Hey,
Did you watch The Social Dilemma? It’s a Netflix documentary that focuses on how big social media companies manipulate users by using algorithms that encourage addiction to their platforms. It also shows, fairly accurately, how platforms harvest personal data to target users with ads – and have so far gone largely unregulated. It’s creating all kinds of buzz and, in my opinion, is definitely worth watching.
Every time something like The Social Dilemma comes, we become conscious of our addiction to social media (which deep down we were already aware of). However, the problem is that as the days go by, we go back to our old ways. With this…
One Thing I Learned
The creators of The Social Dilemma created this page with the aim that “we examine the role it plays in our lives and realigns it with the interests of people, not profits.”
As I was writing this, I could not stop thinking about the irony of the situation that we have to talk about the dangers of social media ON social media. I, too, would be promoting this content on social media itself. What is this weird deadlock? The creators of The Social Dilemma answer this,
One Tool I Recommend
I recently read Speed Reading: How to Double (or Triple) Your Reading Speed in Just 1 Hour by Justin Hammond. It’s more of a guide than a book that highlights the benefits of speed reading (mostly saves time), why we tend to read slowly, and what steps we can follow to develop the habit of speed reading. It’s hardly 70 pages, and you don’t need more than an hour to go through it.
One of the methods the book mentions to increase reading speed is to use speed reading tools/software. Since most of the reading we do these days is on screen, it makes sense to practice on screen.
Here is a tool I like :
From a product standpoint, there are two features that I really like -
Simple and Easy UI: The UI is straightforward and easy to use. It would hardly take more than 5 minutes to get the hang of the tool. The landing page is a text editor where you can paste the text you want to ‘speed read.’ Click the “Spreed” button, and you are good to go.
Settings: The settings feature gives you the option to customize your reading experience. You get to set basic options like words per minute, words chunk size, etc. Additionally, you can add advanced options like skipping stop words.
If you are feeling generous, you can pay and try Spreeder CX.
One Question from the Readers
What is your favorite TV show?
This is the most difficult question I had to answer in my newsletter. 😛
I was not so much into TV shows back in high school. But then came college with DC Hub.
DC stands for Direct Connect and has a peer-to-peer file-sharing protocol. It allows its clients to connect to a central hub and to download files directly from one another.
The DC Hub had a plethora of resources - from movies to lecture notes, songs to serials. It goes without saying that I became a proper binge-watcher. And like all other ‘not-so-good’ habits, it’s been hard to give up.
Coming back to the question, it’s tough for me to pick just one TV show. So, I am going to list the ones I really like.
CHERNOBYL
This is a breathtaking dramatization of the horrors and chaos following a nuclear power plant disaster. It is not just about destruction and dejection and loss, but also arrogance, willful ignorance, and logic-defying deference – mistakes committed by both individuals and the Soviet state.
SHERLOCK
From the astonishing and astounding genius of Sherlock to John's uncommon commonness and perfection, and most importantly, their remarkable, incandescent, and the unbreakable bond of friendship. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes has been portrayed quite a few times on screen. Still, after you see Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as Doctor John Watson, it’s tough to imagine any other face for the character.
SCHITT’S CREEK
One of the best feel-good comedies I have seen recently. This show is a treasure. This was not a widely publicized show and wasn’t even expected to sell big. I didn’t even know about this show until they swept all major awards at the Emmys. It is one of the BEST written, most heartwarming, and deliciously funny shows I have ever had the pleasure to watch. If you haven’t seen this and are in for some light-hearted fun, I highly recommend you give this a try.
F.R.I.E.N.D.S
FRIENDS is soul food. Sure there are better shows out there. But it has given me company on good days, bad days, happy days, and sad days.
Special Mention
Brooklyn Nine-Nine - A masterful comedy infused with a serious discussion about current affairs while having powerful and lovable characters that will stay with you long after you finish the episode. What I love about this show is how they have not stereotyped anything.
Modern Family - If it’s not clear, I prefer my TV shows to be sitcoms. What this show does impeccably well is throwing societal expectations for a toss to underline only one thing - who we are, does not dictate the rightness or the wrongness of our being.
This issue’s Bonus Section - iPhone 12
Apple unveiled the iPhone 12. And while I feel it does not have a huge feature upgrade to justify the price, here’s a summarized table of iPhone 12 models for you -
By the way, the product video is amazing.
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See you soon. Cheers!