Between Kickstarter’s frauds and phenoms live long-delayed projects
Despite its complications, crowdsourcing enables diverse creators, outperforms VC funding.
Casey Johnston
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Casey Johnston
Freelancer
Casey Johnston is the former Culture Editor at Ars Technica, and now does the occasional freelance story. She graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Applied Physics.
Recent stories by
Casey Johnston
To address tech’s diversity woes, start with the vanishing Comp Sci classroom
The number of schools offering AP Computer Science has dropped 35% in recent years.
Casey Johnston
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259
Uber exec suggests “opposition research” on journalists
It would be easy and relatively inexpensive to smear someone. Just sayin’.
Casey Johnston
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125
NYC to blanket the city in free public Wi-Fi with 10,000 stations
The kiosks have charging stations, claim they can reach “up to Gigabit speeds.”
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Facebook is no longer a place for “promotional posts”
Down with free promos and up with paid advertising, Facebook says.
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68
Taylor Swift wages a campaign against ad-supported music streaming
Swift is leaving services that won’t let her tier her music, like Spotify.
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YouTube’s ad-free, music video streaming service hits beta next week
After the beta ends, users will be able to subscribe for a discounted price.
Casey Johnston
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Taylor Swift opposes streaming as a “grand experiment,” songs remain on Rdio
Swift thinks streaming services perpetuate the idea that music should be free.
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395
Most Read
Police link 4chan murder photos to a crime scene, arrest a suspect
Photos of Amber Coplin’s body were posted before the murder was reported.
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169
Unicode proposes a way to let an emoji black man and white woman hold hands
Unicode turned diversity in emoji into an unfortunate logistical problem.
Casey Johnston
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223
Apple CEO Tim Cook writes: “I’m proud to be gay”
Cook says his ability to “comfort” and “inspire” others outweighs need for privacy.
Casey Johnston
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607
reddit launches its own crowdfunding platform
The focus is on subreddit merch, but technically any redditor can make anything.
Casey Johnston
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24
Twitch to streamers: no shirt, no service
Twitch says streamers that don’t button up will get suspended.
Casey Johnston
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One week later, Google algorithm change hits streaming, torrent sites hard
After early efforts in 2012, it appears Google’s gotten the results it wanted.
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194
The ugly afterlife of crowdfunding projects that never ship and never end
Even projects crowdfunded to excess enter tense, never-ending development hell.
Casey Johnston
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157
Facebook’s new app harkens back to the AOL chatroom
The company shifts away from real names; Rooms doesn’t even use Facebook logins.
Casey Johnston
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31
Bluetooth-tracking beacon programs uncovered in LA, Chicago
Marketers are using beacons to see who sees what in their ad networks.
Casey Johnston
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68
Monica Lewinsky calls herself “patient zero” for online destruction
Lewinsky sees herself an early victim of the Internet’s echo chamber.
Casey Johnston
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170
Spotify adds family plans with independent profiles
Spotify aims to solve problems for multiple people sharing one account.
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Mac mini gets a refresh with Haswell processors, $100 price drop
The mini gets its first refresh in two years.
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191
Too much Google Glass lands one man treatment for Internet addiction
Wearing Google Glass for work turned into never taking them off.
Casey Johnston
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81
Google gets an Amazon Prime competitor with Shopping Express sub
Monthly and yearly subscriptions added for same-day or overnight deliveries.
Casey Johnston
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54
Intel issues #GamerGate apology, still not advertising at Gamasutra [Updated]
Operation Disrespectful Nod had a big problem with a “controversial” piece.
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In 1888, one man patented a machine for vending “healthy” electric shocks
And in the 1800s, some people might have actually been interested in using it.
Casey Johnston
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Facebook’s ad platform will know who you are, what you buy, even offline
Atlas has relaunched with a focus on “people-based marketing.”
Casey Johnston
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Man receives 4.5 months of jail time for Twitter rape threats
Peter Nunn repeatedly attacked a politician and activist with menacing tweets.
Casey Johnston
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151
In 2014, who decides to ban a gay website from in-flight Wi-Fi?
Even the Wi-Fi providers aren’t sure why, but it’s not to be “family-friendly.”
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221
Reports say Apple may bring changes to Beats Music streaming service
Beats Music may live on in iTunes, but Apple may not let it stand alone.
Casey Johnston
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Kickstarter lays down new rules for when a project fails
In the wake of Neal Stephenson’s failed Kickstarter game, terms get an update.
Casey Johnston
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130
Facebook acknowledges news feeds are bad at news, vows to improve
News feeds don’t surface timely content, but Facebook wants to change that.
Casey Johnston
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41
Amazon reveals sleek new e-reader, beefed-up HDX tablet, keyboard
The HDX tablet makes a play for the Microsoft Surface’s territory.
Casey Johnston
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A slide into obsolescence: iOS 8 on the iPad 2
It didn’t seem like 6 could be worse than 7, but 7 to 8 is a different story.
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132
Apple puts up support page to get U2 album out of your iTunes
Too many people don’t want U2 anywhere near their libraries.
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171
A closer look at the space shuttle that never got to space
A mini-documentary on one of NASA’s experimental toys, the Enterprise.
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104
A week of celeb nudes could pay for a month of reddit’s servers, says mod
r/TheFappening was shut down, but after it was allowed to linger and earn for a week.
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137
Chat logs show how 4chan users created #GamerGate controversy
“I think all the sleeper cells are hard at work.”
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