Kickoff For February 13, 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:
What No One Understands About Your Job, wherein Derek Thompson explores the myths and misconceptions around certain lines of work.
Has the C.I.A. Done More Harm Than Good?, wherein we learn about some of the problems with the spy agency and why it’s far from clear whether the C.I.A. is good at its job, or what that job is or should be.
Can God Be Proved Mathematically?, wherein we’re taken through the thinking, and calculations, of some prominent mathematicians in history in their efforts to confirm the existence of a divine being.
The non-linear workdays changing the shape of productivity, wherein we learn how remote workers have been changing when and how they complete tasks in flexible, focused bursts scattered throughout their day to work their jobs around their lives.
The Rise of Multicultural Japanese Literature, wherein translator Eric Margolis looks at a growing trend in writing in Japan: works written in Japanese and “based”—either because of the location of the author or the author’s ethnicity—in Japan in some way.
What is multi-factor authentication, and how should I be using it?, wherein Jongkil Jay Jeong gives us a summary of the common two-step verification methods used with online services, and highlights their strengths and weaknesses.
How To Do The Most Good, wherein William MacAskill argues that to do the most good for the planet, we need to prioritize actions and changes that have the most impact, rather than focusing on popular ones.
‘Dark data’ is killing the planet – we need digital decarbonisation, wherein we learn about information that’s used only once, and which remained stored somewhere online, why it’s problematic, and about a potential way around those problems.
Whence, Wherefore, Whither Utopia?, wherein Deanna K. Kreisel explores that people believe utopia to mean, and when and why we seemed to have abandoned the positive aspects of the idea.
And that’s it for this Monday. Come back in seven days for another set of links to start off your week.