Cherry 

Best of the past week

Hi , I caught up on a few links I had open in my browser for a few weeks, this New York Times op-ed looking back at Ancient Rome's history and the way in which it shifted from a Republic to an Empire is a worthwhile read.A petition and protest against Donald Trump's upcoming state visit to the UK was organised in London and a few other cities. I signed the petition online and went to the protest. Official news mention thousands, I heard policemen there say there were over 20,000 people. With regards to protesting, I enjoyed this post laying out some theories about Trumps immigration ban and more to the point explains with good reasons what protests are good for and how they're also not enough to change things in and by themselves.Last but not least on the topic of political commentary, I recommend the last episode of Malcolm Gladwell's audio podcast Revisionist History titled The Satire Paradox. In it he explores the evolution of satire and inquires into whether it makes any kind of difference, or what it can or does achieve. Excellent listen.

 Sprinkles What's the GIF? 

Whipped Cream

Revisiting a few of my favourite videos on Vimeo, I remembered this great short documentary about Allan Benton, who produces world renown cured country ham and bacon in Tennessee. It's about 10 minutes long worth a watch.

Caramel Fudge

What's sticky in the communications industry?

I read this interesting article about how NPR created their application's algorithm and it underlines what publishing algorithms are, how they usually work to create the kind of confirmation bias bubble we often live these days and that just reenforce a particular opinion and world view. The article also explains how the NPR app doesn't do that.In short, an algorithm is a set of rules lining out how and why certain things should show up in your view, on your Facebook timeline or on Google's search results. These are particularly complex ones and probably the most closely guarded secret of the two Internet giants. When you open Facebook you don't see all the updates of all your friends, nor do they see all of yours. Who sees what is governed by Facebook's algorithm and you don't actually have much say in it. The objective of Facebook's algorithm is to have you stay longer and return more often, so that the platform increases in value to sell advertising.

Chocolate

What's going on in gaming?

I finally played a new session of tabletop roleplaying and it was my first recorded live play! My friend Kalum of The Rolistes podcast organised it, I'll tell you when the episode is released.We played a French game called Nephilim, a contemporary occult game in which players incarnate immortal elemental magical beings who have to take human hosts in order to live. They pursue mystical secrets in order to achieve transcendence. A version was translated in English and you can check out a review here if you'd like to find out more.

Vanilla

What else is interesting this week?

For some strange reason I had never heard of the prolific fantasy and science-fiction author Diana Wynne Jones, I came across this article and apparently she's written a bunch of brilliant novels. This article does a great job of outlining why everyone should read some of her books and where to start.Apologies for sending the newsletter out late today, I first had an internet outage on Friday when I was about to write and then I was out visiting friends in the North of England this weekend, having so much fun I postponed finishing until now. Have a great week!CheersWillem