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Due to popular demand (no less!) this newsletter will be resurrected. It is a weekly summary of all the things I post on my blog: ulyssesabbag.com. I hope you enjoy it!

Surfer rides a wave 115 feet tall

[Source: Surfer rides a wave 115 feet tall]

Take the Power Back

You may have heard that the best way to deal with the “information overload” is to switch off your devices. To take a break from the Internet. Go for a run. Roll out the Yoga mat. Read a book. Talk to your friends. Switching off is good advice. But eventually, you’ll be back. How about changing? Changing from passive, to active. From scroll to search, from react to rethink, from like and retweet to write and link.

Preach!

[Source: Take the Power Back ]

The #1 reason Facebook won’t ever change

Facebook’s DNA is that of a social platform addicted to growth and engagement. At its very core, every policy, every decision, every strategy is based on growth (at any cost) and engagement (at any cost). More growth and more engagement means more data — which means the company can make more advertising dollars, which gives it a nosebleed valuation on the stock market, which in turn allows it to remain competitive and stay ahead of its rivals.

[Source: The #1 reason Facebook won’t ever change – Om Malik]

Google’s new AI algorithm predicts heart disease by looking at your eyes

Scientists from Google and its health-tech subsidiary Verily have discovered a new way to assess a person’s risk of heart disease using machine learning. By analyzing scans of the back of a patient’s eye, the company’s software is able to accurately deduce data, including an individual’s age, blood pressure, and whether or not they smoke. This can then be used to predict their risk of suffering a major cardiac event — such as a heart attack — with roughly the same accuracy as current leading methods.

Just like the first two technological revolutions (steam, electricity), the third one (software) we are experiencing now has just begun. 

[Source: Google’s new AI algorithm predicts heart disease by looking at your eyes]

A list of 25 Principles of Adult Behavior by John Perry Barlow February 7th marked the death of John Perry Barlow. He founded the Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF) and wrote lyrics for the Grateful Dead (occasionally). He was a remarkable man who fought for the freedom of the Internet. Here is a list of principles that adults should follow. I’m 25 now and trying my best to make him proud: 

1. Be patient. No matter what.2. Don’t badmouth: Assign responsibility, not blame. Say nothing of another you wouldn’t say to him.3. Never assume the motives of others are, to them, less noble than yours are to you.4. Expand your sense of the possible.5. Don’t trouble yourself with matters you truly cannot change.6. Expect no more of anyone than you can deliver yourself.7. Tolerate ambiguity.8. Laugh at yourself frequently.9. Concern yourself with what is right rather than who is right.10. Never forget that, no matter how certain, you might be wrong.11. Give up blood sports.12. Remember that your life belongs to others as well. Don’t risk it frivolously.13. Never lie to anyone for any reason. (Lies of omission are sometimes exempt.)14. Learn the needs of those around you and respect them.15. Avoid the pursuit of happiness. Seek to define your mission and pursue that.16. Reduce your use of the first personal pronoun.17. Praise at least as often as you disparage.18. Admit your errors freely and soon.19. Become less suspicious of joy.20. Understand humility.21. Remember that love forgives everything.22. Foster dignity.23. Live memorably.24. Love yourself.25. Endure.

[Source: A list of 25 Principles of Adult Behavior by John Perry Barlow]

Blade Runner-style photographs capture Tokyo’s infrastructure

Click on the source link to see more. 

[Source: Blade Runner-style photographs capture Tokyo’s infrastructure]

Why Google Maps is years ahead of the competition Justin O’Beirne, former head of cartography at Apple, explains why Google Maps has a multiple year advantage on the competition.

Basically, it’s about the structures/building footprints Google can display thanks to their satellite imagery and Street View efforts. Nobody else has this level of precision.

Bye Apple Maps!

Here’s another example:

[Source: Google Maps’s Moat]

Happy birthday John Paul Jones

And thank you for your impeccable groove and tasty licks. Enjoy responsibly. 

Stop reading what Facebook tells you to read Foster Kramer wrote a hell of a piece explaining why we ought not to trust Facebook with the stories we see appearing on the newsfeed. Here are two tidbits but please read the whole thing:

And as smart as you think the people who run Facebook are, trust us when we tell you that they are far, far, far smarter than you could imagine (and if not the people, then definitelythose algorithms). 

They understand human psychology to a stunning degree, which is how they’ve been able to capitalize on it for the last few years. It’s why Facebook is filled, mostly, with the things you agree with, or are seemingly helpless against clicking on. But because you’re a human being, something about it probably rubs you the wrong way. As it should! You’re a human, and not a hamster doing a stupid pet trick, which is what Facebook has turned both readers and publishers into. Credit where it’s due: They’re that good. And yeah, fake news is a problem—but before we learned about it being a problem, where Facebook was concerned, it was a feature.

And

So! Facebook created the newsfeed, and then turned to publishers/media outlets, and said: Guess what? Everyone’s on Facebook. You want a piece of the action? You’re gonna play ball with us. You’ll put share buttons on all of your stories. You’ll participate in our Facebook Instant Articles program. You’ll advertise with us! When we tell you that we’re going to start promoting video over articles, you’re going to start making video. And then when we tell you what kind of video, you’ll make that video too! And if you don’t want to play ball, fine. Your competition will.

[Source: The 2018 internet resolution everyone should have: Bring back your browser bar]

The Hardest Workers Don’t Do the Best Work

At the 2014 World Cup soccer tournament in Brazil, the U.S. midfielder Michael Bradley put up a statistic that wowed folks back home: He ran further than anyone else. Through three games, Bradley had covered a total of 23.4 miles, according to a micro-transmitter embedded in his cleat, while his team finished tops among nations in “work rate,” a simple measure of movement per minute otherwise known as running around.

Left unmentioned was the fact that the lowest work rate of the tournament by a non-defender was recorded by its most valuable player, Argentine goal machine Lionel Messi.

Yup, work smart, not hard. 

[Source: The Hardest Workers Don’t Do the Best Work – Bloomberg]

*Thanks and have a nice week, 

Ulysse*