Curated Commons // Edition 40
Thank you for subscribing and welcome to the Fortieth edition of Curated Commons. Let’s dive right in.
Trust. Nothing.
In case it wasn’t clear earlier, and you needed more proof. The European Telecommunications Standard Institute, more or less, admitted that their original algorithm for encryption on 2G GPRS networks was intentionally backdoored. They of course conveniently blame export control regulations. Now think how many global ‘standards’ might have other backdoors introduced thanks to local regulations.
The Argentina Govt gave cheap netbooks. It sparked a musical renaissance.
Creativity thrives in an environment of constraints. Fab story.
On Peer Reviews
Even those not familiar with the scientific world are today familiar with the concept of peer-reviewed scientific papers. Good read on the limitations.
None of the classic papers on DNA, nor Einstein’s four in his miracle year, were peer reviewed. Indeed, only one of Einstein’s 300 or so published papers was ever peer-reviewed, which so disgusted him that he never submitted a paper to that journal again. It did not matter that the DNA papers and Einstein’s papers were not peer-reviewed. Nor did it matter for the many thousands of the classic papers published in the past century that were not peer reviewed: the work in them is the foundations on which science stands today.
No secret about this brand turnaround
Victoria’s Secret is in the midst of one of the biggest brand turnarounds. Will it be able to? Good read.
The pandemic has put print books back in business
One positive impact of the pandemic. Hopefully it sticks on!
The commodities boom is luring criminals to become bolder
In today’s edition of everything is linked!
Drones and disaster rescue
The number of applications of drones for disaster rescue just keep increasing. AI-enhanced drones that seek out humans shouting for help are now being tested. Fab use case, but don’t go by the initial description - it’s almost black mirrorish!
Nvidia, cats, and AI
Cats are behind most things. Almost.
Exchange traded funds, esoteric languages, arbitrage
Fascinating read on Jane Street, a highly successful high frequency trading firm.
AI, for hunting AI-created deepfakes
Deepfakes are amongst the worst use cases of AI. Now researchers at Facebook say they may be able to tell which AI model a particular deepfake may have come from!
The NFT to buy if you are a true geek
Time Berners-Lee is set to auction his original source code for the web as an NFT! Go, bid!
Why Level 5 Autonomy doesn’t make sense
Good read with some interesting arguments on why L5 as a goal doesn’t make sense.
Amazon, the efficient brutal giant
With each passing day, Amazon gets bigger, its customers more loyal, and the company, more exacting at extracting efficiencies, often times with significant human costs. And there is now growing coverage of how the world’s most valued company should show a percentage of the empathy it has for customers to its employees/contractors as well. Hard-hitting long-read.
More interesting links:
The Uber for helicopters, which has had quite some press coverage, apparently had a made-up spokesperson for over three years! - https://www.businessinsider.com/blade-helicopter-had-fake-spokesperson-2021-6
Nielsen says it can now measure online streaming. Doesn’t look good for TV - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/17/business/media/nielsen-streaming-metrics-netflix-youtube.html
It’s 2021 - CNN plans to sell NFTs of its historic news coverage - https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/cnn-selling-nfts-coverage-1234969149/
Headline of the week - “An Olympian, a Failed Drug Test and an Accused Burrito” - https://www.wsj.com/articles/olympic-runner-failed-drug-test-burrito-shelby-houlihan-11623867500
Scientists are pushing for ‘neuro-rights’ - https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-tech-rights-idUSKBN28D3HK
A manicure robot is now painting nails in ten minutes for just $8 - https://www.kron4.com/news/a-manicure-robot-is-now-painting-nails-in-ten-minutes-for-just-8/
Are offline echo chambers worse than online echo chambers? - https://www.pnas.org/content/118/25/e2022819118
Airbnb spends millions…to avoid PR disasters - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-06-15/airbnb-spends-millions-making-nightmares-at-live-anywhere-rentals-go-away
There’s always a market, unfortunately. The Interpol apparently took down tens of thousands of fake online pharmacies - https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/interpol-shuts-down-thousands-of-fake-online-pharmacies/
If you follow football, or even otherwise, this thread shines light on a fascinating backstory on CPR!
A “welcome to Perth” sign painted on a building rooftop is scaring fliers descending to Sydney airport into thinking they have been flown to the wrong Australian city.
And finally, there’s this!
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