Finally got around to reading a bunch of articles and essays that had been lying in my bookmarks for a while.
Also, finally publishing this on a Sunday again!
As always, all links on this newsletter can be found here.
History, Culture, and Religion
Will emoji become a new language?
The author of the drawing post in issue 4 is doing some research on this topic, and I found it very interesting because a lot of general conversation happens even without saying much, we mostly emote and the language of a tech emote must originate from the emoji, it's an interesting read.
After seeing John Cena's apology video last week I wasn't sure what to expect from this article. I think that's how the article sounded to me as well just 'not sure' what's going to happen, but, the certainty of bending over for China seems to be gone, which is interesting.
Sitting on a couch and making millions
I've never read the author of this essay before, but, its among the best overviews of what could lie ahead for the Creator Economy I have read of late.
Tech, Science, and Math
Amazon US customers have one week to opt out of mass wireless sharing
The creepy side of Smart Home devices is finally here, Amazon suddenly decided it's a good idea to turn all their users smart home devices into a mesh network and connect them all together so they can solve - something?
I have no idea, its just insanely creepy.
The Market for User Research Platforms
I love doing user research and product research, both as a product researcher and a participant, the reason User Research is so hard is because there's so many grey areas to figure out and shallow waters with quicksand you can get pulled into if you're not careful. A16Z wrote this lovely piece of why this is still unsolved and what's left to do here.
Bitcoin is the Mycelium of Money
I finally finished reading this, took me a good two weeks to dive into this and actually spend time reading it. I don't want to sound like a BTC shill, so, if you're interested in why there's so much optimism around Crypto and BTC specifically, do take some time out and read this.
Ireland defies hackers’ bitcoin demand over health system
On the flip side of all this crypto optimism is the ease with which ransomware strategies are being used, Ireland recently chose to shut down their healthcare records system instead of paying the ransom in BTC.
Cosmic Map of Ultrahigh-Energy Particles Points to Long-Hidden Treasures
A slightly technical article on why its so hard to figure where ultra-high energy cosmic rays come from and why figuring that out could fundamentally change our understanding of the universe.
Everything else
What 16th-Century Venice Teaches Us About Crypto
Related to history and to the ransomware article linked above, so, I put it here instead. A deep dive into how the gambling craze in Europe led to some terrible consequences and eventually led to state intervention. The argument lies of the idea that this is analogous to crypto, time will tell.
The Future of Remote Work is Voice-First
If you're like me, you've been on far too many video calls over the last year, most of which could've been emails, this is an alternative take that argues that it needs to be voice first - i.e an old school call.
A short piece on what's going with regards to Twitter and compliance with new laws in India. It's behind a paywall, but, it's also medianama who do some good work (and have been for as long as I can remember) , consider subscribing if interested.
I feel like I've been reading this headline every year for the past 8 years in some form or the other. It does look bleak for the continent which has spent quite a bit of time on the backfoot. Well researched article with multiple takes on where things could go for Europe.
Thank you for reading
That's all I have for this week.
Do subscribe if interested and do reply with interesting stuff
Sainath