The internet has changed significantly over time, with new technologies splintering it back to its wild mid-1990s roots. However, the iPhone has done more than any other invention since the printing press to encourage literacy by making words jump from our palms into our brains at unparalleled immediacy and frequency thanks to the digital media industry that employs the author of this text. The centrality of phone-based reading has allowed Fortune to grow by leaps and bounds, even if it is something of a 93-year-old startup. Read this story from "Fortune" for free without being tracked. https://read.distractionfree.site/fortune/2023/12/30/best-books-2023-business-non-fiction-fortune-editors/ #InternetEvolution #MobileReadingTrend #FortuneGrowth

The U.S. Senate's AI Insight Forum hosted a series of sessions on AI policy between September and December 2023, focusing on innovation, high impact AI, workforce impacts, privacy, liability, open source, democracy and elections, transparency, explainability, intellectual property, copyright, doomsday scenarios, and national security. The forum concluded with a statement from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) that the committee would have next steps to share soon regarding drafting bipartisan legislation to tackle AI policy. Read this story from "Fortune" for free without being tracked. https://read.distractionfree.site/fortune/2023/12/22/ai-insight-forums-outcomes-bipartisan-regulation/ #AIInsightForum #Senate #AIPolicy #Bipartisanship

The average number of cousins in American families is declining due to fewer children being born. Read this story from "The Atlantic" for free without being tracked. https://read.distractionfree.site/theatlantic/family/archive/2023/12/cousin-relationships-fertility-rate/676892/ #FamilyTrends #ChildbirthTrends

There are many important events and issues happening in the world that will impact global politics and society in 2024. Read this story from "The Economist" for free without being tracked. https://read.distractionfree.site/economist/the-world-ahead/2023/11/06/tom-standages-ten-trends-to-watch-in-2024 #GlobalPolitics #SocietyImpact

The U.S. government can achieve great things quickly when it has to, as demonstrated by its success in developing and deploying COVID-19 vaccines within a few months through Operation Warp Speed. Read this story from "The Atlantic" for free without being tracked. https://read.distractionfree.site/theatlantic/ideas/archive/2023/12/operation-warp-speed-trump-lessons/676913/ #COVID19VaccineDevelopment #OperationWarpSpeed

Joko Widodo's popularity is high due to his relentless focus on curating his public persona, coupled with the country's strong economic growth. His departure from office in 2024 will be pivotal in deciding who the next leader of Indonesia will be. The text also mentions that both candidates, Prabowo Subianto and Ganjar Pranowo, have said they will continue Jokowi's signature policies such as developing Indonesia's booming nickel industry and other ambitious infrastructure projects. However, the text also highlights that Mr Gibran Rakabuming was selected as Mr Prabowo's vice-presidential candidate by his father, who is a constitutional court judge. The ruling has been criticized for being undemocratic and nepotistic. The two front-runners are very different with Mr Prabowo being the leader of Gerindra party while Mr Ganjar Pranowo leads the National Awakening Party (PKB). Both candidates have their own supporters and the election is expected to be a close race. Read this story from "The Economist" for free without being tracked. https://read.distractionfree.site/economist/the-world-ahead/2023/11/13/indonesia-will-elect-a-new-president-in-february #IndonesiaElection2024 #JokowiLegacy #PrabowoSubiantoCampaign

Economists believe that something scarce should be priced based on what someone is willing to pay for it, and that there are various systems in place to price carbon dioxide accordingly. However, these prices do not match the perception of value by most people, who see no cost associated with emitting CO2. Economists argue that though the emitted carbon dioxide does harm to the environment, its negative effects must be taken into account when determining its true value, which they estimate through modelling. The use of these models in policy-making is also discussed as an example of how this information is used to inform decisions about fuel standards in America. Read this story from "The Economist" for free without being tracked. https://read.distractionfree.site/economist/special-report/2023/11/20/the-many-prices-of-carbon-dioxide #Economics #ClimateChange #EnvironmentalPolicy

Cyber-criminals have hacked into the British Library and encrypted its data, demanding money in exchange for the key. They have also targeted other institutions such as schools, hospitals, and power utilities, posing a threat to national security. The scale of the problem is difficult to measure, but it appears that ransomware attacks are back at their peak and on track to be worse than ever in 2023." Read this story from "The Economist" for free without being tracked. https://read.distractionfree.site/economist/international/2023/12/31/how-ransomware-could-cripple-countries-not-just-companies #CyberSecurity #RansomwareAttack #NationalSecurityThreat #DataEncryption #BritishLibrary #Schools #Hospitals

Public trust in American media has plummeted since the 1990s and most of this decline is among conservatives. The text also mentions studies on partisan leanings of news sources but does not provide specific details about these studies or their findings. It also discusses the use of a partisan dictionary to distinguish between Democratic and Republican speeches, and how this approach has been applied to recent years' output of various news sources. Finally, it notes that the number of media sources covering politics in balanced language has dwindled since the start of Donald Trump's presidency. Read this story from "The Economist" for free without being tracked. https://read.distractionfree.site/economist/united-states/2023/12/14/american-journalism-sounds-much-more-democratic-than-republican #MediaTrust #Politics #NewsSources

