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Remember, you asked for this..

It’s not my trick, Michael…. It’s my illusion! (reference).

A few days later, I knocked on the door of his house in the London suburb of High Barnet. Ruth, his wife of 64 years, answered and led me past a staircase festooned with vintage posters from variety shows in the 1950s at British clubs where Mr. Berglas performed. At the end of the hall stood Mr. Berglas.

He walks aided by a cane and speaks in a refined British accent that carries no hint of his pre-World War II childhood in Germany. He has a white goatee and a pair of dark eyebrows hovering like hawk wings over his eyes. If he had a cameo in a film, he’d be credited as “Senior Wizard.”

The Mystery of Magic’s Greatest Card Trick | NYT

(via Jason Fried)

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WWBeeZee..

WWDC kicked off this week and you can watch the best summary at this link.

I am particularly interested in some of the HomeKit developments they spoke about. I think that tech might be approaching the stage where I could be motivated to set it up throughout the house. For the ‘living in the future’ vibes, and for the convenience, but mostly to to see who is buzzing my doorbell each morning.

Hello? Can someone buzz me in please | Twitter

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Getting Points for Pointless Running..

Supposedly, pre-pandemic, a bunch of people would get together and just.. run.. for an extended period of time. It’s supposed to be wild (reference). And cities would host big events called ‘marathons’ and celebrate the finishers and give the medals and kudos and things like that. But, the thing is, these events were so sophisticated that the runners could just pop in a taxi and get out just before the finish line and be celebrated as the super athletes they purported to be.

Well, not so fast, this bloke is crunching the public data surrounding these events and identifying the cheaters and naming them on his blog. Thank goodness - sanctity can now return to pointless running.

I can promise you one thing. Derek Murphy ‘aint EVER gonna catch me!

This Man Catches Marathon Cheaters and Calls Them Out On His Blog | YouTube

(via Abandoned Jerks - I think)

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Won’t Somebody Think of the Children..

I enjoyed this article by Mark Manson (author of the Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck, which I also enjoyed), which makes the point that, as kids our grandparents cried about the risk rock 'n roll posed to our parents, and our parents cried about the risk computer games posed to us, we now cry about the risk social media poses to our kids. And for each of these generational threats it was not the social trend itself that was the threat but rather how some individuals engaged with that trend.

And, in particular, with social media for example, research has shown that those individuals that have a pre-disposition towards depression or anxiety may be drawn towards social media to feed that emotion. Or, using rock music as an example, those with a pre-disposition towards animal sacrifice and satan worshipping may be drawn towards rock ‘n roll to normalise their fetish. But one does not cause the other.

I’m not sure whether I 1000% agree with what he’s saying - I know for myself personally I have felt better for having given up on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn - but it’s definitely an interesting article.

Back in the 90s, conspiracy theories like my cousin’s were just as common as they are now. The difference was that they were far less harmful because the social networks that existed at the time cut them off aggressively at the source. That night at Thanksgiving dinner, my family members cut my cousin off, ending his ability to spread his ideas.

But today, someone like my cousin goes online, finds a web forum, or a Facebook group or a Clubhouse room, and all the little Y2Kers get together and spend all of their time socializing and validating each other based on the shared assumption that the world is about to end.

Facebook didn’t create the crazy Y2Kers. It merely gives them an opportunity to find each other and connect—because, for better or worse, Facebook gives everybody the opportunity to find each other and connect.

Social Media Isn’t the Problem… We are

(via ProductivityPro)

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Clock. Calendar. Coffee..

I got a lot out of this article on beating procrastination. It has a really helpful, easy to read guide on ways to combine productivity ‘hacks’ you’ve probably read elsewhere into the one model for being effective at what you do.

Here are some frequent problems many people run into (especially when working from home):

• No clear place to start

• No clear signal to start working

• Unrealistic expectations

These 3 problems conspire to leave you feeling discontent at the end of the day. As you feel bad, you say: “I’ll do it tomorrow, I’ll start, I’ll really focus tomorrow.” But if you don’t have a plan for how to do that, you’ll most likely just repeat the same mistakes.

How to avoid “I’ll do it tomorrow”

(via The Curious Bunch)

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Just a short note for those ready to see the timestamp on this email and casually point to their watch: I suspect it’s still Friday in parts of the World.

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If you enjoyed any of these links, the best way you can help me is by forwarding this email on to a friend. They can browse past issues and subscribe at this link. 

- Bennett

bennettgreen.com

Cover Photo by Michael Denning on Unsplash