Weekly Links & Thoughts #48 (Special Edition)

Here is a weekly selection of thoughtful opinion pieces, interesting analyses and significant yet under-reported information bits from the digital and technology world. Published and commented every Thursday, just in time so you have something good to read during the weekend.

Special note: Over the past days, I have spent most of my reading time with pieces commenting on and analyzing the terrorist attacks in Paris, the reactions that followed and the bigger picture surrounding contemporary terrorism. So this week’s selection of links about tech will be shorter than usual. However, I’ll throw in a couple of the best texts that I read related to Paris and the aftermath.

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• Responding to Daesh in the way the world responds to Global Warming
  
  My own take on the topic: What Daesh (IS) and global warming have in common, and what this means for how to respond.
• Paris: You Don’t Want to Read This
  
  14 years of “war on terror” very clearly have failed.
• Terror can only succeed with our cooperation
  
  The first sentence of this text puts it well: “Think what your enemy wants you to do, and do the opposite. No maxim of war is so ignored.”
• Belgium is a failed state
  
  I am sure this article will lead to quite some controversy in Belgium. And maybe that’s a good thing, considering the country’s “quality” to produce radical islamists in high numbers.
• How Globalization Fuels Terrorism and Fundamentalism
  
  The big developments and trends of our time are all connected to each other in some way or another. This is often overlooked, unfortunately.
• After the Paris Attacks: Live News Should Challenge Narratives, Not Desperately Try to Create Them
  
  I completely agree.
• This War Will Destabilize The Entire Mideast Region And Set Off A Global Shockwave Of Anti-Americanism vs. No It Won’t
  
  This article is from 2003!
• Do Not Ask Western Leadership to Fix Anything
  
  I am afraid at least when it comes to “fixing” terrorism, Western leaders indeed have no clue or alternatively no interest in really doing what’s necessary.

And now back to the usual theme of this weekly list:

• 5 things the media does to manufacture outrage.
  
  Unfortunately, media is increasingly becoming toxic and destructive. Producing and magnifying outrage is just one of the annoyances of media in 2015.
• Edward Snowden Explains How To Reclaim Your Privacy
  
  In my opinion, knowledge about how to protect your privacy should be considered an essential in our connected, digital world. No matter if you actually make use of it. Who could explain this better than Edward Snowden.
• Half of Swedens most successful startups have foreign founders
  
  I have seen various studies pointing out that immigrants are more entrepreneurial than locals. Here is empirical evidence.
• Coinbase Is Out to Build Payments Right Into Browsers
  
  Better late than never. Even though the question is if it still matters, considering the rise of mobile and native apps .
• Apple now inhaling 94 percent of global smartphone profits, selling just 14.5 percent of total volumes
  
  One word: insane.
• Publishers are underwhelmed with Apple News app
  
  The new iOS news app “Apple News” does not seem to excite anyone yet.
• Google Search Now Surfaces App-Only Content, Streams Apps From The Cloud When Not Installed On Your Phone
  
  If you search for apps on Google’s mobile search on Android, apps that are not installed on the device can now be streamed directly from the cloud. Despite this being only a trial with a limited number of apps, it sounds pretty inventive.
• YouTube Music is here, and it’s a game changer
  
  Releasing a seperate app just for its wide selection of music content seems like a no-brainer, and it is actually surprising that it took YouTube so long.