The Byteside Newsletter
Subject line real estate is crucial if you want to fit a complicated message into a very limited amount of available sp
I’m going to stop writing ‘Byteside [issue #] in the subject headings from now on. But I’m adding the lightbulb emoji to kick off the subject line. Give it a little 'pop’ in the email list while adding some Subject uniformity without eating up valuable readable space. Make
Tangled Webs
I heard a great podcast over the weekend speaking with a journalist about his time covering technology. The host actually hit on an interesting concept - that the history of technology in recent times is one of a shift from science to business to politics. It rings very true. But
Assorted brain food
No themes are leaping out this week. It’s a mixed bag of interesting that, thankfully, has more nourishing discussions than bad news this week. Not that there’s no bad links… I’m still looking for input on the tech parenting newsletter / podcast concept, so if you can spare
Should I do a tech parenting newsletter too?
Games don’t cause gun violence. It’s old news. It’s not a statement worthy of rebuttal. In one of the many debates of this topic over the years - back when the games industry was arguing to get R18+ ratings for games in Australia - one expert pointed
Manifestos and memes side-by-side
8Chan is getting some news coverage right now. Not for good reasons. It’s now been associated with three recent white-supremacist terrorist attacks, manifestos and memes living side-by-side. It emerged in the wake of Gamergate five years ago, when 4chan started to crack down on moderation. And 4chan was already
Fortnite World Cup Feels
The hallmark of every kid succeeding at the Fortnite World Cup is supportive parents who saw their talent for a videogame was worthy.
The Good, The Bad, & The Awkward
Last week I did media spots about the FaceApp excitement. Of course, ‘excitement’ starts with viral fun on social media and, these days, often ends with “and now here’s what that thing just did to your privacy.” The good news, in a way, is that we’re getting better
Big wigs to tikking kids
I’ve spent my week putting a lot of work into getting my new office whipped into shape. Thanks to the amazing organisational and IKEA skills of my wife, Sally, things now have homes and there’s space on desks to get serious work done. That also meant a short
"They're doing what now?"
It’s been a dark year for tech culture discussions. Lots of ‘oh no, that nice thing has turned out even worse than we’d feared?’ discussions. And a few more of those today… BUT I’ve made sure and throw you some more positive links at the end to
Jony Has Left The Building
Jony Ive has left the building. Wow. I’m one of the true believers in the Lennon-McCartney dynamic of Steve Jobs and Jony Ive. Steve Jobs was a true design champion, and knew how to give someone as gifted as Ive the space and the constraints to do his best
AI, 'doing' science, awkward hacks and Ikea meatballs
Testing a Monday push. Let me know if you think Friday is best fit, or whether a Monday missive might give you a different vibe at the start of the week? Thanks everyone for the feedback to date. Really helpful! Best of the Week The New Wilderness A fantastic discussion
Ever heard of 'Fishwrap'?
Preamble be damned this week. Enjoy the links! OK, one quick thing… please let me know what you’re thinking of the newsletter so far. I appreciate all feedback, even if there’s stuff you don’t like. It all helps refine what I’m sharing. Fundamentally, if I think
WWDC, EmDrives, Napster, and working smarter
I just got home after attending Apple’s WWDC in San Jose, California. (I attended as a guest of Apple). It was a big year – a new Mac Pro for the most extremely high end of users, iPad gets its own OS to push it toward more serious ‘laptop alternative’
Dirty rotten engagement
Brace yourself. There aren’t too many happy stories this week. I’m not sure there have been many happy stories lately, but the nature of looking deeply at the state of technology doesn’t have many good answers right now. Tech is at quite the crossroads culturally. I keep
Miss me?
I was in Los Angeles last week and hadn’t quite had a chance to pull the newsletter together before I disappeared. Thankfully, this is beta season, so I figured one week off wouldn’t hurt. No double issue or anything, just a fresh batch of thought provoking stories about
Phones, thrones, skins, lungs + more
Happy Friday! This week I’ve written my own descriptions with a little analysis under each headline (and not all headlines are the originals) to try to efficiently sneak in my 2c worth without turning the newsletter into an odyssey. I’ve also chosen one dozen stories (aside from links
Algorithms for good
Thanks for the feedback last week. Super helpful - and a special thanks to those who spotted the secret signal. More did than I expected, so I appreciate how attentive my beta friends are. Lucky eight links today. I’m definitely thinking about whether I rewrite headline links to describe
In the beginning...
Welcome, beta friends! As social media fades as a place for gathering as a positive community or to share ideas effectively as a publisher, it seemed worth exploring the idea of stepping back into a more controlled and direct environment – email! Maybe everyone’s inbox is too full. Maybe email
What I learnt watching live esports with French commentary (and I only speak English)
The beauty of sport is that it doesn't matter your language, you can share a love for the competition that transcends communication barriers.
