Curated Commons // Edition 11
Thank you for subscribing and welcome to the Eleventh edition of Curated Commons. Hope you had a great Diwali! Please excuse the slightly longer version - too much great content around!
So, do you want to be taxed for working from home?
There’s been lot of research on the increase in productivity for employees working from home. Now an analyst at Deutsche Bank is taking it to a next step - tax people working from home as they are leading a still leading a “full economic life” without contributing much to it. How long before some politicians pick it as economies continue to be depressed?
https://www.dbresearch.com/PROD/RPS_EN-PROD/PROD0000000000513736/A_work-from-home_tax.pdf
What is the most dangerous drug?
My nomination for the statement of the year - “…as far as the scientific evidence is concerned, current drug laws have no rhyme or reason to them”.
https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2019/06/25/what-is-the-most-dangerous-drug
Retail first, food later
A short interesting read of an interview with an author who just published a book on the American supermarket. The tidbit around food quality and taste is fascinating.
“Elon Musk is on a mission to stop giving a shit what people think of him.”
Musk has a new mission which Vanity Fair explains in some detail in this piece. And it’s even more visible in his most recent tweets on the virus. Musk doing muskesque things?
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/11/elon-musks-totally-awful-batshit-crazy-most-excellent-year
Finding a vaccine is only the first step
The recent news from Pfizer that its Coronavirus vaccine is over 90% effective in trials is hugely welcome news. But that’s not the end, as this very good Atlantic story talks. The vaccine supply chains and the enormity of the task of getting it to every human quickly will likely make this one of the biggest projects ever for humanity.
Good, related short podcast from A16Z - https://a16z.com/2020/11/13/16mins-covid-vaccines-pfizer-moderna-rna-mrna-engineering-biology/
When Elliott Meets Softbank…
…sparks are bound to fly! Elliott Management, one of the most aggressive hedge funds out there is apparently helping Masayoshi Son pull Softbank from the deep hole they dug themselves into. And now, the story says, Masayoshi is practically a day trader. Who Elliott is betting against!
https://www.wsj.com/articles/masayoshi-son-softbank-elliott-management-11605069825
Tech, for solving farm waste
Regulations in India recently changed to allow farmers to sell to large retailers and corporates directly, than through dedicated wholesale markets. And this creates an opportunity for matching demand Vs supply, a familiar challenge for tech companies.
Private labels have been around, and will be.
Something to put the brouhaha around Amazon using consumer data to inform its private label strategy…
Using AI and online ads to deter paedophiles
This is a fascinating approach, albeit laden with grey shades, to deterring paedophiles. This AI company is pushing online ads to people that search for specific keywords to try and deter them. And it is having an impact already!
Everyone is sustainable, towards themselves
This is an excellent piece in the NYT on how big oil uses a PR consultancy to drive PR campaigns spreading misinformation. One of the largest stakeholders in the PR firm- the big ESG-spouting investment firm, Blackrock! And for good measure, ExxonMobil has done what many a politician usually do - call out the journalist. What was that line about not believing something till it is officially denied?
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/11/climate/fti-consulting.html
Venezuela, and the rise of the digital dollar
Venezuela has been reeling under crazy inflation for many years. One result - people are increasingly turning to Zelle, a p2p payments app owned by a bunch of American banks. In cities like Caracas, it is now estimated to make up as much as 17% of transactions in retail establishments. It is even estimated that more than 60% of all transactions in Venezuela are now in dollars!
Do GPT-3 jokes make themselves?
Question- how do you know if someone has access to OpenAI’s GPT-3?
Answer - they will write a blog, or start a Twitter thread about it.
The FT edition is finally here, all 4,000 words of it.
https://www.ft.com/content/512cef1d-233b-4dd8-96a4-0af07bb9ff60
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Search, but verify
Quick reminder that Google’s fact box, where it tries to answer the questions we ask is easily gamed, and is riddled with errors.
The anatomy of a self-driving car’s crash
When cars are a bunch of data points and algorithms, forensic audits provide a fascinating insight into how they are operated. Worrying article on how we humans simply cannot be trusted to ‘take control’ in a L2 self-driving car.
https://jalopnik.com/this-video-of-a-terrifying-high-speed-tesla-wreck-is-a-1845655448
How private you are depends on whose definition of privacy you adopt
Your shiny new Mac is likely, gasp, shiny expensive spyware. Extremely worrying read on Apple’s tracking practices, which I am sure we will hear a lot more of in the coming days.
https://sneak.berlin/20201112/your-computer-isnt-yours/
How to make people care about privacy? Ban porn.
That’s the case in Thailand it appears. After a ban on porn sites, VPN installs surged by as much as 644%, says a VPN provider.
https://prachatai.com/english/node/8906
While on Thailand, a brief update on a case I had noted a few editions ago - An American was put in jail after writing a negative review of a hotel under the country’s strong criminal defamation laws. Now he has left the country, and TripAdvisor has decided it is going to name and shame the resort.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/11/world/asia/thailand-hotel-tripadvisor-jail.html
There’s always a back-story
And sooner or later, someone will make a compelling Twitter thread about it. Fascinating historical back-story of an airport in Berlin in this thread.
Watch out for Netflix TV
Turns out, all things incumbent aren’t necessarily bad. We now have bundles of subscriptions and now Netflix is apparently testing a linear movie channel in France. Lack of choice can also be weirdly liberating some times in consuming content.
https://www.thedrum.com/news/2020/11/09/netflix-tests-linear-tv-and-movie-channel
We live in the era of globalization of taste
What trade hasn’t achieved, social media and the Internet might have - The world, in many urban cities, is one indistinguishable shade of design, making the consumer comfortable in a setting that isn’t too different in Paris or in Kabul or in Mumbai.
Best of the rest:
Very good long interview of Daniel Ek, founder of Spotify by ex-Twitter exec Sriram Krishnan - https://www.theobservereffect.org/daniel.html
Reuters is launching a new business line aimed at professionals, including events. - https://www.axios.com/reuters-professional-business-line-b8a950f6-9667-4b78-8829-94ed688a3702.html
I wasn’t aware earlier, but apparently Amazon has a new platform where you can source souvenirs through virtual sessions. Very interesting read on evolving travel experiences - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/12/travel/travel-tours-experiences-virus.html
The era of AI Vs AI is here. Microsoft releases tools to identify deepfake videos - https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2020/09/01/disinformation-deepfakes-newsguard-video-authenticator/
The creator of Python has joined Microsoft. Github is already a part of Microsoft. Time travel a few years back and try waging a bet on this! Satya sure is changing the Microsoft we knew! - https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/12/python-creator-guido-van-rossum-joins-microsoft/
AI may not be able to recognize you, but it can recognize bears. Facial recognition, but for aiding the cause of conservation is now here. - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/11/science/bears-facial-recognition.html
Why SMS/text messages can’t be your second factor of authentication - if you needed more prodding - https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/azure-active-directory-identity/it-s-time-to-hang-up-on-phone-transports-for-authentication/ba-p/1751752
I leave you with this video which is so pure. It’s 50 years old, but I yearn for news coverage like this these days. Most other news can fit in a tweet!
Stay safe, and happy reading! And if you liked the newsletter, please do share on your social networks. My DMs on Twitter are always open for any feedback.