I’ve had the opportunity to read and in some cases listen to the most interesting texts, ranging from current events surrounding digitality to learning new skills, here are the texts I’ve engaged with in the past year segmented by term. I recommend giving them a look, especially the podcasts.
Fall 2020
Altshuler, Tehilla. “Privacy in a Digital World | Techcrunch.” Accessed October 8, 2020. https://techcrunch.com/2019/09/26/privacy-queen-of-human-rights-in-a-digital-world/?guccounter=1
Technological progress has created a situation of severe tension and incompatibility between the right to privacy and the extensive data pooling on which the digital economy is based. This development requires new thinking about the substance of that right. Privacy is still alive and thriving and it’s important that we respect that fact.
Auxier, Brooke, Lee Rainie, Monica Anderson, Andrew Perrin, Madhu Kumar, and Erica Turner. “Americans and Privacy: Concerned, Confused and Feeling Lack of Control Over Their Personal Information,” November 15, 2019. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2019/11/15/americans-and-privacy-concerned-confused-and-feeling-lack-of-control-over-their-personal-information/
A majority of U.S. adults believe their personal data is less secure now, that data collection poses more risks than benefits, and that it is not possible to go through daily life without being tracked.
Belmont, Veronica. “Paid Attention.” IRL. Accessed November 22, 2020. https://irlpodcast.org/season3/episode3/
The value of our attention in the digital world.
Elias, Jennifer. “Google Will Try ‘Hybrid’ Work-from-Home Models, as Most Employees Don’t Want to Come in Every Day.” CNBC, September 23, 2020, sec. Technology. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/23/google-ceo-sundar-pichai-considering-hybrid-work-from-home-models.html
Sixty-two percent of Google employees want to return to the office at some point, but not every day, according to a Google survey of its employees.
Menand, Louis. “Why Do We Care So Much About Privacy?” The New Yorker. Accessed October 8, 2020. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/06/18/why-do-we-care-so-much-about-privacy
Big Tech wants to exploit our personal data, and the government wants to keep tabs on us. But “privacy” isn’t what’s really at stake.
“Online Learning Cannot Just Be for Those Who Can Afford Its Technology.” Nature, September 23, 2020, 482–482
The dramatic shift to online learning as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic risks widening educational inequalities.
“Quantum Computing Expert Warns Governments May Be First to Crack Algorithms Keeping Bitcoin and the Internet Secure | The Daily Hodl.” Accessed November 10, 2020. https://dailyhodl.com/2020/11/01/quantum-computing-expert-warns-governments-may-be-first-to-crack-algorithms-keeping-bitcoin-and-the-internet-secure/
Applied mathematician Peter Shor says government agencies could be the first to figure out a way to enable quantum computers to break algorithms that keep Bitcoin and the internet secure.This has the potential to be the end of personal digital privacy.
Wham, Ethan. “Entertainment Evolution: What’s Happening to Content Due to COVID-19 (Part 1).” Disruptive Competition Project (blog), September 3, 2020. https://www.project-disco.org/innovation/090320-whats-happening-to-content-due-to-covid-19-part1/
Part one of two discussing how the content, industries, and people we enjoy watching have changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Entertainment Evolution: What’s Happening to Content Due to COVID-19 (Part 2).” Disruptive Competition Project (blog), September 4, 2020. https://www.project-disco.org/innovation/090420-entertainment-evolution-whats-happening-to-content-due-to-covid-19-part-2/
Part two of two discussing how the content, industries, and people we enjoy watching have changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Zeitchik, Steven. “The Pandemic Will Make Movies and Tv Shows Look Like Nothing We’ve Seen Before.” Washington Post. Accessed November 22, 2020. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/08/12/hollywood-pandemic-film-industry/
No crowd scenes. Few locations. Masks. Limited romance. Hollywood entertainment is and has gotten really strange. We’ve already the seen the aftermath and we’ll continue to do so.
Chen, Brian X. “To Be Tracked or Not? Apple Is Now Giving Us the Choice.” The New York Times, April 26, 2021, sec. Technology. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/26/technology/personaltech/apple-app-tracking-transparency.html.
Winter 2021
Kelly, Makena. “Congress to Hold Hearings on the Stock Market after Reddit GameStop Squeeze.” The Verge, January 28, 2021. https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/28/22254909/senate-banking-stocks-sherrod-brown-aoc-gamestop-reddit-hearing
Congress to hold meetings after the Reddit GameStop squeeze, the time unknown, consequences and results undetermined.
Lewis, Michael. “Ref, You Suck!” Against the Rules with Michael Lewis. Accessed March 15, 2021. https://atrpodcast.com.
Pae, Markus Rene. “Toss Some Data to Your Witcher.” Medium, January 26, 2020. https://towardsdatascience.com/toss-some-data-to-your-witcher-e936927e7c02
An article that analyzes different characters and their sayings on “the Witcher” and visualizes the results with Seaborn.
Potts, Jason, and Chris Berg. “The Rise Of Dogecoin And GameStop Shows Us How Memes Can Move Markets.” Kotaku Australia, February 28, 2021. https://www.kotaku.com.au/2021/03/the-rise-of-dogecoin-and-gamestop-shows-us-how-memes-can-move-markets/
One of the most difficult problems in finance right now is figuring out the fundamental economic value of cryptocurrencies. And the past week has complicated this further. For many cryptocurrency investors, the value of Bitcoin is based on the fact it is artificially scarce, a limit not imposed on Dogecoin.
