Welcome to Vox’s weekly book link roundup, a curated selection of the internet’s best writing on books and related subjects. Here’s the best the web has to offer for the week of December 15, 2019.

Yes, all stories about people saved by crowdfunding are ultimately an indictment of capitalism, but here is a nice article in the Guardian about a small independent press that was saved from ruin by crowdfunding:

“Move over Graphene: Next-Gen 2D Materials Could Revolutionize Technology,” was the title of an article last month by Discover which talked about a family of “atomically thin” nanomaterials that will usher in a new era of material innovation. It’s not like graphene needs to move over much.

Image: During the demo, the founder of Oros sprayed his colleague with liquid nitrogen which seemed to have no visible effect – Credit: Nanalyze

Matt Barkley, quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, provides insights on what it was like under the spotlight as the starting quarterback for the USC Trojans, some of ways that his coaches have helped him to grow and why he doesn’t define himself simply by on-field results.

Mohamed Malim pulls the bright orange liner of a life jacket out of a big box, recently shipped to Minnesota from Greece. This one has “CARIBBEAN GALAXI” printed in faded block letters. He pulls out another with “CHILD” printed on it.

Inside the box are 39 more. Some are ripped; all are well worn. Eight of those are sized for babies, which — given that they came from refugees who made the perilous boat trip from Africa to Greece — is heartbreaking.

Image: Mohamed Malim, 23, founded a company called Epimonia that makes bracelets and hats out of repurposed life jackets refugees likely have used during boat trips to Greece. - Tribune News Service

The final weekend before Christmas rivals Black Friday for the amount of money spent at stores. But this holiday season, a crop of e-commerce players gave shoppers new reasons to skip the mall.

Companies that sell used apparel and other goods are trying to convince consumers that it is acceptable to buy hand-me-downs as holiday gifts.

Image: Shoppers at a Goodwill store Sturtevant, Wis., comb through bins. The thrift chain has begun grouping giftable items together so they can be found more easily. PHOTO: ADAM ROGAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--International Data Corporation (IDC) today published an IDC Innovators report profiling four companies in the 3D scanner market with innovative new technologies or groundbreaking business models. The four companies are Artec3D, Occipital, Scan Dimension, and Calibry3D.

Crowdfunding headlines can create an idyllic impression for startups and feed the overconfidence that many entrepreneurs have in the brilliance of their ideas.

Sadly, though, research shows that crowdfunding is not a quick and easy way to raise large sums of money. Success with crowdfunding is not based on how cool your cause is, but on a hard-driven media campaign and a substantial pre-existing pool of supporters.

With the current strong economy I’m seeing a continued resurgence of entrepreneurial spirit, and more startup activity than ever before. I believe the days of the “job work” mentality are thankfully waning, with more people looking to get satisfaction by making the world a better place, rather than just tolerating brain-numbing work to fund enjoyment elsewhere.

Wayne Baker, professor at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, has spent much of his career researching the best way to effectively ask for help at work. Whether you’re soliciting support on a tricky assignment or more resources for your team, it can feel uncomfortable to approach bosses and colleagues with hat in hand. But we rarely get what we need or want without asking for it. Baker highlights some of the most effective strategies for defining your goal, figuring out who to ask, and crafting your message so it will be positively received. He is also the author of the book All You Have to Do Is Ask: How to Master the Most Important Skill for Success.

Introverts listen more than they talk, think before they speak, and prefer spending time with a tight-knit group of friends, colleagues and family over massive parties and constant networking. Introverts thrive in much different ways than extroverts do, but there's no need to think of introversion as something that needs to be cured, expresses author Susan Cain of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. While extroverts may gain energy from constant interaction, public attention and a love for gab, in the words of Cain, “There's zero correlation between being the best talker and having the best ideas.”

The stories of how entrepreneurs such as Jack Ma and Jeff Bezos started off on their journeys are widely known. Jack Ma, for example, was rejected from every job he applied to before he built e-commerce giant Alibaba.

But often people attribute their success, and the success of other entrepreneurs, to talents and business skills alone. These factors did contribute immensely to the success they achieved; however, that’s not where the story ends.

This year, we published more than 300 posts on Visual Capitalist, getting well over 30 million views along the way.

Many of these graphics are visually stunning, but there’s only room for 19 posts on the annual list of our best work. Below, you’ll find the Top Infographics of 2019 list, which contains our most popular infographics, as well as a curation of staff favorites for the year.

Image: https://www.visualcapitalist.com

In the wake of the #MeToo movement and persistent gender disparities in tech and venture capital, the past few years have brought a powerIful new wave of organizing and action in the tech community. Since 2016, the Project Include organization has been combining data and advocacy to drive diversity and inclusion best practices in tech companies. In 2018, Aileen Lee of Cowboy Ventures and a group of likeminded female VCs founded All Raise, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing the representation of women in the VC-funded tech ecosystem.

Today, Apple officially opened a hacking program that will pay people who discover bugs and security holes in the company's full range of devices.

Called Apple Security Bounty, the program is an expansion of an invitation only project Apple started in 2016 to try and find flaws in Apple’s iPhone security.

The new expanded version of the program will for the first time include iPads, Apple laptops and desktops, Apple TV, and Apple Watch.

Today, everybody needs to innovate. So it shouldn’t be surprising that corporate innovation programs have become wildly popular. There is an inherent tradeoff between innovation and the type of optimization that operational executives excel at. Creating a separate unit to address innovation just makes intuitive sense.

The world may move faster, and the images it produces faster still. But what remains in the mind is the single frame.

The frame may hold an image that compels close study: the puff of dust from the instant a bullet strikes the granite cladding of a U.S. Courthouse in Dallas, above the hunched form of a uniformed guard fleeing the gunman, half a block away in combat gear and closing fast. The frame might contain what you wish you could unsee: the view down to the drowned bodies of the father and daughter on the bank of the Rio Grande.

Image: https://time.com

Most entrepreneurs assume that success is dependent on their product expertise, coupled with some knowledge of how to run a business. In fact, I have found from personal experience and mentoring that both of these are necessary, but not sufficient, for building a business. Successful entrepreneurs today must practice human-centered leadership to compete and win.

Every year, the tech industry experiences moments that serve as guideposts for future entrepreneurs and investors looking to profit from the wisdom of the past.

In 2017, Susan Fowler published her heroic blog post criticizing Uber for its culture of sexual harassment, helping spark the #MeToo movement within the tech industry; 2018 was the year of the scooter, in which venture capitalists raced to pour buckets of cash into startups like Bird, Lime and Spin, hoping consumer adoption of micro-mobility would make the rushed deals worth it.

Image: https://techcrunch.com

Over the last two decades, Pittsburgh has transformed itself into a veritable poster child for post-Industrial economic revitalization, a fact few would have predicted forty years ago. The collapse of its manufacturing industries in the late 20th century resulted in a peak unemployment rate of 18 percent, the dissolution of 75 percent of its steel corporations and a 30 percent decrease in its population. Name a dimension of economic prosperity and it’s likely that Pittsburgh saw it decline during this period.

It’s a job seeker’s market in today’s tight labor economy, where there are more job openings than there are workers to fill them. Those willing to pack up and move for a new job may want to consider a relocation to North Dakota or South Dakota, according to ZipRecruiter’s latest analysis of the hottest hiring markets for 2020.