“THERE IS NO FUEL SHORTAGE!” These words, accompanied by an emoji of a tiny car, were shared by Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Nadine Dorries in response to the apparent lack of gas in petrol stations across the UK. Comments of similar substance were shared by a number of herContinueContinue reading ““THERE IS NO FUEL SHORTAGE!”: How to tackle false information in a crisis”
Author Archives: Gabriel Burrow
Haikus // 2021
Because I began writing haikus in August a couple of years ago, I’m now stuck with an annual retrospective that falls at an odd time. It’s a strange time capsule, spat out at the end of summer.
Reading Ayn Rand in the 21st century
I’m not a fan of Ayn Rand. Her rejection of altruism, collectivism, and statism in favour of a kind of virtuous selfishness was bleak, while her justification of colonial genocide by labelling colonised peoples as “savages” was contemptible. But the last month has seen various stories relating to Rand bubble up.
Upland: A Llama-themed Lesson in Game Design
To Upland’s credit, it does have a certain unsettling realism to it, in part enabled by its blockchain functionality. However, this realism is used for all the wrong reasons — to rationalise mechanics that line the developers pockets, rather than empower players or encourage them to reevaluate the world around them.
Consider The Blobfish
The most important thing we can learn from the blobfish is that we shouldn’t default to making judgements based on our personal or societal preconceptions of what “good” looks like.
A Year of Haikus
I was planning to do a long-form piece about my experience writing a haiku every day for a year (well, almost every day… Sometimes I had to play catch-up after missing a few). I would have taken the time to explain how they have been a fantastic way of sharing things with my girlfriend, whoContinueContinue reading “A Year of Haikus”
Want to cut down on screen time? Buy a shit phone
Three years ago I wrote a blog post entitled “Smart usage: Two productivity application trends to get you thinking”. The post reviewed a few standout apps that help people either cut down on their smartphone usage or incentivise daily tasks through the use of gamification. During the process of writing it I tried my fairContinueContinue reading “Want to cut down on screen time? Buy a shit phone”
Post-publication: the nips, the tucks, and the cut-ups
Publishing your creations is a funny thing. It means sending them out into the big bad world and inviting both praise and criticism. It also normally means calling time on any final nips and tucks and declaring it a “finished product”, but this isn’t always the case. A host of filmmakers, musicians and authors haveContinueContinue reading “Post-publication: the nips, the tucks, and the cut-ups”
What do millennials and goldfish have in common?
Goldfish In a much cited and frankly extraordinary commencement speech delivered to the 2005 graduates of Kenyon College, David Foster Wallace told a story about goldfish. Two young fish are swimming along together. Another older fish passes them and says, “morning boys, how’s the water?” The two fish swim on for a while, then oneContinueContinue reading “What do millennials and goldfish have in common?”
5 Reasons Deadpool 2’s Peter is a B2C LinkedIn Marketing Success
So recently I got the chance to see Deadpool 2 in the cinema. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The film boasted all the fourth wall breaking, self-referential humour that made its predecessor such a standout, while bringing some new stuff to the table (did someone say time travel?) An unexpected fan favourite in the new blockbusterContinueContinue reading “5 Reasons Deadpool 2’s Peter is a B2C LinkedIn Marketing Success”
gabriel burrow 