We’ve all been hearing a lot about bots — but what are they? Facebook Messenger’s new release paves the way for more bot interaction, and Engadget has compiled a list of Facebook Messenger bots in the works. The lag time between interactions is odd — my early interactions showed early bots are rough, if not outright frustrating and useless. What …
Friday 5 — 3.4.2016
My mild obsession with work hacks is gratified by this list of 32 of the best productivity tools. I’ve also observed that my habits have changed over time — I use overarching to-do and project management apps like Evernote less, and little tools like Momentum more. When might it make sense to have a digital alter ego rather than …
Friday 5 — 1.22.2016
Messaging is the next big platform, and Facebook gets it. With 800 million Messenger users, Facebook is looking at the rise of messaging globally, and doubling down with new features. Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) is Google’s solution to slow-loading web pages on mobile devices. AMP goes live in a few weeks, and this post explains how publishers are coming …
Friday 5 — 1.8.2016
A lot of 2016 predictions, including Fred Wilson’s excellent list, mention consumer adoption of virtual reality (VR) games and apps. This week, Oculus announced a March release date and a price point just shy of $600. The New York Public Library, often a leader in digital, has released more that 187,000 digitized images in the public domain. You …
Friday 5 — 11.27.2015
It’s been an odd, three-day work week on the interwebs. We had the #SlackDown maelstrom with an impressive social media save, fake Don DeLillo joined Twitter to announce a fake death, and then a real Jeff Bezos joined Twitter to announce a real disposable rocket launch. Go figure. In more substantive news: WordPress has disrupted itself, according to founder Matt Mullenweg. …
Friday 5 — 8.28.2015
Why do some videos go viral while others seemingly underperform? HBR looks at how psychological response and social motivation drive video sharing. Apparently it doesn’t hurt to reach the “supersharers,” who are responsible for 82.4% of total video shares. Slack’s integrations — from GitHub to Giphy — make the team collaboration app delightfully sticky. This week Slack announced a …
Friday 5 — 8.7.2015
Smaller color palettes, large fonts, and meaningful microinteractions are among the trends highlighted in this article on the current state of mobile UI/UX. A recent Pew report highlights ways video games, social media, and mobile phones play a role in teens’ friendships. Interesting findings include: Boys are more likely than girls to make online friends: 61% of boys …
Friday 5 — 3.20.2015
Facebook introduced new friend-to-friend payments on Facebook Messenger. Now friends can split a lunch check, or settle a wager right in a chat. And, for now, zero fees. Google Code shut down and moved nearly a thousand of its open source projects to GitHub. Here are a few important ways GitHub got it right where others failed. Should news media drop costly native apps …
Friday 5 — 1.30.2015
Snapchat aims to become a force in mobile news with this week’s launch of Snapchat Discover. Here are some tips on how to use it. If you’re like 82% of people, you have forgotten a password for a website. Luke Wroblewski has a thoughtful piece on password masking, security, and our one-touch future. Because we’re …
Quick takes on Southeast Asia digital
I began 2015 with a few weeks off the grid in Vietnam and Cambodia. The trip was all about learning and exploration — touring, reading, reflecting — and a break from the hyperconnected day-to-day. Nonetheless, I couldn’t help but pay attention to the rapid encroachment of technology, and compare digital behaviors to those back in …