How Yahoo!’s big Tumblr bet failed
Management by random numbers, what happens when companies make up numbers to meet ill defined targets.
A compelling read on what motivated the greatest American whistleblower since the Pentagon Papers.
“On a gray morning this spring, Chelsea Manning climbed into the back seat of a black S.U.V. and directed her security guard to drive her to the nearest Starbucks. A storm was settling over Manhattan, and Manning was prepared for the weather, in chunky black Doc Martens with an umbrella and a form-fitting black dress. Her legs were bare, her eyes gray blue. She wore little makeup: a spot of eyeliner, a smudge of pink lip gloss.”
Google Campus turns five
Probably the most successful of the corporate incubators, Google Campus, turns five. What’s notable with Campus is just how informal it is and the spark the London one gave to the surrounding neighbourhood.
My roommate, my muse
To finish out last week’s reading, a wonderful story from Daniel Mendelsohn on a friendship between a young man and a fallen countess.
“I accompanied her to the rock-and-roll clubs where she liked to dance. She made me a writer.”