Cut yourself some slack

It’s chaos all the way down this week.

I’ve been inundated with article and interview requests all about remote work, work from home, and shifting everything to digital instantly. So the newsletter column is a fail this week.

But here’s my one suggestion. We all cut ourselves some slack.

This is hard. I feel tense all the time. I’ll do all the work while it’s here because in two weeks there might be none. But when things feel too much, just let yourself stop. It really is a lot right now.

I’m worrying constantly about being a good parent while the kids are learning how to learn all over again. How to be more self-reliant. How to be at home but not on holidays. I’m working long hours to get things done and ignoring them while they’re here feels awful.

But I have to keep reminding myself: this is not normal, it’s OK if it’s a bit crazy, it’s OK if it isn’t perfect. We’ll keep tweaking it as we go.

If this was just an economic collapse, maybe I’d be more worried. But the lesson right now is that our health is everything. That’s the priority. All else can be rebuilt and recovered. Life can be simplified.

In fact, there’s never been a better time to be stuck at home. So much to watch, play, and enjoy in our living rooms and studies. Good times await behind every screen.

Do not forget to breathe. Just stay safe and prepare for what you want to do with yourself when we all get to shed the cocoon and emerge fresh and ready for what’s next.

Good Luck. Stay Safe. Stay Home.

Byteside things

The internet high wire act

Byteside podcast: Services are blowing up in all kinds of ways, whether becoming the new hotness or collapsing under the weight of all this new work from home traffic.

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Hearthstone's Year of the Phoenix!

The Scrapyard podcast: All the latest news about this year’s big changes to the great digital cardgame, Hearthstone.

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Tech Has (Some) Answers

Jetpacks podcast: A spoken version (with some extras) of last week’s column, if you’d like to hear my voice talk about things instead of just see the results of words coming out of my fingers.

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Help

These apps make a game out of relieving anxiety. They may be onto something.

The Covid-19 coronavirus has lots of us feeling anxious. Here are some apps that draw from clinically approved treatments.

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How the 3D printing industry is stepping up to help the COVID-19 response

With critical medical gear in short supply, additive manufacturing is an “essential part” of the pandemic response, the industry says.

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Neighbors Are Reaching Out on Nextdoor - The New York Times

Homebound city dwellers are turning to a neighborhood app to connect, organize and help each other without risking physical contact.

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Nope

‘Zoombombing’: When Video Conferences Go Wrong - The New York Times

As its user base rapidly expands, the videoconference app Zoom is seeing a rise in trolling and graphic content.

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What it feels like to be laid off on Zoom during this crisis

Hundreds of tech employees are getting laid off amid the coronavirus outbreak — but now it’s all happening over Zoom. Never, ever do this.

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Data

Hidden data is revealing the true scale of the coronavirus outbreak | WIRED UK

Satellite images, internet speed and traffic information tell a whole new story about Covid-19

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COVID-19 and the Creative Economy: Takeaways from Patreon’s Data Science Team

In short, this moment in time is one of the strongest influxes of memberships that we’ve ever seen. And the message from the data is clear: membership works.

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Houseparty, Discord, Zoom, and Marco Polo downloads explode amid coronavirus pandemic

Coronavirus quarantines have sent downloads soaring for social video apps as millions of people search for ways to connect socially and professionally.

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More

Epic launches publishing label, signs creators behind Control, Inside, and The Last Guardian

Fortnite developer Epic Games has announced a new publishing label, which will include new games from the studios behind Control, Inside, and The Last Guardian.

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Who Would Have Thought an iPad Cursor Could Be So Much Fun?

Apple’s new iPadOS 13.4 adds enhanced support for trackpads. And with that, a shiny new cursor.

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