“We got a weak product, and we holding on to prime real estate with no muscle.” So said The Wire’s Stringer Bell to his soon-to-fall boss Avon Barksdale. They were in the drug dealing business. But could the same line be applicable to the decline of Microsoft? Slate’s David Auerbach pieces together how Microsoft lost its way, as understood through The Wire.

+ It’s hard for Microsoft to hold its turf as Apple sells millions of iEverythings, and Google now serves 25% of North American Internet Traffic.

+ How did Charles Manson go from being a low-level pimp to being a frighteningly effective sociopath? According to a new book, he was greatly influenced by a prison class based on Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People.

+ Eight business lessons from Whitey Bulger.

+ Need another fool-proof way to get ahead in business. Start smoking. And then stop.