cambridge saw me return with:

Transmetropolitan was originally published in the late 90′s, and ended in 2002, written by Warren Ellis, and as the cyberpunk tale of a journalist in the future, has been on my list to read for ages.

Meanwhile the Preacher series, written by Garth Ennis, which ended in 2000, is a Western-influenced tale featuring (unsurprisingly) a fair amount of religion.

Two classic series I really need to finish!

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Mary Meeker’s 2013 Internet Trends Report

One of the most well-known people on the subject of digital trends is American VC and she’s recently released her latest annual report. Well worth looking at:

 

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Films of the past week

Due to a Bank Holiday and the desire to get away from a laptop, I’ve had a bit of a film binge. In the last few days I’ve watched the OKish Brothers Grimm, the very average The Expendables, and the above average Bad Teacher.

But the one that stuck out was finally watching Searching for Sugar Man.

It was written about at the time of release in 2012, as it’s a documentary with an unusual and interesting subject. Back in 1970-1971, a singer/songwriter named Rodriguez recorded a couple of albums which were praised by everyone involved, yet his career vanished without a trace in the U.S.

But after a bootleg copy landed in South Africa via a tourist, it became hugely popular in that country – influencing musicians, and even contributing in some ways to the changes that country has seen since.

But whatever happened to Rodriguez? Stories are told of him committing suicide on stage with a gun or by self-immolation…

Spoiler Alert:

What actually happened to him was he went back to work. He didn’t know of his foreign success, and the revenue it generated has pretty much been written off after this time. Rodriguez worked in house demolition and restoration, had a family, and made ends meet for many years. Eventually, having been contacted and brought to South Africa, he’s played sold out shows, but even now lives a modest lifestyle having given those proceeds apparently to friends and family…

What really struck me is that journalists ask him how he feels to know that a phone call or similar back in the 70′s and 80′s could have radically changed his life, and he responds enigmatically. It’s as if he’s focused on what he can do, not what might have been.

It’s a good lesson for any artist. Don’t bank on success, and don’t think of what might have been. His daughters describe how he threw himself totally into work and did the best job he could, whilst his employer commented on how he still had the creative artist in him whatever he did.

 

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Stop complaining about Yahoo buying Tumblr, when the answer is simple…

It appears that the rumoured deal for Yahoo to purchase Tumblr is pretty much a foregone conclusion, with a suitcase of around $1 billion in cash and the promise the blogging site will remain independent.

Whether or not you feel the deal is good for either party, it’s been accompanied by lots of complains from unhappy Tumblr users who are now worried about the future of the platform and their own blogs.

The answer is simple, and has been for years now.

If you’re at all concerned about the future of your content, don’t put it exclusively on someone’s platform which you have no control over.

Self-hosting isn’t expensive, and isn’t complicated. For a small cost each year, you can quickly and easily buy some hosting space, and install a platform like WordPress with just one click.

And if you’re worried that your hosting provider may be acquired or change direction, there are plenty of alternatives to choose from – and by setting an automated back up on a monthly or weekly basis, you can get a new site up and running in minutes, with the only delay being the time it takes for your domain name to point to your new location.

And there are companies (ahem), who will even help you get set up, configure your backups, analytics, and more, and help you navigate the choices of hosting companies. And the cost for that can be as little as an hour of our time for a simple blog – you even get your choice of a selection of themes which we have already paid for.