Better off dead

Today's newsletter was delayed by synchromysticists. (That is not a wisecrack, but a real thing that just happened.) See, my editor found this SUPER crazy conspiracy video that I thought would make a funny 15-minute post. Then I discover, to my horror, that it's not actually/entirely a joke. This leads us down a deep Internet rabbit hole that ends in words like "macrocosm" and "fractal cartographer." And just like that, Links is waylaid for two hours...!

1. What it's like to be haunted by a "digital ghost." That's what life feels like to Paul and Amy Strater, a middle-aged couple who have been terrorized -- for years! -- by an amorphous group of young hackers.

2. How emoji actually wind up on your phone. You can thank the obscure, technocratic industry group that regulates Unicode.

3. Is America even ready for its newest pop stars? Up close and personal with the new and still very shiny class of professional lady YouTubers.

ALERT: Great Dane on a pool

Postscripts: Tech v. media. Internet v. internet. Aaron Sorkin v. the Web. If this is the future of caskets then we aren't even better off dead. Pumpkin spice hair and pumpkin spice photos. In defense of one-star reviews. How an '80s game predicted the Internet and how trolls started #BoycottStarWarsVII. Amazon's the biggest booster of translated literature; 4chan's the (only?) booster (at this point?) for Trump. Last but not least, if this BLOG thing doesn't work out, at least I have a solid back-up.

See ya tomorrow!
@caitlindewey

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