Weekend Links: Another Unevenly Distributed Future

Best practices for goons. Context Collapse #130

Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash

In this issue: A whole lot of links.

So let’s do this thing.

New Futures:

Noone knows if your crypto is safe if Coinbase goes bankrupt?

How COVID stole our time and how we can get it back.

Zeynep Tufekci gets tenure at Columbia.

Open office, 1990s edition.

David Byrne: “Our random accidents and odd behaviors are fun—they make life enjoyable. I’m wondering what we’re left with when there are fewer and fewer human interactions.”

“Every public health official interviewed considered Facebook the primary method for disseminating COVID-19 information across their county, largely because of three factors: ease of updates, speed, and reach. Reliance on Facebook, however, created deeply problematic challenges.”

Advertising/Marketing/PR:

The rise of LinkedIn ghostwriting.

A guide to ad campaigns which failed in testing, were launched anyway and then did really well.

Woman says Coors paid her $1000 to successfully inject advertisements into her dreams.

Using Reddit to validate your product.

Epic Indonesian graphic design.

How McKinsey structures its global publishing team.

Media:

The death of the Slatepitch.

Instagram launched enhanced tags.

RIP Chowhound.

Washington Post: Facebook paid Republican strategy firm to malign TikTok.

Working at TikTok is different.

How to make writing easier to read for everyone.

Minimum brand management for journalists.

CNN+ is worth 0.143 of a Quibi.

How Twitter became Twitter.

A Demand Media content farming retrospective.

“Moonbug fine-tunes the world’s most popular video programs for the youngest of viewers. Parents already know that resistance is futile.”

Tech:

Apple conspiracy theories.

Kevin Purdy @kevinpurdy

My @iFixit coworker Mel asked me why Apple was the largest U.S. importer of "Personal deodorants." I asked the only people you can ask: @underunderstood . underunderstood.com/podcast/episod… I am 12 minutes in and I'm riveted and I already know the answer!

underunderstood.comOne More Thing… DeodorantBilly investigates a theory that Apple products are packaged with a signature fragrance

When the Midwest was a tech hub.

Self-programming computers.

“The software wasn’t just a study aid — it was a deep archive of sacred text and music, comprising dozens of different traditions, made easily searchable and infinitely customizable.”

WordPress’ market share is shrinking.

Inside Airbnb’s redesign.

Misc.:

“There seemed to be no protest among Rome’s declining pagan aristocracy about the increasing intolerance of the new faith, partly because these laws were often unenforced, or theoretical.”

“As a guy, I wanted to know what it was like to be a woman on a dating site, so I set up a fake profile and the end result was not something I was expecting.”

“What is a fact that sounds like a shitpost but is 100 percent real?”

This Charming Naan.

Matt Nagy’s mansion is amazing.

MIT scans brains of hyperpolyglot who speaks 24 languages.

The politics of second passports.

Walking Jacksonville, FL.

SwiftOnSecurity @SwiftOnSecurity

My absolute favorite bit of dialog/life-advice ever

New Pete Doherty.

Timothee Chalamet Elmo.

New Dan Carlin Hardcore History.

This Poly Styrene documentary is solid gold.