Friday is lie day, it appears. In an article in The Economist, “Lie Detector”, we learn about Demaskuok, a Lithuanian tool developed to spot fake news, a much larger problem there because of the intensity of its information war with Russia. The tool spots fake news story candidates for analysis by humans by looking for…… Continue reading Friday’s Lies
Category: Public notebook
What you humans call common decency
For a little while, first thing this morning, the most-read article on the FT this morning wasn’t Brexit*, war or impending catastrophe of any of the current flavours, but a heartwarming story of how a few kind words from a member of cabin crew made someone feel a bit better. It wasn’t dramatically over the…… Continue reading What you humans call common decency
Fresh metaphors, please
Words and phrases that may have meant something once, in Cannes “Madame, all our words from loose using have lost their edge…” — Death in The Afternoon, by Ernest Hemingway Hemingway, as usual, hit the thing on the head. When words get used too often, their usefulness erodes. Sometimes we call that jargon. Or cliché.…… Continue reading Fresh metaphors, please
A horrifying version of us
The idea of “personal brand” seems to be resurgent. Ten years ago, when I wrote Me and My Web Shadow it was a thing – but then seemed to fade from conversation. I avoided using the term; reputation is a much more useful idea to focus on for individuals – it is something you can affect…… Continue reading A horrifying version of us
Old rules no longer apply
Kraft Heinz became the deal where Warrent Buffet’s old rules for investment came unstuck. The FT reported on Monday this week: Kraft Heinz shares dived nearly 30 per cent on Friday after it took a $15bn writedown, cut its dividend payout and disclosed it was the subject of a probe by the Securities and Exchange…… Continue reading Old rules no longer apply
Synthetic media: be as afraid as you ever were
Synthetic media is a term I’d not come across before hearing about Google’s paper on fighting disinformation that was published this week. It describes those eerily realistic images and video generated through artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML) techniques. You might have seen the video of the Jennifer Lawrence press conference where she has been gifted…… Continue reading Synthetic media: be as afraid as you ever were
Old book simulator
Remember when the design community had its Two Minutes Hate about vtb design? I agreed. But sometimes, fake analogue is just lovely. The Google Play Books app on iOS (and presumably on Android) gives you the option of reading original page layouts. I downloaded A copy of Treasure Island onto my iPad Pro 11 and…… Continue reading Old book simulator
My best reads of 2018
What did your books do for you lately? If they aren’t working hard, you should cut your losses and get new ones. That’s what I learned while reading last year. 2018 was a year when I needed my books to be right. I looked around for the ones I needed, and I abandoned several that…… Continue reading My best reads of 2018
When innovation is a losing game
Three dots to connect… This quote came up in my Readwise feed from War, by Ian Morris about the game theory of innovation: Like fight and flight in the dove-and-hawk game, innovation and conservatism both have costs and benefits. Innovators pay a price: it takes time to learn to make new arrowheads and to use…… Continue reading When innovation is a losing game
The next 20 years of disruption in marketing (and everything else)
“The Thames Illustrated. A picturesque journeying from Richmond to Oxford” — Source: The British Library If you follow the money instead of the marketing services sector’s own narratives, change on a scale far larger than anything Google or Facebook have brought is on the way. That’s the conclusion we can draw when we listen to…… Continue reading The next 20 years of disruption in marketing (and everything else)
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