Web Design: You're a Wizard, Harry

Aaaand the IRS is mining taxpayer data from social media, which is (obviously) against the law [taxprof.typepad]. Black Mirror called again, it’s getting pretty impatient about this whole, “give me back my dystopia” thing.

Cortana and Alexa are teaming up [arstechnica], for some reason.

BuzzFeed is abandoning its “no banner ad” position [businessinsider]. Which is an odd move. It is BuzzFeed though, maybe banners are making a comeback?

The Essential Phone’s leadership are apologizing for accidentally telling customers that it was “essential” they email their driver’s license details [theverge].

StackOverflow data shows where in the world people are developing [stackoverflow].

iOS 11 will turn Google AMP links back to regular ones when you share them [theverge].

*If you don’t understand this reference, watch more Arrested Development and call me in the morning.

Picaresque

Everything else

This website charges you a dollar to see how many other people have paid it a dollar to see how many other people have paid it a dollar [motherboard.vice]. It may be perfect?

If a dollar’s too expensive for a weird, money-related thrill, this “put a coin into a slot” simulator may be better for you [projects.playables]. Oddly, disturbingly satisfying.

The Voyager Golden Record is now available on vinyl [theatlantic]. I’m waiting for the reissue with the bonus tracks and the gatefold cover.

As he requested before he died, (amazing) author Terry Pratchett’s unfinished work has been crushed by a steamroller [avclub]. And that story, friends, is how I remembered that Terry Pratchett had died :(

Vu [datastills] is an Instagram client for macOS.

A trailer for Error Morris’ new Netflix series Wormwood, about the CIA experimenting with LSD in the 1950s is out [kottke] and wow I am so onboard for this.

Finally, Uber investor Shervin Pishevar wrote a very intense letter defending Travis Kalanick. You can read about it here [mashable] but what I think you would enjoy more is this quiz, where you have to decide whether a given line is from his letter, or lyrics from the band The Decemberists [buzzfeed]. I got 6/10 without reading the letter, which probably means I watched The OC and owned an iPod in the years between 2005 and 2010.

That's Versioning for Thursday. Wow, we went from Morgan Freeman to The Decemberists - the full spectrum of pop-culture with quite a bit of tech in-between. What a journey. I'll have another, different journey tomorrow, once I've finished my open letter about Airbnb, liberally quoting Bright Eyes and Deathcab for Cutie lyrics. Who am I kidding? I'll spend the evening watching The OC, just like every evening. Back tomorrow!