The weekend read

You've been raking all week, in a manner of speaking, haven't you, communicators? I can tell by the big piles all around you. Time to gather up my finds of the week, shared via @dontgetcaught on Twitter and curated here just for you. Put that rakish grin on your face and enjoy:

• I can haz all the leaves: ICYMI in this long summary of Airbnb's battles with the city of San Francisco: The home- and flat-sharing site is now operating in every nation except Syria, Iran, and North Korea.
• Raking up your data? Venmo, a popular payment app, sets your account to "public" by default. See what others can see, and how to fix that.
• But I like my favorite rake: On Twitter, the "favorite" star has been replaced with the option to "like," with a heart. You'll get over it. @VeryBritishProblems had this reaction.
• Leave him alone: British Prime Minister David Cameron's staff Photoshopped a poppy lapel pin--a remembrance of fallen soldiers--on an existing photo of him. Don't get caught like this, people. Don't get caught. The blog is named this way for a reason.
• A signal of the fall: Hilton turns out to be one of the hotel chains that has tried the illegal practice of blocking guests' own wifi devices to force them to buy hotel wifi. Aw, geez, Hilton.
• The sound of the rake: For your podcasting, check out info about this new Widget line from Neat Microphones. They're temporarily out of stock at Amazon, but you can order now, anyway.
• The rake is harmless until you step on it: The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case about whether seemingly harmless falsehoods posted online allow you to sue a company posting them.
• The rake as a device: Business Insider's 2015 report on the Internet of Things is out. The full report costs money, but this infographic shares a lot of topline data that may surprise you.
• Don't brag until all the leaves are raked: Your badge-bragging photo--a posted pic of your new job security badge on social media--could help hackers gain access to company data.
• The many-colored leaves: Now THIS is progress: Free, Creative Commons-licensed stock photos of women of color in tech. Replicate this in your profession, company, or nonprofit.
• The rake's progress: This week, my Moderating Panels blog looked at Republican presidential candidates' attacks on debate moderators and why they should aim for sparkling debate, and this blog's Tell It Better storytelling series considered getting visual with metaphor.

Buy my ebook, The Eloquent Woman's Guide to Moderating Panels; sign up for my free monthly newsletter; register yourself or your principal for one of my small-group workshops on Creating a TED-quality talk in January 2016;  or let me know how we can work together with an email to eloquentwoman at gmail.com.

(Creative Commons licensed photo by tuchodi)