One feed. Two feed. Red feed, blue feed.

Which of the following Internet faux pas most disqualifies a candidate from public office? Is it:

a) Watching porn
b) Using Yahoo OR
c) Being a crazy conspiracy theorist ...?

With Mike Webb -- aspiring R-Va. -- you never have to pick! (Seriously, I can't remember an online trainwreck this good since the Amy's Baking incident.) Since posting a screenshot to Facebook that inadvertently suggested he watches pornography, the conservative candidate has released a stream of increasingly insane Facebook messages blaming hackers, voter fraud, and subliminal messaging. I'm like *82 percent* sure this guy's a Jimmy Kimmel hoax, but until THAT letdown strikes he sure is entertaining ...

1. Computers are machines, like cars and Kitchenaids. They can only do things we make them. But that dynamic is changing -- and rapidly -- with the rise of artificial intelligence. Thanks to the increasing sophistication of neural networks, computer programs can "learn" and process things without our explicit instruction. Which, nbd, sort of challenges the very concept of being human. (Bonus related link: Vote President Watson!)

2. The inside story of Facebook's biggest failure begins in a small Indian town. Internet.org was supposed to be a huge triumph -- until a coalition of Indian businesses, reporters and regulators brought it down. At issue was this big and very timely question of exactly how much power we want Facebook to have. India decided, in the end, that they didn't want free Internet all that bad.

3. I can barely watch scary movies as it is, so this is not good news: Horror in VR will feel real enough to *literally torture you.* A number of studios are working on games that will challenge the boundaries of audience fear. Where the line lies between fun and torment remains, as of yet, p. unclear!

4. A potty-mouthed takedown of mommy blogs ... from a reformed mommy blogger. (Tho it really applies to any genre of aspirational "influencer.") Josi Denise, aka American Mama, has tired of what she considers industry-wide phoniness. Not merely in terms of online fakery, either -- but in the way that bloggers run and represent their business.

5. In an alternate universe, your email would come by post. That was, at least, once the Post Office's desperate, Hail Mary hope.

>> You can download these links (and several others) as a free ebook here.

~ as happy as a pup in a watermelon ~
(link)

Postscripts: One feed. Two feed. Red feed, blue feed. Hashtag-Ban-Men, No. 1003. How to troll, for fun and profit, and who influences the influencers. Not sure why this is, but Google writes poems like a dramatic teenager. Please do not try to buy a hitman online. Also, don't leave death threats on strangers' phones. If this is what you're doing to find love, you're probaby better off on your own. Donald Trump, as seen through Twitter and Facebook. The complete history of the social network. Graduation advise from the Interwebs, ft. Evan Spiegel and Sheryl Sandberg. Alas, neither addressed the growing threat of these frighteningly named "DARK PATTERNS." Space Snapchat, Florida farm crimes and miserable men. No offense, but that's not Venmo -- you just have crappy friends.

Until next week!
@caitlindewey

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