Pulse is another contender in the growing market of asynchronous Slack alternatives. It offers a range of features not dissimilar to typical message boards: threaded comments, mentions of teams or users, marking comments as explicit decisions, notifications of new activities, and more.

Mimestream’s key selling point: a native MacOS email client for Gmail that doesn’t rely on the sometimes patchy experience of the IMAP protocol. It’s early (beta) days for the app, but more useful features, such as instant unsubscribe from newsletters, are coming.

Google Translate works pretty well for translating small chunks of copy, but when it comes to longer texts, nothing beats the quality of Deepl. Based on some English <> German tests I ran, Deepl’s machine learning algorithms get it impressively right almost all of the time.

Not really a tool with a lot of practical use, but it’s fun to browse nevertheless: select a TV show and get a heatmap of average IMDb ratings for each episode.

Extreme Cities →

The future of cities in a new climate

An interesting deep-dive into how cities can/can’t cope with the climate to come: “...cities are ground zero for climate change, contributing the lion’s share of carbon to the atmosphere, while also lying on the frontlines of rising sea levels. Today, the majority of the world’s megacities are located in coastal zones, yet few of them are adequately prepared for the floods that will increasingly menace their shores. Instead, most continue to develop luxury waterfront condos for the elite and industrial facilities for corporations.”

Fondfolio →

A book made by friends

I rarely recommend gifts (I’m a pretty strict material non-gifter) but this one may fall under my exemption rules: through a highly customised questionnaire, Fondfolio collects special memories, thoughts and experiences from friends and family and then compiles them into a beautiful, hand-made, one-of-a-kind book. My friend Lina recently shared her positive experience. (I contributed to her book.) Friends of DD enjoy a $25 discount. Become a Friend to access specials like this.

A short advice piece on sustainability leadership at work. The main take-away here is that you don’t need to be a sustainability expert to be the one who starts the conversation at your company. “While the environmental issues that make our society profoundly unsustainable are multifaceted and complex, their origin lies in one simple thing – humans are part of nature but we don’t feel like we are – so we don’t act like we are.”

How much of our lives are we occupied with thinking/worrying about money, and is it justified? A simple, light-hearted read with an illustrated answer to that question (for people privileged enough to ponder it). “If a friend told you that he wanted ‘I outperformed the S&P 500’ on his tombstone, your immediate reaction would be to laugh. There is no way you’d take it as anything other than a joke. The key is to take that exact feeling and remind yourself of it whenever money hijacks your attention. That when you’re fixated on its pursuit, you can break the spell by understanding how laughable it is to be remembered for it. That in the end, it will have very little to say about the person you are.”

This piece doesn’t just rehash popular theories about the shortcomings of masculine identity but instead advocates for an approach that gives men the space and nuance to find a better version of masculinity, one that suits each individual’s circumstances. “Rethinking masculinity gives us an opportunity to access and integrate the deeper, authentic parts of ourselves that many men have been taught to fear and, in turn, hide. (Think: sensitivity and compassion. Facing our shame and fears. Helping and trusting other men.) Adopting a new brand of masculine strength gives us permission to expand the potential of our identities.”