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Internet memes come and go -- the human ones fastest of all. In fact, you could be excused for ignoring Ken Bone on the basis that his fame won't outlive the fall. But here at last -- at very long last! -- is a meme I wholeheartedly recommend: Bone is funny, thoughtful, and self-aware, a rare, besweatered blot of reason in viral politics.

What is so loveable about Ken Bone? Well, his Twitter (which you should follow!) is both silly and sincere. His reasoned centrism is absolute tonic in an ugly, divided election year. Long story short, history will forget him -- but I surely will not. Thank you, Ken, for making the debate SLIGHTLY less painful to watch.

there was only one way this could end (link)

1. You know how if you use Google maps a lot, you start to forget directions? It turns out that phenomenon repeats a lot and across a number of situations. We've become so reliant on computer automation that we've lost a variety of basic skills: not just navigating new places or calculating tips, but things that have gotten people killed.

2. Tomi Lahren is a pundit for the Facebook Live age. The 24-year-old's monologues routinely go viral as soon as they hit her Facebook page. Controversial and combative, Lahren regularly gets hate mail for making declarations like "BLM is dangerous" or "feminists are mean." But to the millions of conservatives who follow her every post, she's the new face of political punditry.

3. We assume phone-addicts lack "discipline," but maybe it's more than that. I mean, most tech firms employ behavioral psychologists whose sole job is to find ways to pull users back. Tristan Harris, once one of their number, thinks it's time for an intervention: He's lobbying the industry to reject its well-honed ethos of addiction.

4. The problem with online dating is that it's too easy, actually. There are simply too many options -- too many "fish in the sea." Given so many choices, researchers have found, daters feel pressured to pick the perfect one. And that's a recipe for anxiety, not everlasting love.

5. What do you do when you're a revenge porn kingpin despised by the Internet? Start up an Uber competitor, natch -- that makes tons of sense!

hi hey hello hello there (link)

Postscripts: The "New Celebrity Diet." The Modern Love Club. The rise of the vacation built to help you "unplug." Life with Amazon's Alexa and tales from the kosher Internet. What it's like to work at Snapchat. How Reddit first began. Why Siri -- and all of its AI ilk -- are so bad at sarcasm. News sites experiment on us all the time, you probably just don't know it. You may also not realize, intitially, if Facebook decides a you're a terrorist. Guides to: (1) the robot revolution (2) Uber Pool etiquette and (3) Internet anonymity. 7 Twitter accounts to restore your faith in Twitter/humanity. Charlie Rose interviewed a robot, which is ... kinda fun! Reminder: livestreaming hurricanes is almost always pretty dumb.

An app for political organizing. A store for Trump meme merch. An "Instagram idol" whose very existence will either inspire or irk. The psychogeography of Pokemon Go and the dangers of posting your child's pics. How Tetris, a v. basic game, became so damn addictive. The perversion of Pepe and the media/alt-right death spiral. Last but not least, meet the secret network of political tweeters who make debate memes go viral.

Until next week!
@caitlindewey

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