7 Things This Week [#18]
A weekly list of things I found interesting, posted on Sundays. Sometimes themed, often not.
- Did you see this real-life Tortoise and Hare race this week? There are undoubtedly many others like it out there, but this made me smile.
- I rediscovered the Linky app this week. It’s magic for sharing links to twitter because you can create an image with highlighted text from the article. It’s also great for sharing photos.
- Apple appears to be wary of regulators changing the going rate for paying music artists for using their songs on streaming services. “It is a narrow-margin business, so it wouldn’t actually take that much to upset the so-called apple cart,” said Apple Music’s Elena Segal. I’d point out that narrow margins make it difficult for other creator platforms on the App Store, too. That’s why services like Twitter and Fanhouse take less home than Apple or Google on in-app purchase.
- I like Microsoft’s new emoji set! Their design language is changing, and these now fit right in. The Verge’s Tom Warren has a great side-by-side comparison tweet. Their animation is also intriguing. I think it’s the right direction, but we’ll have to see in practice. If it’s a good idea, it’s doubtless that the other platforms will follow suit. Google’s got new dark mode magic for their emoji, and it remains to be seen what Apple will do.
- To each their own, but a hard-and-fast rule like “I DO NOT ANSWER UNSOLICITED EMAILS,” makes me a little sad. If no one answered unsolicited emails, we’d rarely answer any email at all. I know that’s the point, but email is one of the few open platforms left for reaching out to (nearly, I suppose) anyone. I’ll note that later in his article, Professor Knuth admits to sending emails to strangers, “When I believe that the recipient won’t be bothered by my request.” I’d argue that is precisely the case for most messages that people send — it’s not meant to be bothersome. I, myself, got an email from a stranger last night with a comment and question about an article. It was delightful.
- Novall Swift has been chronicling her adventures in dating on Twitter. It’s a joy to see periodic updates from someone in a new and happy relationship. She’s a great follow in general, often posting about being a developer at Apple.
- After discovering her latest single, I fell down the rabbit hole of Chelsea Cutler’s music last night. She’s got a gorgeous voice — so emotional and pure. Her latest full album was a collaboration with Jeremy Zucker in which they performed live for the internet.
Thanks for reading! If you found these things interesting too, or have something exciting to share, please drop me a line on Twitter!