Rough Drafts - Dylan Tweney - Storylines (Page 6)

Rough Drafts

7 thoughts on the tech media in 2016

The media is in a state of upheaval. 2015 was a stormy year, and signs indicate that 2016 will be even more turbulent. Last month brought the news that Al Jazeera America will shut down, that Facebook multimillionaire Chris Hughes is throwing in the towel on his ill-fated attempt to bring the New Re

Dylan Tweney Feb 9, 2016 6 min read

Rough Drafts

Wired gets tough on ad-blockers

Sometimes we get just what we deserve. This week the news hit that Wired is about to start offering an ad-free edition of its website for a reasonable subscription fee. For $3.99 you get access to a version of the website that shows no ads at all. That’s a pretty reasonable-sounding $1 per week, whi

Dylan Tweney Feb 8, 2016 3 min read

Rough Drafts

Life hacks for using social networks without being miserable.

Using Facebook can make you depressed, according to a survey of some relevant social-science research. But the same research suggests three ways to hack your mind-Facebook interface.

Dylan Tweney Jan 1, 2016 2 min read

Rough Drafts

To embrace innovation, CIOs need to learn to let go

Faced with the prospect of becoming mere custodians of whatever cool projects their fellow executives in marketing cook up, CIOs are learning to embrace innovation on their own terms.

Dylan Tweney Sep 11, 2015 4 min read

Rough Drafts

PR folks: Here’s how to pitch me

The lovely Ayelet Noff from PR firm Blonde 2.0 interviewed me on the best way for PR people to approach me with stories. Here’s an excerpt, but read the full story on her site if you’re wondering about this kind of thing.

Dylan Tweney May 13, 2015 1 min read

Rough Drafts

A few notes on innovation

Perhaps the Internet revolution is over. But perhaps the spirit is only sleeping, waiting for the next round of disruptive innovation to topple today’s giants, just as they toppled the previous generation.

Dylan Tweney May 11, 2015 4 min read

Rough Drafts

TL;DR: Your emails are too long

I recently met with an interesting startup from Israel called TL;DR that has changed the way I’m thinking about and using email. TL;DR stands for Too Long; Didn’t Read. It started as a quip used on Web forums and now occasionally stands in as a shorthand for “Here’s the summary of the long-winded th

Dylan Tweney Mar 14, 2015 3 min read

Rough Drafts

Heroic levels of hype

I’m going to try something new this week. I’ve been admiring emails by Om Malik, Alexis Madrigal, and Caitlin Dewey, who send daily or weekly lists of links to interesting things to read. (You should sign up for their newsletters — all three are wonderful, in very different ways.) And my occasional

Dylan Tweney Mar 7, 2015 3 min read

Rough Drafts

Why I’m using blind auditions to recruit journalists for VentureBeat

Orchestras in the U.S. used to be 95% to 100% male. But after instituting blind auditions, with the applicants performing their music behind a screen so they can only be heard, not seen, that ratio changed dramatically. According to one study, the number of women in top orchestras rose from less tha

Dylan Tweney Oct 14, 2014 1 min read

Rough Drafts

The surfers v. the VC

So I’m on jury duty this week, and as I walk out of the courthouse on our lunch recess, I happen to see an older bearded gentleman in a suit, surrounded by some other suits, holding forth to a small pack of reporters. “Oh, a courthouse steps interview,” I thought, so I sidled up to […]

Dylan Tweney May 8, 2014 1 min read

Rough Drafts

The future of education: Tablets, or hands-on?

I read the Times story on Amplify, Rupert Murdoch’s 650-person startup aimed at reinventing education via tablet games, with mixed feelings. On the one hand, as I wrote in a piece today on VentureBeat, this is exactly the vision — shared by One Laptop per Child — first outlined in Neal Stephenson’s

Dylan Tweney Sep 15, 2013 2 min read

Rough Drafts

The lovely leather of Walnut Studiolo

About a year ago I wrote about Walnut Studiolo, a Portland-based craft shop that makes leather and wood accessories for bicycles. If you think it’s reasonable to spend $72 for a leather cup holder that’s the perfect size for a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon, then you’ll love Walnut’s work. I love the way

Dylan Tweney Aug 5, 2013 1 min read