Wednesday’s Recommended Reads

Some recent saved favorites from Pocket:

Ex-Facebooker Gifts the Social Network’s Data Platform to the World: Many developers dream of working for a high profile company like Google or Facebook. But not Jonathan Gray. The first time Facebook called and offered him a job, he turned them down. But Facebook kept calling. – by Klint Finley – http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/10/continuuity/

GPS bullets are latest weapon for American police: It sounds like something out of a James Bond movie – GPS bullets that can track the location of a suspect’s car. The bullet is designed to make high-speed chases safer – enabling the authorities to track suspects without having to risk theirs or others’ lives. – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24731080

This company will send your stuffed animal on a vacation: Your teddy bear has always wanted to visit Tokyo in the spring. Fortunately for Mr. Bobo, there’s Unagi Travel, the “Japan Travel Agency for Stuffed Animals.” The travel agency gives tours not to you but to your favorite plush toy. – by Claudine Zap – http://travel.yahoo.com/blogs/compass/company-send-stuffed-animal-vacation-212641385.html

There’s one key difference between kids who excel at math and those who don’t: We hear it all the time. And we’ve had enough. Because we believe that the idea of “math people” is the most self-destructive idea in America today. The truth is, you probably are a math person, and by thinking otherwise, you are possibly hamstringing your own career. – by Search results – http://qz.com/139453/theres-one-key-difference-between-kids-who-excel-at-math-and-those-who-dont/

Payments Giant First Data Acquires Mobile Loyalty Startup Perka For ~$30M To Take On Square And PayPal In SMB Market: In an effort to catch up with Square and Paypal, payment processing giant First Data has been quietly increasing its presence in the mobile payments market. As the largest credit card processing company in the U.S. – by Rip Empson – http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/29/payment-processing-giant-first-data-buys-mobile-loyalty-startup-perka-for-30m-to-help-it-compete-with-square-and-paypal/

This man decides what you read: Can Chartbeat CEO Tony Haile save journalism? Miley Cyrus gave us so much that night. Just trying to count her blessings smacks of ingratitude, like regifting manna. – by Alex Halperin – Tags: Salon.com, Chartbeat, Media, data, Journalism, New Media, Miley Cyrus, BuzzFeed, Mother Jones, Salon, New York Times, CNN, ESPN, news, MTV, Big Data, ComScore, Vox Media – http://www.salon.com/2013/10/27/this_man_decides_what_you_read/

Intel May Turn Over Its Web TV Project to Verizon: Intel’s efforts to break into the TV business may be coming to a close. Sources say the chipmaker is close to a deal to hand over control of Intel Media, the unit that has been trying to build a Web-based subscription TV service, to Verizon, the telco that already operates a pay TV service. – by Peter Kafka and Arik Hesseldahl – Tags: media, news, product news, amazon, apple, beon, erik huggers, featured post, google, intel media, samsung, sony, verizon, web tv – http://allthingsd.com/20131030/intel-may-turn-over-its-web-tv-project-to-verizon/

Google’s Perfect, Future-Proof Marketing Strategy For Google Glass: Sometimes it looks as though the whole of the Google Google Glass project is one big experiment. It’s hardly experimental technology. It’s an experiment in how to use a consumer-grade heads up display. But the experiment goes much deeper than hardware and apps. – by Haydn Shaughnessy – http://www.forbes.com/sites/haydnshaughnessy/2013/10/29/googles-perfect-future-proof-marketing-strategy-for-google-glass/

Why Twitter Just Turned Itself Inside Out: As soon as Twitter changed from a texting service into an internet service, it was taken over by links. Tweets were no longer messages, they were web pointers with comments attached. – by John Herrman – http://www.buzzfeed.com/jwherrman/why-twitter-just-turned-itself-inside-out

Fitness Coach: Q: Can Breathing Incorrectly Cause a Running Injury? Is it true that impact stress in runners is greatest when the foot strikes the ground at the beginning of an exhalation? So if I always breathe out on my left side, I’ll increase my risk of injuring something on that side? I read this in a Run – by Erin Beresini – Tags: Fitness Coach, Outside Magazine Fitness, Outside Fitness – http://www.outsideonline.com/fitness/fitness-coach/Can-Breathing-Incorrectly-Cause-a-Running-Injury.html

Samsung is pulling another Amazon on Android, but this is even bigger — Tech News and Analysis: As much as Google likes and touts that Android is open, that freedom may come with the cost of some control over the platform. Amazon may have started the first truly successful “fork” of Android, but Samsung is going after the whole place setting. – by Kevin C. Tofel – Tags: Android,Google,Samsung,TouchWiz – http://gigaom.com/2013/10/28/samsung-is-pulling-another-amazon-on-android-but-this-is-even-bigger/

Google adds location sharing, animated GIFs to Hangouts, integrates SMS: Today during its “A Morning with Google+” event, Google announced some updates for its Google+ service on top of sharing some improvements to Hangouts. – by Jordan Kahn – http://9to5google.com/2013/10/29/google-adds-location-sharing-animated-gifs-to-hangouts-integrates-sms/

Google smartwatch with Google Now coming sooner than expected, ‘ready within months’: A Google-produced smartwatch is close to entering production, says a report from the Wall Street Journal. The Google watch, which has been rumored multiple times, will run Android with a heavy focus on the company’s Google Now personal assistant. – by Aaron Souppouris – http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/29/5041704/google-smartwatch-could-be-ready-within-months

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