Required reading from around the web of the best, most interesting, or most though provoking things we’ve read:
EXCLUSIVE: Hillary Clinton Is Hiring Interns For The Fall — But Won’t Pay Them A Cent
“Applications are currently being accepted on a rolling basis and will ‘run from September to mid-December.’ The internship requires ‘a minimum of three days per week,’ and undergrads ‘of all majors are encouraged to apply.’ While the amount of hours per day aren’t specified, the ‘internship is unpaid.’”
Bauer: A Murder Case Tests Alexa’s Devotion to Your Privacy
“The Amazon Echo can seem like your best friend—until it betrays you. That’s because this device is different from anything else in your house. Alexa, the voice assistant that powers Echo and more, is always listening, sending what you say after using a “wake” word to Amazon’s servers. Of course, Echo isn’t the only voice-assistant speaker on the market, but it sits in millions of homes, and Alexa is headed to devices from companies like Ford, Dish, Samsung, and Whirlpool. […] Amazon’s effort to protect the data your Echo collects by invoking the First Amendment is commendable, but the company has failed to address the real problem: Why is all that data just sitting in Amazon’s servers in the first place? […] Mobile phones, computer webcams and now, digital assistants also can be co-opted for nefarious purposes. These are not potential listening devices. They are listening devices—that’s why they exist. And if a hotel-room phone can be rigged as a listening device for other than its original purposes, why not something built to listen all the time? Let’s look at a few scenarios. These are more or less specific to Amazon’s technology and policies, but variants could apply to Google Home or other digital assistants.”
The Economist: Why startups are leaving Silicon Valley
“There is no credible rival for its position as the world’s pre-eminent innovation hub. But there are signs that the Valley’s influence is peaking(seeBriefing). If that were simply a symptom of much greater innovation elsewhere, it would be cause for cheer. The truth is unhappier. […] The reasons for this shift are manifold, but chief among them is the sheer expense of the Valley. The cost of living is among the highest in the world. One founder reckons young startups pay at least four times more to operate in the Bay Area than in most other American cities.”