Matthew Lang

It's happening again. I'm falling out of favour with Twitter. Last night I thumbed through about six or seven promoted tweets in my timeline and I hadn't even reached back an hour in my timeline. I don't mind Twitter injecting a couple of promoted tweets in my timeline but six is a bit much.

It's taken me a while to realise it but Twitter is killing itself. We haven't had a great feature added to Twitter in a long time. Instead we get constant fiddling with the timeline and more promoted tweets. I was all ready to defend Twitter a couple of months ago but that defence has been worn down. The timeline is less fun to read these days with the interruptions of promoted tweets and other content such as recommend people and apps.

The worse part though is that it doesn't have the banter from years ago. Very few people I follow are what I would call active users. Back in the day there were plenty of active users in my time. Maybe everyone else is busy or like me they're put off by Twitter.

It will never die. I write now more than I ever did. The growing collection of notebooks and pens on my desk is proof of that.

Despite those who say it’s dying. That it’s obsolete. That, more and more, machines will take over the tasks we use handwriting for. That schools will teach it less and less. Despite all of the obstacles and the naysayers, writing by hand will live on long after you and I are gone.

How do I know?

Our children. Mine and yours. All of us who write by hand and advocate its importance and advantages. We who have children will write by hand in front of those children. Through such actions they will learn from us that writing by hand is something one does. We will teach them to do the same.

— Handwriting will not die... by Patrick Rhone at The Cramped

via AllFixedGear

A bike bell that doesn't look like a bike bell.

How is it that it's taken this long for someone to come up with a design like this?

I am tempted.

Apple received a boost in its fight against the FBI after a judge ruled in Apple's favour.

Judge Orenstein applied previous legal decisions interpreting the AWA and concluded that the law does not “justif[y] imposing on Apple the obligation to assist the government’s investigation against its will.” In a formulation extremely favorable to Apple, the judge wrote that the key question raised by the government’s request is whether the AWA allows a court “to compel Apple — a private party with no alleged involvement in Feng’s criminal activity — to perform work for the government against its will.”

— Apple Wins Major Court Victory Against FBI in a Case Similar to San Bernardino by The Intercept

While I do think it's important for technology companies to help government agencies, especially in the case of providing evidence, there has to be a line drawn in the level of powers that an agency can invoke.

Last week my wife Jennifer was looking for something to read during her lunch break. She stumbled across this piece on reasons why we appear to be so alone in the universe. Read at your peril. The numbers are mind boggling.

As many stars as there are in our galaxy (100 – 400 billion), there are roughly an equal number of galaxies in the observable universe—so for every star in the colossal Milky Way, there’s a whole galaxy out there. All together, that comes out to the typically quoted range of between 1022 and 1024 total stars, which means that for every grain of sand on every beach on Earth, there are 10,000 stars out there.

— The Fermi Paradox by Wait But Why

is often the most valued step.

Thanks Michael!