1. Chatbots still have a long way to go, but Duolingo has identified a great application: bots for language learning. You might be embarrassed to try a new French word with a colleague, but a robot won’t judge. Not yet, anyway.
2.  A recent release of the Facebook Messenger app has enabled end-to-end encryption, which is a fancy way of saying that the messages are indecipherable en route and only the communicating users can read them. Just update your app, create a new message and click on the word” Secret ” in the top, right-hand corner. Opting in for each message is onerous, but overall it’s a useful feature for users who send 1B messages/month via the iOS app alone.
3. Photographers, iPhone 7 users, and anyone interested in understanding how the computing power informs the camera in your pocket should read this.
4. Per the trope, all companies are now tech companies — so how do you attract top talent? McKinsey outlines some of roles you’ll need from agility coaches to experience designers, and shares effective tactics to bring them in. Could not agree more with the “anchor hire” principle, or the need to rethink recruiting far beyond the “post and pray” tactic of the digital job boards of the 1990s.
5. Hats off to Quartz for its comprehensive and gorgeously designed map of the internet. The multi-story feature explores how the internet works, including the byzantine maze of companies that control our experience of the internet in the United States.

Weekend fun: Looking for a small, feel-good fix as the days grow shorter here in the northern hemisphere? This is rather nice. And FYI if you’re on my Christmas list, here’s what you are getting.

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