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DAH is me, David Anthony Hance. "Go as far as you can see; when you get there, you’ll be able to see further." (Thomas Carlyle)

First up this week, Algorithms …  
Show of hands, please. How many reading this have long dreamed of algorithms managing your choices? How many reading this even knew what an algorithm was 20 years ago? According to Merriam-Webster an algorithm is "a step-by-step procedure for solving a problem." I imagine those old tree-finder booklets (now online!): "If the tree has needles, turn to page 23. If variegated leaves, turn to page 37." Those booklets charmed me as a youth. But now, when I think of algorithms they seem a darker means of forcing choice. I'm sighing about how large online merchants are sucking in data about me and spitting out ads for the products I should be buying. Algorithms are constructed to guide and manage our lives in all sorts of ways. The algorithm makers may even believe that their mission is to simplify our lives (although I doubt that). So, how did a mathematical concept end up as a key tool for those who want to manage us by guiding choice?
How algorithms are controlling your life

Second up this week, Annoyance …  
Yes, I feel annoyance when I recognize how algorithms are limiting my online search results. Mum-Anne used to complain bitterly about that. But then I forget to be annoyed as I'm charmed by bright website images and lively sales copy. OK, that's not true. But I do tend to forget mechanized and digital annoyance. I don't forget people who annoy, however, especially those I see often. Which is sad. If I can overlook automated annoyances, why do I shun and run from human ones? My internal algorithm on that choice seems unbalanced. Would I prefer being annoyed by AI robots to being annoyed by neighbors? I think so, and I'm ashamed in this self-awareness. 
5 Benefits of Having Annoying People in Your Life

Third up this week, Appreciation …  
And so I do my best to appreciate. To appreciate people, in particular. Long ago I read a suggestion that one ought regularly to write lovely small letters of appreciation to those one admired. Tasteful mash notes. If we put good energy out into the world then some will flow back, goes the thinking. I like saying thank you and I do it often (verbally, digitally, snail-maily). I hope it makes those thanked feel good. It makes me feel happy and grateful to put such messages out there. I've also found that the more I express appreciation the more I appreciate. It comes from noticing and taking note. Gradually looking deeper each time I express gratitude. This works to defuse annoyance in people, but never in algorithmic robots. 
An Attitude of Gratitude: 10 Ways to Show Appreciation

A Book I Want to Read But Probably Won't: Hello World: Being Human in the Age of Algorithms, by Hannah Fry. I really want to read this book, but I just don't have time (time to allocate beyond what I'm reading already). I'll put it in a list to read one day, but I'm not optimistic.

And a bit more:

The Mouse's Tale, by Lewis Carroll (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)

"Mine is a long and a sad tale!" said the Mouse, turning to Alice, and sighing.
"It is a long tail, certainly," said Alice, looking down with wonder at the Mouse's tail; "but why do you call it sad?" And she kept on puzzling about it while the Mouse was speaking, so that her idea of the tale was something like this:—

"Fury said to
  a mouse, That
           he met
            in the
             house,
            'Let us
           both go
          to law:
        I will
      prosecute
      you.—
      Come, I'll
       take no
          denial;
             We must
                 have a
                     trial:
                         For
                      really
                     this
                      morning
                            I've
                        nothing
                    to do.'
               Said the
             mouse to
           the cur,
            'Such a
                trial,
            dear sir,
         With no
     jury or
   judge,
     would be
        wasting
         our breath.'
             'I'll be
            judge,
          I'll be
        jury,'
         Said
            cunning
              old Fury;
                 'I'll try
                     the whole
                           cause,
                           and
                        condemn
                           you
                             to
                              death.'"

And that's all for this week.
From Mary Oliver’s poem Sometimes …  

Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.