Weekly Links #6

Here is a weekly selection of significant news, insightful information bits and interesting analyses from the digital and technology world. Published every Thursday.

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• 10 Jobs That No Longer Exist Today
  
  Nice list that reminds us of that jobs come and jobs go. There is no point in artificially keeping jobs alive whose tasks can be solved better by technology.
• Searching for Sex (alternative link if paywall-blocked)
  
  Fascinating article about what Google searches reveal about our sexual desires and issues.
• How Uber’s Autonomous Cars Will Destroy 10 Million Jobs and Reshape the Economy by 2025
  
  This is an extremely optimistic perspective in regards to how quickly autonomous cars will take over. But aside from the predicted time frame which may or may not be realistic, there are some great thoughts on possible consequences and changes for the economy and society in this text.
• The unbundling of commercial banks
  
  Traditional banks offer a host of different services under one roof, often bundled and packaged. Now an increasing number of technology companies and startups are focusing on offering certain parts of these bundled banking services, often with better terms.
• A dramatic increase in Podcasting’s share of ear
  
  It looks as if 2015 could become an even bigger year for podcasts than 2014. Not surprisingly considering how the smartphone is the ideal tool for access to podcasts, and how the number of (good and bad) podcasts keeps growing.
• ‘This.’ Has People Clamoring for an Invite (alternative link if paywall-blocked)
  
  I like this little service which allows users to share one link per day – even though I really want a better mobile version. I have been using it for some weeks now. If you want one of my remaining 5 invites, write a comment.
• Preventing The Next MH370: Where Are We Now
  
  An explainer on why commercial airplanes are getting lost sometimes: They simply do not used latest tracking technology.
• Nobody Knows What an iPad Is Good for Anymore
  
  I do.
• Snapchat Is Going to Beat Facebook at News
  
  Not sure if the event promised in the headline really will happen, but Snapchat’s new discovery feature looks and feels pretty cool.
• The State of Ello
  
  Remember the alleged “Facebook killer” Ello? What’s written here about the state of the service does not make me too optimistic about its future.
• Discuss: Tim Cook Is A Way Better CEO Than Steve Jobs Was
  
  Cook for sure managed to turn the already successful iPhone into an even bigger success. But will he be as good at creating new products and turning them into successes? Let’s wait until April, when the Apple Watch arrives.
• Back-up brains: The era of digital immortality
  
  This article starts slow but gets pretty exciting later on, describing attempts to emulate the human brain, which eventually could make our minds immortal.
• VR Porn and Empathy
  
  Virtual reality will be revolutionizing porn, no doubt.
• Are we ready for companies that run themselves?
  
  The combination of robots and artificial intelligence will make it possible to run companies without humans.
• Artificial Intelligence Will Kill Capitalism
  
  Related to the previous link. But for now forecasts about the age of artificial intelligence are nothing but speculation. Truth is: Nobody knows what will happen.
• How PAPER Magazine’s web engineers scaled their back-end for Kim Kardashian
  
  When tens of thousands of people or more simultaneously want to access certain photos, this requires special preparations from the system admins. Informative post about how Paper Magazine made sure that its servers could handle the user onrush.
• What The Web Said Yesterday
  
  Lengthy profile of a very important online service: The Internet Archive, which stores old versions of websites.
• The Age of Unicorns
  
  There are so many billion Dollar tech companies now that a valuation of $10 billion is the new $1 billion. Crazy times.
• The world’s most Wi-Fi-connected airlines are …
  
  …Icelandair and Norwegian. Although I never had a Norwegian flight on which the connection was fast enough for actually surfing the web).