Year: 2014

Mathew Ingram talking about Facebook’s lack of Ferguson coverage:

In the end, we all have to choose the news sources that we trust and the ones that work for us in whatever way we decide is important. And if we choose Facebook, that means we will likely miss certain things as a result of the filtering algorithm — things we may not even realize we are missing — unless the network changes the way it handles breaking news events like Ferguson.

Ingram does a good job explaining the why, but I think he severely downplays the significance. Facebook is too massive for this type of thing to be OK — as Facebook is effectively censoring the news. I am fine with an algorithm based approach, but somewhere there should be a human who is looking at current events and can say: “Wait, this is important.” And thus the news is let through to all users.

I highly doubt that Ferguson would be covered by the likes of CNN if it weren’t for Twitter. Had Facebook been our only source, it would have passed most of us by, and that is a problem.

David Carr:

There is a visceral quality to Twitter that can bring stories to a boiling point. Ron Mott, an NBC correspondent and a social media skeptic, watched Twitter turn up the heat on Wednesday and tweeted, “As powerful as our press have been through years of our democracy, social media raises temp on public officials like never before.”

When I came back on to Twitter I mentioned three reasons why, but I left off one important reason: when news breaks, Twitter is the best place to learn about it. Whether it’s an accident on a local highway, or something as tragic as Ferguson, Twitter is where the latest information resides.

Maureen Dowd:

“It’s hypocritical,” [James] Risen said. “A lot of people still think this is some kind of game or signal or spin. They don’t want to believe that Obama wants to crack down on the press and whistle-blowers. But he does. He’s the greatest enemy to press freedom in a generation.”

This is one of the last things I would have pegged Obama as being, but thus far his administration has been aggressive at pursuing “leaks” — which would be fine, but he doesn’t seem overly concerned at respecting journalism.

Josh Ginter writing about Vesper:

If I find myself without a pen and memo book and I have a thought or journal idea, I quickly jot it down in Vesper. Once I get back to my written journal, I can write the contents of the note in my book and expand on them if necessary.

As I talked about with Patrick Rhone on my podcast, I will simply never understand this mindset of analog first tools. To me it is backwards: notes should be flowing back into apps like Vesper, not the other way around.

But all of that is beside the point of this link.

Because the point of this link is two-fold:

1. Ginter has written an excellent review, and the accompanying photography is outstanding. If he keeps up this level of work I’m out of a gig.
2. He makes some really good points about Vesper in general, which is worth reading if Vesper makes you scratch your head.

Ginter clearly loves the app, and it’s an odd app to love because on ‘paper’ there are so many better options (Simplenote to name one).

But as I said in my review of the app: “You either are compelled to use things you love because of practicality or because of the way they make you feel.”

Vesper sits next to Simplenote on my iPhone and I use Vesper for everything — unless I absolutely know I need that info back on my Mac. Simplenote is really only used to receive things from my Mac, because most of the time I just don’t need notes on all my devices, as I mostly just need them on a device I have with me.

An outstanding post from John Carey on the state of photography:

Your tool of choice is your choice. Spend money on a camera, or not, but don’t do it to feel more confident or to fit in. Buy a camera that suits your lifestyle.

Really love this, be sure to make time to soak it all in.

Angelica Asadi:

I grew up imagining I could do anything that any one of my brothers could do. Society decided to disagree with me and threw obstacles in my way. A person was at every corner telling me that I could not achieve all that I dream of because I was born the wrong gender. The truth is, I could have taken every single obstacle and turned them all into a stepping stone to get me where I wanted, if the one man in my life who I trusted more than anyone else believed in me. Instead, I hid from the world, I hid from the challenges, and brought up every excuse for not pushing the boundaries, because deep down inside, I began to believe I was not good enough.

The scariest thing in the world to me is not properly supporting my two little girls so that they never feel held back by stupid bullshit — coming from me or anyone else.

Very cool tool (see Patrick Welker’s description). The main reason I like this over Geektool: I can style it using CSS and that is awesome.

Nice video talking about the two most important features of a to-do list app: adding tasks and checking them off.

Jeremy Scahill and Ryan Devereaux:

“We’re getting into Minority Report territory when being friends with the wrong person can mean the government puts you in a database and adds DMV photos, iris scans, and face recognition technology to track you secretly and without your knowledge,” says Hina Shamsi, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Project. “The fact that this information can be shared with agencies from the CIA to the NYPD, which are not known for protecting civil liberties, brings us closer to an invasive and rights-violating government surveillance society at home and abroad.”