I’m still recovering from a few weeks away from the internets. Somehow I got more time to read new articles last week than this one, so apologies for the brevity this week. Thank you to Lisa for taking over for the last few weeks and adding a new voice to the newsletter!
No More Twitter for the Internet’s Self-Proclaimed ‘Supervillain’
J. Weston Phippen, The Atlantic
I can’t say that I’m going to miss Milo Yiannopoulos on Twitter. I didn’t follow him before, but the antics around his ouster from the site raise a point that a lot of people seem to forget: As a company, Twitter has the ability to choose who can and cannot use their platform. As XKCD made clear, this type of action is not an issue of free speech. In a world where freedom of speech really is constrained in many ways, complaints like those of his followers obscure this fact. That we can complain at all is great, but Milo’s Culture War, imagined or not, does not constitute an abridgement of his first amendment rights.
Facebook Completes First Test Flight Of Its Giant Internet Drone
Daniel Terdiman, FastCompany
Facebook wants to ensure that you can check your status updates from anywhere in the world. Actually they want to allow service providers to use their 737-sized drones to supply internet where they see fit. This would have come in handy for me the last few weeks while I was off the grid against my will. I imagine if this (or other systems being developed, like Google’s Project Loon) are put into widespread use, there’ll be locations set specifically to maintain a disconnect from the web.
This device turns your iPhone into a Gameboy—and no, it’s not a joke
Imad Khan, Daily Dot
I’m still calling hoax on this, despite saying that the original press release started as an April Fool’s Joke that turned into a real product. Sure, someone could probably make something like this, but it seems kind of fishy that it’s mainly being discussed via Reddit, nevermind the fact that Nintendo would probably never allow this to use any of their branding.
Pokemon Go Is Driving Insane Amounts of Sales at Small, Local Businesses. Here’s How It Works
Walter Chen, Inc.
Speaking of Nintendo, you may have heard of this game called Pokemon Go. If you own a small business with a physical location, Inc has an idea for how to get some new visitors by setting out lures, making gym badges, or otherwise welcoming players of the game. It’s not a bad idea to capitalize on the success of the franchise in the real world. Staff at my favorite coffee place have been setting lures out during their shifts, which I’m told has been getting them higher tips.
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