“It is one of the great ripoffs of the public any place I’ve ever seen” Mayor Bloomberg on the structure of the NYC taxi industry.

— Dana Rubinstein (@danarubinstein) December 14, 2012

Good! New York City will begin a year-long pilot of working with taxi-hailing apps starting early next year. The program will be pretty restrictive, but lots of the hard tech work is to ensure that the app systems work with the taxi meters. So that, you know, we don’t get ripped off. That wasn’t so hard, petulant, pouty, Ayn Randian startup boys, now was it!

Also apparently Mike Bloomberg went crazy about taxis this morning but I have no idea why.

“The traumatic experience of surviving superstorm Sandy has provided some high-school seniors inspiration for their college-application essays, a task that in the best of times is already stressful.”

by Awl Sponsors

If the digital revolution made it possible for anyone to become a photographer, then one can argue that instagram has emerged as the ultimate space in which the masses showcase their art. Once dismissed by smug elitists, digital photography has come in to its own in the last several years. And it’s time to celebrate that fact.

Samsung Digital Imaging is holding a global competition inviting 32 Instagram stars from 8 countries to prove that their city is the most photogenic. Samsung Digital Imaging and VICE Media Inc. have come together to celebrate the release of the all-new web connected GALAXY Camera. 32 Instagram stars from 8 countries will showcase the various features of the ground-breaking camera over an 8-week timeframe. Each week serves to highlight a different feature of the Galaxy Camera. All photography will be released through an interactive platform, allowing fans to vote for their favorite works at samsungcamera.tumblr.com.

VICE caught up with 8 of the photographers to profile their approach in an 8-part video series providing a glimpse into the process of the world’s most prolific (and followed) Instagrammers. Round one? London vs. Amsterdam!

The contenders:

Jiri Siftar is representing London with 122,459 Instagram followers. Weapon of choice: Rich Tone Mode.

VERSUS

Freek Geurts is representing Amsterdam with 38,432 Instagram followers. Freek tours the streets of Amsterdam on his bike using his weapon of choice: the Action Freeze Mode.

Photo Credit: Kitty De Jong

Hoo boy are there ever things to do this weekend. Evan Hughes tells you about Brooklyn books! Things are sold for gifts everywhere! A Dickens marathon! “Unsilent Night” marches again! Sleigh Bells and Grizzly Bear play for Sandy and there’s a benefit for 826NYC at the Bell House.

The Joys Of The George Saunders Style Sheet

by Awl Staff

Tenth Of December, George Saunders’ first collection of stories in six years, comes out January 8, 2013 — if you missed it in The New Yorker, you can read the title story here. Below is the style sheet used in-house by the book’s editors and production team. In the lists of preferred spellings for words and names (Death (personified), de-elfify, doinking) and other guidelines comes a reminder of what makes Saunders so much fun to read. Remember: Hyphenate compounds made up of nouns of equal value: “elf-baby” (97).

“If Michael Stipe was singing this instead, you would have thought it was the best REM song ever. That’s a fact.”

★★★ Cold but not forbidding. There were still just enough clouds to the south to filter the sunlight. Shadows, distinct yet only half-dark, came and went behind pedestrians heading down Broadway. In the afternoon, a broad band of light, the color of bone, stretched east and west from the blurred disc of the sun. Beneath it, Lower Manhattan bleached and flattened into a single building, a megalomaniacal construction of multiple spires and masses.

“The co-inventor of the bar code that labels nearly every product in stores has died. Norman Joseph Woodland was 91.”

Here are some of the terrible words in the English language from the past year. This list is British, but much of it is universal. At least for those who speak English. And really, who doesn’t? Not anyone I’d want to know.

Thursday, December 13

Cincinnati -4.5 At Philadelphia

Bengals have taken
the last few weeks off but the
Eagles off all year. PICK: BENGALS

Sunday, December 16

Green Bay -3 At Chicago

Without Urlacher
Bears Defense looks gooey like
a deep crust pizza. PICK: PACKERS

At Atlanta -1.5 NY Giants

With both teams in steep
decline only the Giants
show up for big games. PICK: GIANTS

At New Orleans -3.5 Tampa Bay

Only cool thing about the
Bucs is the kid who dances
with the cheerleaders. PICK: SAINTS

At St. Louis -3 Minnesota

Adrian Peterson
is not the greatest ever
but he’s good right now. PICK: VIKINGS

Washington -1 At Cleveland

Will RG3 play?
I kind of think that he won’t.
So I’ll take the Browns. PICK: BROWNS

At Miami -7 Jacksonville

The Jags-run defense
is more suspect than Brian
Williams’ music cred. PICK: JAGS

Denver -2.5 At Baltimore

Ravens getting old
before our very eyes like
a sad Gossip Girl. PICK: BRONCOS

At Houston -8.5 Indianapolis

The Texans got crushed
on Monday night but they have
nothing to play for. PICK: COLTS

At San Diego -3 Carolina

The Chargers should run
the Statue of Liberty
play on every down. PICK: PANTHERS

Seattle -5.5 At Buffalo

Seahawks more fun than
a monkey in a parka
in an Ikea. PICK: SEAHAWKS

Detroit -6 At Arizona

If Arizona
loses ten straight they might have
to deport the team. PICK: LIONS

Pittsburgh -1.5 At Dallas

Which offense will be
more inept. Sources still point
to Tony Romo. PICK: STEELERS

At Oakland -3 Kansas City

I can’t imagine
how the Raiders will win this
game, but someone will. PICK: RAIDERS

At New England -5 San Francisco

They should have saved this
terrific match-up for the
Super Bowl, you know? PICK: PATRIOTS

Monday, December 17

At Tennessee -2 NY Jets

What plagues will God send
Jets’ fans? Radioactive
monkeys probably. PICK: JETS

Last week’s Haiku Picks went 5–10–1. That’s 96–108–5 for the season.

Jim Behrle opens up for Joe Wenderoth at the Poetry Project Friday Night at 10 p.m. Check out Poetryproject.org for details.