Daily Headlines for June 15, 2022

The link between sex and imagination

Hollywood’s portrayal of domestic workers is a barrier to their real-life humanization
Advocates for domestic workers believe that shifting the cultural narrative around nannies, caregivers and housecleaners could help influence policy change.

How One Direction fangirls made the internet a better place
In her new book, reporter Kaitlyn Tiffany explores why we should thank Harry Styles-obsessed fandoms for shaping our social interactions online.

Brett Blake: the 10 funniest things I have ever seen (on the internet)
The comedian shares his favourite online laughs, including an Instagram account dedicated to terrible real estate agents and a rooster attacking a weatherman

Why I fell out of love with Twitter

‘TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge’ is a kung fu barrage of arcade perfection

Review: TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge is a must-play arcade throwback
A stylish balance of arcade accessibility and combo-crazy depth.

Why Rural Americans Keep Waiting for Fast Internet, Despite Billions Spent
Flaws in government programs have left some residents behind

Bill Gates says crypto and NFTs are ’100% based on greater fool theory’

TechScape: why you shouldn’t worry about sentient AI … yet
A researcher says Google has created an AI being with smarts and soul, but my own attempt reveals the truth behind those claims. Plus, the latest crypto crash

The 3 things an AI must demonstrate to be considered sentient
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain

The company behind PUBG shows off its ‘hyper-realistic’ virtual human
Her name is Ana

Tech Giants Start Getting Real on Augmented Reality
Companies rethink AR hardware—HoloLens anyone?—as software, games suggest more direct path to profits

10 years after its demise, a requiem for the Microsoft Zune, the little gadget that couldn’t
Although it was the subject of much ridicule at the time, the Zune’s ungainliness is sort of charming from our present perch of digital oversaturation.

How Microsoft’s union agreement could shape the rest of the tech industry
Some pro-labor tech workers caution against overstating the agreement’s impact.

We’re entering an era of, um, creative accounting in startups
Down rounds, recaps, extensions...what’s the truth?

Why even your best employees are burned out—and what to do
In a new podcast, Angela Duckworth, author of the 2016 bestseller Grit, explains why, two years into the pandemic, even the grittiest people are quitting, stepping down, or scaling back.

The future of the office is an open question, but this company is testing 3 designs to figure it out
Prototypes are being used to evaluate how the office can and should change.

How paid marketers are fighting back against the Fake Web
Bots and fake users steal ad clicks, pollute audience targeting, and skew metrics. Paid marketers are learning to protect themselves.

Metaverse Spending to Total $5 Trillion in 2030, McKinsey Predicts
Seventy-nine percent of survey respondents said they have already made a purchase in the metaverse

Inside the dissolution of Apple’s elite design team
Apple’s design team is legendary. But following the death of Steve Jobs, dysfunction ran rampant, as Tripp Mickle writes in the new book ‘After Steve.’

US defence contractor in talks to take over NSO Group’s hacking technology
Deal – which would require approval from US and Israel – would give L3Harris control over controversial Pegasus tool

AI-powered parking platform Metropolis bags $167M

Meta’s Silicon Valley home, Menlo Park, plans to electrify 95% of its buildings

U.S. safety agency says Tesla accounts for most driver-assist crashes, but warns data lacks context

Tesla Tops List of Crashes Thought to Involve Driver-Assistance Technology
In first-ever survey, U.S. agency cautions against drawing conclusions about any firm’s car-safety features given data limitations

YouTube Music's new Spring Recap explores the seasons favorite songs
More seasonal recaps are coming in the future, too.

For All Mankind: Learn the mind-bending science behind the Apple TV+ show
Artificial gravity isn't really a thing right now, but it could be one day.

The Umbrella Academy's excellent third season is an apocalyptic transition of power
The Umbrella Academy’s third season is its best yet

Herman Miller’s cheapest task chair exudes the cozy charm of a knit sweater
Mixing mid-century modern design with elements from performance chairs, the Zeph is Herman Miller’s cheapest ergonomic office chair in history.

Song of the Day: Henri Salvador, "Dans mon île"

 

Song of the Day: The Stargazers, "Twenty Tiny Fingers"

 

Daily Headlines for June 14, 2022

What’s wrong with the word ‘minority’?
We have never had a “majority” population that defines unilaterally what this country is or represents. We are bigger than that.

