News reporting tends to focus on things that are not right. This is very important, because it puts a spotlight on things that need improvement. But it can also lead to a pretty grim outlook on the world. When you think that the evening news are a truthful reflection of the world, you will get the impression that things are really bad, and are only getting worse.
And since our mind only deals with the stuff we see and know (Daniel Kahneman’s famous What You See Is All There Is), you can be sure that your brain will do exactly that.
So, to give your brain something else to know and factor in, here’s an alternative news source, created by the people behind Information is Beautiful:
God knows we need some of those.
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I’m pretty sure you’ve read about the Facebook Rebranding by now. In case you live under a rock, let me fill you in:
Facebook has the same dilemma that Google had: They are a portfolio company with many products and services, but are named after their most famous product, which creates all kinds of problems. Google solved that by renaming the corporate mother to Alphabet, and Facebook created a new logo and branding for the corporate mother.
A lot of criticism aired is based on the misunderstanding that Facebook would rebrand its product that is also called “Facebook”, when instead, it just separated the Facebook-Company-Brand from the Facebook-Social-Network-Brand.
Here’s the take on the rebranding effort by Under Consideration, who actually really like it:
"Shoving all of the heavy, stinky baggage aside, the new logo is very good. It may be boring and it may be unimaginative but this is a corporate parent brand, not a consumer-facing brand”
But in their review, they cut right through the aesthetics and drive home the point of what branding can do, and what it cannot do:
"Overall, there is no happy ending here despite any good design executions and intentions. Unlike last year’s Uber redesign that came at the right time with the right solution through a more humble and modest logo, this corporate Facebook logo comes at the wrong time when no one wants to cheer for them and no amount of press releasing or corporate copywriting can make us empathize with them. If anything, they should have quietly rolled this out and kept their heads low instead of trying to use it as a show of good will — no amount of nice kerning can make up for reputation lost. (my emphasis)”
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In need of a mid-week pick-me-up?
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It’s wednesday, so there’s a good chance that quite a bit of week already happened to you. If you feel like you could use a bit of cheerleading right now, then head over to https://www.urbandictionary.com/ and enter your first name.
It will have only good things to say about you.
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Big Data. Bias. It’s Complicated.
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The business of lending money got computerized a long time ago. Your credit limit is determined by a number of factors that are considered to be predictors of future behaviour and economic stability.
And these factors seem to conspire against women: In gender-blind credit score models (which are required by law in most western countries), women tend to get a (much) worse credit rating than men.
So, the UN and the World Bank are calling for different credit models for men and women to level out the implicit bias in the traditional models.
This highlights just how darn difficult statistical modelling really is, and how little we understand about it.
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/614721/theres-an-easy-way-to-make-lending-fairer-for-women-trouble-is-its-illegal/
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Calvin explains Product/Market-Fit
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Hey product owner, here’s a short reminder that building something everybody needs is not the same as building something everybody wants.
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The above could also be seen as a case of Inventors Bias, where you only think everybody needs what you offer, but I really think all of us need a swift kick in the butt now and then.
So inhale, hold, exhale and go right back at it, you inspiring can-do-personality! 🏋️♂️
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