Now THAT should be a crime.
Lately I find myself thinking a lot about how much 🌩POWER🌩 platforms have. Not to be too drama about it, but it's kinda gotten out of hand. Look at a company like Google, which can snuff out an entire industry with one little white box. Or a monster like Facebook, which can capriciously cut off traffic to news sites if it wants.
On Wednesday, Elizabeth Warren called some of these tech cos monopolies. Idk if that's *technically* or *legally* true, but it's a word that's stuck with me. That concentration of power, among so few firms, should frankly freak us all out. And on that happy note, let's look at a GIF of a kid falling down!
~gotta catch em all~
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1. Someone call this lady and tell her to charge more! She's taking pennies to act as digital liaison for zillions of prisoners. Renea Royster updates their Facebooks, traffics their nudes, and otherwise runs their lives online -- all for the very low price of $20/month. Now THAT should be a crime.
2. Maybe the Internet can overcome anything. It's bested on "government, the strictures of exile, and isolation," at least. Edward Snowden's physically hiding out in Russia, but virtually the exile goes anywhere he wants. It's all thanks to stuff like Skype, Twitter ... and a livestreaming robot.
3. We love studying the notebooks and diaries of past people, but how will future people study us? All our output, creative and otherwise, is digital detritus. Some organizations are trying to archive the Web, but they have a long way to go. There's so much data, after all, and parsing it is slow.
4. Inside the intriguing alternate economy of indie video game soundtracks. A number of artists who struggled to make ends meet on tour now make thousands on Bandcamp. They compose music for small-time games, then hope/pray that they take off. If the game finds a fan base, so will its accompanying, self-released album.
5. On the counterintuitive appeal of beauty-rating apps, which don't really do what they promise. These apps can't objectively "grade" your looks -- but they can give you a break from other people's judgments.
>> You can download these links (and several others!) as a free ebook here.
NO PUPPY LEFT BEHIND
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Postscripts: Tumblr for gymnasts. VR for olds. 4chan's fave insult insults real cuckolds. 25 apps & other designs that could help refugees. 30 Vine stars & YouTube gals who made their names on short movies. Kim Kardashian successfully gamified her life; now Gordon Ramsey's getting in on it, too. Behold: the very darkest side of fake online reviews.
How Snapchat filters work. Why people tweet embarrassing things. Why chain emails circle around indefinitely. How the Bachelor became a social media sport. How Estonia became the most tech-savvy country. What the death of language will really look like. (Hint: not emoji!) New to the emoji game: corporate $$ and ad-targeting.
Trolls aren't actually hiding behind their pseudonyms. Well, maybe these Pakistani ones are -- but that's some heavy shit. An appreciation of Google Maps. Nostalgia for "the way the Web used to feel." Let's close on a literal high note: It's beats by auctioneers!
Until next week!
@caitlindewey
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