Digital Caterpillar
At The Digital Doorstep
Aiha Nguyen & Eve Zelickson | Data & Society | 12th October 2022 | PDF
Thoughtful analysis of how home surveillance tech has changed our behaviour and the labour market. "In an ingenious way, Amazon has managed to transform what was once a labour cost (ie supervising work and asset protection) into a revenue stream through the sale of doorbell cameras and subscription services to residents who then perform the labour of securing their own doorstep" (13,517 words)
The Very Bacterial Caterpillar
Jennifer Frazer | Small Things Considered | 7th November 2022
Attention-grabbing from the opening line — "Glued to the inside of your mouth this very moment (there's a 50 per cent chance) may be plump bacterial caterpillars" — and further detail does not disappoint. These multicellular bacteria divide in an "unorthodox longitudinal configuration". Of course, unlike real caterpillars, they feed not on foliage but on the inside of our cheeks (1,490 words)