A handful of CEOs have recommended their best reads for 2023, with the aim to inspire management styles in 2024. Read this story from "Fortune" for free without being tracked. https://read.distractionfree.site/fortune/2023/12/23/ceo-best-books-reading-2023-airbnb-success-elon-musk-biography/ #CEORecommendedReadsFor2023 #ManagementInspirationFor2024

There was a global recession expected but it turned out to be different from what people thought. The GDP has grown, job markets have held up and inflation is on its way down. However, the performance varies among countries with Greece being one of the top performers for the second year in a row. Japan and South Korea were able to keep prices under control while Switzerland had low core inflation. Hungary and Finland are facing serious pressure due to their energy dependence from Russia. Inflation is becoming less entrenched but there is still variation among countries. Read this story from "The Economist" for free without being tracked. https://read.distractionfree.site/economist/finance-and-economics/2023/12/17/which-economy-did-best-in-2023 #GlobalRecession #GDPGrowth #JobMarketHoldUp #InflationOnTheWayDown #PerformanceVariesAmongCountries #EnergyDependenceFromRussia

Young people actually use libraries and value them for their resources and community-like atmosphere. It also discusses the challenges faced by librarians due to book bans and other issues, and how they are on the front lines of various societal problems. Read this story from "The Atlantic" for free without being tracked. https://read.distractionfree.site/theatlantic/newsletters/archive/2023/12/library-gen-z-readers/676963/ #Libraries #Books #Community #Challenges #Society

Despite the post-ChatGPT frenzy, artificial intelligence has so far been defined more by speculative hype than actual substance. It also mentions the boom in electric cars sales and their popularity in 2023 compared to previous years. Read this story from "The Atlantic" for free without being tracked. https://read.distractionfree.site/theatlantic/technology/archive/2023/12/tesla-chatgpt-most-important-technology/676980/ #AIHype #ElectricCarsBoom

Harvard will be offering a class called "Taylor Swift and Her World" next semester, which will explore her work and career as well as literature that overlaps with or speaks to it. The inbox of the professor who's teaching the course blew up with requests from around the world when news of the class came out. Reporters wanted to know if Swift would visit the course, whether her online superfans were involved, and if Harvard approved.The text also discusses how the humanities should study culture, including Taylor Swift's role in it, and why a Millennial pop star deserves this kind of treatment at a world-class university. The professor is a literary critic who writes about individual works of art and artists, and they argue that Taylor Swift does indeed merit that kind of attention from the humanities. Read this story from "The Atlantic" for free without being tracked. https://read.distractionfree.site/theatlantic/ideas/archive/2023/12/taylor-swift-lyrics-class-harvard/676933/ #TaylorSwift #Harvard #Literature #Humanities #Criticism

Katie Austin was affected by the wildfire in Hawaii and had to quit her job because she was constantly being asked about it by customers at work. She also mentions that many residents are struggling with the return of tourism and the lack of affordable housing for those affected by the fire. Read this story from "Fortune" for free without being tracked. https://read.distractionfree.site/fortune/2023/12/29/maui-tourism-rebuilding-balance-wildfire-trauma/ #HawaiiWildfire #KatieAustin #JobQuit #TourismStruggle #AffordableHousing

Read this story from "Fortune" for free without being tracked. https://read.distractionfree.site/fortune/2023/12/22/cop28-environmental-action-ecolab-climate-change-trust-gap-greenwashing/ #Sleep

Afghan translator Omid and his family were living as refugees in Pakistan when they received a visit from the police demanding to search their home. Read this story from "The Economist" for free without being tracked. https://read.distractionfree.site/economist/1843/2023/12/19/afghans-fled-the-taliban-in-droves-now-pakistan-wants-to-send-them-back

Pierce Brosnan was charged with stepping out of bounds during his recent visit to Yellowstone National Park and he will be attending a court appearance in the park's oldest national park on January 23rd. Read this story from "Fortune" for free without being tracked. https://read.distractionfree.site/fortune/2023/12/28/pierce-brosnan-yellowstone-thermal-area-citation-court-appearance/ #PierceBrosnan #YellowstoneNationalPark #CourtAppearance

Read this story from "The Economist" for free without being tracked. https://read.distractionfree.site/economist/christmas-specials/2023/12/20/inside-the-last-true-political-machine-in-america #FridayFeeling #WeekendVibes

Data-driven predictions about future work trends show that the shift towards shorter working weeks and increased flexibility in job opportunities is already happening despite some companies ordering workers to put in more overtime. This report also highlights that employers are increasingly embracing these models due to positive impact on productivity, company revenue, and employee retention. The Read this story from "Fortune" for free without being tracked. https://read.distractionfree.site/fortune/2023/12/30/little-flex-time-4-day-work-week-work-trends-2024-flexa/