Today we begin with this rant from a colonel stationed in Kabul about Powerpoint use gone crazy in the US Army. (“The commander’s immediate subordinates, usually one- and two-star generals, listen to the CUA – commander’s update assessment - in a semi-comatose state. Each briefer has approximately 1 or 2 minutes to impart either information or misinformation. Usually they don’t do either. Fortunately, none of the information provided makes an indelible impact on any of the generals.”) Turns out that the colonel was fired a result of this.
Also, we have this internal 2003 email from Bill Gates to senior Microsoft managers, complaining bitterly about a download experience from Microsoft.com (“These 45 names are totally confusing. These names make stuff like: C:\Documents and Settings\billg\My Documents\My Pictures seem clear.”)
Finally, a delightful little story about a tiny pony that hangs about in an Apple Store that no one notices. Ever. (“Since then, John and I have a term called a “tiny pony.” It is a thing that is exceptional that no one, for whatever reason, notices. Or, conversely, it is an exceptional thing that everyone notices, but quickly grows acclimated to despite the brilliance of it all… a black president, whose father is from Kenya and mother is from Kansas, being elected President of the United States is a tiny pony.”)
In non-tech, Bloomberg examines how the sheer scale of China’s investment in Australia is changing the landscape, the economy and society, leaving Australians deeply ambivalent about it (“”Are they just here to make a buck and go, or build something sustainable? The question is whether we’re going to have mines with towns, or towns with mines.”)
Speaking of China, what of Americans who’re working, increasingly, in China? (“… Americans need to understand the importance of building so-called guanxi (pronounced GWAN-she). The word means relationships, but has implications beyond the obligatory happy hour, occasional lunches with the boss or networking… in China, it’s really expected that you become friends with your boss and you go out and socialize in a way that doesn’t happen in the U.S.”)
We end with this little piece in the New Yorker that compares living in New York to hanging out on social media online (“I had similar lopsided intimacy with all sorts of people in Manhattan. There were the regulars at the dog run, whose names I didn’t know but whose lives I got familiar with; fellow runners I’d end up alongside for miles on the Central Park reservoir track, yakking all the way… exactly the same experience I have trawling the waters of Twitter and Facebook.”)