The Optimal U.S. National Parks Centennial Road Trip

http://www.randalolson.com/2016/07/30/the-optimal-u-s-national-parks-centennial-road-trip/
Years ago, we did the Great Tour out west in an RV. Here's how to tag all the #nationalparks along the way:

The chip card transition in the US has been a disaster

http://qz.com/717876/the-chip-card-transition-in-the-us-has-been-a-disaster/
Giving voice to what most of us already knew: the EMV chip card transition has been a disaster. 

Things You Should Make, Not Buy

http://cooking.nytimes.com/68861692-nyt-cooking/369703-things-you-should-make-not-buy
A bit of #cooking for Saturday. Recipes for things you should make, not buy from the #NYT

Google Analytics Academy

https://analyticsacademy.withgoogle.com/course/1
#Googleanalytics training from Google itself has mutated over the years. Here's the latest iteration:

PHP framework Laravel selects Vue.js as default JavaScript framework

http://react-etc.net/entry/php-framework-laravel-selects-vue-js-as-default-javascript-framework
#laravel has been #JavaScript framework agnostic so far. No more: #Vue.js has been annointed: 

Personalization: Walmart’s weapon in surpassing Amazon in ecommerce traffic — and growing sales by $2 billion (VB Live)

http://venturebeat.com/2016/07/25/personalization-walmarts-weapon-in-surpassing-amazon-in-ecommerce-traffic-and-growing-sales-by-2-billion-vb-live/
Kinda sketchy numbers, but how Walmart is trying to tackle Amazon using personalization. #ecommerce:

Boost Conversions with SMS Messaging

http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/125453-Boost-Conversions-with-SMS-Messaging
Response rates on #SMS messaging in #ecommerce. Makes for a compelling case.

Highest-paid CEOs run worst-performing companies, research finds

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/highest-paid-ceos-worst-performing-companies-research-a7156486.html
Not much surprise here: the highest paid CEOs deliver the worst returns. #business 

The Debate Over Time's Place in the Universe

http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/07/the-debate-over-times-place-in-the-universe/492464/
The debate about time in modern #physics continues. 

A Fork in the Road

https://medium.com/the-coinbase-blog/a-fork-in-the-road-4275eea1ca3c#.q79d5nwtt
Why #Ethereum is forking. And it's a good thing. I think they made the tough, but right, choice:

The Two Minutes It Takes To Read This Will Improve Your Writing Forever

https://medium.com/an-idea-for-you/the-two-minutes-it-takes-to-read-this-will-improve-your-writing-forever-82a7d01441d1#.wpswath90
Great 2-minute read on how to improve your #writing.

Goodbye, Object Oriented Programming

https://medium.com/@cscalfani/goodbye-object-oriented-programming-a59cda4c0e53#.gr7dlru4f
Another programmer bitterly disappointed with #OOP. 

Here’s all the money in the world, in one chart

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-is-how-much-money-exists-in-the-entire-world-in-one-chart-2015-12-18
All the world's money in one chart. I'm not even a pixel. Derivatives, however... #money

Physical Book Sales Rocket As Digital Dips

http://news.sky.com/story/physical-book-sales-rocket-as-digital-dips-10510980
Looks like the pendulum is swinging back toward physical book from e-books. #publishing

My 4 Favorite Writing Tools

http://www.colliermarketing.com/4-favorite-writing-tools/
4 writing tools from somebody who writes a lot. Some free, some not:

How to Use an Antenna Tuner

http://www.hamuniverse.com/tuner.html
antenna tuner howto

The $4 Special Antenna

http://www.hamuniverse.com/fourdollarspecialw1gfh.html
zepp dipole howto

10 reasons why Joomla is dying and what we can do about it

https://www.ijoomla.com/blog/10-reasons-why-joomla-is-dying-and-what-we-can-do-about-it/
Is #Joomla dying? If so, here's what could be done about it: #opensource

A 26-year-old MIT graduate is turning heads over his theory that income inequality is actually about housing (in 1 graph)

https://medium.com/the-ferenstein-wire/a-26-year-old-mit-graduate-is-turning-heads-over-his-theory-that-income-inequality-is-actually-2a3b423e0c#.221zxz4ca
Best analysis I've seen yet on the cause of #incomeinequality. #economics

US Power Plant Primary Energy Source by 3 Digit Zip Code

https://metricmaps.org/2016/07/19/us-power-plant-primary-energy-source-by-3-digit-zip-code/
Good map of the electric generation sources in the US by zip code. Wish it were more interactive. #visualizaiton 

67 Years of Lego Sets

https://blog.modeanalytics.com/lego-data-analysis/
Fun analysis of #lego sets through the years. Who can resist a bar-char made of... legos?

Extreme Ice Cream

http://www.cooksscience.com/articles/feature/ice-cream/http://www.cooksscience.com/articles/feature/ice-cream/
The short course that got Ben & Jerry started is still going strong: #business, #education

12 Mindfulness Hacks You Can Use in 24 Hours

https://medium.com/the-mission/12-mindfulness-hacks-you-can-use-in-24-hours-d77bf06a85ca#.16u5purnl
#Mindfulness is quite the thing these days. Here's a dozen easy #lifehacks toward that goal. Breathe.

