Recommended from Around the Web (Week Ending November 22, 2014)

Virtual Reality Fails Its Way to Success
A writer revisits virtual reality and finds it as dazzling as ever, but also much less nauseating.
—Will Knight, news and analysis editor

Man and Uber Man
A fascinating profile of Uber’s controversial CEO, Travis Kalanick.
—Will Knight

Fitbit Data Now Being Used in the Courtroom
People making personal injury claims are starting to use their Fitbit data to illustrate the effects of an accident. Data from activity trackers is likely to become a favorite target of prosecutors, too.
—Tom Simonite, San Francisco bureau chief

The FBI vs. Martin Luther King: Inside J. Edgar Hoover’s “Suicide Letter” to Civil Rights Leader
Fifty years later, how a corrupt FBI threatened MLK’s privacy rights.
—J. Juniper Friedman, associate Web producer

Why No One Can Design a Better Speculum
Every lady’s favorite medical implement is even yuckier than you thought.
—Linda Lowenthal, copy chief

The Programmer’s Price
Coders now have agents. The trend helps illuminate what makes good code.
—Brian Bergstein, deputy editor

Virtual Reality Is Journalism’s Next Frontier
The Columbia Journalism Review argues that more newsrooms should be thinking about how to use virtual reality to tell stories.
—Mike Orcutt, research editor

Nighttime Satellite Maps Show Increasing Flood Risks
It’s not perfect, but by mapping night lights against flood-prone areas, a new study helps illuminate a growing problem.
—Nanette Byrnes, senior editor, Business Reports

The Secret Life of Passwords
Flawed and annoying, these codes nevertheless say a lot about us.
—Nanette Byrnes

The Cartoon Lounge: Technophilia
A funny visual take on the allure of gadget collecting.
—Kyanna Sutton, senior Web producer