QOTD: The Game That Changed Everything

The act of borrowing ideas is integral to the creative process. There are games that came before Infiniminer and there are games that will come after Minecraft. That’s how it works.

Zachary Barth, creator of the open-source game “Infiniminer” — the inspiration for Minecraft — who is tired of being asked if he feels ripped off about the millions that Minecraft has made for its creator Markus “Notch” Persson

Same as It Ever Was

We often think the Internet enables you to do new things. But people just want to do the same things they’ve always done.

Evan Williams at the XOXO conference in Portland last week

The Internet Is Just a Fad, Right?

E-mail is not a threat. (Postal mail) is universal. The Internet is not.

— USPS spokesperson Susan Brennan, in a 2001 Wired article, as re-quoted in the FedTech Magazine article, “The Postal Service’s 30-Year Relationship with Email.”

News Byte

Battery Ventures Hires a Top Comms Exec: Former WSJ Reporter Rebecca Buckman

Like many venture firms in Silicon Valley, Battery Ventures has hired a top communications and content exec — former Wall Street Journal reporter Rebecca Buckman. She will be a VP at Battery, in charge of a number of media areas, including developing original content about its portfolio of investments. Buckman has also written for Forbes and, most recently, has been doing some PR work. Adding top execs to focus on media and content at VC firms has been increasing, including the recent hiring of former WSJ reporter Ben Worthen by Sequoia Capital and Wired’s Michael Copeland at Andreessen Horowitz, among others.

Voices

Election 2016: How Big Data + Social Data Will Determine the Next President

Our campaign decisions are influenced by factors that extend far beyond the impression and conversion metrics that permeated the ad industry just five years ago.

Microsoft’s Anti-Google Campaign Gets a Boost, From Google

Google tells Microsoft to turn off a home-grown YouTube app. Microsoft couldn’t be happier.

The New Yorker Launches Strongbox, an Open-Source Anonymous Tip Tool Built by Aaron Swartz

The timely idea: Let journalists and their sources connect in confidence. The Associated Press might have liked one of these.

Google Downplays Expectations Ahead of I/O Developer Conference

Not appearing at this week’s performances: Razzle and dazzle.

Cheap Treats

Moore’s Law means that more and more things can be done practically for free, if only it weren’t for those people who want to be paid. People are the flies in Moore’s Law’s ointment. When machines get incredibly cheap to run, people seem correspondingly expensive.

— From Jaron Lanier’s new book, “Who Owns the Future?” excerpted on Wired.com

Yahoo’s Mayer Has Met with Hulu Execs in a Preliminary Look-See at Premium Video Unit

How much is the Silicon Valley Internet giant willing to spend on turbocharging its video prospects?

Can Google Make a Case for Hangouts?