Zag To The Zig #46 :: RIP Flash, RIP AlphaGo & RIP events (?)
So... where were we? Apologies. It's been a while. But I moved house. And in a lockdown everything takes longer, right?
I must say: in this case, that was good. I enjoyed having to do lots myself: physical stuff, small problem solving,... - and it felt good not to be drawn to the screen all the time. π¦π
However, Zag To The Zig is back, tab-by-tab, working my way through the things that trigger my curiosity and/or challenge a few things. Good to have you back.
We start in the Tech Basement this week
Challenge the common perception. Always challenge.
So, it turns out that watching Netflix is not burning as much energy as a small country (as was often implied). Incredible detail: one reason why these studies got it wrong is they mixed up bytes and bits, i.e. a factor of 8. I still don't get why that stuff doesn't get standardised.AlphaGo is sooooo 2016. Deepmind has now developed an AI that will win games without the software needing to know the rules up front. It will figure them out anyway. ππ€―
Major new era. Flash is now officially no longer supported. Dead. I guess not many people will miss it. But it reminded me of Dutch artist Han Hoogerbrugge (friend of ZTTZ), who used Flash extensively to create really great animations, installations,β¦ How to archive this stuff? To celebrate this turning point, he made a book instead.
In the Economy Room
The economics of domain names. An unusually open and almost practical report from a guy who's written some basic code to register a million dollar worth of domain names in the hope of selling them on. The psychology he uses makes this a strangely compelling read.
I predict this will be a popular item this year. Blockchain software company Consensys gives an interesting overview of what it has been doing for 4 governments with regards to digital currencies.
Soooo 2020 - the economy of book shelves. More time on Zoom = how do I create the perception that I'm smart = buy a curated bookshelf off-the-shelf. There's a business for that.
Quote of the Week
"Odd as it may seem, a lot more people want to buy Bitcoin at $28,000 than wanted to buy it at $5000."
-
VC investor Fred Wilson in his review of 2020 and what it means for 2021.
In the Ethics Corridor
Turns out that 1.4 million AirBnb hosts preferred not to agree to an anti-equality statement and be blocked by the platform instead.
Oh dear. Microsoft aims to include Productivity Score into their software. That dreadful objective of efficiency! π
On a related side note. Iβve heard quite a few people say theyβre more than happy to keep working from home. You know the spiel: they can get the same things done anyway. Of course thatβs good and saves on commute time etc, but I do wonder if in 5 years time there will be a correlation with jobs-that-were-replaced-by-a-computer-because-they-didnt-require-much-human-interaction-anyway.
In the New office-slash-gaming-room-slash-TV-studio
As a curator and event programmer, ZTTZ subscriber Monique Van Dusseldorp (hello!) has had some challenging times. So to wrap up the year that never was, she wrote an inspiring 3-part deep-dive on the future of events.
In the Attic of Innovation
In a previous life, I had 2 start-ups. They were just small ones, but this post is exactly why I promised myself never to do it again: The Hidden Cost of Being a Founder.
Someone shared this 9 year (!) old rant from someone who worked both at Amazon and Google. His main point: Google is better than Amazon at everything bar 3 things. But those 3 things matter. Bonus: it gives some entertainingly written stories about Jeff Bezos.
Random ZTTZΒ
How awkward geeks deal with the clicking that βLeave Zoom Meetingβ button.
π End note: 1 thing Iβll be doing this week
I'm starting a new project, something to do with the European Parliament. I'll find out if I can say anything about it. π