Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Worth a Click: 11 Stories You Should Read Today

By DNAinfo Staff | December 10, 2015 3:30pm | Updated on December 10, 2015 4:22pm

 YouTube is reliving 2015 by rounding up all of the highlights from Left Shark forgetting its choreography during Katy Perry's Super Bowl performance to Pizza Rat.
YouTube is reliving 2015 by rounding up all of the highlights from Left Shark forgetting its choreography during Katy Perry's Super Bowl performance to Pizza Rat.
View Full Caption
Getty Images/Rob Carr

Prosecutions for Car Crash Deaths in NYC Much Too Low, Report Says

A new report by Transportation Alternatives found that of the 4,000 hit-and-run crashes that caused a death or serious injury in 2015, only one percent of the drivers involved in those incidents were charged with a crime. Among other things, the transit group called out the city’s law enforcement to focus as much attention on failure to yield violations as they do on drunk driving. [Gothamist]

What Role Should U.S. Muslims Play in Countering Terrorism

In the wake of tragic shootings in San Bernadino, and some hateful backlash against Muslims including here in New York, the question of how American Muslims see themselves in the fight against terror remains in flux. [WSJ]

Serial Returns With the Mystery of Bowe Bergdhal

The Serial podcast crew launched its second season with a bang Thursday, examining the mind-boggling case of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. The U.S. soldier walked off his post in Afghanistan in 2009, was captured and later released when the Obama administration swapped him for five Taliban detainees in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. [Serial]

Buzzfeed Reporters Allowed To Call Donald Trump a Racist Liar, Editor-in-Chief Says

Buzzfeed’s editor-in-chief Ben Smith updated the company’s social media policy so that reporters are allowed to refer to Donald Trump as a racist liar. “He’s out there saying things that are false and running an overtly anti-Muslim campaign. BuzzFeed News’s reporting is rooted in facts, not opinion; these are facts,” he wrote in a memo to employees on Tuesday night.

Buzzfeed’s updated policy on Trump came hours after an announcement from the Huffington Post that coverage of Trump’s campaign would be moved from the “entertainment” section back to politics. “We are no longer entertained,” Arianna Huffington wrote in a post to the site. “If Trump’s words and actions are racist, we’ll call them racist. If they’re sexist, we’ll call them sexist. We won’t shrink from the truth or be distracted by the showmanship.” [The Guardian & HuffPo]

How to See Which of Your Facebook Friends 'Likes' Trump

Looking to trim down your sprawling Facebook friends list? If you’re in the anti-Trump camp, this new tool will make it easy to see who you might want to delete first. Just visit www.friendswholiketrump.com and it’ll show you which of your Facebook friends have "liked" The Donald. "I'd been reading enough of his garbage lately, and then last night it just kind of hit me," the site’s creator, Gabriel Whaley, told Mashable. "I was like 'how is this not already a thing?' So I quickly made it become a thing." [Mashable]

YouTube Has Come Out With Its 2015 Rewind Video

YouTube has released its rewind video for 2015, featuring a mashup of memes and popular music from the past year entitled “Now Watch Me 2015.” It contains the last 12 months of highlights that made people briefly think “That’s amusing." Remember the Left Shark at the Super Bowl? Well, it’s back. Enjoy. [Wired]

Why Angela Merkel Is Time’s Person of the Year

Time magazine picked German Chancellor Angela Merkel as its Person of the Year, praising her for her leadership during times of crisis in Europe, including dealing with the Greek debt, the Syrian refugee crisis and citing her strong response to Russia’s “theft of Ukraine.” Merkel, who beat out seven other finalists, including Donald Trump, is the fourth woman named individually as Time's Person of the Year. [BBC]

Bitcoin’s Creator Satoshi Nakamoto Is Probably This Unknown Australian Genius

The elusive Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto may be an “Australian genius” flying under the radar, Wired wrote in a story published Tuesday. Mystery has surrounded the Nakamoto since he released Bitcoin’s code in 2009. Despite investigations by other news outlets, his identity remains unknown. 

But through a trove of leaked documents, including emails, transcripts and accounting forms, Wired believes Nakamoto is actually a man named Craig Steven Wright, an Australian tech entrepreneur. Gizmodo came to a similar conclusion in a piece published a few hours later, which also used leaked documents as well in-person interviews.

A day later, Australian police raided Wright’s home, although it told The Guardian it was unrelated to the Bitcoin claims. [Wired, Gizmodo and The Guardian]

Darth Trump? Mashup Replaces Darth Vader’s Lines with Trumpisms

Auralnauts took some of Trump’s most outrageous soundbites and inserted them into Star Wars clips as if he were Darth Vader. The Verge said the video “makes Trump seem like a lost child who's been handed control of a movement he can't quite understand.” It’s wildly satisfying. [The Verge]

Cuomo Hangs Out With Jay-Z as Much as He Does With the State Comptroller

An analysis of Gov. Andrew Cuomo shows that he hasn’t been spending much time with other statewide Democratic politicians in leadership positions. He has only had six official visits with Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, and just two with Comptroller Tom DiNapoli — one was a phone conversation. Jay-Z has has had two official, in-person hangouts with Cuomo. [Capital NY]

The Proven Ways Stores Trick Us Into Spending Money

There are at least a dozen ways a store is tricking you into buying something at any time — ranging from the placement of the product (middle shelf is best) to having rude salespeople, which strangely makes people feel better about aspirational purchases. Learn the strategies and save yourself from becoming an easy target next time you’re shopping. [The Atlantic]

This column was compiled by DNAinfo reporters Lisha Arino, Jeanmarie Evelly, Emily Frost, Gwynne Hogan, Noah Hurowitz, Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska, Carolina Pichardo, Irene Plagianos, Eddie Small, Rachel Holliday Smith and Shaye Weaver.