Tech
Bae, is your social media strategy on fleek? – Digiday
A dizzying number of brands, from Taco Bell to Stouffer’s to Seamless, are attempting to sound less like Fortune 500 companies and more like your 14-year-old nephew, at least on social media. According to data crunched by Brandwatch, there have been nearly 17,000 mentions by brands and consumers of the word “bae” or “fleek” online. Among the culprits…
Capital Ventured – The Awl
The two hundred and twenty million dollars in venture capital given to Instacart, a grocery delivery service that deploys human servants to retrieve goods from the shelves of existing grocery stores, seems less like an investment in the validity of its specific idea—which is stupid and unsustainable for reasons so blatant that they are not…
This Early Computer Was A Christianity Conversion Machine
One of the most unlikely harbingers of the computer age was a Christian mystic. After getting his ass kicked by Muslim scholars, he thought up a device that would let him win any argument, answer any question, and convert all people to the one true faith. A Man of Many Names and Many Talents The…
Doing some personal metrics tracking lately… – Aram Zucker-Scharff
Aram Zucker-Scharff Doing some personal metrics tracking lately using a semi-secret process soon to be blogged about and have uncovered this fun fact: Since January 5th I’ve read >140 articles on the internet. As of this week, I think I’ll be able to track word counts. Sadly, I can confirm that the internet is still…
Don’t Buy What Neil Young Is Selling
Neil Young’s “high resolution” PonoPlayer goes on sale for $400 today. You shouldn’t buy it. The recalcitrant rocker isn’t wrong for wanting to reclaim audio quality in the digital age, but in the service of that goal he’s peddling junk science, and supporting expensive gear and music files you don’t need. For the last few…
Do Tech Companies Really Support Free Speech? – Pacific Standard: The Science of Society
Only when it doesn’t endanger their ability to make a profit. “Freedom of speech” has perhaps never looked so confused. In the days immediately following a massacre at French comics magazine Charlie Hebdo last week that left at least 12 people dead and 11 injured, multinational tech companies rallied support. Donations have poured into Charlie…
Mark Zuckerberg says he believes in freedom of speech. Does Facebook? | World news | The Guardian
Mark Zuckerberg in 2013. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg is dealing with the contradictions of promoting free speech while running the world’s biggest social network, after being called out on the gap between his words and Facebook policy. Zuckerberg, who has been outspoken in his support of Charlie Hebdo and freedom of speech in…
This router can power your devices wirelessly from 15 feet away
Wireless charging hasn’t really set the world on fire. Since the Palm Pre first introduced us to the idea at CES 2009, a few companies have added similar functionality to their phones and smartwatches. Power without wires is undoubtedly useful, but none of the solutions have ever set our devices free from a charging pad,…
The plight of the bitter nerd: Why so many awkward, shy guys end up hating feminism – Salon.com
I feel your pain, bitter, lonely, nerdy guys. I really do. It sounds corny to say it like that, but I don’t know how to say it and be believed. I know that because, having experienced this emotion from the inside for most of my life, I sure as hell resisted believing it when I…