Welcome to the 13th edition of The Three Things by Michael Schechter, Howie Goldfarb, and me!
Two days until Christmas. How many of you will be at the mall tomorrow? Thankfully, I will not see you there. I am finished.
Before I give you this week’s links, everyone wish a very happy birthday to my dad! Growing up, I thought it would suck to have your birthday this close to Christmas and then I met my mother-in-law, who was born on Christmas Day.
For those of you new to this series, The Three Things arrives in your inbox on Sunday mornings (unless you don’t suscribe, but that can easily be fixed if you hurry over and enter your email address or add to your RSS feed) so you have some extra time to spend perusing the obscure content we’ve curated for you (and one another) before your week begins and deadlines, meetings, and work takes over.
Enjoy!
Inbox Intentions — Shawn Blanc
Michael on Scaling Back. I’m yet to write this up, but one of the best things I’ve done this month (and likely this year) is assess and adjust my digital usage. I’ve been scaling back and realigning the way I use tools such as email and social media to better fit my life. While I plan to talk more about my approach and where I ended, all I can tell you is that the process has helped me remember what I love most about both. For those who may want to take a moment at the end of the year to determine where things such as email might fit into your own life, Shawn Blanc has assembled the thoughts of several great thinkers while adding a few of his own. Recommended reading for anyone who’s starting to feel the weight of an overloaded inbox and a bloated digital presence.
Anonymous Hacks the Westboro Baptist Church
Howie on Internet Power. I find it fascinating groups such as WikiLeaks and Anonymous exist. That the Internet allows the average person or hacker to form groups to balance the power of governments. It is the media’s fault hate groups such as Westboro Baptist are known in the world. They don’t shoot or steal. They just picket. They have freedom of speech. We all know that for every Westboro or Rush Limbaugh there are 1,000 hate groups or racists. It is great to see people power coming together using the Internet as forces of good (my opinion) who fight for transparency or fairness. Otherwise we are at the mercy of forces beyond us as individuals to do anything to fight the good fight.
Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me with Martha Stewart
Gini on Comebacks. No matter how you feel about Martha Stewart, you have to respect the fact that she built an empire around crafts and recipes and homemaker-y things, went to jail for insider trading, and came back to build even more net worth. This is one of the best interviews I’ve ever heard and it’s on Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me so you know it’s really good (and funny). When she talks about how to get pomegranate seeds out of a pomegranate, you will laugh out loud. And when she talks about dating Anthony Hopkins? Hilarity ensues!
Now it’s your turn. Is there a podcast, video, or article you think we need to see?