Each week, TP1 shares the top five articles that caught our attention. Here are your must-reads, published here and abroad, for the week of January 4th.
It’s all Chinese to me
Creating a full set of characters for the Roman alphabet requires expertise and technical skill. The process is even more complex (and impressive) when creating typography for all 5000 characters in the Chinese alphabet!
→ Read it on Quartz Pocket
Montreal melons
In the early 20th century, the Montreal melon was a culinary treat; a luxury item in the lines of truffles and Russian caviar. With the industrialization of Montreal, the fruit became more difficult to cultivate and consequently, disappeared. Journalist Tori Marlan tells the incredible story of Ken Taylor, an Île-Perrot farmer attempting to resurrect this local delicacy.
→ Read it on Buzzfeed Pocket
Paper is dead, long live paper!
In one corner, we have La Presse, which has stopped printing the weekday editions of its newspaper and Quebecor, which ended the print run of some periodicals. In the other corner, we have online publications like Pitchfork, Politico and Quebec-favourite Trois fois par jour just making the leap into print. And don’t forget magazines such as Nautilus and Kinfolk, which only launched in recent years and have managed to build a growing and passionate following! Chava Gourarie asks, is paper becoming the “new” new media?
→ Read it on Columbia Journalism Review Pocket
Once upon a time, in the land of Facebook…
Facebook has vastly changed since it was first launched in a college dorm room nearly 12 years ago. Journalist Dillon Baker writes about Facebook’s history, retelling the story of how it went from a simple social network for Harvard students to one of the most powerful platforms on the web today, bursting with marketing potential.
→ Read it on Contently Pocket
The origins of mass surveillance
Mass surveillance is not a recent development. According to Amanda Power, Professor of Medieval History at Oxford University, this phenomenon has existed since the Middle Ages.
→ Read it on Lapham’s Quarterly Pocket
Grenier d’or
#Sponsored
Voting for the Greniers d’or awards is officially open! To vote, click on the holiday card of your choice and then enter your email address at the bottom of the page.
→ Vote for the Greniers d’or awards Pocket
This week’s favourite thing
What to do with all those empty phonebooths across town? Is there a way to repurpose this urban landmark? Read about LinkNYC! Some 7,500 public phonebooths in New York City are being turned into super fast wifi stations where you can recharge your phone, surf the web and even consult interactive maps. All for free!
In your earbuds: What’s the Point
Each week, Jody Avirgan explains, with the help of stories and interviews, how data and algorithms are changing our lives.
→ Listen to it on Five Thirty Eight Pocket
