Here’s another Nature’s story on slow productivity: Slow productivity worked for Marie Curie — here’s why you should adopt it, too August 2024. Link. The story is immensely inspiring. I archived it here and highly recommend reading it! Here are some excerpts: Slow Productivity is a call to arms to reject the performative busyness of the modern workplace, where frequent virtual meetings and long e-mail chains sap so much of workers’ attention. One exhausted postdoctoral researcher interviewed by Newport defined productivity, as it is currently measured in academia, as “working all the time”. ...

Cal Newport is a computer scientist at Georgetown University in Washington DC. He also writes books about time management. Nature career summarized from his latest book Slow Productivity, the 7 ways to practise slow productivity in the lab: Limit daily goals. Newport recommends working on, and obsessing about, one large project a day rather than switching back and forth between multiple big tasks. This is something Newport learnt from computer scientist Nancy Lynch, his doctoral adviser at MIT. ...

There used to be an interesting debate on whether it is better to leave the notification on or block all notifications—in terms of reducing screen time and improving productivity. Two lovely read to begin the new semester: Nature has the stories: Science must protect thinking time in a world of instant communication July 2024. Link. Productivity is the eternal goal of corporate and academia. Apps—all kinds of apps—has been trying to increase connectivity. But they are not the same. ...

Here are paragraphs in Subprime Attention Crisis that contains some key statistics—how to make buttloads of money on the internet to sustain a business. The answer is, resoundingly, advertising: From the biggest technology giants to the smallest startups, advertising remains the critical economic engine underwriting many of the core services that we depend on every day. In 2017, advertising constituted 87 percent of Google’s total revenue and 98 percent of Facebook’s total revenue. ...

Here’s an episode of Game Changer - the game theory podcast that shares enthusiasm and passion for game theory and its applications. Link to the podcast How auctions conquered the internet. In this episode Michael Ostrovsky walks us through the history of online advertising auctions, from their modest beginnings at Yahoo and other internet pioneers to the lucrative business models many internet giants like Google and Amazon rely on today. Even though online ad auctions are a story of incredible success Michael also gives some insights into which flaws existed in its early days and how these were overcome as time passed. ...

‘Nothing is impossible to a willing heart.’ — John Heywood Here’s a news that demonstrate one side effect of ad targeting technology: UW News | For $1000, anyone can purchase online ads to track your location and app use Jennifer Langston, October 18, 2017. not in the catwoman way though Privacy concerns have long swirled around how much information online advertising networks collect about people’s browsing, buying and social media habits — typically to sell you something. ...

Here’s a new book that I cramed down my stomach over a weekend trip: Tim Hwang (2020) Subprime Attention Crisis Advertising and the Time Bomb at the Heart of the Internet An irritatingly catchy cover, right? content summary In Subprime Attention Crisis: Advertising and the Time Bomb at the Heart of the Internet, author Tim Hwang sets out to make a provocative argument: The programmatic advertising industry has created a subprime attention crisis, a market bubble that—if popped—will have disastrous results for the publishers of content and users on the Internet. (Bridget Barrett, 2022) ...

Here’s Siddharth Kannan’s review on Subprime Attention Crisis by Tim Hwang. He reorganized and summarized key facts and arguments. It almost covers all points of the book and would be a nice substitute if one doesn’t want to read through the book. Here’s the keypoints of the review (in quotes): intro What would happen if all the free services that you use on the Internet, which are powered by advertisements, stop being free one day? This is the premise of the Subprime Attention Crisis. If you ask yourself this, you might realize that many of the services that we think of as free are powered by advertising. ...

Though I found myself reluctant to admit my attachment to mainstream pop, my favourite album over the summer of 2024 would have to be Short N’ Sweet—given the unhealthy playing repeats of a few of its singles. Here are two reviews explaining why it might just be the biggest hit of 2024: Vinyl cover of Short N’ Sweet. Original full-size picture available here—I mean, look at this remarkable visual presentation of the album’s aesthetic concept: the nostalgic pastel setup, the vivavious blush and hair, and the goofy face. ...

I wrote 37 paper blogs—write-ups of papers I’ve read over the last year. The total quantity of thoroughly read papers is approximately double this number. as for the downloaded ones—i don’t even dare to count.