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Daily Bafflements

luxury treehouse

Is this luxe enough for ya? / E. Dronkert

Amelia Greenhall has a wonderful, sharp piece about the job title “Data Scientist”—a lot of companies seem to want one, without necessarily knowing what it is. Which makes sense, because the title seems to have been invented just a few years ago. It’s masculine, it’s sexy, it’s technical-sounding; but what does it mean? Ideal candidates frequently sought in job listings “must eat, sleep and love data.” Ah, got it, thanks.

• If you follow this link to the UK’s Telegraph you will find a video about a luxury treehouse manufacturer that markets its creations to billionaires. The accompanying article begins with the actual words “Bespoke treehouse manufacturer Blue Forest has created . . . .”

• On Medium, Quinn Norton revisits the idea of the “loyal opposition” with regards to Edward Snowden’s revelations of the NSA’s surveillance program and the choices he’s made since. “The Snowden revelations shouldn’t have happened,” she writes. But not because what he did was wrong: “They shouldn’t have been necessary. We shouldn’t have to depend on one smart young man giving up his life for our accountability.”

• Speaking of Medium, there’s an interesting recurring pattern in this list of last month’s most-read posts. See number 32 on the list, “How to stop giving a F@$% what people think.” That helpful guide was out-ranked by the slightly more blunt entry, number 23, “The Complete Guide to Not Giving a Fuck,” which was itself immediately topped by number 22, “14 Fucks I Refuse to Give in 2014.” (Hey, is everybody okay out there? Holler if you need a friend.)

• A Buzzfeed quiz we’d like to see: What time and day of the week are you? (We’re Friday afternoon, quittin’ time.)