Have these guys even heard of YOLO?!
Bad but very timely news, y'all: According to a new study from the University of Massachusetts, even one episode of binge drinking (like in your life, not in a weekend) can have serious, substantial impacts on your health. Have these guys even heard of YOLO?! (It would appear not.) Anyway I know that's a bummer way to kick off the weekend, so let us proceed -- responsibly! -- to the links:
1. Much of what you read online starts on Reddit. And much of what starts on Reddit is steered by "mods" -- anonymous volunteers with little accountability. Mostly this system works really well, but lately it's also provoked a bit of an existential crisis. Is Reddit a democracy, or a series of feudal kingdoms? And what does that mean for the ecosystem of the web?
2. John Green: wildly viral Youtube vlogger, best-selling author, web pioneer. "It is hard to think of another novelist whose writing is as wrapped up with life online as John Green’s. He lives, as he puts it on page one of [The Fault in Our Stars], in 'the 137th nicest city in America', but more accurately on the web pages where his work meets his fans."
3. The slowest conversation with the world's fastest texter. Sixteen-year-old Marcel Fernandes Filho has gloriously swoopy emo bangs and a Guinness World Record for speed-texting. He can text nine (!) characters per second ... like I can't even think that fast.
... neither can Dory, apparently. (A note to new followers: Dory is my dog, and I make a GIF of her every Friday. I know she's not as cool as Tara the cat, but that is just how this thing works.)
Pocketables: The NSA has nothing on Knewton, an education company that spies on ... kids. (3698 words/15 minutes)
Postscripts: Pinterest for preppers. Hipster bait. Grilled grilled cheese. A third of U.S. copyright suits are filed by this porn site, and like, a majority of your favorite rappers use this weird drug lean. What can TED teach us about ideas? What can an app teach us about restaurant choices? Cool in 2014: Livejournal. Not cool in 2014: scrunchies. Uber > Pinterest > Red Lobster. And chocolates with edible holograms (!!) trump all of these.
Have a wonderful weekend! Until Monday,
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