Things of note for the week ending Friday April 1st, 2016.
April Fool’s Day. The one day of the year where I miss living at home with Mum most. I went to visit her last weekend (she packed up and moved to the seaside a year or so ago, see above) and we had a great time.
‘April Fool’s Day is coming up’, she said, nursing a cup of tea.
‘Yeah, I know’
‘Miss having you kids…’ (my sister and I) ‘…around. Do you remember when you swapped salt for sugar one year? The house went nuts. I thought it was brilliant.’
‘Yeah, and you put eggs in my shoes.’
‘But you wore a different pair! What about when I sewed up the sleeves on your dressing gown’
Me, laughing ‘Yeah, I’ll never forget that – I was going to give you the year off that year!!!’
Happy April Fool’s Day, Mum. I love you.
— right, shall we crack on with the things?
No jokes in here today.
1. HACKING WIKIPEDIA, IN ANGOLA
Let’s start with this – Motherboard is reporting a super interesting story of how the intrepid Internet inhabitants of Angola are using free services to access the content they want (as opposed to that which that they’re given).
Wikimedia and Facebook have given Angolans free access to their websites, but not to the rest of the internet. So, naturally, Angolans have started hiding pirated movies and music in Wikipedia articles and linking to them on closed Facebook groups, creating a totally free and clandestine file sharing network in a country where mobile internet data is extremely expensive.
2. NETFLIX VS THE WORLD
Look at ^ these lovely people ^ – all sat around, counting down the seconds for Season 2 of DAREDEVIL to hit Netflix screens the world over. And when I say ‘the world over’, I mean it. Daredevil’s sophomore entry went live in 190 countries at the same time. Being a Netflix Original, like House of Cards, the entire season was available for streaming immediately. That’s a LOT of hard work.
WIRED was there covering the launch and, along with a fantastic write-up of the evening, takes its time explaining exactly what drives the endless success of this global machine.
Related – this stereo / audio-only ‘trip into Daredevil’s head‘ is a neat activation. Nicely done. Decent headphones recommended.Â
3. LEADERSHIP IN THE DIGITAL AGE
This is an excellent read.
As we continue our journey through the digital revolution, everything around us is changing. This piece posits that the next thing to change is leadership.
Advancement in digital technologies has disrupted everything, including leadership styles, according to Barry Libert, Jerry Wind and Megan Beck Fenley. Employees want more ownership rather than to follow instruction; customers want to participate in the marketing and development process; and leaders are finding that open and agile organizations are able to maneuver more effectively than organizations where “all insight and direction comes from the top. In short, the autocratic Commander, whether brilliant or misguided, just won’t cut it anymore,†they write in this opinion piece.
4. PLAYSTATION VR: INBOUND
Regular readers will know that I have a penchant for gaming – PlayStation 4 console gaming at that. Furthermore, you might already know that I’ve got a PlayStation VR headset on pre-order.
Aww yeah.
Wanna know why? Well, I penned a few words for this month’s Plaaayed Magazine on exactly what it is that I’m so excited about and you can read it online TODAY.
Go go go!
5. BEAUTIFUL
This is probably one of the most beautiful Superman stories I’ve ever read (and I’ve read a lot). It’s short, to the point, and if you’ve ever wondered why the hell some people geek out over something that you just can’t get your head around – this is an excellent starting point.
It’s just perfect.
Bonuses this week are as follows:
- How a TV sitcom (Friends) triggered the downfall of western civilization
- I don’t understand this Eurostar Instagram activation (via the permanently brilliant Damien)
- The only people who aren’t penalized for promoting diversity at work are white men
- KLM goes all in on Facebook Messenger (watch closely – this is the future of service)
- The path of a lightsaber
Oh, I feel like this whole thing has blown over now BUT last weekend a whole bunch of Instagram influencers lost their collective marbles over the FEAR around the new Instagram algorithm. If you know someone who’s still suffering, forward them this piece I wrote for The Drum on Tuesday (in short: calm down, Bridget).
Right, I’m off on holiday now.
See you on the other side!
PS. No podcast episode this week. But hey, why not go listen to an old one and pretend you’ve discovered time travel? Lol.
Whatley out.