Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
A Facebook ad in October urged political conservatives to support the Trump administration’s rollback of fuel emission standards, which it hailed as “our president’s car freedom agenda” and “plan for safer, cheaper cars that WE get to choose.” The ad came from a Facebook page called Energy4US, and it included a disclaimer, required by Facebook,…
“We as black women, I guess, have gone through so much that we think it’s so much more important that we get involved and start some things,” said Clarke. Clarke’s reflex to get involved dates back decades before she won office (which she did at age 45, three years after learning she had multiple sclerosis)….
The history of the world’s favorite Halloween carol, Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s “The Monster Mash.” Here’s how a song about dead creatures came to life. Hey all, Ernie here with a fresh piece from David Buck, who last hit us with some chatter on scale models. This time, he dives into one of the most iconic…
Often top referrers to articles in our network include a mix of the usual suspects: Google search, Google News, Facebook, Twitter, Flipboard, Drudge Report. But one day at the beginning of October I was looking at a story in Currents and noticed another referrer in the mix: SmartNews. SmartNews is an app that aggregates and…
Anyone who isn’t an expert on the internet would be hard-pressed to explain how tracking on the internet actually works. Some of the negative effects of unchecked tracking are easy to notice, namely eerily-specific targeted advertising and a loss of performance on the web. However, many of the harms of unchecked data collection are completely…
Mozilla’s user research, and research conducted by universities and independent experts, consistently shows that most people who use the web do not approve of many of the ways in which their personal data is collected and shared for targeted advertising. In fact, people consider some practices to be invasive, creepy, and even scary. User tracking…
The Skimm co-founders Carly Zakin (left) and Danielle Weisberg (right). Photo: Dina Litovsky In early September, the whole staff of the Skimm, a current-events newsletter aimed at millennial women, gathered on gray couches for an all-hands meeting. Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg, the Skimm’s CEOs and founders, were dressed in the TV-ready sheaths they’d put…
Recode, a technology website that was among the first in a wave of journalist-led media startups, is being folded into sister site Vox.com, its parent company said Thursday. Vox Media publisher Melissa Bell said in a memo that Recode would relaunch as a section of Vox.com starting next year. Recode will continue to exist as…
The new web video, tweeted by the President five days before the midterm elections, is the most extreme step yet in the most inflammatory closing argument of any campaign in recent memory. The Trump campaign ad is the latest example of the President’s willingness to lie and fear-monger in order to tear at racial and…
President Trump said Wednesday that he “wouldn’t be surprised” if billionaire philanthropist George Soros or someone else is funding the caravan of Central American migrants moving toward the U.S. “I wouldn’t be surprised,” Trump told reporters outside the White House when asked if “someone” is paying for the caravan. “George Soros?” a reporter interjected. “I don’t know who,…