Friday Five: May 6, 2016
1. The Anti-virus Candidate
The Awl profiles John MacAffee who, unbeknown to everyone, is apparently running for president. An insane tale of a paranoid tech millionaire trying to make a splash in the politics pool.
2. “My Kingdom For An MP3!”
The latest episode of Public Announcement profiles Millie De Chirico, chronicling her time as an employee and later director of WRA 88.5, a college radio station in Atlanta.
3. This Is Fine.
The Verge sits down for a chat with KC Green, the artist behind the now meme-ified “This is fine.” comic. They talk about how in a weird circumstance, his original art has more or less been preserved by the internet, and what this viral fame has done for his work.
4. Apple Music Still Sucks
A blog post from a professional composer, chronicling his trouble with Apple Music, after the service removed most of his music files from his computer without his consent. A cautionary tale for anyone who’s still using the service just to listen to Views.
5. The ‘Trending News’ Curators
Gizmodo got to talk to some of the early employees who were in charge of selecting and writing blurbs for Facebooks infamous ‘Trending News’ panel. Hired as contractors, they received none of the famous benefits for working for the tech company, and instead were relegated to a basement to work long shifts with little oversight. On one hand, don’t complain too much about signing up for a job and not liking it, on the other hand though, the whole scenario sounds absurd. Especially when it devolves into call center level “write this many headlines in this amount of time” style working.
