Links

🔗 Computers that Can Make Commitments — Chris Dixon

One of the challenges of talking about blockchains (the underlying technology that enables Bitcoin, for example), is that conversations about it often devolve into explaining the underlying protocols.

Chris Dixon has a great article explaining that the value of a blockchain is simply that it allows computers to make commitments:

Traditional computers are ultimately controlled by people, either directly in the case of personal computers or indirectly through organizations. Blockchains invert this power relationship, putting the code in charge.

If you're not yet familiar with blockchains, I also highly recommend Seth Godin's piece on why blockchains matter, which is an accessible, non-technical introduction.

📲 Hello? This Is Colombia’s Antimachismo Hotline. — NY Times

A new hotline in Bogotá takes calls from men struggling with jealousy, control and fear — and challenges long-held assumptions about masculinity.

🐦️ A Feel-Good Tweet

👻 The Wandering Soul — Radiolab
Radiolab's recent podcast episode explores one of America's tactics for waging psychological warfare. I had to share, not just because it's a powerful story, but because it also lies at the intersection of a couple topics I wrote about recently: ghosts and the history of cassettes.

As the Vietnam war dragged on, the US military began desperately searching for any vulnerability in their North Vietnamese enemy. In 1964, they found it. It was an old Vietnamese folktale involving a ghost, eternal damnation and fear - a tailor made weaponizable myth. And so, armed with tape recorders and microphones, the military set out to win the war by bringing this ghost story to life.

Today, the story of these efforts and their ghosts that still haunt us today.

🖼 For Sale: One Real Warhol Print, Hidden Among 999 Fakes —Smithsonian Mag

Collective MSCHF sold the 1,000 drawings for $250 each in a stunt designed to draw attention to authenticity in the art world.

An ingenious piece of art and mischief. Reminds me of this quote from Marshall McLuhan: “Art is anything you can get away with."

🐦 A Feel-Good Tweet