The Dying Russians →
Why are Russians dying in numbers, and at ages, and of causes never seen in any other country that is not, by any standard definition, at war? In the seventeen years between 1992 and 2009, the Russian population declined by almost seven million people, or nearly 5 percent—a rate of loss unheard of in Europe since World War II.
Why It's Impossible to Make Plans Anymore →
A Plan: Once heralded as a firm commitment to an event in the future, a plan is now largely considered to be a string of noncommittal text messages leading up to a series of potential, though unlikely, events.
The video is hilariously true.
Should Twitter, Facebook and Google Executives be the Arbiters of What We See and Read? →
The question posed by Twitter's announcement is not whether you think it's a good idea for people to see the Foley video. Instead, the relevant question is whether you want Twitter, Facebook and Google executives exercising vast power over what can be seen and read.
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Given the savagery of the Foley video, it's easy in isolation to cheer for its banning on Twitter. But that's always how censorship functions: it invariably starts with the suppression of viewpoints which are so widely hated that the emotional response they produce drowns out any consideration of the principle being endorsed.
Glenn Greenwald on censorship, public vs private enterprise, communication, and platforms vs publishers. Great piece.
Akamai State of the Internet Report →
If I'm reading this correctly, China now has faster mobile Internet speeds than wired Internet speeds. Lots of other interesting points on broadband penetration, mobile usage, attacks and outages.
To Boost Your Odds of a Successful Marriage, Have a Big Wedding →
The University of Denver psychology department on relationships and successful marriage indicators. Apparently a big wedding is one of them.
IE talked about rebranding in an AMA. The comments were hilarious, but not helpful...
Edward Snowden: The Untold Story →
The best biography I've seen on Snowden and his motivations yet.
How the Other Half Works: An Adventure in the Low Status of Software Engineers →
A thought-provoking essay on the difference between programmers and managers and the ways programmers have sabotaged their status in Silicon Valley.
The Neuroscience Of Emoticons →
"Remarkably, emoticons convey emotions without cognition of faces," the researchers, led by Masahide Yuasa, wrote in a 2006 paper.
What Happens When You Enter the Witness Protection Program? →
Priceonomics on the Witness protection program's success.