Recommended from Around the Web (Week Ending August 23, 2013)

• The Great App.net Mistake
  A detailed account of how a social network that charges fees is trying to create an alternative to the closed, ad-supported sites that dominate the social Web.

• Your Future iPhone May Be Stuffed with Wax
  Swaddling mobile processors in wax could allow them to work harder, a research project suggests.

• The Believer
  A detailed profile of the life and thinking of PayPal, SpaceX, and Tesla founder Elon Musk.

—Three above submitted by Tom Simonite, senior IT editor

• The Killing Machines
  How technology can fundamentally alter the nature of warfare.

• Microsoft’s Next CEO: Who’s on the Short List?
  Seasoned Microsoft watcher Mary Jay Foley discusses the candidates who might replace big Steve as CEO.

• Stop Thinking Tech Hacks Will Solve Our Surveillance Problems
  Why privacy-preserving technology actually undermines dissent against a surveillance state.

—Three above submitted by Will Knight, online editor

• How to Keep the NSA Out of Your Computer
  A group of neighbors in Athens tries to avoid surveillance by building a private, parallel Internet.

• On the Urge to Unplug. What Is the True Cost of Our “Always On” Digital Lifestyle?
  The cool new trend is to disconnect yourself from technology. A tree-hugger looks at the latest techies to go off the grid, and asks whether they’re right to go cold turkey.

—Two above submitted by Aviva Hope Rutkin, editorial intern

• How Much Did This Hyperloop Lookalike Inspire Elon Musk?
  Good look at an “evacuated tube transportation system” champion not named Elon Musk.

• Is Big Data an Economic Big Dud?
  The New York Times looks for evidence of whether big data will have the same kind of broad economic impact as oil or electricity.

—Two above submitted by Antonio Regalado, senior business editor

• Comment Sections Are Wastelands Ruled by Trolls. Here Are Alternatives
  Wired reviews new platforms that may become the killer apps to finally take online commenting to a higher level.

—Kyanna Sutton, senior Web producer

• Carbon Capture and Storage: Global Warming Panacea, or Fossil Fuel Pipe Dream?
  Huffington Post’s Tom Zeller Jr. has an informative and comprehensive look at the technology and politics of carbon capture and sequestration, which is considered by many experts to be vital to addressing climate change.

—Mike Orcutt, research editor

• The Fall and Rise of Gene Therapy
  Wired profiles gene therapy pioneer James Wilson, who led early failed human trials of the technology but later discovered new methods that could potentially revive the revolutionary medicine.

—Susan Young, biomedicine editor

• The Hyperloop and the Annihilation of Space and Time
  Interesting historical take on Elon Musk’s hyperloop.

—Kevin Bullis, senior energy editor