Barista's edition for Sun 13 December 2015
"But my rage is the machine": Using Twitter to make philosophy hilarious
Popularity: 4.63
A Twitter-based job was never part of the plan for Eric Jarosinski who, until two years ago, was an assistant German professor at the University of Pennsylvania. But the man behind @NeinQuarterly, a darkly comic Twitter account that uses a cartoon of the German philosopher Theodor Adorno as an avatar, says that academia turned out to be...
How Italy's Hacking Team Discovered the Future of Surveillance | MIT Technology Review
Popularity: 2.15
"It looked very suspicious," M says of an anonymous e-mail she and several other journalists received late in 2014. It promised a scoop about a government scandal, but something just didn't sit right with her. Soon after, strange things started happening on her computer.
full article at MIT Technology Review →
This simple negotiation tactic brought 195 countries to consensus in the Paris climate talks
Popularity: 2.08
Negotiations are difficult by nature. Managing negotiations between 195 countries in order to arrive at a legally binding agreement, on the other hand, is nearly impossible. This was the problem that United Nations officials faced over two weeks at this month's climate-change summit in Paris. To solve it, they brought in a unique management strategy.
UK citizens may soon need licenses to take photos of some stuff they already own
Popularity: 1.98
Changes to UK copyright law will soon mean that you may need to take out a licence to photograph classic designer objects even if you own them. That's the result of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013, which extends the copyright of artistic objects like designer chairs from 25 years after they were first marketed to 70 years after the creator's death.
full article at Ars Technica →
Backslash: Anti-surveillance gadgets for protesters
Popularity: 1.72
When riot police descended on protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, last year sporting assault rifles and armored vehicles, the images sparked an awareness of the military technologies and tactics authorities have adopted over the past decade. Many of these tools have quietly become regular components of day-to-day policing.
full article at Ars Technica →