6th September

1) Is Modern Life Making Us Dumber ? 
We already know that we have smaller brains than our distant ancestors and more recently research has indicated that overall IQ’s are dropping.Apparently the rot set in when we stopped hunting and started farming. 

This is not a solution but it can help limit the damage – Why Walking Helps Us Think. 

2) The Brighton Digital conference is on this month and kicked of with the standout Dots : Connecting Ideas event ( #dotsconf ) which featured such innovation luminaries as @neilperkin, @faris and @herdmister. If you did not manage to make it you can find all speeches on here. 

My favourite quote from the day – You are a mash up of everything you let in your life HT Hugh Garry (@huey) 

In the same vein , from @brainpickings this week – On Why Dot Connecting is The Key to Creativity. 

3) A rather ‘time sensitive’ travel and information guide – 33 things to Eat, Drink, See and Do , before climate change ruins everything. Some of the highlights include – Cherries, Las Vegas, Oysters and of course – The North Pole. 

4) From Frederic Filloux – Legacy Media: The Lost Decade In Six simple Charts. 

5) So Apple may have had a data breach ( or not? ) Who then is at risk now? 

But this is more interesting – Our moral perspective on different kinds of leaks and how inconsistent we are. 

Slate’s Amanda Hess takes on commentators who have shared advice such as “don’t take nude selfies” that appear to be blaming the victim: “These messages instruct women that they are to blame for being sexually exploited because they dared to express themselves sexually in private and in consensual contexts. (When hackers steal credit card information, the public isn’t blamed for daring to shop.) As Lena Dunham succinctly put it, “The ‘don’t take naked pics if you don’t want them online’ argument is the ‘she was wearing a short skirt’ of the web.'” Hess brings up a lot of important points. But there is a difference between blaming the victim and reminding everyone of the inherent risks built into the network. We shouldn’t blame someone who had their personal photos hacked any more than we should blame a victim of credit card theft. But we should advise both to assume that if it’s on the Internet, it’s not safe. 

6) The Digital Revolution Exhibition finishes next week. Definitely worth a visit if you haven’t been. 

At the exhibition, City of Drones allows players to pilot virtual crafts through a ‘generative geometric environment’. City of Drones charts “the story of a lost drone drifting through an abstract cityscape,” in which, “players pilot a virtual craft to explore an infinite urban landscape.” It looks great and you can get an indication of how it works here. 

7) Interesting piece on why we always like to hear bad news and positive thinking and optimism come less naturally. 

8) Worth checking this out ,weekly from MIT – Recommended From Around The Web – Including : There is no hope for Amazon’s Fire Phone, Ferguson reveals a Twitter loop, Three things you didn’t know about Arachnids that live on your face…. 

9) A must for all lovers of sophisticated writing – The Unlikely Rise, Fall, And Rise Again Of “Viz” Comic (spoiler alert – it’s not as funny as it used to be…..) 

10) Essential weekend viewing : Slow-mo skateboard tricks – Impressive and soothing. 

Finally – love the new delivery mechanism for the latest IKEA catalogue.Welcome to the ‘bookbook’.