I know that some of my commentary has become a bit crankier and snarkier in the last few weeks. It's not me attempting to be edgy, clever, shocking, or whatever; I'm too old for any of that. It's a reflection of my anger at and disillusionment with a lot of what's happening in New Zealand and abroad. I'll do my best to tone it down, but as I slide into my declining years toning things down is becoming a bit harder.

With that out of the way, let's get Monday started with these links:

What technology takes from us – and how to take it back — Big Tech has a lot to answer for. That includes trying to, and in more than a few cases succeeding in, put and keep us on the productivity/optimization treadmill. But once we climb on, we lose so much.

From the article:

To embrace the tyranny of the quantifiable is to dismiss the subtle value of these daily acts out in the world and the ways they generate and maintain networks of relationships.

The triumph of logical English — While I'm an advocate, and a fan, of concise and plain writing, I also realize that there's a place for longer and more complex sentences in written English. Can't they both live side by side?

From the article:

The plain style means what it says. No fuss. No metaphor. No figurative language. Just simple, direct, factual prose. The opposite of the plain style is the rhetorical or ornamental style. We use the plain style everywhere, all day long. It is what you mostly find in newspapers and on the internet. The opposite, known as the ornate, rhetorical, or florid style, is just that. It is ornate because it is complex not simple; rhetorical because it uses the tropes and tricks of oratory; florid because it prefers flourishes of expression to simpleness of style.

'Think outside the bots': How to stop AI from turning your brain to mush — More, slightly recycled, advice about how to push back against a new technology taking over parts of your life and your thinking. While mostly old hat, this article is worth a read.

From the article:

Studies have found that people who rely on satellite navigation like GPS stop building mental maps of their surroundings and their spatial memory continues to decline over time. A similar phenomenon called the "Google Effect" emerged when search engines took over. Apparently, we're less likely to remember information that we find using a search engine because it takes so little effort. It seems the brain gets worse at tasks when we outsource them. And AI is the most powerful outsourcing tool of all time.

White collar sweatshops — The corporate world has always been a rat race, but now the speed of that race has been cranked up. As someone wrote, even if you win the rat race you're still a rat ...

From the article:

Under this new arrangement, associates were overworked to the point of exhaustion. Like soldiers in wartime, they developed a peculiar sense of pride while toiling on takeover deals. At some point in the 1980s, associates at Skadden originated the ‘Beast of Burden’ prize. It was given monthly to a peer who had worked the most hours and received the most abuse. Extra points were awarded when an associate had endured a partner’s verbal tirade.