Kickoff For October 9, 2023
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Monday Kickoff, a collection of what I’ve found interesting, informative, and insightful on the web over the last seven days.
Let’s get this Monday started with these links:
How to Sharpen a Scythe, wherein Daegan Miller uses the titular act as the starting point to explore the idea of attention, and how it can be a tool for both good and bad.
When Photocopiers Terrified the Publishing World, wherein we once again dip in the the what’s new is old again files and look at the fears (many irrational) around the wider spread of a new technology.
Heartlands: Hidden Ginza, wherein Rebecca Saunders takes us on a stroll through the past and the present of the ritzy Tokyo neighbourhood.
The 1970s librarians who revolutionised the challenge of search, wherein we learn about a system created and tested at Syracuse University in the early 1970s, one which academic librarians helped shape and which, in many ways, mirrored search on the modern web.
The Written World and the Unwritten World, wherein Italo Calvino reflects on a life of regularly shifting between focusing on words on a page and the three-dimensional world.
The Law of the Sea Needs a Rewrite, wherein Surabhi Ranganathan argues that modern international laws around maritime freedom must be adapted to the climatic changes that have occurred since the start of the Anthropocene.
The Psychopathology of Digital Life, wherein Martin Gurri examines the (often negative) effects that engagement with the digital world has had on the physical one, and at the resulting fragmentation of societies.
Have You Been to the Library Lately?, wherein we get a glimpse into the changing role of modern libraries, including as a last safe space for the homeless in many cities, and the challenges facing those libraries and the people who staff them.
Why the Four-Day Week is Rocking the World of Work, wherein learn that moving away from the traditional work week can benefit not only employees but companies as well.
And that’s it for this Monday. Come back in seven days for another set of links to start off your week.