Star Spangled Geeks

https://backchannel.com/inside-the-obama-tech-surge-as-it-hacks-the-pentagon-and-va-8b439bc33ed1#.985mxpnat
The US Government's high-tech in-house response team is successfully and facing pushback. #development 

 

Your Ideas Don’t Suck, Your Feedback Loop Does

https://reactor.nugget.one/your-ideas-dont-suck-your-feedback-loop-does-1c9e7f3c7af1#.71yqoj42r
Good advice on evaluating a new idea. Hint: friends and family opinion shouldn't count much. #entrepreneurship 

What is the Marital Status of Americans by Age? 0

http://overflow.solutions/demographic-data/what-is-the-marital-status-of-americans-by-age/
Good interactive #visualization of marital status of US population by age.

Forget Comcast. Here’s The DIY Approach to Internet Access.

https://backchannel.com/forget-comcast-heres-the-diy-approach-to-internet-access-ef1e37bc09e1#.791dcatu7
Something I've been threatening to do in my town: bypass the majors and do a grassroots ISP

Newsflash: Time May Not Exist

http://discovermagazine.com/2007/jun/in-no-time
Does time exist? Maybe not at the quantum level. But what is the Wheeler-DeWitt equation?

17 Ways to Increase Sales using CRM

http://www.hashcodesolutions.com/increase-sales-using-crm/
Rough-around-the-edges but good-nonetheless article about effective use of CRM systems.

10 Takeaways from 22 Data Visualization Practitioners at #OpenVisConf

https://medium.freecodecamp.com/10-takeaways-from-22-data-visualization-practitioners-at-openvisconf-a4a3a5b96fcd#.b9gbczcpi
10 takeaways from the recent openvis #datavisualization conference. Exciting times ahead!

CineSift

http://www.cinesift.com/#/
New website that combines rating from imdb, RT, metacritic, etc. #7Samurai is 2nd!

How to Increase Your Facebook Live Video Reach

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-increase-your-facebook-live-video-reach/
The great +Mari Smith tells all about how to maximize Facebook Live videos:

Centered Logos Hurt Website Navigation

https://www.nngroup.com/articles/centered-logos/
Yes, logos really should be at the upper left of each webpage. So say the gods of usability. #webdesign.

Freebie: Responsive Landing Page Template With Flexbox

http://tutorialzine.com/2016/06/freebie-landing-page-template-with-flexbox/
Page layout using #flexbox. Turning this into a #joomla or #wordpress template would be a good tutorial.

Utopian for Beginners

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/12/24/utopian-for-beginners
Utopian may be the current state of the art #conlang. Long, but good read.

The 7 biggest problems facing science, according to 270 scientists

http://www.vox.com/2016/7/14/12016710/science-challeges-research-funding-peer-review-process

As father of a recently-minted PhD in Physics, this article on the problems in modern #science rings true: 

The 27 Article Promotion Strategies I Used to Get 589 Shares and 97 Backlinks

https://wisestartupblog.com/how-to-promote-your-blog/
Good list of ways to promote your #blog. #blogging

The top 5 fintech predictions for 2016

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-top-5-fintech-predictions-for-2016-2016-3
Financial technology predictions. Shall we check back in a year and check? #fintech

Do PHP and IoT Have a Future Together?

https://www.sitepoint.com/do-php-and-iot-have-a-future-together/
How well do #php and the #IoT play together? Here's some starting points:

20 Useful PHP Frameworks Available on CodeCanyon

http://code.tutsplus.com/tutorials/20-useful-php-frameworks-available-on-codecanyon--cms-26265
A real mixed bag of #php #frameworks: from CMS to forms to realtors. Come to the smorgasbord: 

A Bird’s-Eye View of Nature’s Hidden Order

https://www.quantamagazine.org/20160712-hyperuniformity-found-in-birds-math-and-physics/
Today's word: "hyperuniformity" and how it applies to physical systems:

You are surprisingly likely to have a living doppelganger

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160712-you-are-surprisingly-likely-to-have-a-living-doppelganger
Do we all have a living doppelganger? The folk tales may be more true than we think: 

Securing a PHP Application in 2016: The Pocket Guide

https://paragonie.com/blog/2016/07/securing-php-application-in-2016-pocket-guide
Different take on #php #security. Why you should php7, security headers and PDO. 

Powering Raspberry Pi Projects with PHP

https://www.sitepoint.com/powering-raspberry-pi-projects-with-php/
At last we can program the GPIO pins on a #raspberrypi with #PHP. Yea! 

7 Tips for Getting More Response to Your Emails (Infographic)

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/278804
Brevity is the soul of wit, and the key to getting your emails noticed. #emailmarketing

Design Better Forms

https://uxdesign.cc/design-better-forms-96fadca0f49c#.ygwxoppkv
Well-laid-out piece on designing better HTML forms. #webdesign. 

