Gonzo Stuff

Yesterday’s conjunction of big computer glitches—United Airlines was grounded for several hours, the New York Stock Exchange was shut down for half the day, and the Wall Street Journal’s website went down—maybe was nothing more than a coincidence and an inconvenience. But technosociologist Zeynep Tufekci writes we should still be worried, not because of the threat of cyber-terrorism, but because “software sucks.” She adds, parroting VC Marc Andreessen, “This is a major headache, and a real worry as software eats more and more of the world.”

On the other had, just for the fun of it, here is Norsecorp’s animated map of every cyber-attack currently underway, worldwide. (h/t Jerry Paffendorf).

2016 Data Warriors: Does receiving a copy of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged or David Boaz’s The Libertarian Mind make someone more likely to become a libertarian than getting a copy of the Bible? That’s one colorful example from Bloomberg Politics’ Sasha Issenberg, who reports on the rise of data-driven experimentation on the Republican side of the aisle. Don’t miss his description of the little-known Center for Strategic Initiatives, its founder Blaise Hazelwood, or her discovery that “stalking” low-propensity voters with handwritten messages left on their doors by Republican precinct workers actually increases turnout.

Department of Late-Night Tweets: Says Republican strategist Patrick Ruffini (and PDM friend): “GOP being newer to analytics means it is regrettably more likely to fall for Gonzo stuff like psychographics.”

National Journal has launched a 2016 Staffer Tracker to help trace the past and current relationships between the key staff and advisers of the 2016 presidential campaigns.

18F’s Lindsay Young announces the Federal Election Commission’s first API, which will be the backbone of OpenFEC. Bob Lannon of the Sunlight Foundation blogs that “we’re really excited to see what’s been accomplished so far,” and offers a handy guide to making use of it.

The moderators of Reddit’s “IamA” subreddit, Brian Lynch and Courtnie Swearingen, explain on the New York Times opinion section why they shut their popular section down last Friday after their fellow moderator Victoria Taylor was fired. “The issue goes beyond Reddit,” they write. “We are concerned with what a move like this means for for-profit companies that depend on the free labor of volunteers—and whether they truly understand what makes an online community vibrant.”

Neither Uber nor Lyft requires their drivers to stop using cars with unfixed safety recalls, Rachel Cohen of the American Prospect reports.

Tim O’Reilly is launching a new event called “Next:Economy (What’s the Future of Work?)” focused on the transformations under way in “how we do business, how we work and how we live.”

TechCrunch’s Sarah Perez covers the launch of Rhinobird, the live-streaming app. (It’s co-founder and CEO Felipe Heusser, who previously founded Chile’s Ciudad Intelligente open government organization, is a member of Civic Hall.)

Spain is cracking down on “unauthorized protests,” even imposing fines for using social media to encourage or organize protest activity, or for posting “unauthorized” pictures of public officials, Tim Cushing reports for TechDirt.

In the wake of a suicide bombing, Kuwait has adopted a law requiring mandatory DNA testing for all of its citizens and residents, and Glyn Moody of TechDirt explains why this is a terrible idea.