How fandom built the Internet as we know it, with Kaitlyn Tiffany
Her new book on the long history of fangirls, from the Beatles to One Direction

Peter Lamborn Wilson, Advocate of ‘Poetic Terrorism,’ Dies at 76
His concept of a “temporary autonomous zone” became an inspiration for protests like Occupy Wall Street and for gatherings like Burning Man.

Wagner James Au will tell us Why the Metaverse Matters in a book

Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course serves sweet redemption for GamesBeat

LaMDA and the power of illusion: The aliens haven’t landed … yet 

Why 100% indexing isn’t possible, and why that’s OK
While 100% indexing may be possible in terms of 'technical,' it’s likely not going to be possible in reality.

How to access iPhone content when someone passes away
Here are a few ways you can get data off an iPhone belonging to someone who recently passed.

A hacked Kaiser Permanente employee’s emails led to breach of 70,000 patient records

India’s farmers exposed by new Aadhaar data leak

Sold! A working 1976 Apple-1, signed by Woz, just went for $340,100.
That's a lot of money for a very old, and very cool, computer!

Why is Starbucks’ union drive speeding ahead while Amazon’s stumbles?
More than 100 of the coffee shop’s locations have unionized, while just one Amazon warehouse has managed it

Microsoft Agrees to Make It Easier for Activision Employees to Unionize
Software company is seeking regulatory approval for $75 billion acquisition of videogaming company

Crypto layoffs loom as tokens crash: Coinbase, Crypto.com, and others cut staff
Crypto bosses are citing economic conditions and too-fast growth as reasons for cutting staff. The value of coins like Bitcoin has declined in recent days.

Coinbase lays off 18% of workforce as executives prepare for recession and ‘crypto winter’

Big Tech makes concessions on EU’s new anti-disinformation code
Facebook, Twitter and TikTok set to agree to provide country-by-country data on efforts to curb fake news

In Southeast Asia, a booming crypto scene

Why Netflix Is Still ‘Keeping Things a Little Bit Quiet’ on Its Gaming Front

CoachHub rounds third, aims for home plate with $200 million in Sofina and SoftBank-led round
Berlin-based digital coaching platform CoachHub has raised $200 million in a Series C funding round.

5 clever ways that malls are being reinvented across the U.S.
A new book makes the case that, No, malls aren’t dying. They’re just changing with the times.

This office building was designed to last 500 years
And it didn’t break the bank.

An elegant vision for microdosing
As we reimagine our relationship with drugs, we should reimagine the UX of drug use.

‘Delusional’: UN chief slams new fossil fuel funding and warns of climate chaos

Netflix’s Knives Out sequel now has a title, and it’ll be out this holiday season
It’s called Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

For All Mankind blasts into top ten chart for last week amid season 3 debut
It took just three days of season three to push For All Mankind into the top-10.

Watch the trailer for The Verge’s first Netflix show, The Future Of
The Future Of premieres on Netflix on June 21st

Tape Case Study: Circus of Power, "Still Alive..." Live EP

Circus of Power, Still Alive... Live EP (Metal Blade, 1989)

This is kind of a perplexing cassette release. Circus of Power, recently named as one of "Fifteen bands that should have been huge!" by Sleaze Roxx, was a, yes, sleaze rock band from New York City that had signed to RCA for its first album. This live EP was the band's second release, a six-song live set recorded somewhere in Detroit and released on Metal Blade—not RCA. 

Why didn't RCA release the live side? Did Metal Blade hope to draw some business from whatever mersh success the band had achieved with RCA? By 1989, Metal Blade was wandering from its bread and butter acts such as Fates Warning and Lizzy Borden to crossover acts of perhaps broader appeal like Swedish-American hard rock act Princess Pang and Midwest power poppers the Junk Monkeys.

Regardless, the six songs are a fun novelty—who doesn't love a tape with "Program Two same as Program One" on the J-card?—but were the songs not included on both sides, the listener might just listen once, and be done with it. (As it is, I'll listen twice. Disappointingly, the second side was blank! Boo, hiss.) 