Sherr, Ian. “GameStop Stock Crashed, but Reddit Still Wants to Send It to the Moon. How, and What’s Next.” CNET. Accessed March 15, 2021. https://www.cnet.com/personal-finance/gamestop-stock-crashed-but-reddit-still-wants-to-send-it-to-the-moon-how-and-whats-next/
Wall Street’s big bets against GameStop went sour when Reddit traders bet on the company’s success instead. Now, billions of dollars are on the line.
Stossel, John. “‘That System Is Being Used Against You’: Edward Snowden Makes the Case for Internet Privacy. Is He Right?” Reason.Com (blog), February 17, 2021. https://reason.com/2021/02/17/edward-snowden-online-privacy-social-media/
Online companies might not be as nefarious as you think. Yes they want our information, but they also want our money, so they have to give us what we want quickly and efficiently and that information might be the cost.
Toti, Benson. “Dogecoin Climbs to $0.051 amid Upside Momentum.” Coin Journal, March 3, 2021. https://coinjournal.net/news/dogecoin-price-reclaims-0-050-as-crypto-firm-supports-doge-at-1800-atms/
Dogecoin has broken above $0.050, as a result of congregated social media efforts, a key resistance/support level that could see bulls target highs near $0.08.
Zuboff, Shoshana. “The Surveillance Threat Is Not What Orwell Imagined.” Time. Accessed March 15, 2021. https://time.com/5602363/george-orwell-1984-anniversary-surveillance-capitalism/
We’ve feared Big Brother. We should fight against Big Other. A second look at the surveillance threat in the 21st century.
Spring 2021
Dash, Anil. “12 Things Everyone Should Understand About Tech.” Medium, March 21, 2018. https://medium.com/humane-tech/12-things-everyone-should-understand-about-tech-d158f5a26411
Tech is more important than ever, deeply affecting culture, politics and society. Given all the time we spend with our gadgets and apps its essential to understand the principles that determine how tech affects our lives.
Harris, Tristan. “How Technology Is Hijacking Your Mind — from a Former Insider.” Medium, October 16, 2019. https://medium.com/thrive-global/how-technology-hijacks-peoples-minds-from-a-magician-and-google-s-design-ethicist-56d62ef5edf3
Where does technology exploit our minds’ weaknesses?
the Guardian. “How to Avoid Amazon: The Definitive Guide to Online Shopping – without the Retail Titan,” April 27, 2020. http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/apr/27/how-to-avoid-amazon-the-definitive-guide-to-online-shopping-without-the-retail-titan
Amazon is now making up to £8,800 a second, while concerns persist about its tax affairs, treatment of staff and effect on small retailers. Here’s how to buy everything from technology to beauty to books without it.
Techwalla. “How to Create a URL File.” Accessed May 27, 2021. https://www.techwalla.com/articles/how-to-create-a-url-file
In order to create a URL file, you will only be required to complete a few relatively simple steps. These documents act as powerful shortcuts that can optimize your workflow and help you navigate the internet as quickly as possible. Creating your first URL file only takes a few minutes.
NPR.org. “No Cash Needed At This Cafe. Students Pay The Tab With Their Personal Data.” Accessed May 27, 2021. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/09/29/643386327/no-cash-needed-at-this-cafe-students-pay-the-tab-with-their-personal-data
For free coffee, students can provide their names, phone numbers, email, majors and interests. This information is then provided to corporate sponsors who want to “diversify students’ career choices.”
“Opinion | Machines Can’t Quite Crack Shakespeare. That’s a Relief.” Washington Post. Accessed May 27, 2021. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/machines-cant-quite-crack-shakespeare-thats-a-relief/2019/04/28/bad569ea-6854-11e9-82ba-fcfeff232e8f_story.html
A study shows artificial intelligence can’t take humans out of the humanities.
Tufekci, Zeynep. “We Are Tenants on Our Own Devices.” Wired. Accessed May 27, 2021. https://www.wired.com/story/right-to-repair-tenants-on-our-own-devices/
It’s time to assert our sovereignty over our own stuff. Right now we are definitely renters when we should be owners.
DEV Community. “Why A Good Frontend Developer Should Care About Web Accessibility.” Accessed May 27, 2021. https://dev.to/mokkapps/why-a-good-frontend-developer-should-care-about-web-accessibility-545m
A good website should enable access to its content to everybody, even people with disabilities, allowing the most people to access them.
Board, The Editorial. “Opinion | America, Your Privacy Settings Are All Wrong.” The New York Times, March 6, 2021, sec. Opinion. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/06/opinion/data-tech-privacy-opt-in.html
Using an opt-in approach towards privacy settings will help curb the excesses of Big Tech.
Kay, Grace. “The History of Dogecoin, the Cryptocurrency That Surged after Elon Musk Tweeted about It but Started as a Joke on Reddit Years Ago.” Business Insider. Accessed March 15, 2021. https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/the-history-of-dogecoin-a-cryptocurrency-that-started-as-a-joke-on-reddit-years-ago-and-recently-surged-600-in-a-wall-street-bets-copycat-rally/articleshow/80592974.cms
Dogecoin rose to a record high on Monday, becoming one of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market value.Tweets from Elon Musk and Snoop Dogg about the coin helped.
