Curated Commons // Edition 104
Thank you for subscribing and welcome to the 104th edition of Curated Commons. Happy reading, and do pass on the newsletter and share it on your social networks if you find it interesting! It’s free!
Let’s dive right in ($ indicates potential paywall).
Listerine and contract law
Fascinating back-story on how a small mistake in coming up with a contract 140 years ago means there’s a lot of people still getting royalties from Johnson & Johnson on Listerine sales. Talk about the ideal passive investment! - Read here
Are you a ‘fella’?
You can be if you are a member of NAFO - North Atlantic Fellas Organization. Bunch of “internet culture warriors, national security experts and ordinary Twitter users weaponizing memes, viral videos and, yes, dog photos to push back against Russian online disinformation” - Read here
Buying medical debt, for retiring it
Interesting non-profit started by two former medical debt collectors which is now going around buying debt on secondary markets, and then telling consumers their debt has been cleared. We shouldn’t need such firms, but hey, more power to them! - Read here
Modern-day cons
Interesting story from the UK on how a thief is relieving gym-goers of their valuables, and racking up charges on their cards, by working around the challenges of modern security features. - Read here
Good motivation is not enough bar for incompetence
People who want to legislate with a singular motivation might not be best placed to understand full implications of what they set out to do! Just can’t make up this story on a new SF tax designed to “tax Bezos’ ass” did not understand how Amazon makes money - Read here
ps: The tax was tossed aside by a judge.
Piracy in an age of algorithmic recommendations
Interesting thread that shows how Amazon appears to be diverting users to pay for and download a pirated Kindle copy of a book rather than the original.
Dark stores to go dark in France
Instant grocery apps love dark stores. Residents hate them. - Read here
Why does it matter? - Dark stores are the lifeline of quick grocery services. They have also been hailed as the next stage of physical retail’s transformation given the shift online. But given they are largely located in, or very near to, residential areas, this is a challenge that will come up elsewhere as well, sooner than later.
What level of a ‘prepper’ are you?
When is “The Event” happening? And how will you survive post that? Apparently some billionaires are planning in earnest - read here
Minecraft, NFTs, and some people
This is one crazy story of a play-to-earn game and some wild quotes. - Read here
“LinkedIn victims in particular tend to lose more money than victims of fraud on other platforms”
Scammers are creating elaborate profiles of people supposedly working at top tech companies and then drawing in people into crypto scams saying - “I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.” - Read here
Does Dall-E pose a threat to artists?
A photo editor at NYMag decides to take on Dall-E and see if it is a threat to his job. - Read here ($)
Kids these days…want to become influencers
Rejoice. Or cry. - Read here
Trolley problem solved…by a 3-year old
Most elegant solution to date! ;-) - Read here
More Interesting Reads:
A $2 taxi fare dispute in 2013 turns into two days in jail, all due to a government typo - Read here
Game history is history and needs to be preserved. Good long read - Read here ($)
Saudi Arabia has an app to report activists who speak out against the Government. Available on Apple/Google - Read here
An astronomer thinks alien tech could be on the ocean floor. Not everyone agrees - Read here
Shady GPS, fake GPS coordinates, international sanctions, and more - Read here ($)
And finally
Stay safe, and happy reading! And if you liked the newsletter, thank you, and maybe consider sharing it? My DMs on Twitter are always open for any feedback.