# The RFE Era

![Wynwood walls](../images/5a8d9d0221f2.jpg)I spent Fourth of July
weekend in Miami. Highlight: The Wynwood Walls where street artists have
taken over large swaths of the neighborhood. The "Octophant" above is
by [Alexis
Diaz](https://instagram.com/alexis_diaz/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-rfe-era). \
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I've written two things recently.\
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**First, I published a thing about media.** I've been obsessed with
sites that compete above the daily social media scrum and solve a real
problem by publishing content that builds on itself like chapters to a
never-ending book. It's a direction I hope to take 99U. I've been
calling this strategy Resource-Focused Editorial and [its going to be
the next generation of
publishing](https://medium.com/@SeanBlanda/the-era-of-the-rfe-publication-1990768c7d0f?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-rfe-era).\
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**Second, for 99U I chatted with Bevel co-founder Tristian Walker**.
I've been interviewing entrepreneurs for six years now, and Walker is
one of the most focused I've ever spoken with. In my favorite part of
the conversation he speaks about how to find your "big idea." So many
people I chat with know they want to start a company, but not quite sure
of the product. Sound like you? Walker's journey [should be plenty
inspiring](http://99u.com/articles/50697/bevels-tristan-walker-the-best-ideas-are-brewed-out-of-authenticity?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-rfe-era).\
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**I spoke at the [Scion Zoofest Creativity
Conference](http://scionoriginal.com/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-rfe-era) this
week**, which is part of Zoofest in Montreal. Big thanks to
[Bitsize](http://bitesizeinc.com/en/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-rfe-era)
for inviting me. Another big thanks to poutine. \
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And now, to the links!\
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**With the recent *Gawker* drama, which isn't worth recounting, media
Twitter has been especially hard to handle**. In fact, Twitter itself
has been a bit of downer lately, though it's a struggle to say why.
Fredrik deBoer writes one of my favorite essays of the year that just
had me nodding the entire time [about the death on sincerity in our
online
forums](http://fredrikdeboer.com/2015/07/18/its-coming-apart/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-rfe-era) and
how that is sabotaging our ability to empathize and understand one
another. New rule: default to sincerity.  \
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**Marc Andreessen is a founder of Netscape and one of the most notable
venture capitalists**. [His profile in the *New Yorker* is a
must-read](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/05/18/tomorrows-advance-man?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-rfe-era)
for anyone that likes to think about the future of work and technology.
In 2007 he published a "Guide to Career Planning" that still holds up
today. I spend most of my waking hours at 99U trying to surface good
advice, and this is chock full of it. [Read
it](http://Instead%20of%20planning%20your%20career,%20focus%20on%20developing%20skills%20and%20pursuing%20opportunities.?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-rfe-era).\
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**[Why is everyone in media reading the
*Awl*](http://www.theverge.com/2015/7/9/8908279/the-awl-profile-choire-sicha-john-herrman-matt-buchanan?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-rfe-era)**?
For media junkies John Herrman's take on the industry in his column
"[Content
Wars](http://www.theawl.com/slug/the-content-wars?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-rfe-era)"
is a must read. Also, the *Awl* is a great example of what a publication
should be: devoid of outside investment, tightly run, for a very
specific audience. The *Awl* will outlast *Vox,* Mark my words. (I'll
admit: I really didn't "get" the *Awl* until I moved to New York. I
don't know what that says about me. Or New York. This is embarrassing,
let's just move on.)\
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- Reason 5,326 why event-driven content business are better: [No one can
agree on web
metrics](http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-we-still-cant-agree-on-web-metrics/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-rfe-era).\
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**There's a dating app that only allows women to message first**. [It's
called
Bumble](http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/soloish/wp/2015/07/10/appy-friday-bumble-where-women-make-the-first-move/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-rfe-era)
and it was created by a former Tinder employee to reduce the, well,
unsavory-ness of the typically-male opening salvo.   \
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**Earlier this month an entire U.S. island was taken off of the grid in
every way**: no internet, no ATM acess, to cell phone usage. The
culprit? [A
broken cable](http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/07/broken-cable-reportedly-disconnected-us-island-territory-from-internet/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-rfe-era).
Saipan's cable is connect to Guam's, which is connected to the SEA-US
cable that [runs from Southern California to Hawaii to the
Philippians](http://www.submarinecablemap.com/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-rfe-era#/submarine-cable/sea-us).
There's [an entire industry and art to laying and preserving these
cables](https://www.alcatel-lucent.com/solutions/submarine-networks?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-rfe-era).
And, since its hard to monitor cables thousands of meters below the
ocean's surface, they are [subject to sabotage
and](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ivy_Bells?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-rfe-era)
[surveillance](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ivy_Bells?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-rfe-era). \
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***Upworthy* is no longer using the clickbaity headlines that made it so
famous** (so says its new editorial director Amy O’Leary [in this
presentation](http://www.slideshare.net/UpworthyAdmin/july-8-2015-upworthy-editorial-vision?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-rfe-era)). \
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**Flag time!** Fiji (like New Zealand) is wising up to the pitfalls of
the Union Jack and creating a new flag. [Here are the 23
finalists](http://imgur.com/a/4uYdB?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-rfe-era).
 (Though the new flag may [exacerbate ethnic rifts
there](http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/feb/04/postcolonial-yes-but-fijis-new-flag-will-also-be-a-break-with-the-chiefs-power?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-rfe-era),
says The *Guardian*)\
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**Official newsletter flag (for now): Bangladesh **\
![Bengali Flag ](../images/034a09db6814.jpg)**Did you know Bangladesh is
the world's eighth most-populated country?** Did you know it has a
massive [ship
graveyard](http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/05/shipbreakers/gwin-text?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-rfe-era)?
Did you know that the reason the circle in the flag is positioned
slightly to the left is so it appears to be centered when the flag is
waving? ([Palau has the same
approach](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Palau?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-rfe-era))
Get a wonderful 10-minute primer on this nation [on the
always-delightful Geography
Now](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljebhxk_9ys&utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-rfe-era).\
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The reason you're positioned slightly to the left is because you're in
my heart. Thanks for reading.\
-Sean