What IARPA’s project calls for is the deployment of spy resources against an entire language. Where you or I might parse a sentence, this project wants to parse, say, all the pages in Farsi on the Internet looking for hidden levers into the consciousness of a people.

A field trip to the video gamey world of the modern trader.

On why we need to stop questioning Wikipedia and start thinking about what comes next.

Today, in the electronic age of instantaneous communication, I believe that our survival, and at the very least our comfort and happiness, is predicated on understanding the nature of our new environment, because unlike previous environmental changes, the electric media constitute a total and near-instantaneous transformation of culture, values and attitudes.

On the ground in Nigeria with the nation’s notorious scam artists, who share a remarkable number of qualities with America’s top entrepreneurs.

A profile Mark Pincus, the founder and C.E.O. of Zynga—the company that created FarmVille, CityVille, and Zynga Poker, the most popular online poker game in the world.

An essay on music and family, sparked by the author’s realization that his speakers sucked.

On the “world’s largest social network that you probably haven’t yet heard of” and its enigmatic founder.

The rise, fall and stubborn survival of a teenage Internet celebrity who discovered that the real world can be a very scary place.

A profile of 14-year-old fashion blogger Tavi Gevinson.

“The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads.”

At times, Mr. Hsieh comes across as an alien who has studied human beings in order to live among them.

A profile of the Zappos CEO.