Is It Time to Quit Twitter?

Aimée Lutkin wrote that it’s time we all quit Twitter. This Friday, August 17, some Twitter users are organizing a “social media walk out” using the hashtag #DEACTIDAY.

BoingBoing writer Mark Frauenfelder posted that his decision to leave is motivated largely by the platform’s refusal to ban Alex Jones, whom they’ve admitted has violated their official policies. Jones has long been spreading conspiracy theories to his many followers, and has encouraged the continued harassment of parents of Sandy Hook victims.

I tend to agree with Kara Swisher when she wrote, “Rules won’t save Twitter. Values will.”

Smartphone Photography Basics Bundle: $29

We have a deal on the Smartphone Photography Basics Bundle, a collection of four training course to learn how to take better photographs with your iPhone. There’s more than 7 hours of training videos in this bundle, and it’s $29 through our deal.

How to Use 1Password's Demo Mode

For today’s Quick Tip, we’re going over a little-known feature of AgileBits’ 1Password—the so-called demo vault that you can use to show off the iOS app without revealing your own data. We love 1Password for features like this one!

Compare Original Version of Bilbo Getting Ring from Gollum to the Revised Version We Know Today

Check out this great side-by-side comparison of the original version of a key scene in The Hobbit to the version we know today. It’s the scene where Bilbo meets Gollum and steals the One Ring in the bowels of the Misty Mountains. Each paragraph of both versions is laid out side by side, with changes highlighted in blue. I’m such a huge Tolkien nerd, and this is intensely cool. Here’s a passage from the introduction:

The following is a side-by-side comparison of the two versions, presented in order to provide insight as to how the smallest of details can affect the overall themes of Tolkien’s work. Of particular interest is the characterization of Gollum, who in the revised version is much more malevolent and treacherous, and yet also more pitiful, echoing the later role that he will play in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Astronomers Have Discovered a Massive Rogue Planet

A rogue planet is a planet that’s not in orbit around any star. It’s by itself, in orbit around the galactic center.  It may have formed around a star and perhaps some severe gravitational perturbation ejected it into the space between stars. In any case, only a few are known.  In this discovery, a very large one was detected via its radio emissions. Fascinating.