Mental Models I Find Repeatedly Useful

https://medium.com/@yegg/mental-models-i-find-repeatedly-useful-936f1cc405d#.bpl93y5il
Laundry List of utilitarian mental models. We're familiar with most, if not by their formal name. #thinking

The Quantum origin of time

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160708-the-past-is-not-set-in-stone-so-we-may-be-able-to-change-it
Is the #arrowoftime driven by quantum decoherence? As they say... Time will tell. #physics

Seth Godin’s 7 unconventional rules for getting clients

https://medium.com/folyo/seth-godins-7-unconventional-rules-for-getting-clients-eca8e25bb367#.jluoo7h93
The inimitable #SethGodin on getting (and firing) clients. #business 

Preview the Python Serverless Microframework for AWS

https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/developer/preview-the-python-serverless-microframework-for-aws/
New #python microframework for #serverless deployment on #AWS

How well do you know CSS display?

https://www.chenhuijing.com/blog/how-well-do-you-know-display
Summary of the different types of #CSS display: from hidden, through tables, to flex and grid. #webdesign

Twinkie's Miracle Comeback: The Untold, Inside Story of a $2 Billion Feast

http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2015/04/15/twinkie-billion-dollar-comeback-hostess-metropoulos-apollo-jhawar/#3be3857c2562
Great read about the death, rebirth, death and re-rebirth of Twinkies. #business. 

LeadTub - A 100% Free Tool To Find New Clients

http://app.invanto.com/leadtub/
This guy looks like he's just running a FaceBook scraper to generate free leads. 

The Falcor data model is a graph, and the GraphQL data model is a tree.

https://medium.com/@calebmer/the-falcor-data-model-is-a-graph-and-the-graphql-data-model-is-a-tree-6748ba53bb96#.mdhx4jh9o

#Falcor vs #GraphQL Still early days, but a good comparison between them.

How to Easily Create Your Own Video Show

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-easily-create-your-own-video-show

Kinda glosses over some of the technical parts, but good outline of creating a #webvideo show:

Typewolf: what's trending in type

https://www.typewolf.com/

I admit, I'm a bit of a #fontgeek. Here's a great site about how to effectively use type. #typography:

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/278058

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/278058

Because she didn't get a gig at Starbucks, this entrepreneur started her own coffee franchise. #business

Gumroad helps creators take control of their creative careers.

https://gumroad.com/

CRM and funding platform for creators. Kinda like Paetron or LeanPub or such:

The New Open Source CRM: Gamified, Mobile, Social.

http://zurmo.org/

#opensource #crm system written in #PHP. Looks buzzword-compliant. 

Open Source Software for e-mail & marketing automation

https://www.agnitas.de/en/e-marketing_manager/email-marketing-software-variants/openemm/

allegedly an #opensource #emailmarketing system. Anybody use this? 

How Feynman Diagrams Almost Saved Space

https://www.quantamagazine.org/20160705-feynman-diagrams-nature-of-empty-space/

One of my heros in college was Feynman. Good article about his diagrams. #physics

Google Is Transforming NYC's Payphones Into a 'Personalized Propaganda Engine'

http://www.villagevoice.com/news/google-is-transforming-nycs-payphones-into-a-personalized-propaganda-engine-8822938

#Google is putting wifi kiosks all over NYC. But what's the real price for 'free'? 

4 Tips for More SlideShare Leads

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/4-tips-for-more-slideshare-leads/

Some people report good traction from using #slideshare. Here's some hints for success:

Google Forms Guide: Everything You Need to Make Great Forms for Free

https://zapier.com/blog/how-to-use-google-forms/

#GoogleForms is free. Here's a guide to starting to use them. Are they better than WuFoo?

3 Tips to Improve the Search Ranking for Your Blog Posts

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/3-tips-to-improve-the-search-ranking-for-your-blog-posts/

Everybody's always looking for a leg up on #SEO. Here's some new thoughts on improving SEO.

Extract web data the easy way

https://www.import.io/

Data-scraping apps come and go. This looks like the current leader of the pack:

50 Google Sheets Add-Ons to Supercharge Your Spreadsheets

https://zapier.com/blog/best-google-sheets-addons/

I admit, I've never used a Google Sheets plugin. Here's how to use them and good ones to start with:

From design to development, 10 tools I can’t live without

https://medium.com/@JonathanZWhite/from-design-to-development-10-tools-i-cant-live-without-96006445e636#.5b05eoflh

Some good (mostly #mac) #webdesign tools. I explored Atom and iTerm2 from this. 

2016 CMS Critic Award Nominations

https://www.cmscritic.com/cms-critic-awards/#

Nominate your favorite #CMS for the best of 2016. I have to admit, some of the 2015 crowd, I'd never heard of.

Object Oriented Programming is an expensive disaster which must end

http://www.smashcompany.com/technology/object-oriented-programming-is-an-expensive-disaster-which-must-end

I may have cited this before, but a lengthy and well-though-out indictment of #oop and its use in #php

NextCloud

https://nextcloud.com/

Opensource fork of MyCloud, home and SOHO private cloud.

Long visits to nature linked to improved mental health, study finds

http://www.psypost.org/2016/06/long-visits-nature-linked-improved-mental-health-study-finds-43491

No surprise whatsoever: long visits to nature related to improved mental health. #lifehack.