👓 Where is the remotest spot in the United States? | BBC

Read Where is the remotest spot in the United States? (BBC News)
One couple - and their eight-year-old daughter - are visiting the remotest spot in every state.
What a fun and generally uplifting story. Makes me want to travel.

I do wonder what the statistical drop off is from the largest distance to the second largest and so on…

👓 Ten Historical Anniversaries of Note in 2018 | CFR

Read Ten Historical Anniversaries of Note in 2018 by James M. Lindsay (Council on Foreign Relations)
Anniversaries mark the passage of time, recall our triumphs, and honor our losses. Two thousand seventeen witnessed many significant historically anniversaries: the centennial of the U.S. entry into World War I, the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad, and the fiftieth anniversary of the Six-Day War, to name a few. Two thousand eighteen will also see anniversaries of many significant events in world history. Here are ten to note:
Some great reminders of history hiding in this article.

👓 Broadcom launches 11-nominee slate for Qualcomm board | Reuters

Read Broadcom launches 11-nominee slate for Qualcomm board by Aishwarya Venugopal (Reuters)
Chipmaker Broadcom Ltd (AVGO.O) made its first formal move toward a hostile bid to take over Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O) on Monday, laying out a slate of 11 nominees it wants to put on the board of the U.S. semiconductor firm.

👓 Who Owns L.A. Weekly? | L.A. Weekly

Read Who Owns L.A. Weekly? by Keith Plocek (L.A. Weekly)
Who owns the publication you’re reading right now? It’s a question you should ask no matter what you’re reading. In Latin there’s a phrase cui bono, which roughly translates as “who is benefiting?” It’s a good idea to know who is profiting in any situation. Why? So you can make educated decisions.
If things are as potentially as nefarious as they sound here, I’m archiving a copy of this article to the Internet Archive now, just in case the new owners notice and it disappears.

👓 My company is pushing me to give up my car, which I need — Ask a Manager

Read my company is pushing me to give up my car, which I need (Ask a Manager)
The company I work for encourages environmentalism and recycling. They started an initiative where they want everyone who works here to live environmentally friendly lifestyles. Every single person I work for has given up car ownership, as part of this initiative, except for me. I’m getting pressure because I’m the only one not participating and I’m keeping the company from a 100 percent participation rate.

👓 Zen and the Art of Blog Maintenance | Aaron Davis

Read Zen and the Art of Blog Maintenance by Aaron Davis (Read Write Respond)
This is a reflection on my recent challenges associated with maintaining a blog and an explanation of why I persist in doing it.

👓 I’m on the FCC. Please stop us from killing net neutrality | LA Times

Read I'm on the FCC. Please stop us from killing net neutrality (Los Angeles Times)
The FCC's plan to gut net neutrality deserves a heated response from the millions of Americans who work and create online every day.
Other than the simple “it will spur investment”, what exactly is Ajit Pai’s argument for getting rid of net neutrality? Where is it? I suspect that the only reason there’s no coverage of it anywhere amidst all the turmoil is that it doesn’t exist.

Most communities, even in major cities, only have one provider at best, so there’s absolutely no competition to begin with. Why not start with fixing that first?! In fact, that necessarily needs to be dealt with first before a bone-headed idea like killing net-neutrality.

👓 WordPress is a Typewriter by Jack Baty

Read WordPress is a Typewriter by Jack Baty (baty.net)
Using WordPress makes me feel like that boy at the Type-In. I feel like the words are going right onto the paper. Sure, the metaphor is a little thin, but the point is that when writing with WordPress (or any CMS, really), the distance between what I’m typing and what I’m publishing is very short. The only thing closer is editing HTML directly on a live page, but that’s something only crazy people do. On the other hand, publishing a static site is like sending a document to a printer. I have to make sure everything is connected, that there’s paper in the machine, and then wait for the job to finish before seeing the output. If something needs editing, and something always needs editing, the whole process starts over.
I’ve never thought of it in these terms, but there is a nice immediacy and satisfaction to WordPress for this reason. (Though naturally one shouldn’t compose in their CMS in any case.)

I might submit that his issue is a deeper one about on which platform and where to publish though given that he’s got almost as many personal websites as I do social silos. The tougher part for him is making a decision where to publish and why in addition to all the overhead of maintaining so many sites. However, I’m not one to point fingers here since I’ve got enough sites of my own, so I know his affliction.

👓 A GoFundMe Campaign Is Not Health Insurance | The Nib

Read A GoFundMe Campaign Is Not Health Insurance (The Nib)
My friend died $50 short. It doesn’t have to be that way.
This is just a heartbreaking cartoon. I hope everyone will read it in full.

This is one of the most subtly poigniant panels:

“We eulogize [the fact that Americans help each other] in literature and art instead of political theory.”

👓 Diplomats Sound the Alarm as They Are Pushed Out in Droves | New York Times

Read Diplomats Sound the Alarm as They Are Pushed Out in Droves by Gardiner Harris (New York Times)
A State Department exodus marks a new stage in the broken and increasingly contentious relationship between Rex W. Tillerson and much of his work force.

👓 Talk: “Designing away the cookie disclaimer” by Sebastian Greger

Read Talk: “Designing away the cookie disclaimer” (sebastiangreger.net)
This is the transcript of my lightning talk from the beyond tellerrand Berlin pre-conference warm-up on 6 November 2017. It was a condensed version of my longer, work-in-progress and upcoming talk on privacy as a core pillar of ethical UX design. If you are interested in the final talk or know about a conference or event that might be, I’d be thrilled to hear from you.
It’s sad the amount of not caring that both laws and apathy on the internet can make your life just dreadful in ways that it shouldn’t.

I love the fact that people are working on solving these seemingly mundane issues. This is a great little presentation Sebastian!

👓 To Save Net Neutrality, We Must Build Our Own Internet | Motherboard

Read To Save Net Neutrality, We Must Build Our Own Internet (Motherboard)
We must end our reliance​ on big telecom monopolies and build decentralized, affordable, locally owned internet infrastructure.
This could make an interesting small project. Reminds me of stories about Claude Shannon making his own telephone set up by electrifying barbed wire fences in his youth.

👓 21st Century Fox in $90 million settlement tied to sexual harassment scandal | Reuters

Read 21st Century Fox in $90 million settlement tied to sexual harassment scandal (Reuters)
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc has reached a $90 million settlement of shareholder claims arising from the sexual harassment scandal at its Fox News Channel, which cost the jobs of longtime news chief Roger Ailes and anchor Bill O'Reilly.

👓 Eight women say Charlie Rose sexually harassed them — with nudity, groping and lewd calls | Washington Post

Read Eight women say Charlie Rose sexually harassed them — with nudity, groping and lewd calls by Irin Carmon and Amy Brittain (Washington Post)
The alleged incidents took place with employees, interns and job applicants at the “Charlie Rose” show.
This is just painfully sad because his interviews (and particularly the policy ones) were wonderfully enriching. I hope someone can pick up the mantle because this is sure to decimate his career post haste.