onfocus

"For years, digital rights groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, security researchers, and journalists have warned that Venmo’s public friend lists were a privacy threat. Founded in 2009 on the idea that payments could be another form of social content, Venmo allowed people to pay each other and post about those payments to its public feed and other social media platforms."

It just takes a few seconds to update your Venmo privacy settings.

"I’ve at times felt overwhelmed by how poorly my social accounts communicate who I am. I think I used to find this motivating—post through it! be seen!—sometimes even found it fun. But I’m becoming less energized by trying to prove the unprovable. Even defeated. These media are simply inadequate at expressing humanity."

A cathartic description of recognizing the inadequacy of social media. Also this line from Adam Curtis via Idler: 'We are so much more than what they are forcing us to accept.'

"People have all sorts of reasons for wanting to work remotely. It might make them better workers. It might allow them to maintain their physical and emotional well-being in a way that’s incompatible with full time office work."

We have a unique opportunity to rethink how we do office work. I hope we do.

"Elevated Stupidity stems from the idea that being good at arguing is the same thing as being correct. That rhetorical skill—or at least a degree of big debate-club energy sufficient to wear out one’s opponent—is the equivalent of intelligence."

This article makes me tired, but yes this big debate-club energy is powering The Discourse.

"Third party link-shortening tools can add unnecessary steps to your processes, create accessibility issues, threaten user privacy and undermine user trust – with no benefit to you as communicators."

Yes! The risks of using 3rd party URL shorteners outweighs any perceived benefit.

"The act reflected many of the core tenets of journalism: Afflicting the comfortable, shining a light on wrongdoing, bearing witness on behalf of the marginalized, speaking truth to power."

She changed the world by being a witness.

“I would never have gotten to see what was underneath if there hadn’t been this forced interruption,” she said. “You know when botanists bisect a tree, and can tell by the thickness of rings what the conditions were like that year? This feels like we had that year, and this is what happened.”

Beautiful photographs by Elinor Carucci.

"After leading the world in new cases and deaths over much of the last year, the rapid vaccination program in the U.S. now positions it among the leaders of the global recovery. Nearly 64% of adults in the U.S. have received at least one vaccine dose and the average numbers of new positive cases and deaths in the U.S. are lower now than at any point since the earliest days of the pandemic."

Thanks Biden.

Fun gallery of vintage record sleeves. [via webcurios]

"If the global pool of flu viruses has truly shrunk to this degree, it would be a welcome outcome, flu experts say, making the twice-a-year selection of viruses to be included in flu vaccines for the Northern and Southern hemispheres much easier work."

Our work to keep COVID-19 from spreading may have killed some strains of the flu. [via mefi]

"The incentive structure that has been created is one in which so far we've seen zero accountability for lying and pushing these narratives," Masterson, the former DHS official, said. "We don't see anyone really, truly being held accountable."

With no accountability why would they stop? This looks like a pilot program or practice for invalidating future valid elections.

"One thing you see a lot on here is people pointing out the contradictions in the putative views of Trump’s GOP. COVID is a Chinese plot but also a hoax. The insurrection was antifa but also a tour of patriots."

Twitter thread explaining why the contradictory beliefs of Trumpism are a feature not a bug.