Kickoff For July 19, 2021
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:
Technology
The Cyber Cold War Is Here, wherein we learn a bit more about a war in the digital shadows that is rapidly, and exponentially, escalating.
On Telegram, Cubans are coming together to revolutionize the internet, wherein we learn how access to the internet is starting to change the island nation, and how it has the potential to change the country in the future.
Appropriate Measures, wherein we learn about small, simple technologies that can help communities become more self-sufficient.
Writing
Here’s why Substack’s scam worked so well, wherein Annalee Newitz explains why she thinks that everything about the popular newsletter publishing platform — especially its editorial policies — is a complete sham and how she fell (in a small way) for the scam.
The High Bar of Expectations Can Crush Our Creativity, wherein Leo Babauta advises writers (and other creators) to show up and create, from a place of aliveness rather than burdening themselves with the weight of the expectation to create art.
Notes on Craft, wherein Jonathan Lee walks us through his love of opening lines of great novels, and how that helps him start writing his own books.
Online Life
Paid in Full, wherein Drew Austin ponders how, contrary to the rosy visions of the early internet, the online world is becoming more like an expansive matrix of built-in ownership and payment infrastructure.
Hell Site, wherein Aral Balkan looks at how Twitter (and services like it) are the hell sites of the title, and offers some alternatives.
Reducing The Waste From Our Digital Lives, wherein we learn about the little breadcrumbs and clues about ourselves that we leave behind online, what those clues say about us, and how they can be used against us.
And that’s it for this Monday. Come back in seven days for another set of links to start off your week.