Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
Last year, instant messages from Gawker staffers were cited as evidence in the defamation lawsuit filed by professional wrestler Hulk Hogan. What they revealed wasn’t pretty: tasteless jokes about the former pro-wrestler’s sexual trysts and his genitals, snide remarks that weren’t meant for publication. The transcripts quickly became a cautionary tale for journalists who might…
From BuzzFeed to Target, six brands had some embarrassing slipups. In April, when Facebook rolled out livestreaming to the public, brands were eager to try it out, and many did so in inventive ways. BuzzFeed showed us how to blow up a watermelon, NASA displayed its International Space Station, McDonald’s painted a hamburger in a…
Look at all her ‘Bling’! Bet she has a COLOR TV, too! Oh, goody, with the War On Christmas once again successfully won and presumably put away for the year — though sometimes, like your most-hated neighbor, Fox just leaves its War On Christmas lights up all year — the “fair and balanced” news network…
As federal officials investigate suspicious Internet activity found last week on a Vermont utility computer, they are finding evidence that the incident is not linked to any Russian government effort to target or hack the utility, according to experts and officials close to the investigation. An employee at Burlington Electric Department was checking his Yahoo…
Vera Rubin, the astrophysicist responsible for confirming the first existence of dark matter, died on Sunday night at the age of 88. Carnegie Institution president Matthew Scott called Rubin “a national treasure as an accomplished astronomer and a wonderful role model for young scientists” in a press release confirming the scientist’s death. For Vera Rubin,…
Trump supporters at a rally in Iowa last January. Credit Sam Hodgson for The New York Times Knoxville, Iowa — One recent morning, I sat near two young men at a coffee shop here whom I’ve known since they were little boys. Now about 18, they pushed away from the table, and one said: “Let’s…
Image: Alex Cranz/Gizmodo Yesterday, Apple finally revealed a new MacBook Pro, a full 527 days after the last refresh. The Touch Bar was fancy and bright; the gorgeous display wowed eye sockets; and the price made my wallet pucker. But there was also a conundrum. It took Apple a year and a half to update…
Imagine someone accusing you of a crime so ridiculous that the crime itself isn’t a real thing, like “French-kissing a pink elephant while enjoying free healthcare and a living wage.” And before you can even figure out how to mount a reasonable defense, you and a dozen other people in your community are dead, swinging…
The trailer for Logan came out a few days ago, and while most X-Men movies compete over the trophy for “Most Chunks Of Metal Tossed,” this one seems to be about a sad, lonely mutant trying to find a purpose in a shitty lonely world while some metal is tossed. It stars Hugh Jackman, who…
Despite Oliver’s popularity, there are still a lot of people who don’t know who he is. John Oliver’s weekly HBO news show, Last Week Tonight, has been lauded — often using hyperbolic language — for its ability to unpack dense, sometimes esoteric political, judicial, and social topics and explain the stakes of said topic in relation…