blast-o-rama • issue 004 • 2019-05-25
blast-o-rama
issue 004 • 2019-05-25
Welcome!
Hello, dear friends, and a very happy Memorial Day weekend to you!
Hopefully this is an extended weekend for you, and you’re spending it relaxing and enjoying the warm weather. (At least, I’m assuming it’s warm where you are. Sorry if it’s not. It will be soon, I hope.)
When you’re reading this, I’m about to board an airplane to head to Austin, Texas for the week.
My wife Sam and I are celebrating four years of being wed this week, and we always like to travel for our anniversary. I’m particularly excited about heading to Austin, as it’s a city I’ve read about for years now, and I can’t wait to experience its culture, and more importantly, it’s food.
Plus, I’ll finally get to go to an Alamo Drafthouse.
Given the time crunch of getting ready for the trip, this week’s issue is just the Worthwhile Reads and Recommends sections – apologies, but I think you’ll like both.
Worthwhile Reads
A bunch of cool reads what I read this week, typically culled from my ever-growing Instapaper queue.
- A big behind-the-scenes look at Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, chock full of beautiful photos, wonderful writing, and somehow – little spoilers. (Vanity Fair)
- Your Internet data is rotting. (The Conversation)
- No matter how you felt about the Game of Thrones finale, you’ll probably like this chat with Emilia Clarke about the end of it all. (The New Yorker)
- Feel mad about how your favorite TV show or movie played out? Chances are, you need to change how you relate to pop culture. (Polygon)
- CBD: We use it for everything, but is it really THAT good? (The New York Times)
- A look at a nightclub for the disabled, located here in Baltimore. (The Baltimore Sun)
- The difficulty of decision making during online shopping in 2019. (The Atlantic)
- 20 Years Later, an Oral History of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace(StarWars.com)
- How Seth Rogen has gone from Stoner Comedy Lead to Powerful Producer. (GQ)
- Did you know that the Kilogram has changed in the past week? (Vice)
- Behold! The difficulty of going one week without single use plastic. (The Cut)
blast-o-rama. recommends
Jumbo: Privacy+
This week, I’m breaking the mold a bit. So far, I’ve recommended you comics and a show to watch. This week, your pal Marty puts on his tin-foil hat as he gives you a recommendation to help you with a topic (clearly) near and dear to my heart, data privacy.
We read a lot about data privacy these days, and I’ve brought up stories related to it in…oh, every issue of this newsletter. But I wanted to give you something easier and more tangible to work with to make yourself a little more secure, and that’s where Jumbo comes in.
Designed by the guy who co-created the great (now defunct, thanks to Microsoft) Sunrise Calendar app, Jumbo aims to make the process of regular privacy checks and cleanup easy, and even fun.
Right now, with the app, you can quickly clean up your Facebook, Twitter, Amazon Alexa and Google settings, and they’re aiming to add options for Tinder and Instagram. It takes a few minutes to get setup, just about as long to clean up your accounts, and it only notifies you from the app when you need to take the time to clean up old tweets or account settings. Their privacy policy is very clear and concise, and everything is stored ONLY on your device.
The best part is? It’s free. (They’re looking to add further, granular controls for a fee in the future.) Sadly, Jumbo is iOS only at this time, but I truly hope this app grows by leaps and bounds, and more and more people use it. This is one of those apps I’m going to recommend to everyone I know, and congrats - you’re the first batch.
• Jumbo: Privacy+: Download on the App Store
That’s that. Onward to Austin for me!
Hope things are dope wherever you find yourself this week. I’ll see you next Sunday.
Don’t let the bastards bring you down.
-Marty