Curated Commons // Edition 46
Thank you for subscribing and welcome to the 46th edition of Curated Commons. Exploring some alternate formats for a few editions. Pls bear with me.
Our algorithmic future
The metaverse is here. First read this tome of a story on how Facebook is becoming a metaverse company - https://www.theverge.com/22588022/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-ceo-metaverse-interview.
Be ready for this though!
The biggest risk in our algorithmic future - “Everyone agreed that it was terrible. No one could agree who should be responsible, or even what should be done.” - https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/07/29/1030260/facebook-whistleblower-sophie-zhang-global-political-manipulation/
What does love and loss mean in an age of AI? Hard questions. This is a piece worth reading and reflecting on. Our algorithmic future has more questions and more solutions than we ever have! - “He couldn’t get over his fiancee’s death. So he brought her back as an A.I. chatbot” - https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2021/jessica-simulation-artificial-intelligence/
Tech, coz geeks will inherit the metaverse!
Interesting question to ponder upon - “When an athlete’s whole training cycle is geared towards peaking at one specific starting line, how do they deal with it being pushed back a year?”
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/katarina-johnson-thompson-olympics
Can drones replace fireworks? - https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/could-display-drones-snuff-out-firework-2021-07-28/
Product placement is getting a data-driven facelift. Good read on how product placement is now making its way into streaming shows - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-21/marketers-embrace-product-placement-in-streaming-tv-shows
A thread from an year ago, but quite instructive!
Our insecure privacy-less future
Good read on data de-identification and how de-identified data doesn’t protect privacy. Of course, valid only for countries where data is de-identified before it is sold further! - https://hai.stanford.edu/news/de-identifying-medical-patient-data-doesnt-protect-our-privacy
The business of business:
It’s 2021. Miners from Alabama are protesting in New York outside a Private Equity firm’s (Blackrock) office. - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-28/blackrock-support-sought-in-bid-to-end-5-month-coal-mine-strike
We like free markets. Our version of free markets. Every votary of free markets ever. Good read. - https://www.wsj.com/articles/subsidies-chips-china-state-aid-biden-11627565906
We are barely scratching the surface of the long-term implications of the pandemic! Remote work made it easier for employees to work from anywhere. It’s also made it that much more harder for smaller tech companies since they now have to match salaries offered by big tech companies. Or as the piece says, each hire is a national competition! One anecdata - check the number of profiles on Linkedin in India where people proudly display they are on notice period (essentially, shopping around for best offers, and available to join shortly) - https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/work-from-anywhere-perks-give-silicon-valley-a-new-edge-in-talent-war-11627387270
Culturally Yours
The French Govt gave teenagers $350 so they could use it for cultural purchases like books/music/museums. Instead, most of them used it to buy Manga - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/28/arts/france-culture-pass.html
Hey Siri, tell me a story that’s too good to be true - Hip Hop group Wu-Tang Clan secretly recorded an album over six years and released a single copy which was bought by notorious pharma bro Martin Shkreli whose assets were seized by the US Govt. Which is now selling the album to an unnamed buyer.
How Kanye West builds in public - short, but fascinating read! - “He builds in public, like a writer who tests out ideas for a future article in a Twitter post, or an indie artist who invites Twitch subscribers to a private livestream. The only difference is that Kanye builds in public at a much larger scale. He rents out the biggest venue possible in hip-hop’s most influential city. That’s the Kanye West experience.” - https://trapital.co/2021/07/26/how-kanye-west-is-building-donda-in-public/
Everything sucks…
“China appears to be expanding its nuclear capabilities, US researchers say in new report” - https://edition.cnn.com/2021/07/28/china/china-second-missile-silo-field-intl-hnk-ml/index.html
Define dumb incentives! An app is paying New Yorkers $25 an hour to livestream crime scenes - https://nypost.com/2021/07/25/citizen-pays-new-yorkers-25-an-hour-to-livestream-crime-scenes/
…Except Science & new tech!
Google’s quantum computing working with some physicists from Stanford/Princeton among others have apparently managed to demonstrate a time crystal for the very first time. - https://www.quantamagazine.org/first-time-crystal-built-using-googles-quantum-computer-20210730/
Everything else
Olympic cycling was just shocked by a Math PhD. It takes only one person to question conventional wisdom! Fab story! - https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/tokyo-olympic-cycling-anna-kiesenhofer-road-race-11627229016
Really good read on decarbonization - https://blog.usejournal.com/one-billion-machines-48a7c3cf0694
There is an economy for search results on Amazon - https://www.ft.com/content/46c63ccd-ef9f-4b9e-9d14-874873c80fb2
This spoof of a Linkedin Influencer is too real!
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.