An audacious proposal from a Swedish design student… I like it.
A proposal for The International Flag of Planet Earth by Oskar Pernefeldt
Bit of News Daily Digest
“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”
—Aristotle
Source: Bit of News Daily Digest
Burning Man’s black campers explain why they are the 1% | Culture | The Guardian
It’s fine out here as long as you’re diligent about moisturizing. (Laughing) I’m not supposed to want to camp because I am black? You should never let anyone keep you from doing what you want.
Source: Burning Man’s black campers explain why they are the 1% | Culture | The Guardian
What Happens Next Will Amaze You
This illuminating presentation focuses on the intersection and conflict between online advertising and privacy, and how we got to where we are.
The goal of our laws should be to reduce the number of irrevocable decisions we make, and enforce the same kind of natural forgetfulness that we enjoy offline.
The laws should be something average people can understand, setting down principles without tethering them to a specific technical implementation.
Laws should apply to how data is stored, not how it’s collected.
There are a thousand and one ways to collect data, but ultimately you either store it or you don’t. Regulating the database makes laws much harder to circumvent.Laws will obviously only apply in one jurisdiction, but they should make services protect all users equally, regardless of their citizenship or physical location.
Laws should have teeth.
Companies that violate them must face serious civil penalties that bind on the directors of the company, and can’t be deflected with legal maneuvering.Anyone who intentionally violates these laws should face criminal charges.
Source: What Happens Next Will Amaze You
Researchers Could Have Uncovered Volkswagen’s Emissions Cheat If Not Hindered by the DMCA | Electronic Frontier Foundation
When you entrust your health, safety, or privacy to a device, the law shouldn’t punish you for trying to understand how that device works and whether it is trustworthy.
The Bourne Aesthetic – blarg?
The author surprisingly manages to hop between Apple’s laptop design, The Olive Garden, and spy movies. Interesting.
Who is our generations James Bond? Jason Bourne.
He can’t trust his employer, who demanded ultimate loyalty and gave nothing in return. In fact, his employer is outsourcing his work to a bunch of foreign contractors who presumably work for less and ask fewer questions…
They took everything he had, and promised that if he gave himself up to the System, in return the System would take care of him.
It turned out to be a lie.
We’re all Jason Bourne now.
Source: The Bourne Aesthetic – blarg?
The WWII-Era Plane Giving the F-35 a Run for Its Money | Motherboard
Like other American combat troops in Afghanistan, the SEALs sometimes found that high-tech gear couldn’t reliably get the job done, or that cheaper, lower-tech solutions worked better. This is how the US military almost adopted the A-29 Super Tucano, a $4 million turboprop airplane reminiscent of WWII-era designs that troops wanted, commanders said was “urgently needed,” but Congress refused to buy.
Source: The WWII-Era Plane Giving the F-35 a Run for Its Money | Motherboard
Neuroscience backs up the Buddhist belief that “the self” isn’t constant, but ever-changing – Quartz
TL;DR: Your idea of “self” is more fluid than you might think, a concept from Buddhism that’s supported by scientific evidence.
“self-processing in the brain is not instantiated in a particular region or network, but rather extends to a broad range of fluctuating neural processes that do not appear to be self specific”
Source: Neuroscience backs up the Buddhist belief that “the self” isn’t constant, but ever-changing – Quartz
Songwriters Behind the Hits of Katy Perry and Taylor Swift – The Atlantic
The perfect pop star creates a desire loop between audience and performer. We abandon reality together, meeting in a synthetic pop fantasy of California Gurls and Teenage Dreams. Only they are not really our teenage dreams.
South China Sea images reveal impact on coral of Beijing’s military bases | World news | The Guardian
TL;DR: China’s island-building in this region is likely causing permanent ecological damage.
“The photo of Mischief Reef is particularly disturbing,” says McManus, an expert in marine biology and fisheries at the University of Miami.
“A substantial amount of this damage is irrecoverable and irreplaceable.”