This week you can contribute to the next issue of Offscreen Magazine. As part of our regular One Question feature we're asking this time: In what ways does the web and new technology make you feel optimistic and hopeful about the future? Please add your answer here and with a bit of luck you'll see it in issue 17 which is due for release in June/July.
Also, thanks for filling out our reader survey last week! You can see some of the results here. Have a great week!
Struggling to keep up with the tsunami of tech news? Need to improve your signal to noise ratio? One email a day, five must-read tech news stories, sent in time for your commute home. Read the first two weeks for free.
I love Wikipedia and can't imagine the web without it. Now Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales is taking on fake news. Wikitribune is seeking funding to hire ten journalists to start. The site struggled to stay up under the heavy traffic when it launched so I didn't want to share it then. If, like me, you're curious to find out what participatory journalism could look like, chip in a little and help push them over the fundraising goal...
As I was signing up as a regular Wikitribune supporter I was thinking, "Here we go, another subscription to add to the list." A tool to track regular expenses like Outflow could be really useful but I'm not sure why it comes in the form of an iOS app.
Use Are.na to collect, connect, and contextualise information collaboratively. Texts, images, links, and files can be put into flexible containers (called channels) to gather materials for academic research or start creative projects.
So simple, yet so useful: "Blockhead snaps on to your existing Apple charger, allowing it to sit flat against the wall. Now it can fit in more places than ever." Looks like it's currently available for US outlets only.
Retro lovers rejoice! You can now have a keyboard that looks and sounds (?) like an old typewriter. My concerns about ergonomics aside, the Sandstone Black version looks pretty sexy.
Tech legend Kevin Kelly makes some very important and interesting points about our (mostly uninformed) understanding of Artificial Intelligence. Especially doomsdayers need to read this.
Our economy is obsessed with efficiency and terrible at everything else
Umair Haque: "Productivity is about 'producing' not just actual, tangible things, but true, real, value-creating breakthroughs. But the most 'efficient' company is just software running software. The most 'efficient' economy is just 99% of people working as servants to the 1%."
The benefits and challenges of running a slow-growing business
I love it when people write about their business' unremarkable growth. Andy Budd on running his agency Clearleft: "For me, slow growth allows a company to focus on what really matters to them, building a sustainable business focussed on quality."
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The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but seeing with new eyes.
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