The 25 Least Influential People Alive ⇥
At least GQ got this one right.
Day: 21 December 2011
AllThis Sleazy Dishonesty ⇥
The controversy over this is similar to that created by Clout, in that it implies endorsement and membership without consent.
Marco Arment, whom I sourced this article from, paints it clearly:
I’m very conservative about endorsements and promises of my time, and I’d never agree to participate in something like AllThis. To have them spamming Twitter with my name and promising people my time is fraudulent, malicious, and deeply offensive.
The [20] Worst-Dressed Cities in America ⇥
From GQ magazine, describing Manhattan (!) on their list of the worst-dressed cities in America:
But for every strike of greatness, there is an equal force of evil at work.
Likewise for this list.
‘Ship Today, Update Tomorrow’ ⇥
Mike Isaac, for Wired magazine:
The problem is, when a manufacturer rushes a product to market, consumers often suffer the brunt. Whether it means cutting corners on user-experience testing, or fast-tracking hardware/software integration between the device and its OS, a quick rush to market is often self-defeating, leading to a speedy release of a half-baked product.
Isaac makes a number of excellent points, but I think he missed a big one. Thousands of people will be unwrapping a Kindle Fire as a Christmas or Hanukkah gift and before using it, they’ll have to update the software. It’s a brand new product that needs to be finished by the user. It’s why giving furniture from IKEA is kind of a dick move unless you’re prepared to build it.
(via Shawn Blanc)
Does Airport Security Really Make Us Safer? ⇥
Year after year, articles in widely-respected publications confirm that the short answer is “no”, and the long answer is “not even slightly”.
In this Vanity Fair article, Charles C. Mann, with the assistance of security expert Bruce Schneier, notes a number of gaping security holes. They’re not subtle, nor invisible. They don’t involve shoes; they’re just common sense. And yet we’re forced to strip down every time we fly.
Echoes of Silence ⇥
Brand new mixtape from The Weeknd.
Update
The official download link seems to be, in quite technical terms, shitty. Here’s a decent mirror.
Fuck Me? No, Fuck You ⇥
M.G. Siegler:
A subsequent report by Barb Darrow for GigaOm suggest that this move wasn’t about Microsoft thinking about their own timing (as Shaw clearly states) as much as it’s about Microsoft being snubbed by CES and them saying “fuck you” in return.
I think this works out best for both parties, but at this point it’s unclear who exactly pulled the trigger. My guess is that Microsoft had long been contemplating pulling out of CES, and the Consumer Electronics Association had long been thinking of removing them. Here’s the clincher:
Shaw wrote (and reiterates in the tweet) that it was Microsoft’s decision: “we have decided that this coming January will be our last keynote presentation and booth at CES.” But CES directly refutes this to NYT: “In an interview, Jason Oxman, senior vice president of industry affairs at the group, said it invited companies to deliver keynote speeches at the convention, not the other way around.”
Siegler interprets this as Microsoft being snubbed. The way I read it, however, is that Microsoft wouldn’t agree to another keynote if asked.