Recommended from Around the Web (Week Ending December 13, 2014)
A roundup of the most interesting stories from other sites, collected by the staff at MIT Technology Review.
We Can’t Trust Uber
Two academics make the case that Uber and other companies collecting sensitive information about our lives should be subject to independent oversight of how they use and protect our data.
—Tom Simonite, San Francisco bureau chief
Is Lyft Too Cute to Fight Uber?
“Like communism, the pink mustache makes sense on paper, less so in real life.”
—Linda Lowenthal, copy chief
America Is Shaking Off Its Addiction to Oil
This Bloomberg infographic clearly and intelligently explores why oil consumption isn’t increasing even as the cost falls.
—Brian Bergstein, deputy editor
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Behind the Alarming Rise of the Online Vigilante Detective
An independent writer’s recent attempt to reveal the true identity of “Jackie” in Rolling Stone’s controversial story about campus rape is just the latest instance of reckless online vigilantism.
— Mike Orcutt, research editor
It’s Official: Instagram Is Bigger Than Twitter
Viewing images vs. text as a way for friends to share “what’s going on” is like a whisper compared to the constantly rotating letters and words of other social networks. Go, Instagram!
—J. Juniper Friedman, associate Web producer
Tell, Don’t Show
A deftly made case for plain-text “data verbalizations” over the more prevalent dashboard-style visualizations as a way of reporting data.
—Kyanna Sutton, senior Web producer
Astronaut Photography with Don Pettit
Amazing time-lapse photos of Earth from space. Thunderstorms at night. Aurora Borealis.
—Kevin Bullis, senior editor, materials
The Bitcoin Boy
A 15-year-old entrepreneur in Silicon Valley.
—Will Knight, news and analysis editor
Need for Speed
A small, remote Alberta town invests in crazy-fast Internet speed.
—Will Knight
From the Alps to the Arctic: Tech Companies’ Weirdest Outposts
A very interesting look at where the world’s tech companies are storing your data.
—David Talbot, chief correspondent
