The Field Report Hotsheet 5.23.2016

May 23, 2016 – Issue #205
How to Block the Internet Archive

So I came across this article the other day about how old snapshots of your website, available via the Wayback Machine, are admissible in court. We will spare the question of whether or not intellectual “property” is even a thing. Instead, I’ll just say that maybe you don’t want your website in the Wayback Machine… If not, here are instructions to block it.

Is Your Phone Killing You?

A few weeks ago, I got rid of my smart phone (again). After that, I started to feel smarter. I carry around a completely dumb phone now with a new number. My wife has it. A small handful of others too.

What’s a day like with no interruptions from the thing that most people carry that’s setup to purposely ALLOW interruptions at the whim of the world? It feels good. Is your phone killing you? Is it worth it? Think about it.

The End of the Advertising Bubble

Here’s an interesting article arguing that we’re coming to the end of the online advertising bubble. The writers even go so far as to explain why they expect a 75% drop in Alphabet’s (Google) share price because of the bubble bursting. Interesting read.

We Hire Only the Best

Here’s a good read from the co-founder of Basecamp, DHH. It might make you think about things a little differently when a company says they “hire the best.”

Multi-Tasking During Conference Calls

This is just funny. Here’s a guy who wrote a python script so he can actually get some work done during conference calls.

From CNN:

“Newlan’s python script starts to run when a meeting begins and his computer’s microphone listens in the background. It uses an open source speech recognition program to recognize phrases based on the silences between people’s sentences. Then it uses IBM Watson’s speech-to-text service to transcribe what’s said.”

Never underestimate the power of the human mind when it is bored to death.