Earth as seen from the International Space Station (© JSC/NASA)

Sandhill cranes, Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico (© Jay Goodrich/Tandem Stills + Motion)

Hohenzollern Castle, Germany (© Sahara Prince/Shutterstock)

nikitonsky: Ultimately, it all comes down do a simple question: are you writing for your readers, or are your readers here to fulfill your marketing needs? What comes first?

Here’s a final muse for current year. This probably counts as wise posting. On local news there’s sentiment that the world is now “post–truth”… but historically; since when has the world not been post–truth? Truth (verifiability/provability) is ultra rare and trust abundant :-)

The Internet/Blockchain/whatever is not a truth machine and could never be a truth machine. Inside events/stories/happenings everyone’s just as clueless as in past eras and technological differences become “functionally equivalent” — meaning you either waste time separating signal from noise in “fast” and “fake” information infinitum or waiting for “slow” and “official” carrier pigeons to arrive.

Polar bear in Svalbard, Norway (© Dennis Stogsdill/Getty Images)

Lake Powell water levels, using an Internet data source.

Lake Mead Water Levels, using an Internet data source.

New Year’s Eve fireworks, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Australia (© Wendell Teodoro/Getty Images)

Rock formations in the White Desert, Egypt (© Anton Petrus/Getty Images)