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📺 “Suits” Donna | USA Network

Watched "Suits" Donna from USA Network (Amazon Prime)
Directed by Michael Smith. With Patrick J. Adams, Usman Ally, Milton Barnes, Krista Bridges. Mike and Harvey's power move is countered, putting their backs up against the ropes. Rachel fears her father's judgment is clouded by the past. Louis aids Alex when his client comes under fire.

👓 Bob Gallager on Shannon’s tips for research | An Ergodic Walk

Annotated Bob Gallager on Shannon’s tips for research (An Ergodic Walk)

Gallager gave a nice concise summary of what he learned from Shannon about how to do good theory work:

  1. Simplify the problem
  2. Relate it to other problems
  3. Restate the problem in as many ways as possible
  4. Break the problem into pieces
  5. Avoid getting locked into thinking ruts
  6. Generalize

As he said, “it’s a process of doing research… each one [step] gives you a little insight.” It’s tempting, as a theorist, to claim that at the end of this process you’ve solved the “fundamental” problem, but Gallager admonished us to remember that the first step is to simplify, often dramatically. As Alfred North Whitehead said, we should “seek simplicity and distrust it.”

I know I’ve read this before, but it deserves a re-read/review every now and then.

🎧 This Week in Google: #407 Grepping Mary Meeker | TWIT.TV

Listened to This Week in Google: #407 Grepping Mary Meeker from TWIT.tv
Government's role in online privacy. Mary Meeker's 2017 Internet trends report. Android creator Andy Rubin's new Essential phone. The true meaning of "covfefe." Does Netflix care about Net Neutrality? Chipotle hacked. Google's expensive gender pay gap.

Chipotle just can’t catch a break anymore.

I remember there used to be days when Meeker’s report would consume an entire episode of shows like this, and now it seems like it barely gets a passing message because it’s become so dense.

📺 Taking Back The Web | Jeremy Keith | Webstock ’18

Watched Webstock '18: Taking Back The Web by Jeremy Keith from Vimeo

In these times of centralised services like Facebook, Twitter, and Medium, having your own website is downright disruptive. If you care about the longevity of your online presence, independent publishing is the way to go. But how can you get all the benefits of those third-party services while still owning your own data? By using the building blocks of the Indie Web, that’s how!

Presentation slide-deck: speakerdeck.com/adactio/taking-back-the-web

Watched "Succession" Dundee from HBO Max
Directed by Kevin Bray. With Hiam Abbass, Nicholas Braun, Brian Cox, Kieran Culkin. The entire Roy clan travels to Logan's hometown of Dundee, Scotland, for a celebration of Logan's 50 years in the business; Kendall becomes enamored with Jennifer, an actress in Willa's play; a former employee proves difficult to silence.
I can’t help but think about The Dundee awards on The Office…

Trump’s Press Secretary Falsely Claims: ‘Largest Audience Ever to Witness an Inauguration, Period’ | The Atlantic

Read Trump's Press Secretary Falsely Claims: 'Largest Audience Ever to Witness an Inauguration, Period' by Matt Ford (The Atlantic)
In his first official White House briefing, Sean Spicer blasted journalists for “deliberately false reporting,” and made categorical claims about crowd-size at odds with the available evidence.
Liked a tweet (Twitter)
Studying soil for this sort of research is a clever and interesting route to go…
Read - Want to Read: The Boneshaker by Kate Milford (Clarion Books)
Thirteen-year-old Natalie Minks loves machines, particularly automata--self-operating mechanical devices, usually powered by clockwork. When Jake Limberleg and his traveling medicine show arrive in her small Missouri town with a mysterious vehicle under a tarp and an uncanny ability to make Natalie's half-built automaton move, she feels in her gut that something about this caravan of healers is a bit off. Her uneasiness leads her to investigate the intricate maze of the medicine show, where she discovers a horrible truth and realizes that only she has the power to set things right.
Set in 1914, The Boneshaker is a gripping, richly textured novel about family, community, courage, and looking evil directly in the face in order to conquer it.

👓 Your favorite way to get around The New York Times paywall might be about to go away | Nieman Lab

Read Your favorite way to get around The New York Times paywall might be about to go away (Nieman Lab)
Publishers are increasingly blocking those who use incognito mode to sneak around their paywalls. But browser makers may have the last laugh.