Month: January 2019
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Why isn't the internet more fun and weird?
Why isn't the internet more fun and weird? (jarredsumner.com) MySpace inspired a generation of teenagers to learn how to code. We have Dark Mode now, but where did all the glitter go? During the internet of 2006, consumer products let anyone edit CSS. It was a beautiful mess. As the internet grew up, consumer products …
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Brexit Visual Video Explainer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yht_zE_mT7U
Information is Beautiful
4-minute explanation of where we're "at" with Brexit, with the usual clarity that the IIB folks provide. Nice. -
Facebook pays teens to install VPN that spies on them
Facebook pays teens to install VPN that spies on them (TechCrunch) Desperate for data on its competitors, Facebook has been secretly paying people to install a “Facebook Research” VPN that lets the company suck in all of a user’s phone and web activity, similar to Facebook’s Onavo Protect app that Apple banned in June and …
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...you wouldn't believe how often I'm told I'm not allowed to use the letter "Q" in passwords...
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AltLetter addressed to Dan Q, Developer, Bodleian Libraries.
Received a letter to "Dan Q, Developer". In case there's multiple Dan Qs @bodleianlibs? Nope: everyone's had the last word of their job title: Wikmedian in Residence > "Residence", Press & Media Officer > "Officer"... #mailmerge #fail? -
The Search for England's Forgotten Footpaths
Nineteen years ago, the British government passed one of its periodic laws to manage how people move through the countryside. The Countryside and Rights of Way Act created a new “right to roam” on common land, opening up three million acres of mountains and moor, heath and down, to cyclists, climbers, and dog walkers. It …
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The 500-Year-Long Science Experiment
The 500-Year-Long Science Experiment (The Atlantic) In 2014, microbiologists began a study that they hope will continue long after they’re dead. In the year 2514, some future scientist will arrive at the University of Edinburgh (assuming the university still exists), open a wooden box (assuming the box has not been lost), and break apart a …
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Why do book spines have the titles printed the way they do?
The orientation of the title printed on the spine of anglophone books is dictated by ISO 6357. Wrongly.
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Facebook to integrate WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger
Facebook plans to integrate its messaging services on Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.
While all three will remain stand-alone apps, at a much deeper level they will be linked so messages can travel between the different services.
Facebook told the BBC it was at the start of a "long process".
The plan was first reported in … -
Facebook may have known it was defrauding children and families through its online games
Internal documents appear to show that Facebook knew it was defrauding children and families through its ecosystem of online games as early as 2011. Employees even had a name for the practice, which they dubbed “friendly fraud,” or FF for short. More damning, related documents show that Facebook employees had found a way to stop …
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Partner's husband dropped car at garage. Garage calls me to say it's ready.
"My partner will pick it up," I say.
"The other guy said his wife would pick it up?" they reply.
Pause.
"Yeah, that's right."
#awkward #polyamory #moment -
The Vintage Beauty Of Soviet Control Rooms
Design You Trust
Click through for many, many more. -
Dropgangs, or the future of darknet markets
The Internet is full of commercial activity and it should come at no surprise that even illegal commercial activity is widespread as well. In this article we would like to describe the current developments - from where we came, where we are now, and where it might be going - when it comes to technologies …
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Vasectomy
Oh Joy Sex Toy
This comic from the fabulous Oh Joy Sex Toy folks gives a pretty good explanation of vasectomy that mirrors my experience (part one, part two)... except for the fact that I didn't have this dude's anxiety issue and was instead (according to the surgeon) "creepily interested" in the nitty-gritty of … -
RFC-20
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The choice of this encoding has made ASCII-compatible standards the language that computers use to communicate to this day.
Even casual internet users have probably encountered a URL with “%20” in it where there logically ought to be a space character. If we look at this RFC we see this:
Column/Row Symbol Name
2/0 SP Space …