So Facebook ran a big experiment on their users, filtering the feed one way or the other and measuring emotional effects. It’s been a huge disaster in just about every way – this Guardian column sums it up smartly. But the most amazing thing, for me, is that this ongoing disaster – which is really hurting Facebook because it crystallises lots of pre-existing concerns about them – is for research that sounds, well, weak as hell. Here’s a ruthless takedown of the actual research. (For what it’s worth, I’m not exactly morally outraged about what was done – I think it was silly and wrong in the same way Facebook’s interference in the feed for commercial reasons is silly and wrong.)
All about the live-action Fantastic Four TV show from the early 60s. Totally true and genuine.
Cory Doctorow summarises Piketty. Good stuff.
For Lizzie Bennet Diaries fans, check out these NZ teens doing a vlog-adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing.
Authors cosplay as their favourite childhood lit characters – via Marguerite
The house used by David Lynch for Laura Palmer’s family home is for sale. Some of the furniture is still there from shooting in 1988. Many comparison photos
This Blackwater stuff is bananas. They took control of operations in Iraq then threatened inspectors who raised concerns – and the reporter behind that story is currently being threatened with prison for not revealing his sources. USA! USA!
Cleanse your palate from that, with this Aaron Swartz doco, free under creative commons. (It’s part of the NZ Intl Film Fest, too.)
John Oliver’s show “Last Week Tonight” is buried somewhere in NZ’s weird pay-TV structure but they put big chunks of it (all of it?) online. Watch some. It has an interest in the whole world – rare enough anywhere – and a big heart. It favours long, sustained stories, really getting into its subject matter in a meaty way. And it is HILARIOUS. Maybe start with this great piece about the US evangelical influence on Uganda’s homophobic laws.
9th Wonder’s 11-track tribute to Bobby Womack (free download)
38 wonderful moments in closed captioning history (via David R)
A theory of Star Trek economics
Women who cycle and wear skirts: here’s one neat trick
Interview with Morag and Erin, creators of the lovely Manfeels Park
Lionel Messi is impossible (via d3vo)
And finally, Nicolas Cage as Disney Princesses