U.S. Stood By as Indonesia Killed a Half-Million People, Papers Show
The killings in 1965-66 played to anti-Communist attitudes, and U.S. diplomats mostly stayed silent while tallying the deaths, documents show.
Hasnain has not yet written a summary for this.
Posted on 2018-04-23T00:07:43+0000
Raqqa’s dirty secret
The BBC has uncovered details of a secret deal that let hundreds of IS fighters – including foreign militants - and their families escape from Raqqa in Syria. In exchange for freeing hostages, a convoy which stretched for miles, was able to leave the city freely - under the gaze of the US and UK-l...
Hasnain says:
"Has the pact, which stood as Raqqa’s dirty secret, unleashed a threat to the outside world - one that has enabled militants to spread far and wide across Syria and beyond?
Great pains were taken to hide it from the world. But the BBC has spoken to dozens of people who were either on the convoy, or observed it, and to the men who negotiated the deal."
Posted on 2018-04-22T23:36:02+0000
Blind since birth, writing code at Amazon since 2013
Michael Forzano said he has a good “mental map of the structure of the code,” which allows him to help colleagues and provide unique feedback to his team.
In 1973, I invented a ‘girly drink’ called Baileys
We got £3,000 all-in for the creation of the world’s most successful cream liqueur
Hasnain says:
"People nowadays often ask me how much money we get per bottle sold. My answer is that we were paid about £3,000 all-in for the development – though the company did keep employing me for another 30 years."
Posted on 2018-04-22T03:14:41+0000
Algorithmic Arrangements
Tom Quisel, former CTO of OkCupid, discusses matching algorithms, designing for an inclusive user experiences, and the ethics of user experiments.
Hasnain has not yet written a summary for this.
Posted on 2018-04-22T00:51:12+0000
The Agency
From a nondescript office building in St. Petersburg, Russia, an army of well-paid “trolls” has tried to wreak havoc all around the Internet — and in real-life American communities.
Hasnain has not yet written a summary for this.
Posted on 2018-04-21T17:18:16+0000
The Great Pot Monopoly Mystery
Some very powerful people are trying to corner the market on legal weed. Who are they? And can they be stopped?
Hasnain says:
"Pot is an industry worth over $40 billion, which makes it the second-most-valuable crop in the U.S. after corn. And even though weed is still federally forbidden, it sounded like whoever was behind BioTech Institute had spent the past several years surreptitiously maneuvering to grab every marijuana farmer, vendor, and scientist in the country by the balls, so that once the drug became legal, all they’d have to do to collect payment is squeeze."
Posted on 2018-04-21T17:06:49+0000
How to Get Away with Spying for the Enemy
How does someone get away with helping a foreign adversary? Writer Sarah Laskow digs into the gonzo story of an American acquitted of spying for the Soviets—even after he confessed to it.
Hasnain says:
"Only Rewald and Smith claimed they had been on America’s side the whole time and had a lawyer with the bluster to try to sell that story. However flimsy that defense might have sounded to counterintelligence pros, to someone outside that world, Smith’s story might not seem entirely preposterous. The choice comes down to whose statements you trust more—people who work for the government, who make a living from keeping secrets or guy who, if he’s telling the truth, was betrayed by his own government. That betrayal seemed all too possible."
Posted on 2018-04-21T17:00:40+0000
The Giant, Under Attack
One of America’s biggest rehab companies built an empire. But after a patient named Gary Benefield died, its enemies — investors and business rivals alike — struck hard.
Hasnain says:
This was a sad story.
"From his first phone call to his death, Mr. Benefield’s relationship with A Better Tomorrow lasted a mere two days. Compressed into those 48 hours is a case study in how financial pressures and business motivations can collide with the needs and expectations of the fragile patients who represent the industry’s bread and butter."
Posted on 2018-04-21T05:30:04+0000
Why Teens Aren’t Partying Anymore | Backchannel
Teens now have so many ways to connect and communicate that there’s no need to gather in person. The party is constant, and it’s on Snapchat.
Hasnain has not yet written a summary for this.
Posted on 2018-04-21T05:17:57+0000