5 things to read this weekend

I woke up way too early this morning and didn’t want to go for a walk as it was raining. So I spent a good ninety minutes reading these stories (while the podcast played in the background.) They are well worth your time and attention. I hope you get a chance to read these. Have a great weekend! 

• Is internet addiction a real thing? Maria Konnikova asks in her New Yorker column. For a while it seemed like it was for me, but I managed to be less dependent on the web (but not the network) and feel much better for it. 
• Gideon Lewis-Kraus has quickly become one of my favorite writers and he has written a wonderful profile of movie maestro, Chris Nolan. It is a good complement to the movie, Interstellar. It is worth a read. 
• If you have logged into Facebook lately, they are making a big deal about some changes in the privacy they are making starting January 1, 2015. It is about making ads better. It is about making Facebook more embedded in our web. It is not good, as noted by this writer on Ello, who gives us practical tips on how to prevent Facebook from this further privacy incursion. 
• Meet the unknown startup (not now obviously) that built Google’s first self-driving car. It is 510 systems, that was acquired by the tech giant in 2011. Great story in IEEE spectrum!
• Here is a great podcast. A conversation between Bill Joy, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, Danny Hillis, co-founder of the Long Now Foundation and  Scientific American Executive Editor Fred Guterl about the attempts to build the other, hardier Internet. Great way to spend your time.