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An interesting article, essay, or news story from the Internet, served daily. Mostly related to tech, science, space, and computing.

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This Tumblr was originally spun out from 8 Bit Future, but I've decided to roll it back into one. You'll find regular posts there, under the tag #longreads.

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Inside Obama’s Stealth Startup

Read this story at fastcompany.com

President Obama has quietly recruited top tech talent from the likes of Google and Facebook. Their mission: to reboot how government works.

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The Unkillable Demon King

Read this story at espn.com

19 year old Faker came out of nowhere to become the first true global star of gaming. But can the League of Legends prodigy carry a nation on his shoulders?

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The Box and the Basement

Read this story at longreads.com

“On the last day of my old job, I stumbled out the door, holding aloft that iconic emblem of termination: The Box. Though from the outside it might look wholly indistinct, we who have felt its symbolic weight know this is no ordinary box; this is a box that can make grown men cry.”

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Alien rights

Read this story at aeon.co

When we meet aliens, it won’t be a friendly encounter nor a conquest: it will be a gold rush. Can we make sure it’s ethical?

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What is Code?

Read this story at bloomberg.com

This story is huge, but pretty engaging.

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Google on Artificial-Intelligence Panic: Get a Grip

Read this story at wsj.com

Google’s artificial-intelligence researchers believe there are more urgent matters than the potential destruction of humanity at the hands of superintelligent machines, and that anyone talking about how AI will destroy us all is being “preposterous.”

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These are the buildings that make up the 'cloud'

Read this story at fortune.com

Everything you know about the Internet is wrong. Virtual? Try physical. “The cloud”? Try the ground. Our beloved information superhighway has very real exits. Behold the “carrier hotel.”

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Wow. ClickHole.

Read this story at slate.com

How the Onion spinoff designed to mock the Internet became the best thing on it.

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Google on Artificial-Intelligence Panic: Get a Grip

Read this story at wsj.com

Google’s artificial-intelligence researchers believe there are more urgent matters than the potential destruction of humanity at the hands of superintelligent machines, and that anyone talking about how AI will destroy us all is being “preposterous.”

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Sidewalk Labs, a Start-Up Created by Google, Has Bold Aims to Improve City Living

Read this story at nytimes.com

(Related Larry Page made this Google+ post on the announcement)

Google’s ambitions and investments have increasingly broadened beyond its digital origins in Internet search and online advertising into the arena of physical objects: self-driving cars, Internet-connected eyeglasses, smart thermostats and a biotech venture to develop life-extending treatments.

Now Google is getting into the ultimate manifestation of the messy real world: cities.

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Racing drones through a forest is the sport of the future

Read this story at theverge.com

Inside a racing league where drivers remotely control quadcopters via video headsets.

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The Internet Needs a Save Button

Read this story at medium.com

Why Pocket Is Now Integrated in the Browser.

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Dinomania: the story of our obsession with dinosaurs

Read this story at theguardian.co.uk

They made the Victorians shudder with awe, but before long dinosaurs were loved mostly by cartoonists and children. Then came a series of discoveries that began a dazzling chapter in the history of science and which leaves Jurassic World trailing far behind.

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The Agency

Read this story at nytimes.com

From a nondescript office building in St. Petersburg, Russia, an army of well-paid “trolls” has tried to wreak havoc all around the Internet — and in real-life American communities.

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How Google Finally Got Design

Read this story at fastcompany.com

Google’s transformation into a company that creates beautiful software is the story of how tech itself has evolved in the mobile era.

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The best place to put your router, according to physics

Read this story at mashable.com