Letter from the Internet #4
My casually curated collection of neat things from around the internet. Fridays at π o’clock.
For a bit of fun
The 25 most important recipes of the last 100 years. IDK about the green pea guacamole, tho’. [Link]A compelling visual story
Did you know that AMC Theatres makes almost 40% of its revenue from food & beverages? That popcorn you buy? 82% margin. The visualization in this article brings the numbers to life. It shows context through the bar chart and then breaks out the most recent quarter in a type of composite Sankey diagram. [Link]
Something awesome I’ll be playing with
Data-centric stories shouldn’t be Walls of Text (self-referential lol). There’s a really nifty tool that’s been showing up in a lot of data journalism of late: Data Wrapper. It embeds a visual expression in the xfarticle, and the interested reader can download the data that comes with it. It’s compelling. A couple of quotes from their website: “We want to reach everyone” and “Datawrapper worked .. [I] just got going.” [Link]Bubbling under In Revenge of the Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell talks about “superspreaders.” This idea has shown up in various forms over the years, and I’m working up a piece that examines that how this idea is also explored in Crossing the Chasm, and Cracking Product Market Fit.
Someone wrote something interesting
It’s Thanksgiving in the USA and a time of year when gratitude is foremost on many people’s minds. In this LinkedIn post, George Stern shares great ideas about the “where” and “how” of practicing it. It’s practical and actionable. Give it a whirl. [Link]A podcast I enjoyed
Adam Grant talking with Nathan Myhrvold on The Art of Invention. How do you fight groupthink? What does it take to meaningfully think about things differently? [Link]What I’m reading
How to Read a Book. First published in 1940, it was revised in 1972, giving guidelines for critically reading good and great books of any tradition. [Link]ICYMI
What can Reddit’s users teach Chief Data Officers? This post is a little over a month old and captures a moment in time. TL;DR: this technology is moving, *fast*. [Link]
This week I’m grateful for
Each of my subscribers - every one of you. This newsletter is going out to Friends & Family. Each of you has contributed to this beautiful, rich, amazing life that I’m gratefully puzzled to have. Thank you, one and all.
Job Hunt Guide
Job hunting is hard. Each week I’ll provide a couple of references that I’ve found helpful.
Stuck in your job search process? Need to change it up? People are finding good results with Job Search Councils. Phyl Terry’s tagline for this methodology is “Never Search Alone,” which I think is a beautiful and compelling summary. [Link]
Building a base is essential in athletics and during my competitive years, I used many of them: Long slow miles, Zone 2, and Pedaling Circles. That base is essential to high performance come competition time. Your emotional base is everything in the job hunt. How are you taking care of yourself? I find inspiration and grounding at Tactic Functional Nutrition. Their daily 90-second Instagram posts are the way I start the day. Grounded in science and super grounded. TL;DR: it’s all about mindset. [Link]
Alistair Cooke was a beautifully polished writer whose content, “Letter from America” was a cornerstone of my weekends. He was a master of his craft and wrote for over 60 years until he was 95.
Comments & Feedback
What do you think? Where am I wrong? Informed debate can be a beautiful learning process. I'd love to hear from you. Here's my calendar.