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The Intimate-Story Edition Monday, February 26, 2018

Are ‘You’ Just Inside Your Skin Or Is Your Smartphone Part Of You?, by Karina Vold, Aeon

But in the present era of ubiquitous technology, philosophers are beginning to ask whether biological anatomy really captures the entirety of who we are. Given the role they play in our lives, do our devices deserve the same protections as our brains and bodies?

After all, your smartphone is much more than just a phone. It can tell a more intimate story about you than your best friend. No other piece of hardware in history, not even your brain, contains the quality or quantity of information held on your phone: it ‘knows’ whom you speak to, when you speak to them, what you said, where you have been, your purchases, photos, biometric data, even your notes to yourself – and all this dating back years.

Apple’s China Lesson: Think Different, But Not Too Different, by Yoko Kubota, Wall Street Journal

Apple Inc. Chief Executive Tim Cook will co-chair the Chinese government’s showcase global business forum next month, underscoring his increasingly high profile here as Apple and other companies wrestle with tough new government demands on cybersecurity.

When he co-chairs the China Development Forum in March, Mr. Cook will be making his fifth appearance at a newsmaking event in China in little over a year. The development forum is a sought-after event for the world’s business elite due to the rare access it offers to senior Chinese government leaders.

Stuff

Apple Releases Emotional Ad To Celebrate Marriage Equality, by Johnny Lieu, Mashable

Like a host of other companies, Apple threw its support behind marriage equality in Australia.

Now, the tech company has backed it up with a one-minute advertisement titled "First Dance," released on Sunday. It celebrates the first LGBTQ marriages in the country, many of which have taken place in the last month.

More HomePod Trouble: Positioning, by Jean-Louis Gassée, Monday Note

The HomePod that ships today lacks important features such as stereo, multi-room audio, and a better version of Apple’s wireless Airplay protocol. Over time, the A8 processor and iOS derivative inside the HomePod are likely to provide substantial improvements and make it very competitive compared to speakers that have less hardware and software muscle. But for today, the HomePod is incomplete and its place in the world unclear.

The Interactive Narrative Games Taking Over The App Store, by Matt Suckley, Pocketgamer

What's the legacy of Glu Mobile's Kim Kardashian: Hollywood?

It's tempting to conclude that although the game was a massive hit, it served only to inspire a wave of progressively less successful celebrity-licensed mobile games from Glu and its competitors.

But for the CEO of Ludia, the Montreal-based developer of What's Your Story?, Kim Kardashian: Hollywood is the game that really “broke new ground” and gave rise to the kind of interactive narrative games that are now so ascendant on mobile.

Develop

Get Specific!, by Derek Sivers

A life coach told me that most of his job is just helping people get specific. Once they turn a vague goal into a list of specific steps, it’s easy to take action.

Notes

Children Struggle To Hold Pencils Due To Too Much Tech, Doctors Say, by Amelia Hill, The Guardian

An overuse of touchscreen phones and tablets is preventing children’s finger muscles from developing sufficiently to enable them to hold a pencil correctly, they say.

“Children are not coming into school with the hand strength and dexterity they had 10 years ago,” said Sally Payne, the head paediatric occupational therapist at the Heart of England foundation NHS Trust. “Children coming into school are being given a pencil but are increasingly not be able to hold it because they don’t have the fundamental movement skills.

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I too sometimes have problem holding a pen or a pencil.

Or maybe it's just that I'm getting old?

~

Thanks for reading.