- The epic battle for ebook supremacy is over, and Amazon is the winner. A look inside the shipping giant’s Kindle facility, Lab126, shows how Amazon became a dominate force in the digital publishing industry and how it plans to retain control. [The Verge]
- Seven years ago, NASA broke ground on a new testing tower at Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, Miss. Now, it sits in disuse, soaking up $US700,000 a year just for upkeep — and it was never used once. This is the story behind that failed project and how an idea so ambitious quickly became one of NASA’s biggest money pits. [The Washington Post]
- Media in the digital age is a strange beast. Wired’s Mat Honan breaks down online media’s “war for eyeballs,” the true costs behind advertising, and how we are all now part of media’s new distribution system. [Wired]
- One obvious advantage of digital photography over its analogue ancestor is there is no decay, no yellowing over time. A perfect copy forever stored in megabytes. Then why do so many people like crappy-looking digital photos? The Awl considers the rise of the “shitpic,” and how digital decay can be a measure of online popularity. [The Awl]
Photo via NASA