www.theverge.comPrime and punishment
Last August, Zac Plansky woke to find that the rifle scopes he was selling on Amazon had received 16 five-star reviews overnight. Usually, that would be a good thing, but the reviews were strange.
Make your weekly digest with Readstor
Registerwww.theverge.com
www.industriallogic.comStop Using Story Points
Sprints, standups and story points have come to symbolize Agile methods much like burgers, fries and cola symbolize fast food. Ready for your Agile Happy Meal?
idlewords.comGluten Free Antarctica
Far below the Antarctic circle, I watch a woman cry real tears because she can’t get gluten-free toast. Mary is a plummy old English lady traveling alone, an Agatha Christie figure who I expected would spend her time solving mysteries on the ship.
gizmodo.comI Cut Google Out Of My Life. It Screwed Up Everything
Goodbye Big FiveReporter Kashmir Hill spent six weeks blocking Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Apple from getting her money, data, and attention, using a custom-built VPN. Here’s what happened.
idlewords.comAnatomy of a Moral Panic
On September 18, the British Channel 4 ran a news segment with the headline, 'Potentially deadly bomb ingredients are ‘frequently bought together’ on Amazon.
overreacted.ioFix Like No One’s Watching
Some technical debt is in plain sight. An inadequate data structure might lead to convoluted code. When the requirements keep changing, the code might contain traces of previous approaches. Sometimes the code is written in a hurry or is just sloppy.
idlewords.comPortrait of a Campaign
First disclaimer: The following is not intended as a roman-a-clef. Everything here is a composite portrait drawn from a dozen or so campaigns in similar circumstances in 2018. Second disclaimer: I am a political novice and don't know all the fancy things.
gizmodo.comI Cut Facebook Out of My Life. Surprisingly, I Missed It
Goodbye Big FiveReporter Kashmir Hill spent six weeks blocking Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Apple from getting her money, data, and attention, using a custom-built VPN. Here’s what happened.
stratechery.comThe State of Technology at the End of 2018
This article is a bit of an annual tradition: in mid-December I summarize the state of technology,1 and appropriately enough, this year’s edition coincides with a tech executive testifying in front of Congress.
www.theverge.comThe Inventor examines the $9 billion Theranos scandal, and blames Silicon Valley
Welcome to Cheat Sheet, our brief breakdown-style reviews of festival films, VR previews, and other special event releases. This review comes from the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. It has been updated to coincide with the film’s HBO release.
idlewords.comThe Great Slate
For a year now I've been fundraising for a project called the Great Slate, an effort to persuade tech workers to make campaign donations to Democratic House candidates in Republican-leaning districts where money might not otherwise flow.
idlewords.comSocial Media Needs A Travel Mode
News reports tell us that Customs and Border Patrol has become more aggressive about checking social media accounts at the border.
43081j.comFirst thoughts on Deno, the JavaScript/TypeScript run-time
Deno? What’s that? I found myself a little unproductive recently, so took a quick look at GitHub’s trending repos page to see if there’s anything cool and new to have a read of. One of the top results was Deno.
stratechery.comDiscord and Its Game Store, Fortnite and the Social Aspect of Gaming, Game Store Competition
Stratechery.com is supported by subscriptions to the Daily Update. The Daily Update consists of substantial analysis of the news of the day (~1800 words) delivered via three daily emails in addition to the free weekly article (four total articles per week).
stratechery.comFacebook Stats, Facebook’s Data Sharing, Facebook Politics
Stratechery.com is supported by subscriptions to the Daily Update. The Daily Update consists of substantial analysis of the news of the day (~1800 words) delivered via three daily emails in addition to the free weekly article (four total articles per week).
stratechery.comTumblr’s App Store Ban, Tumblr’s NSFW Deadline, Verizon Writes Down Oath
Stratechery.com is supported by subscriptions to the Daily Update. The Daily Update consists of substantial analysis of the news of the day (~1800 words) delivered via three daily emails in addition to the free weekly article (four total articles per week).
stratechery.comDistinguishing Regulation, Is the Internet Different?, Reasons for Skepticism
Stratechery.com is supported by subscriptions to the Daily Update. The Daily Update consists of substantial analysis of the news of the day (~1800 words) delivered via three daily emails in addition to the free weekly article (four total articles per week).
stratechery.comHuawei CFO Arrested, Australia’s Awful Law
Stratechery.com is supported by subscriptions to the Daily Update. The Daily Update consists of substantial analysis of the news of the day (~1800 words) delivered via three daily emails in addition to the free weekly article (four total articles per week).
stratechery.comApple’s China Patent Case, Slack Versus Teams, Stratechery LLC’s Choice
Stratechery.com is supported by subscriptions to the Daily Update. The Daily Update consists of substantial analysis of the news of the day (~1800 words) delivered via three daily emails in addition to the free weekly article (four total articles per week).
stratechery.comExponent Podcast: Clumping and Clustering
On Exponent, the podcast I host with James Allworth, we discuss Aggregators and Jobs-to-be-Done and The State of Technology at the End of 2018. Listen to it here.
stratechery.comExponent Podcast: Publishers vs Apple News
On Exponent, the weekly podcast I host with James Allworth, we discuss The Cost of Apple News. Listen to it here.
stratechery.comExponent Podcast: Zeros All The Way Down
On Exponent, the weekly podcast I host with James Allworth, we discuss Netflix Flexes. Listen to it here.