The Secret Life of Passwords

An ode to passwords :

But there is more to passwords than their annoyance. In our authorship of them, in the fact that we construct them so that we (and only we) will remember them, they take on secret lives. Many of our passwords are suffused with pathos, mischief, sometimes even poetry. Often they have rich back stories. A motivational mantra, a swipe at the boss, a hidden shrine to a lost love, an inside joke with ourselves, a defining emotional scar — these keepsake passwords, as I came to call them, are like tchotchkes of our inner lives. They derive from anything: Scripture, horoscopes, nicknames, lyrics, book passages. Like a tattoo on a private part of the body, they tend to be intimate, compact and expressive.

→ The New York Times

A Sponsor Steps Away From The Edge

This may sound perilous for a brand that is so intrinsically linked to risky sports (the very own brand’s packaging represents a climber), but Clif Bar made the right move :

“We have and always will support athletes in many adventure-based sports, including climbing,” the company said. “And inherent in the idea of adventure is risk. We appreciate that assessing risk is a very personal decision. This isn’t about drawing a line for the sport or limiting athletes from pursuing their passions. We’re drawing a line for ourselves. We understand that this is a gray area, but we felt a need to start somewhere and start now.”

→ The New York Times

Inside The Biggest-Ever Hedge-Fund Scandal

Hint : S.A.C.

The tactics echoed the approach the F.B.I. had used to dismantle the New York Mob. The plan was to arrest low-level soldiers, threaten them with lengthy jail terms, and then flip them, gathering information that could lead to arrests farther up the criminal hierarchy.
Over time, agents produced an organizational chart with names and faces, just as they had with La Cosa Nostra.
At the top of the pyramid was Steven Cohen.

It took me quite some time to read this gigantic piece, but as always, The New Yorker delivered a brilliant investigation. Here is another one from Vanity Fair.

→ The New Yorker

The Man Who Got America High

He concludes that he spent his life on the run, and his pursuits all followed a common theme: Escape. There were planes, drugs and rock ’n’ roll, but they were all just means of getting higher, faster and richer than the rest. He ran from the domestic boredom of New Rochelle, becoming a modern-day Peter Pan: He refused to grow up and instead flew to mysterious islands, battled pirates, lost his Wendy.

→ Narratively

Introducing The Blackberry Classic

Seems like Blackberry definitely established its product line based on the motto : Down with the new.

Note : the official website for the Classic points my iPhone to this weird page, without any photo of the device, while being on pre-order.

Note bis : You’ll have to wait till December 17 to put your hands on that antique and iconic piece of kit.

Weird all the way.

→ Blackberry