WIRED

The Wired mission is to tell the world something they've never heard before in a way they've never seen before. It's about turning new ideas into everyday reality. It's about seeding our community of influencers with the ideas that will shape and transform our collective future. Wired readers want to know how technology is changing the world, and they're interested in big, relevant ideas, even if those ideas challenge their assumptions—or blow their minds.

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The Pleasure Principle • The real reason conspiratorial beliefs are so difficult to dislodge.

CHARTGEIST

Everybody’s Working for the Good-Binge • Why do we still speak as if our days are ruled by the sundial and the pendulum clock? New times call for new timescales!

iBuying Trouble • Zillow botched its home-flipping program, losing a fortune in the process. Opendoor thinks it can do better. The key? More data.

Error: North Korea Not Found • Appalled by the Hermit Kingdom’s cyberattacks on security researchers—and the lack of a US government response—one hacker took matters into his own hands.

READOUT • The world, quantified.

Fight the Algorithmic Power • To push back against unfair labor practices, China’s food delivery workers are using social media, unofficial unions, and even the software that drives the gig economy.

Private Eyes • Diving into virtual reality is easier than ever—and it’s finally worth it.

Must-Play Games • Find these titles on all VR platforms.

WIRED RECOMMENDS • The latest picks from our reviews team.

DEAR CLOUD SUPPORT: My Data Is Consuming My Life • Recently my laptop started glitching. I backed up 90 gigs of photos, videos, and ideas for a novel, fixed the issue, and moved everything back again. It took three weeks. Managing my digital life is becoming my life. But I don’t want to lose the memories attached to these bits and bytes. What can I do? —CURATING MY LIFE

FEATURES

Who Owns the Flood? • DRIVEN BY CALIFORNIA’S INTENSIFYING CYCLES OF DROUGHT AND DELUGE, A CENTRAL VALLEY FARMER WENT ALL IN ON A TRICKLE-DOWN SURVIVAL TACTIC. HIS IDEA COULD HELP SAVE AMERICA’S AGRICULTURAL HEARTLAND—EVEN IF HE BECOMES A CASUALTY OF THE STATE’S NEXT WATER WAR.

WHEN WAR CAME FOR RUSSIA’S BIGGEST TECH COMPANY • It took 20 years for Arkady Volozh to build Yandex into the country’s Google, Uber, Spotify, and Amazon combined. It took 20 days for everything to crumble.

A Million Little Pieces • Nearly half of the world’s reefs have been wiped out since 1950. One entrepreneur is on a mission to rebuild them—by speed-growing tiny slices of coral in hyperefficient farms.

THE CRYPTO TRAP • INSIDE THE BUST OF THE LARGEST KNOWN CHILD SEX ABUSE SITE IN HISTORY—AND HOW IT SHREDDED THE MYTH OF BITCOIN’S UNTRACEABILITY.

DIVINING ROD

“SERACH VIDEOS”

OCTOPUS

KOREA

CODA

“THAT’S ME!” SHE EXCLAIMED, CROSSING DIMENSIONS. —Joyce, via email