Algorithms Take Control of Wall Street “The kind of trading strategies our system uses are not the kind of strategies that humans use,” Kharitonov continues. “We’re not competing with humans, because when you’re trading thousands of stocks simultaneously, trying to capture very, very small changes, the human brain is just not good at that. We’re […]
Search results
Posted inUncategorized
Wake Up, Geek Culture. Time to Die.
Wake Up, Geek Culture. Time to Die. Fast-forward to now: Boba Fett’s helmet emblazoned on sleeveless T-shirts worn by gym douches hefting dumbbells. The Glee kids performing the songs from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. And Toad the Wet Sprocket, a band that took its name from a Monty Python riff, joining the permanent soundtrack […]
Posted inUncategorized
Cracking the Scratch Lottery Code
Cracking the Scratch Lottery Code Mohan Srivastava had been hooked by a different sort of lure—that spooky voice, whispering to him about a flaw in the game. At first, he tried to brush it aside. “Like everyone else, I assumed that the lottery was unbreakable,” he says. “There’s no way there could be a flaw, […]
Posted inUncategorized
Longreads Best of 2012: Esquire's Chris Jones
Chris Jones is a writer for Esquire and ESPN and the winner of two National Magazine Awards. Favorite new writer discovery of 2012 I’m always scared of making lists like this, because a year is a long time, and I read a lot, and invariably I’ll forget writers and pieces that I liked very much. […]
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List, Top 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Below, our favorite stories of the week. Kindle and Readmill users, you can also get them as a Readlist. Sign up to receive this list free every Friday in your inbox. *** 1. The Empathy Exams Leslie Jamison | The Believer | February 3, 2014 | 37 minutes (9,369 words) An affecting essay about medical […]
Posted inUncategorized
Matthew Aldridge: My Top 5 #longreads, 2010
aldridge: My Top 5 #longreads of 2010, featuring a thief, a killer, a fraudster, two musicians, and a film critic: The Art of the Steal Joshuah Bearman, Wired “Blanchard slowly approached the display and removed the already loosened screws, carefully using a butter knife to hold in place the two long rods that would trigger […]
Posted inUncategorized
Teen Mathletes Do Battle at Algorithm Olympics
Teen Mathletes Do Battle at Algorithm Olympics Neal Wu’s last chance for international glory, and maybe America’s, too, begins with a sound like a hippo crunching through a field of dry leaves—the sound of 315 computer prodigies at 315 workstations ripping into 315 gray envelopes in unison. “You have five hours,” a voice booms across […]
Posted inUncategorized
The Desperate Battle Against Killer Bat Plague
The Desperate Battle Against Killer Bat Plague At this point, it’s a losing battle. Bats with noses dusted by the Geomyces destructans fungus that causes WNS were seen for the first time in early 2006, in upstate New York. One year later, biologists realized that WNS could kill bats in large numbers. By 2008, mortality […]
Posted inUncategorized
Rich Ziade: My Top 5 Longreads of 2010
Rich Ziade is partner and lead strategist at Arc90, notable for many things including creation of the wondrous Readability app. (Ed. note: We know: One of the stories below is from 2009, and another is from 2007.) *** • Paul Graham ruminates over the deflationary value of stuff. • Zak Smith debates which is more […]
Posted inUncategorized
Amy K. Nelson's Top 6 Longreads of 2010: Murder mysteries, baseball, The Price Is Right
Amy K. Nelson is a writer for ESPN.com. (She and Elizabeth Merrill also wrote this great longread about sports and infidelity.) *** Longreads asked me to compile my Top 5 of 2010. An impossible task, and I know a few of mine are on other people’s lists. Here’s what I drew up: The Case of the […]
