Congress is closing in on a roughly $900 billion coronavirus relief deal, lacking the Democrats’ aid to states and cities or the Republicans’ liability protections for companies. / The Washington Post
MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, lists the 384 organizations she found to give away more than $4 billion this year. / Medium
Unrelated: Brian Baumgartner—Kevin from “The Office“—did over $1 million this year in bookings on Cameo, the most of anybody. / The New York Times
Singapore will soon have dedicated facilities for short-term business travelers to stay, work, and be segregated from society. / The Straits Times
See also: A map of border policies around the world in response to the pandemic. / cobap
French President Emmanuel Macron tests positive for Covid-19, following a week when he met with numerous European leaders. / The Associated Press
A poll in October found 58% of likely voters backed an independent Scotland—a big shift from 2014 when voters defeated a referendum by 55% to 45%. / NPR
Nigeria’s Boko Haram says it’s behind the recent abduction of more than 300 schoolboys. / Reuters
Millions of men in China use Xiaoice, an AI similar to Siri or Alexa, except she flirts, jokes, and even sexts. / Sixth Tone
Humans and machines will clock the same work hours by 2025, and other startling news from the World Economic Forum’s "Future of Jobs 2020" report. / VICE
This year will see lobbyists and Big Tech fighting off federal regulation to prohibit the use of facial recognition. / c|net
School districts in Texas are buying mobile device forensic tools (MDFTs), the same ones used by the FBI and state police. / Gizmodo
Black influencers in Atlanta are working to shift a paradigm that rewards white kids in Los Angeles. / The New York Times
A new way to think about Facebook: as this century’s Doomsday Machine. (Incidentally, social media this year really was insufferable.) / The Atlantic, Vox
Enslaved.org launches with nearly a half million records and five million data points to explore the lives of enslaved people. / Enslaved
"Un Feu Distinct," photographs of fire and smoke by Thomas Paturet. / Behance
Thanks to migration and desperation, no country stands to gain more from the climate crisis than Russia. / The New York Times
“Family and community through the long lens of Jewish history.” A round-up of classic and contemporary poems that celebrate Hanukkah and the Jewish faith. / Poetry Magazine
The founders of World Chase Tag explain how they turned a children’s game into a (professional?) sport, played on courses designed for “evasion quality.” / The Morning News
David Li creates "Blob Opera," a (fun!) machine learning model’s understanding of what opera singing sounds like. / Google
Unrelated: Brian Baumgartner—Kevin from “The Office“—did over $1 million this year in bookings on Cameo, the most of anybody. / The New York Times
Singapore will soon have dedicated facilities for short-term business travelers to stay, work, and be segregated from society. / The Straits Times
See also: A map of border policies around the world in response to the pandemic. / cobap
French President Emmanuel Macron tests positive for Covid-19, following a week when he met with numerous European leaders. / The Associated Press
A poll in October found 58% of likely voters backed an independent Scotland—a big shift from 2014 when voters defeated a referendum by 55% to 45%. / NPR
Nigeria’s Boko Haram says it’s behind the recent abduction of more than 300 schoolboys. / Reuters
Millions of men in China use Xiaoice, an AI similar to Siri or Alexa, except she flirts, jokes, and even sexts. / Sixth Tone
Humans and machines will clock the same work hours by 2025, and other startling news from the World Economic Forum’s "Future of Jobs 2020" report. / VICE
This year will see lobbyists and Big Tech fighting off federal regulation to prohibit the use of facial recognition. / c|net
School districts in Texas are buying mobile device forensic tools (MDFTs), the same ones used by the FBI and state police. / Gizmodo
Black influencers in Atlanta are working to shift a paradigm that rewards white kids in Los Angeles. / The New York Times
A new way to think about Facebook: as this century’s Doomsday Machine. (Incidentally, social media this year really was insufferable.) / The Atlantic, Vox
Enslaved.org launches with nearly a half million records and five million data points to explore the lives of enslaved people. / Enslaved
"Un Feu Distinct," photographs of fire and smoke by Thomas Paturet. / Behance
Thanks to migration and desperation, no country stands to gain more from the climate crisis than Russia. / The New York Times
“Family and community through the long lens of Jewish history.” A round-up of classic and contemporary poems that celebrate Hanukkah and the Jewish faith. / Poetry Magazine
The founders of World Chase Tag explain how they turned a children’s game into a (professional?) sport, played on courses designed for “evasion quality.” / The Morning News
David Li creates "Blob Opera," a (fun!) machine learning model’s understanding of what opera singing sounds like. / Google