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MaisonBisson

a bunch of stuff I would have emailed you about

Every journalist

Ryu Spaeth on the dirty job of journalism:

[E]very journalist […] at some point will have to face the morally indefensible way we go about our business: namely, using other people to tell a story about the world. Not everyone dupes their subjects into trusting them, but absolutely everyone robs other people of their stories to tell their own. Every journalist knows this flushed feeling, a mix of triumph and guilt, of securing the story that will redound glory unto them, not the subject. Some subjects who have no outlet, who are voiceless, approve of this arrangement, since they have no other way of getting their story heard. But even they will not wholly recognize their own depiction in the newspaper, by virtue of the fact that it was told by someone else with their own agenda. This is what Jonathan Franzen has called the “inescapable shame of being a storyteller”—that it involves stealing from another person, much in the way some people believe a photograph steals a bit of the sitter’s soul.

The three tribes of the internet

Authors Primavera De Filippi, Juan Ortiz Freuler, and Joshua Tan outline three competing narratives that have shaped the internet: libertarian, corporate, and nationalist. “[These narratives] emerged from a community of shared interests; each calls for a set of institutional arrangements; each endures in today’s politics.” » about 400 words

Vitaminwater's #nophoneforayear contest

Back in the before times, Vitaminwater invited applicants to a contest to go a full year without a smartphone or tablet. It was partly in response to rising concerns over the effect of all those alerts on our brains. Over 100,000 people clamored for the chance, but author Elana A. Mugdan’s entry stood out with an amusing video, and in February 2019 the company took away her iPhone 5s and handed her a Kyocera flip phone. » about 600 words

Membership-driven news media

From The Membership Guide’s handbook/manifesto:

Journalism is facing both a trust crisis and a sustainability crisis. Membership answers to both.

It is a social contract between a news organization and its members in which members give their time, money, energy, expertise, and connections to support a cause that they believe in. In exchange, the news organization offers transparency and opportunities to meaningfully contribute to both the sustainability and impact of the organization.

Elsewhere it continues:

Membership is not subscription by another name, nor a brand campaign that can be toggled on and off.

…and:

Memberful routines are workflows that connect audience members to journalism and the people producing it. Routines are the basis for a strong membership strategy. Notice that audience members are specified here, which is likely a wider group than your members.

Reactions

Facebook introduced reactions with an emphasis on both the nuance they enabled and the mobile convenience: “[I]f you are sharing something that is sad [...] it might not feel comfortable to Like that post.” Later: “Commenting might afford nuanced responses, but composing those responses on a [mobile] keypad takes too much time.” » about 800 words

Honey cocktails: eau de lavender

Liquor.com’s recipe for eau de lavender, from a larger collection of cocktails with honey. They all look and sound delightful, but I can vouch for the eau de lavender.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 oz Tequila
  • 3/4 oz Fresh lemon juice
  • 3/4 oz Honey syrup1
  • 1 Egg white
  • 1 dash Scrappy’s lavender bitters
  • Garnish: Lavender sprig

Steps

  1. Add all ingredients into a shaker and dry-shake (without ice).
  2. Add ice and shake again to emulsify thoroughly.
  3. Strain into a chilled coupe glass.
  4. Garnish with a lavender sprig.

  1. Honey syrup: Add 1/2 cup honey and 1/2 cup water to a small saucepan over medium heat. (You can experiment and decide how much of a honey flavor you want in your syrup. The more honey you use, the thicker the syrup and stronger in flavor it will be.) Stir until blended. Strain into a jar and seal tightly with a lid. Will keep for 1 month in the refrigerator. ↩︎

Satellite tracking

If you’re not reading Skyriddles blog, then you’re not tracking the sky above. And you might have missed the re-discovery of a satellite launched in 1967 and lost for nearly 50 years.

As it turns out, there’s a lot of stuff that’s been forgotten up there, and quite a bit that some are trying to hide. The blog is an entertaining view into the world satellites, including communication, spy, weather, research, and the occasional probe going further afield.

“Life is like riding a bicycle...

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” —wisdom by Albert...

Notes about Spotify creator features

Spotify often gets bashed by top creators. The service pays just $0.00397 per stream, but with 108 million users listening to an average of 25 hours per month, those streams can add up for creators who can get the listener’s attention.

Spotify verifies artists who then get additional benefits on the platform. Some artists find success the traditional route, some optimize their work for the system, others work the system…and some really work it.

Relevance to other network/aggregation platforms: tiny payments add up, and given a platform, creators will find a way to get and maximize value from it. The critical component is customers.