War and no peace in Southern Cameroons - The more I learn about the world, the more I realize I know nothing. There's a lot here. What I find most interesting is the scale of this crisis compared to the lack of global visibility. I assume that the internet exposes all. Yet here we see the government of Cameroon using clever PR to hide information. More information does not mean higher quality information, which is scary to realize. What else am I missing?
As recently stated, the international response to the Cameroon Anglophone conflict has been “feeble.” with little or no pressure from Western governments and no political intervention from the AU or UN. Why is this? The Cameroon government’s “lies and disinformation” strategy has been relatively successful in hiding the reality of the war, and Western governments have prioritized economic and geo-strategic interests that require friendly relations with Biya’s regime.
Cookie banners show everything that's wrong with the EU - There are a couple of key points here. First, I love that Europe is attempting tech regulation at a pace that keeps up with tech. That's critical. Second, cookie banners are a great example of an overreach. The trick of tech legislation is to capture the "spirit" of law without dictating product design. Cookie banners are a great example of the perils of being too specific. Finally, we need a way to "roll back" legislation. The law is a technology and we are missing a key mechanism for fixing mistakes here.
Companies have spent billions on cookie banner compliance only to endlessly annoy users with no material improvement to their privacy, but this unsightful blight is still with us (and the rest of the internet!). All because the EU has no mechanism for self-correcting its legislative failures, even with years of evidence in the bag. The bureaucratic maze almost guarantees that all the noble intentions eventually find a dead end in which to get stuck. What a waste.
Serious Play - I don't understand video games, but I'm trying to. This article highlights why they matter. More and more, I'm framing video games as interactive books. We will see some of the best stories told in games, which excites and frightens the bookworm in me.
The largest media franchise in history isn't Star Wars ($65b) or the Marvel Cinematic Universe and its 23 feature films ($29b). It's a little video game that launched on the Nintendo Game Boy in 1995 and has since gone on to earn over $90b in game sales, tv shows, movies, trading cards, and merchandise… it's called Pokémon.
You Don’t Need More How-To Advice — You Need a Beautiful and Painful Reckoning - You don't always need an "earth shattering moment" to change. That said, I love this article. Not only is it a great story, but it also lays out a great toolkit for creating change in your own life when it matters most.
Several of the better-known tech CEOs in San Francisco have asked me at different times for an identical favor: an index card with bullet-point instructions for losing abdominal fat. Each of them made it clear: “Just tell me exactly what to do and I’ll do it.” I gave them all of the necessary tactical advice on one 3×5 card, knowing in advance what the outcome would be. The success rate was impressive… 0%.
Give us this day our Daylist - I tried to write my little blurb here so many times. I struggle to capture why I love this article so much. In the end, all I can say is it typifies what I want to write: smart, experiment-driven, and reflective. Brynne makes magic here, weaving the personal and experimental with blue flame thinking about AI.
Recommendations are awesome when they are jumping off points (ways to discover new things, click in to learn more), not sinkholes (Instagram Reels designed for endless swipes) or dead ends (ChatGPT responses.)