articles

"Buddhism has found a new institutional home in the West: the corporation" by Judith Hertog and Carolyn Chen in Guernica

A previous tenant left this statue on a fence post in my back yard
A previous tenant left this statue on a fence post in my back yard
2 min read microblergarticlescorporationstech-industry
Carolyn Chen, sociologist at University of California, Berkeley, wrote a book titled "Work Pray Code." Chen spent five years studying American Buddhism in corporate America, particularly in Silicon Valley, as an appropriative work benefit through meditation sessions and retreats.

DuckDuckGo blocks trackers (unless they contractually agreed not to)

Photo by Jack Dong / Unsplash (a large family of ducks swims through a body of water)
Photo by Jack Dong / Unsplash
1 min read articlestechprivacynotmyphoto

Thomas Claburn wrote in The Register this week about security research done by Zach Edwards into the DuckDuckGo browsers (available on most platforms near you, including my Android phone's default). DDG blocks third-party cookies but due to a contractual agreement for Bing search data, allows Microsoft's tracking scripts to run on third-party websites.

While the tracking code is not included on the DuckDuckGo search results - a separate product offered by the company to provide an alternative to Google Search - the multi-platform browser does not block the tracking scripts from loading. DDG's browser is pitched as a more-private alternative

Microblerg: "What The Hell Happened To The LA Marathon?" by Adam Conover in Defector

The Downtown Los Angeles Skyline, as seen from Signal Hill
The Downtown Los Angeles Skyline, as seen from Signal Hill
1 min read microblergarticlescitiesinfrastructureentertainment

Adam Conover - whose name you may recognize from his excellent series Adam Ruins Everything - wrote in Defector last week about the various failures of design, infrastructure, and financialization in the Los Angeles Marathon. But as an ex-Angelino and non-runner myself, the best parts of the article are less about those things, and more about the motivation behind besting your past-self's milestones, why any on-foot out-and-back is a terrible design, and Adam's always-engaging storytelling.