Curated Commons // Edition 5
Thank you for subscribing and welcome to the fifth edition of Curated Commons. Let’s dive right in.
FT for free, with a dash of morals:
I’ll begin this edition with what clearly sounds like an ad, but you have to take my word for it, is not. I discovered the past week that FT has a section called “Moral Money”. It made me chuckle, but they did organize a nice little online conference this past week on rethinking capitalism, so am clearly going to follow the section more closely. And I also discovered that if you subscribe to the Moral Money newsletter, you get a free 30-day subscription to FT.com. Enjoy!
https://www.ft.com/newsletter-signup/moral-money
The pandemic and its effects
Remote-X works great for a very narrow set of people, for almost all of the others, it is like being thrown into a pool with a tube/float when you don’t know swimming and hoping against hope that the flimsy piece of plastic will save their life. One of the best lines on remote education for kids highlighted below.
But a 7-year-old should be learning to read and write, not to navigate a “learning management system.” She should be learning math, not Microsoft Teams, pop-ups, and the concept of a “chat.” I find our second grader concentrating more on typing the letters than on actually thinking about what she’s typing. Her brain is trying as hard as it can, but it’s focusing on how she’s learning instead of what, because the how is so new.
https://slate.com/technology/2020/10/remote-learning-tech-anxiety-computers-are-dumb.html
Always worth bearing in mind how the pandemic and the lockdowns have proven to be a shot in the arm for some, and a shot to the head for others. A very good read on the various forms of ‘capital’ and how different people got impacted differently.
Towards a greener planet
File this in the huge, if true and practical category.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/29/climate/nuclear-fusion-reactor.html
Scientists developing a compact version of a nuclear fusion reactor have shown in a series of research papers that it should work, renewing hopes that the long-elusive goal of mimicking the way the sun produces energy might be achieved and eventually contribute to the fight against climate change.
Symbolic, but important, point
NextEra, the world’s largest solar and wind power generator, has surpassed ExxonMobil in stock market value. Early days still, but the pace of interest and growth in renewables in very impressive!
https://www.ft.com/content/39a70458-d4d1-4a6e-aca6-1d5670bade11
What you say is not what you vote for…Interesting read on how BlackRock, that big, fat, asset manager, follows up on its climate commitments
“Climate risk is investment risk,” Fink said in his annual letter to CEOs, pledging that BlackRock—the world’s largest asset manager—would begin holding portfolio companies to account on climate change.
According to the latest research from Morningstar, Fink has not been as good as his word. In the year to date, BlackRock has voted against 86% of shareholder resolutions that requested companies disclose climate change risk.
https://fortune.com/2020/10/01/blackrock-vote-against-shareholder-climate-change-resolution/
Wirecard and the India connection
Strange that none of the India business publications have followed up yet on this (yet another) good story from the FT on Wirecard where they showed some potential malpractice in India.
You can run, but you can never hide
From Amazon, that is, if you are in any form of retail. Amazon now wants to bring their famed ‘Amazon tax’ to physical stores through a new pay-with-palm solution. And yes, it’s contactless.
The cost of free and fast shipping:
This is a very strong investigative story into injury rates at Amazon warehouses which appear to be, not surprisingly, spiking up badly during the holiday shopping and Prime Day seasons. Customer obsession, at the cost of employee safety, can only go on so long.
https://www.revealnews.org/article/how-amazon-hid-its-safety-crisis/
If you received this from a connection, or clicked through from the web, and want to subscribe, here you go:
Corporate snowflakes:
Apparently eBay's ex-CEO and comms head got annoyed with a blogger couple. And the company's "security" team went bonkers trying to make life hell for the couple. Wild doesn't even begin to describe it! A must read!
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/26/technology/ebay-cockroaches-stalking-scandal.html
The great Chinese takeover
China has been taking over international organizations through a decade-long campaign, and that is now helping the country on multiple fronts, be it in shielding from uncomfortable questions, or in setting new standards. Important read.
The latest social media influencer….Mr.Bean
Today’s social media ecosystem is tailor-made for artists of a bygone era. And Mr.Bean is apparently now taking Tiktok by storm!
The official Mr Bean account on Facebook has 99 million followers, making it to the single biggest television page on the platform and the 11th most popular overall, ahead of mega-stars such as Rihanna and Justin Bieber.
He is also outperforming selfie-obsessed influencers on Instagram, where his page has 7.5 million followers, and more than 30 million people subscribe to his three YouTube channels.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/mr-bean-takes-tiktok-by-storm-dl9sqsmph
State of AI report
Good compilation of AI stats from Nathan and Ian, now in its third year.
Our cyperpunk future
Offered with strictly no comment. More details here.
Our future is going to be __________
And finally, someone caught the Nokia snake in real life!
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.