Hi!
How Twitter Became One Man’s Memory, Buses Dangling Off Cliffs and More #Mustreads
How Twitter helps one brain-damaged man, the new “Fast and the Furious” trailer and more.
kcslagle via iStock
To ease you back into the workweek, here are some links, brought to you by Re/code:
- Four years ago, Thomas Dixon went out for a jog and was hit by a car, leaving him with permanent brain damage. Dixon has trouble with his “declarative episodic memory,” meaning he can’t remember short-term stuff like what he did on the previous day. How does Dixon manage? He uses his Twitter account for “extreme journaling,” giving him the ability to scroll back and see what he’s missing. Read more about his story at Fast Company Labs.
- The trailer for the latest “Fast and the Furious” movie, “Furious 7,” was released this weekend. It involves coach buses with machine guns dangling off cliffs and Jason Statham talking ominously. Ever since the fifth installment, the movies have gotten particularly good. They don’t try too hard, and somehow find new, increasingly ridiculous stunts for each film. It should be a good time.
- For the last 14 years or so, Google’s official corporate motto, “Don’t be evil,” has served as the company’s guiding ethos as it grew from a search engine startup into one of the world’s most valuable companies. According to this Financial Times interview with Google co-founder and CEO Larry Page, however, that might have to change. It turns out that “Don’t be evil” might be too reductive even for the company that believes it can fix all the problems of the world with technology. Go figure.
- Last week, the Internet was fixated on a YouTube video of a woman who endured over 100 catcalls during a 10-hour walk through Manhattan. In Vogue, Monica Potts wrote the only thing you need to read about it. She touches on the subtle racism of the video (it was edited to show only men of color making the catcalls), how getting catcalled is a universal experience for women and, most importantly, the things women have to do every day in order to cope with the problem.
- Most publications that live on the Internet, which is almost all of them at this point, are sort of at the mercy of Facebook. Lots of people get their news through their Facebook News Feed. And the more dependent sites become on Facebook for page views, the more power Facebook wields. To get up to speed on the issue, this discussion on Facebook and media hosted by PBS Mediashift’s Michael Glaser features good ideas from some really smart people, including the New York Times’ Ravi Somaiya, the Awl’s John Herrman and Newsweek’s Alex Leo.
- Private detective Philip Marlowe, a creation of Raymond Chandler, is one of the most beloved and influential characters of 20th century American fiction. The inspiration for the character? This Los Angeles Times feature suggests it was real-life P.I. Sam Marlowe, “the city’s first licensed black detective,” whose actual detective work sounds just as cinematic as Chandler’s.
If you see any stories you’d like to send our way (or have any questions/comments about stories we’ve recommended), feel free to shoot an email to noah@recode.net.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
