We all should have taken off this week.
Today the Internet suffered what could only be described as a Lindsay Lohan-sized meltdown. Feedly broke. Evernote broke. Tweetdeck, and thus pretty much Twitter, broke. It is really a marvel this newsletter is getting to you at all, although sources tell me that some subscribers have not been receiving Links this week. If that describes you, please accept my apologies -- and the universe's loud, clear message that we all should have taken off this week. Without further ado, here are the links!
1. Draw me like one of your French toasts is a real tweet -- from a real, publicly traded corporation. If you thought "weird Twitter" was weird (and it is, trust me), then you are utterly unprepared for "weird corporate Twitter," that odd, intellectually off-putting space where national brands like Denny's and Taco Bell crib the quirks and affectations of Twitter's zaniest humorists.
2. It's not too late to rebuild the Internet. Mesh networking, basically a different way to set up the Internet's essential structure, is fast, reliable and cheap -- and promises a lasting solution to the net neutrality debate. (Consider this required reading if you, like I, still tend to glaze over when people throw words like ISP around -- it's super-readable.)
3. This girl's parents paid $5,000 to improve her Google search results. That is self-evidently insane. Even more insane is the fact that some people's parents are apparently paying even more than that ... and all for advice like "delete the lewd pictures off your Twitter account."
Bb hippo. H/T @darth.
Pocketables: Britney Spears, feminist role model. (7952 words/32 minutes)
Postscripts: Tech like a teenager. Baby got backspace. The metaphysical implications of Donald Trump's tweets. The TSA has the best Instagrams ever and Steve Buscemi (whether he knows it or not) has the very best memes. This is the guy who solved one of the Internet's greatest mysteries. This is the punk who caused much of that dumb Tweetdeck mess today. Can Google save lost street art? Can the Internet save Paula Deen? I personally am skeptical, but like, I mean ... I dunno!
Until tomorrow,
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