Weekly Links #7

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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• I Visit Libraries to Sell Bitcoins to Random People from the Internet
  
  The rise of Bitcoin opens up a lot of creative potential and room for experimentation. Fascinating.
• In Q4, Social Media Drove 31.24% of Overall Traffic to Sites
  
  Only two social media sites manage to send significant numbers of users to other websites. Facebook and Pinterest. All the others hardly matter in the great scheme of things.
• FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler: This Is How We Will Ensure Net Neutrality
  
  This is very good for the Internet in general: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) wants to ensure net neutrality. According to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, his proposal includes the “strongest open internet protections ever proposed by the FCC”. Time for Angela Merkel to change her opinion about net neutrality.
• Why I would never want to compete with Travis Kalanick
  
  The Silicon Valley investor Chris Sacca describes the extreme competitive nature and determination of Uber CEO Travis Kalanick. Even if Sacca’s own investment in Uber means that there might be an agenda behind this post, it is worth reading. Kalanick must be quite an exceptional character, no doubt about that.
• Why Twitter’s more popular on Madison Avenue than Wall Street
  
  While Twitter has not solved its growth problem yet and keeps causing its shareholders headache, the advertising industry has a more positive attitude towards the company and its CEO Dick Costolo: He gives agencies lots of attention and provides them with numerous new ways to reach users.
• Twitter Reaches Deal to Show Tweets in Google Search Results
  
  With this important announcement right in time for the new quarterly report, even Wall Street will probably be a bit more optimistic again about Twitter.
• Microsoft did a smart thing bringing Windows 10 to a $35 PC
  
  Windows 10 will be available for the Raspberry Pi 2 – for free. The company continues with its creative moves.
• Schools Use Genius Plan To Stop Students From Checking Their Phones
  
  Possibly the most intelligent way to get young people to take a break from their smartphones for a while: Rewarding them with things they appreciate.
• Bizarre Plagiarism Fight Erupts After Two People Take Exact Same Photo
  
  This is a very persuading argument for why the digital age requires more liberal copyright laws.
• The World is Much Better Educated than in the Past
  
  Two telling charts that show rising education around the world.
• 10,000 Hours with Reid Hoffman: What I Learned
  
  Book author Ben Casnocha lists learnings and wisdom he acquired while spending time with LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffmann. Inspiring.
• Apple Stores to act more like jewelry stores for upcoming gold Apple Watch
  
  Apple’s plan to sell luxury versions of the upcoming Apple Watch requires new types of precautions.
• Apple on privacy, security and identity
  
  And while we are talking about Apple: Benedict Evans suggests that the company’s recent emphasize on privacy and security might be a preparation for new privacy-sensitive products and services to come.
• What happens when you unfollow everyone on the Internet
  
  I’m not so much into radical Internet “detoxing” but this account contains a couple of insightful observations.
• Pebble has now sold over 1 million smartwatches
  
  Every time I see a photo of the original Pebble smartwatch I wonder who would buy such an ugly gadget. It seems that I am underestimating the product. The E-ink display looks lame, but it comes with the advantage of good battery life – something other smartwatches can’t compete with (allegedly neither the Apple Watch).
• Foursquare’s original chief technical officer is the latest to leave the company
  
  I have been a loyal Foursquare user since the beginning. But after the failed unbundling last year it looks as if the startup is in the late stages of its life cycle, at least as an independent company. Sad.
• On the Rarity of Uncommon Futurism
  
  Good point: Today’s futurism is often pretty conventional and non-challenging.
• The Techies Who Are Hacking Education by Homeschooling Their Kids
  
  Homeschooling is not only a thing for conservative fundamentalists anymore.
• Revealed: Facebook’s Project to Find Out What People Really Want in Their News Feed
  
  Facebook has realized that in order to improve its algorithm and make its content selection for the news feed more relevant, it needs humans to teach it. So it employs a group of people to do just that.
• How Medium Is Building a New Kind of Company with No Managers
  
  The Twitter founders’ publishing platform Medium relies on a innovative organizational approach called Holacracy. A very informative article.
• ‘The Cloud’ and Other Dangerous Metaphors
  
  About how the numerous metaphors that are being used to describe aspects or functions of the digital world can be misleading.