Welcome to this edition of The Roundup! Enjoy the collection of interesting, informative, and entertaining links. Brew a fresh cup of coffee or grab yourself a drink, find a comfortable place, and relax.
There’s been a lot written about the newest iPhone cameras, but what I continue to find most striking is how well they seem to deal with dynamic range. I won’t be upgrading this year, and am eager to see just how much more Apple can advance computational photography in the course of another year, but remain struck by Tyler Stalman’s video putting the iPhone XS against his DSLR.
Inspiring Quotation of the Week
Love is patient, love is kind.
- 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Great Photography Shots
I like the symmetry of these shots; critically, neither is symmetrical for pure aesthetics but because doing so brings the subject and story of the image better into focus.
Music I’m Digging
- Sword Coast Legends – Original Game Soundtrack // I’m in the process of getting a game of D&D ready and this has been a helpful source of songs to play for different areas and events.
- Fallout 76 – Original Game Soundtrack // I was curious about how the instrumentals for this were going to come together — I’m never totally certain what orchestral arrangement ‘works’ best for Fallout games — and was both pleasantly surprised that the score was well done and that several of the overland background tracks will work as well in a medieval fantasy setting as in a post-apocalyptic one. Not sure what that says about either setting…
- Ghostface Killah & Apollo Brown – The Brown Tape // This album was randomly recommended to me. While the majority of it is very in-character — and something I have a hard time tracking because I’m not sufficiently aware of how various Wu Tang members have built their backstories — the flow is solid all the way through and also has very, very strong MCing.
Neat Podcast Episodes
- The Agenda – PTSD and the War at Home // PTSD is one of the silent threats and killers of the Canadian Armed Forces. Steve’s interview with Stéphane Grenier touches on the challenges in identifying and treating the disorder. What stuck out in my mind was Grenier’s discussion that it was only when one of his supervisors gave him the space to care for himself — telling him to not run back to work because he needed to work on himself and his mental health — that he felt permitted or authorized to get the help he needed. That kind of action speaks to the need for employers to treat employees with compassion and facilitate their health over the short-term goals of the organization.
- The Sporkful – The Chef Who Drinks Milk With Her Chocolate Soufflé // I appreciated how the guest for this episode, Samir Nosrat, was able to speak to the need to enjoy oneself even in fine dining experiences. Part of that enjoyment comes from being honest with the servers — what would really make an experience better? — but also by the staff of restaurants treating their customers with care and empathy. How many of the challenges that are faced between and within organizations could be solved if we simply showed one another a greater degree of attention, care, and empathy?
Good Reads for the Week
- Learning to Attack the Cyberattackers Can’t Happen Fast Enough // The need to attract new talent into the field of cybersecurity — at technical and policy levels — is critical. But it’s deeply disturbing when a leading faculty member pitches all advances as being techniques to let the state better monitor and track its citizens. Given that state actors are themselves routinely abusive the normative position assumed — that we can trust the state but not its citizens engaged in dissent and protest — speaks to the problems facing the STEM field more generally.
- How to Talk to People, According to Terry Gross // I like Terry’s reasons for avoiding pointed questions, like ‘how is your job’, on the basis that they presume things which may not be true. Instead, open a conversation with ‘tell me about yourself’ to let the other person open into what they are interested or willing to talk about.
- Printing at Home // While I’ve never been able to print at home for storage space and cost reasons I’d love to be able to with some frequency, if only to better see and fix things in some of my prints. My hope is that in a month or three I’ll be able to at least do small-size printings, such that I’ll be able to see if a photo makes sense to be printed in a larger size or not.
- Targeted Advertising Is Ruining the Internet and Breaking the World // What is most striking in this article is the emphasis on how the invisible data collection economy has broader impacts on all dimensions of social life in the Western world and globe more generally. Further, the conclusion acknowledges that much of the debate has been about stopping targeted advertisements and that this debate misses the forest through the trees; the real issue is the very collection of data and not its uses or avoiding such uses. Recognizing data collection as the problem underscores the importance of the consent doctrine and need to avoid shifting purely to a use-based analysis of privacy risks and threats.
- Patching Is Failing as a Security Paradigm // For two decades a security cycle has been developed that, while not perfect, has begun to be more and more effective. However, this model likely cannot work in a world where everything is computerized and in need of security updates. Schneier’s assessments are on point, direct, and poignantly express the magnitude of the emerging computer security crisis and how ill-suited we are to addressing it.
- Putting away pints: Are cellars worth it or just expensive beer purgatory? // I’ve long wanted to cellar wines and beers but I move too often — and into too small spaces! — for that dream to have ever come true. This blog walks through why cellaring most beers just really isn’t worth it, and why you should instead enjoy your beer within a few weeks of production instead.
- We need to talk about cars // Climate change is real. The world is becoming more hostile to most kinds of life, humans included, and our failure to seriously confront the problems of climate change threaten to create events capable of killing millions. While it’s all fine and good to approach low carbon modes of transportation, this article powerfully argues that we need to remove some of the most dangerous things from our communities: private motor vehicles. To be clear, transit replacements will be needed as will re-architecting the city to one for pedestrians, but these are doable kinds of changes. And they have to happen, fast, before it’s too late.
Cool Things
- Harry Potter: What Magic Sounds Like // The concept that people see with their eyes but feel with their ears is interesting, and not something that I’d really considered in any real depth before.
- Pixels Huh – Pixel Art Paintings // Some of these pieces are just spectacular. I particularly appreciate ‘Scene #42: Micrometeorites’ and ‘Scene #7: The Secret’.
- Fold’N Fly // A paper airplane database!
Excited Pixels 