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In general, Americans are quite confident when it comes to the possibility that technology will dramatically improve medicine. "Roughly two-thirds (66%) of Americans say scientists will probably or definitely cure most forms of cancer within 50 years." And we're bullish on the effectiveness of brain chip implants and synthetic blood when it comes to increasing our concentration, intellectual prowess, and physical performance. But as individuals, we don't want these advances coming anywhere near us. "Most Americans say they would not want to improve their cognitive or physical abilities with brain chips or synthetic blood." It's easy to say that now. But look at every sport where enhancements have been used. Once one person does it, the rest of the pack tends to follow along. In the meantime, this quart of coffee will have to do the trick.
"Someone, somewhere, decided what those defaults should be -- and it probably wasn't you." ProPublica's Lena Groeger explains how default settings rule the world (and she's not just talking about your ringtone).
+ "When you combine the interactive nature of the Web, increasingly savvy businesses, and the sheer amount of time users spend online, it's a recipe for dark pattern disaster. And after gaining an awareness for this kind of deception, you'll recognize it's nearly ubiquitous." In Ars Technica, Yael Grauer on how interfaces are designed to confuse you and make you sign up for stuff you don't really want.
In 1987, Ronald Reagan gave one of the pivotal speeches of his career. "There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" Three decades later, the world is still debating the building and tearing down of walls. We mostly hear about the one Donald Trump proposes on the US-Mexican border. But "America is not alone. Across Europe, the politicians with momentum are those who argue that the world is a nasty, threatening place, and that wise nations should build walls to keep it out." The Economist on the new political divide. Farewell, left versus right. The contest that matters now is open against closed.
We pause to mark the end of an era. From its groundbreaking directory, to its rough transition into the search age, to its series of questionable acquisitions (almost all of which did worse than even the skeptics predicted), to its various leaders, to its infamous exclamation point, Yahoo's days as a standalone company are officially over. Verizon (already the owner of AOL) has acquired the core assets of the company for $4.8 billion. To give that number a little context, Yahoo paid more for Broadcast.com than Verizon is paying for Yahoo.
"People want to live in a city. Los Angeles is a diverse city. If you go to a party in Los Angeles, you might meet an actress. But you might also meet someone who works in avionics, a manufacturer. San Francisco is a one-industry town. You don't meet anyone outside of the tech bubble, and that makes it hard to realize what real people want." Stephen Elliot got someone from LA to call SF a one-industry town. For that reason alone, you should read his entertaining piece on the tech scene in Venice. Money, murder and sadomasochism: A journey into the hidden world of the Los Angeles tech boom.
"The first study quantifying the global costs of sloth was published Thursday in the scientific journal The Lancet, finding what researchers labeled a conservative estimate of the economic burden caused by inactivity." Researchers tried to place a dollar value on your inactivity and came up with this: Americans Blow $27.8 Billion a Year by Being Lazy. We can probably make ten times that collecting the loose change under the cushions of the couches we never get up from.
The key takeaway from the DNC speeches: Maybe everyone should plagiarize Michelle Obama. She gave a remarkably tight and effective speech. "That is the story of this country, the story that has brought me to this stage tonight, the story of generations of people who felt the lash of bondage, the shame of servitude, the sting of segregation, but who kept on striving and hoping and doing what needed to be done so that today, I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves -- and I watch my daughters -- two beautiful, intelligent, black young women -- playing with their dogs on the White House lawn." Here's the speech.
+ The world's most famous community organizer, faced with the task of unifying a somewhat divided party, did that and then some with one of the best speeches of his career (and that's just what Republicans thought). You can watch the speech here. "There has never been a man or a woman, not me, not Bill, nobody more qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve as president." (I had no idea that Michelle Obama's husband was such an accomplished speaker.)
+ "I'm a New Yorker. And I know a con when I see one." While the Obamas gave the best speeches of the week, Michael Bloomberg may have given the most interesting in his case to other independents.
+ Hillary Clinton closed out her historic nomination week with a speech short on poetry, long on prose, and longer on what is the Dems' clear strategy in the general: Attack Trump's instability and lack of experience. This was the line that Hillary wants you to remember: "He loses his cool at the slightest provocation. When he's gotten a tough question from a reporter. When he's challenged in a debate. When he sees a protestor at a rally. Imagine, if you dare, imagine -- imagine him in the Oval Office facing a real crisis. A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons."
Kimchi has been called one of the top food trends of the year. A product many people hadn't even heard of a few years ago is now ubiquitous at grocery stores. Why? Here's a hint. It's for the same reason that every food trend rises. It's the same reason that millions of us suddenly realized we needed to be gluten free. Or fat free before that. Like everything else, it's all about marketing. "In short, the latest food trend that you're obsessed with may be the result of a government effort to capture the hearts and minds of foreigners through their stomachs." From Pricenomics: The Campaign to Make You Eat Kimchi. I'm holding out for the campaign to make me eat Funyuns.
"WikiLeaks has endangered individuals before, but their release of the so-called Erdogan Emails was particularly egregious ... it included the home addresses, phone numbers, party affiliations, and political activity levels of millions of female Turkish voters. That's irresponsible any time, and disastrous in the week of a coup." Right here in WIRED, Emma Grey Ellis argues that WikiLeaks has officially lost the moral high ground. (I agree that they lost it, though I'm not sure they ever had it.)
+ Charlie Savage in the NYT: Assange, Avowed Foe of Clinton, Timed Email Release for Democratic Convention. If you celebrate when organizations hack other people's emails in the name of transparency, then you have to celebrate when they hack yours too.
"As a string of gun rampages continues in America and beyond, more evidence is emerging that copycat mass shooters are on the rise -- a danger amplified and accelerated by social media." MoJo on the chilling rise of copycat mass shooters. I was thinking about this after the Munich mall shooting. These days, lunatics who want attention can get it from across the globe almost instantly.
+ From The Guardian: "Several French news organisations have said they will no longer publish photographs of people responsible for terrorist killings, to avoid bestowing posthumous glorification." I'm not sure if the editorial decisions of a few mainstream news organizations will make a difference. But we definitely need to consider to what extent going viral is a motivating factor in mass killings.
Amy Schumer on Howard Stern: "He's truth serum. It's like you're under contract to be totally honest in there, and even though it's being broadcast, it feels super intimate and protected, even though you definitely aren't." The NYT has discovered what all Howard Stern listeners have known for years. He is the best interviewer in the business. Confessor. Feminist. Adult. What the Hell Happened to Howard Stern? (He also rescues cats.)
"Over 15 percent of San Francisco residents age 12 and over use marijuana monthly or more, the highest rate in the country. By contrast, the lowest use rates are in the far south of Texas, where fewer than 4 percent use monthly." From WaPo: This map shows how many people are getting high near you. (In San Francisco, it's almost impossible to tell the difference between people playing Pokémon Go and people trying to find a bag of Doritos.)
+ "Slaves that worked there were well-fed and had decent lodgings provided by the government." Bill O'Reilly's latest history lesson.
+ The Guardian: Teacher who can't speak Spanish sues after failing to get Spanish teaching post.
+ McSweeney's: Why I'm supporting the demonic creature that emerged from the depths of hellin this year's presidential election
+ Thinking about having a brainstorming session? You're probably better off just thinking about something on your own.
This is a weekly best-of version of the NextDraft newsletter. For daily updates and to get the NextDraft app, go here. (Original story reprinted with permission from NextDraft.)
