Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
As the Internet has leveled many power blocs of the old music business, playlists have become valuable currency in streaming’s new world order, so much so that record companies now actively promote — and sometimes pay for — their songs to appear on such services as Spotify, Deezer and Apple Music. Playlist promotion “is a very, very…
Europe’s “Right to be forgotten” laws have come to an apex of dumb: The UK’s Information Commissioner’s office has ordered Google to remove links to stories about Google removing links to stories. My brain hurts. Google has 33 days to take down links to stories about a previous “Right to be forgotten” order. Last year,…
Steve Harvey Moses Robinson/Getty Images for Neighborhood Awards /sl-art-illo-cap /sl-art-illo-cntr What could possibly go wrong when you gather 2,000 men to air their grievances about women? Well, apparently Steve Harvey has become the official president of the “He-Man Woman-Haters Club,” based on details that have emerged about a recent taping for an upcoming Steve…
Legions of programmers now stream their work on Livecoding.tv, a site that turns their lonely labor into something more like a party. The camera does not love computer programming. OK, it’s worse: The camera runs screaming in horror from anything resembling programming. Writing code might be the single least cinematic pursuit humankind has yet devised….
Study Introduction: A case study was commissioned to review the impact of user experience (UX) design in a galaxy far, far away. This appears to be a period full of technological wonder with faster-than-light space travel, advanced life-saving technology as well as advanced weaponry. However, systematic design mistakes also proliferate. For example, pressure (literally choking…
As Jonathan Franzen’s new book, Purity, gets closer to release, talk about the author has picked up speed. One question that keeps coming up repeatedly is:Is Jonathan Franzen sexist? Oh, if only there were a cut and dried answer to this. Franzen is a controversial figure in contemporary literature, beloved by many critics and hated by many readers….
Salem, NH — It’s entirely bad enough that pointing a finger like a gun will get children suspended from school. However, in police state USA, this hand gesture now appears to be punishable by death. In a true show of paranoid trigger happiness, a Salem police officer fired on an unarmed man because he allegedly turned quickly toward them…
An alleged informant against former Subway spokesperson Jared Fogle gave her first public interview on Thursday, telling ABC News the entire process took 10 years, including four-and-half years wearing a wire for the FBI. “That was my biggest question, ‘Why was it taking so long?’” journalist Rochelle Herman-Walrond told ABC affiliate WWSB. “A case of…
In a setup that would not look out of place in fiction, Jonathan Franzen, the bestselling American novelist, has said he once considered adopting an Iraqi war orphan to help him understand young people better, but was persuaded against it by his editor. Franzen said he was in his late 40s at the time with…
Because they cannot motivate themselves? Who knows! But according to Trending in China (via Tech in Asia), “programming cheerleaders” apparently exist. Here’s Trending in China explaining what’s going on: Internet companies across China are embracing programming cheerleaders, pretty, talented girls that help create a fun work environment. Their job includes buying programmers breakfast, chitchatting and…