Kickoff For January 10, 2022
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Monday Kickoff, a collection of what I’ve found interesting, informative, and insightful on the web over the last seven days.
It’s 10 days into 2022 and, to be honest, it still feels like 2021. Am I being a bit to impatient? Or just a bit too hopeful that something will change for the better?
Let’s get this Monday started with these links:
History
The Butcher of Havana, wherein we learn about Herman Marks, an American who became a notorious executioner in post-revolution Cuba and what happened after he fled the island nation to return to the United States.
The History of “Radio Row,” NYC’s First Electronics District, wherein we learn how, long before Tokyo’s Akihabara, a street in Manhattan brought the latest and greatest in electronics to both the hobbyist and the general public.
The Pirate Queen Who Avenged Her Husband’s Death on the High Seas, wherein we learn the story of Jeanne de Clisson who, after her husband was executed for treason, raised an army and then commanded a small squadron of pirate vessels to enact revenge on those who wronged her family.
The Dark Side of Technology
The Downside to Surveilling Your Neighbors, wherein we learn that home surveillance apps, like Amazon’s Ring, can be a boon to law enforcement but can also promote vigilantism and racism online.
Luxury Surveillance, wherein we learn how some people, with a bit (or more than a bit) of cash to spare, are willingly and often unwittingly paying corporations and governments to track them.
Singapore’s tech-utopia dream is turning into a surveillance state nightmare, wherein we learn how the technocratic state has become something of a modern, digital panopticon — all in the name of social order.
Environment
‘The most important number you’ve never heard of’, wherein we learn about the social cost of carbon which, among other things, accounts for the impact that today’s emissions will have on future generations.
The hidden climate costs of America’s free parking spaces, wherein we learn that offering free parking in urban centres in the afternoons and evenings only encourages people to drive more, and how the spaces could be better used.
How flooded coal mines could heat homes, wherein we learn how the traditional source of pollution in the UK could become a source of clean energy.
And that’s it for this Monday. Come back in seven days for another set of links to start off your week.