#61 February 2024 | Monthly Digital Breadcrumbs

(A good reminder, via What’s Your Gift?)

A bunch of things (which I added to my Tumblr) for your eyes and ears plus brain to spend time on (as no longer on Twitter).

READ

“Google, especially, has relied on the open web RSS protocol to gain so much market share and influence, but continues to engage in behavior that exploits the open web at the expense of its users. As a result, Google has single-handedly contributed to the reason many users who once relied on RSS feeds have stopped using them.”

How Google helped destroy adoption of RSS feeds – Open RSS

“Don’t be distracted by criticism. Remember, the only taste of success some people have is when they take a bite out of you.” Zig Ziglar

99 Great Quotes That Will Help You Handle Criticism | Inc.com

“When writing by hand, brain connectivity patterns were far more elaborate than when typewriting on a keyboard, as shown by widespread theta/alpha connectivity coherence patterns between network hubs and nodes in parietal and central brain regions. Existing literature indicates that connectivity patterns in these brain areas and at such frequencies are crucial for memory formation and for encoding new information and, therefore, are beneficial for learning.”

Frontiers | Handwriting but not typewriting leads to widespread brain connectivity: a high-density EEG study with implications for the classroom

“Put simply, the numbers don’t add up. Data from Patreon and Substack suggests the average conversion rate from follower to paying fan is about 5%. This means a creator would need a total fanbase of 20,000 followers to yield 1,000 paying supporters. And building a core fanbase of 20,000 engaged followers is extremely difficult in today’s crowded creative landscape.”

The creator economy can’t rely on Patreon. — Joan Westenberg

“A Vicar asks his congregation in the valleys the question “What would you do if Jesus returned tomorrow?”. A voice in the flock pipes up; “Move Barry John to inside-centre”!”

From the comment section of Barry John was ‘the King, a magician, my friend’ – Sir Gareth Edwards – BBC Sport

“Much furor has been raised in recent months over the unauthorized scraping of the web to train AI models; OpenAI even thanked the faceless “millions of people” who created the data to train GPT-3 in its paper describing the model. But when it comes to data willingly shared with Facebook and Meta, that Faustian bargain was struck long ago.”

Zuckerberg Boasts He Will Be AI God King Because We Already Gave Him All Our Data

WATCH

EXPLORE

This minimal, customisable typing online tool / test.

Check out the quietest places in the world’s loudest cities.

A nice Terminal-level workaround for applications hiding under the MacBook Pro notch.

Free ‘innovation’ posters for exploration / sharing / discussion (via Innovation illustrated – by Dave Gray).

All monthly digital breadcrumbs posts.
Published

Hatching A Better World | HATCH14

HATCH family 2014

Imagine a cacophony of good souls who lean in to conversations with deep curiousity which always ends with them asking how they can help (very much the opposite of most events). That’s HATCH!

Packed with people who you want to be when you grow up and cradled by the genuinely brilliant folks at 320 Ranch, this four day event is how the world should be: challenging, creative, inspiring, friendly, dangerous, open, vulnerable, adventurous.

Was humbled to be invited back (last years review) and also present a piece on the wisdom thinking I’ve been exploring (more to follow on that in the next couple of weeks).

Deep waist bows to Yarrow and the HATCH14 team for their energy / effort in crafting an experience so that hearts and minds can relate and add value to each others lives.

Personally and through tears and laughter, here’s what I’ve learned:

  • Kindness—the only way to live;
  • Listen—the fastest way to connect, learn and show you care;
  • Create—a body of work so your talent catches up with your taste (see Ira Glass On Storytelling).

Some pics:

INSIDE JOKE: no Rugrats / ferrets this year.
Read other HATCH posts.
Published

2013 | Create / Curate

Creating / curation is the new black.

And my 2013 theme:

rilke create quote

Creating is action.

Doing.

“Where I create, there I am true”
Rainer Maria Rilke

Public speaking for me is a hugely innovative exercise. Many folks don’t understand the work and expressive energy that goes into a presentation and its delivery (especially if you don’t use a script or practice like me then the execution itself is very much an inventive act).

I. Want. To. Do. More. And. Get. Better.

But, also, taking the time to craft the opening video here or the images which compliments the text, is part of what I mean.

It’s the realisation of discovering what you’re good at plus what you’re passionate about then using that to spark creation.

Deconstructing. Starting. Expanding. Mashing up ideas. Disrupting. Smiling. Thinking.

Look out 2013 for lines in the sand and new ventures.

clay shirky curation quote

There are two areas of curation which hold my interest: developmental and experiential.

“Curation solves the problem of filter failure.”
Clay Shirky

Developmental

How do you / your organisation / company view curation? What role does it play in broadening discussions and skill development internally? How are you using it to celebrate those in your industry or even as a way of extending yourself?

The rise of the individual digital curator (thanks to sites like Tumblr / Pinterest) allows for a wider interpretation of the more traditional role. Although, the leaders in the field (Tina or Jason or Maria or Shaun etc) demonstrate a higher purpose rather just serving individual tastes, but that of aiming to inspire, educate, challenge, explode wonder, intrigue, curiosity, in their audience.

The idea of curation as a(n online) skill is hardly ever discussed in articles / conversations around social media. My argument is that it will become increasingly crucial to individual and organisational development—as the signal vs noise ratio of companies / organisations, let alone a sector or industry, continues to increase, so to is the need to understand how to navigate and sift through the information and concentrate it into action.

This is sucking the juicy wisdom out of the web and humanising it for good.

Experiential

TEDxTeAro (I’m the license holder) is an example of experiences as curative event.

There are two things to be announced in the New Year around stretching the idea of traditional events: one for Wellington-based creatives (to be made public next week) and the other for social media mavens like myself who want to explore the next set of questions (who understand the difference between strategy and culture and who want to get away from ‘how to use Twitter / Facebook’ to advertise in a slightly different way and sell stuff).

More to follow but thinking it’s time play around with event formats and offer attendees more than a seat and people talking at them.


What’s your 2013 theme? What do you think of mine? Leave a comment below you lovely tribe of readers you.

Clay Shirky image attribution
Video music via Oddworld
Published