Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
Birchbox and Story: Two retail stores redefining the shopping experience The traditional brick-and-mortar store isn’t what it used to be. So what is it becoming? In the traditional sense, retail stores maintain an almost simplistic purpose: a physical space where shoppers can enter, locate what they need, pay for it, and go on their merry…
By Brendan O’Connor on February 8th, 2015 There is a lot of sex on the Internet. There are teenagers making love to Hot Pockets on Vine and 27-year-old medical students auctioning off their virginity. There are hookup apps and dating apps. But there are also just… people. People talking—chatting, tweeting, and commenting. And wherever you…
Matt Mullenweg’s WordPress content management platform is one of the most influential pieces of software on the Internet, running more than 19 percent of websites (including VentureBeat). But before Automattic, the parent company of WordPress, was on the path to being a billion-dollar company, Mullenweg was simply an eager coder with a healthy attitude for self-experimentation….
Jeb Bush, a rumored 2016 Republican presidential candidate, just decided to publish hundreds of thousands of emails sent to him during his time as governor of Florida. On its face it seems like a great idea in the name of transparency, but there’s one huge problem: neither Bush nor those who facilitated the publication of…
Barclays plans to offer apprenticeships in banking to people 50 and older by the end of the year. That’s a rational response to an aging workforce and the impact of demographics in developed economies, and one that more companies around the world will need to replicate. It’s great news for those who find themselves unemployed…
Zoo Security Drills: When Animals Escape In some zoos in Japan and China, staff members perform regular security drills to practice their response to a large animal escape by using costumed zookeepers as the fugitive animals. Individuals in furry costumes or pairs in full-size mockups of larger animals run through zoo property, sometimes inflicting mock…
Whenever a young person comes to me for career counsel I let loose a dramatic sigh, fix her with a steely stare and deliver the following discourse, which is drawn on more than a decade’s experience spent toiling in this industry: “If you want to succeed, find a field in its infancy, one with no…
I have a theory about money in this age of financial services and valueless commodities which is essentially that there is one big pile of money on the table and the people who are in charge of things let you move the pile around. Sometimes it stops in front of you for a bit before…
Every year, the cartoonist Boulet makes an entire webcomic story in just 24 hours, and every year, it’s incredibly fun. This year, Boulet spins a tale about an elderly widow who finds herself doing Zeus a favor, and doesn’t much like how the king of the gods tries to repay her. Boulet celebrated 24-hour-comic day…
WASHINGTON � In unusually expansive comments, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray provided new details Tuesday about proposals due soon from the agency while offering insights into an internal battle over easing a key mortgage rule. Speaking at a town hall meeting organized by the National Credit Union Administration, Cordray gave some specifics about…