Curated Commons // Edition 32
Thank you for subscribing and welcome to the Thirty-Second edition of Curated Commons.
Apologies for the past couple of weeks as I was down, like most of India, with the virus. If you are based in the US, pls encourage your elected representatives to reconsider the US ban on vaccine ingredients! Thank you.
Our algorithmic bosses can be quite demanding
Jeff Bezos sent out his final letter to shareholders as CEO of Amazon. It’s worth reading in entirety. And rolling eyes at some parts!
“Self-driving” Tesla
In news that isn’t a surprise for many, Consumer Reports shows how easy it is to defeat Tesla’s driver monitoring.
And yes, there’s always a tweet.
Amazon & automated checkouts
Amazon is now planning to get their automated checkout technology to full-size supermarkets. That’s a big step forward! (likely an year or two away, but think of the impact on retail store staff)
Worrying thread of the week
Weaponizing copyright is an art. And a sound business model!
And lest you forget, this amazing company that has no qualms about weaponizing copyright!
A cool explainer on the immune system
How I wish more stories on science are written this way!
A paywall is not for most
I’ve been a fan of Bob Lefsetz and his analyses of the music industry for several years and when Bob writes, you read. This is a very good read on how it’s all about distribution and paywalls for individual creators don’t really go far.
Distribution is king, NEVER EVER FORGET IT! You never want to limit your distribution, NEVER EVER! So go behind a paywall at your peril.
Behind Robinhood’s success
Good long-read on psychology, habit-creation, behavioral economics and more in context of why people keep coming back to Robinhood.
More UBI experiments
More universal basic income experiments, this one from Los Angeles.
Amazon wants to cut your hair
No, seriously. Amazon is opening a salon in London. With lot of tech involved!
Today, Amazon is announcing the launch of Amazon Salon, a new salon where customers can experience the best in hair care and styling. Set over two floors and more than 1,500 sq. ft. on Brushfield Street in London’s Spitalfields, Amazon Salon will trial the latest industry technology, from augmented reality (AR) hair consultations to point-and-learn technology.
When is a whisky not a whisky?
New-age distilleries are using science to bypass the barrel-ageing process. This has the traditional companies up in arms.
A movie in the making - Why are McDonald’s ice cream machines broken so often
This is a fascinating read on the right to tinker with hardware, reverse engineering, corporate contracts. And it a david Vs goliath situation. A couple built a device to help restaurant owners figure out why their ice cream machines breakdown so often. And McDonald’s doesn’t like it one bit!
Correlation has to be causation…when it suits us!
More good reads:
Spies apparently love the "I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn" meme - https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56812746
“LVMH, Richemont’s Cartier and Prada SpA are joining forces to offer a blockchain solution to their customers seeking an extra seal of authenticity for the goods they’re buying.” - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-20/lvmh-cartier-prada-push-blockchain-tool-to-lure-shoppers
Lockdowns have been good for…mutant rats in offices! - https://www.wired.co.uk/article/office-mutant-rats
Good illustrations from the NYT to help children understand climate change - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/20/insider/climate-change-children.html
Vaccines work - https://www.ft.com/content/d71729a3-72e8-490c-bd7e-757027f9b226
Bill Gates, vaccines, and one picture that will stay with you for long - https://newrepublic.com/article/162000/bill-gates-impeded-global-access-covid-vaccines
"Consumers around the world have stockpiled an extra $5.4tn of savings since the coronavirus pandemic began...If consumers spend about a third of their excess savings they would boost global output by just over 2 percentage points both this year & next..." - https://www.ft.com/content/8cbfe40d-1ce1-4dc6-bcb2-1314b77b9443
Your smart air fryer can be remotely hacked - https://blog.talosintelligence.com/2021/04/vuln-spotlight-co.html
“Smart’ Cities Are Surveilled Cities” - https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/04/17/smart-cities-surveillance-privacy-digital-threats-internet-of-things-5g/
I leave you with this sober tweet that reflects India Twitter now. Hopefully we are all able to put this terrible phase behind us soon
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.