- “Bicycle for the Mind” Fascinating exegesis of an early talk by Steve Jobs.
- The French Economist Who Helped Invent Elizabeth Warren’s Wealth Tax
- Is the UK about to get its own DARPA?
- Famous internal memos in computer companies
Monthly Archives: October 2019
Facebook contradictions
Proud announcement from Facebook:
Today, we removed four separate networks of accounts, Pages and Groups for engaging in coordinated inauthentic behavior on Facebook and Instagram. Three of them originated in Iran and one in Russia, and they targeted a number of different regions of the world: the US, North Africa and Latin America. All of these operations created networks of accounts to mislead others about who they were and what they were doing. We have shared information about our findings with law enforcement, policymakers and industry partners.
We’re constantly working to detect and stop this type of activity because we don’t want our services to be used to manipulate people.
To which Charles Arthur comments: “I thought manipulating people was basically the point.” Which it is. It’s just that apparently some kinds of manipulation are verboten. And of course, as Charles says, this is just the stuff they’re catching.
Linkblog
- The Audio Revolution Thoughtful ruminations on Marshal McLuhan, media and the power of headphones.
- “The dreaming of Dominic Cummings” James Meek’s lovely LRB essay on the fracturing of the UK into two separate states: Remainia and Leaveland.
- World economy is sleepwalking into a new financial crisis Sombre lecture by the former Governor of the Bank of England.
- How Airbnb Is Silently Changing Himalayan Villages
Quote of the Day
“Talent is a flame. Genius is a fire.”
Bernard Williams
Linkblog
- Sir Stephen Sedley on the UK Supreme Court ruling about lawless prorogation of Parliament Nobody, not even the Prime Minister, is above the law.
- We’re all in an abusive relationship with our smartphones Lovely essay by Maria Farrell
- Myths from a small island: the dangers of a buccaneering view of British history Lessons the UK is about to learn.
- “The dreaming of Dominic Cummings” James Meek’s LRB essay on the fracturing of the UK into two separate states: Romania and Leaveland.
@realDonaldTrump shows Twitter knows which side its bread is buttered
This morning’s Observer column:
When Donald Trump first appeared on Twitter, two thoughts came to mind. The first was that he was an absurd candidate for the presidency. The second was that he had a remarkable intuitive understanding of the possibilities of 140-character discourse. In a public lecture some time after his election, I rashly opined that “Trump is to Twitter as Michelangelo is to sculpture”.
As ice formed on the upper slopes of my (predominately liberal) audience, I realised that this was not a tactful observation. Michelangelo’s genius, one infuriated listener pointed out, was deployed in creating uplifting works of art, whereas Trump’s tweets merely plumbed the depths of human nastiness. Which was spot on. But it nevertheless remained true that Trump is surpassingly good at what he does, which is polluting the public sphere, infuriating his opponents and pandering to the inner demons of his supporters.
When he took office, many people assumed that he couldn’t go on like this: governing by tweet. Trump has begged to differ…
Linkblog
- Remembering Harold Bloom Nice memoir by one of his former students.
- If you doubt that corporations are sociopathic entities: just consider banks that lend to poor people Thoughtful and depressing memoir by a former employee.
- Why we must ban facial recognition technology now
- Zuckerberg still thinks he has First Amendment responsibilities He still doesn’t get it.
- Computational photography: The reason your smartphone photos keep getting better
Quote of the Day
“Watergate had All The President’s Men. Trump’s version will be All Roads Lead to Putin.”
Linkblog
Sheer genius!
The Telegraph’s cartoonist is a genius. No other word for it.