The six songs open with a cover of Rick Derringer's "Still Alive and Well" and end with what might be the least restrained song of the set, "Turn Up the Jams." During that song, Alex Mitchell's vocals most remind me of Ian Astbury and Jim Morrison—comparisons I'd like to be able to make more often.

The band has a bit of a Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction thing going on, so it's no surprise that the band has connections to the motorcycle—OK, biker—scene, festivals, and events. (Case in point: Easyriders Video Magazine #11. And Hit List Vol. 3 #5 claimed the band was "the world's greatest biker metal band.") The live recording, venue unknown, includes no little crowd noise and exuberance, as well as the band's occasional exhortations to drink much, have fun, and stay safe.

In the end, the tape is too short and too short on information or context to be truly compelling. But it's fun, I'm not hungover, and I didn't get jumped. So that's something.

Tape Case Study: Cinderella, "Night Songs" and "Long Cold Winter"

Cinderella, Night Songs (Mercury, 1986)
Cinderella, Long Cold Winter (Mercury, 1988)

Backing up just a handful of years, the discerning listener is able to revisit—and recognize—what was so appealing about Cinderella during the glam and hair metal boom of the '80s. Night Songs was the most glam of the Philadelphia band's recordings; proponent Jon Bon Jovi sang background vocals on "Nothin' for Nothin'" and "In from the Outside." The songs were recorded at Bearsville Studios near Woodstock—and at several Philadelphia-area studios.

Philadelphia studios included Warehouse Studios, which was founded by Bon Jovi sound engineer Obie O'Brien—and which provided many a recording for adjacent acts such as April Wine, Bon Jovi, Britny Fox, Lita Ford, and other musical groups. Tracks were also recorded at Sigma Studios, birthplace of the Philly Sound, the subject of conservation activism, and now a protected historic location. Local Kajem Studios also provided additional services.

While a solid album, Night Songs's songs sometimes tend to run together, offering little standout songwriting. So the followup, Long Cold Winter, is notable for a couple of reasons. The sophomore release resulted in at least two hit singles—"Gypsy Road" and "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)"—and it didn't take Cinderella too long at all to stray from the straight-ahead glam trappings back home to a bluesier, rock 'n' roll-oriented vibe.

For Long Cold Winter, the band returned to Bearsville and Kajem, still maintaining a Philadelphia connection, and the progression from this record to the subsequent Heartbreak Station requires no leap of faith or imagination. The title track is about as bluesy as a glam band can be (opening a very solid, impressive second side), and Rick Criniti's B3 offers a sumptuous counterpoint to Tom Keifer's strong blues guitar solos and Robert Plant-like vocals.

Was this a case of hair metal bait and switch? Compare the two records' album covers. Night Songs features the band in high glam fashion, posing in front of illuminated smoke. Long Cold Winter doesn't even feature the band on its cover at all. It's just plain, blank white—winter, get it? The band photos, while clearly those of a hair metal band, are definitely more blues- or country-oriented than glam. And the music is there to back it up. Cinderella might have been made to order—even dropping two original band members to sign with a major—but the band had chops to spare. (Do check out side two of Long Cold Winter; every single song in the sequence is solid. "Fire and Ice" might as well be a latter-day Dokken song.)

Sometimes, bands can't survive the step from record to record with such a strong sound or image change. It's a credit to Keifer, Eric Brittingham, and others that they put out several more records before the advent of grunge. Cinderella hit the big leagues because of the glam metal boom, but the band had more going on from song one, leaving behind several excellent blues metal records.

Song of the Day: The Bevis Frond, "You Owe Me"

Tape Case Study: Cinderella, "Heartbreak Station" and "Still Climbing"

Cinderella, Heartbreak Station (Mercury, 1990)
Cinderella, Still Climbing (Mercury, 1994)

I've never given Cinderella much time, attention, or thought, primarily considering them an also-ran among the hair metal bands of the 1980s. Until this morning, I'd have been hard pressed to name more than one of their songs—"Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone)"—and if you consider their top 10 songs, I could have named one, maybe two with a stretch. But listening to these two records—on cassette, taken from a box underneath my desk—last night and this morning, there's slightly more going on than I expected.

First of all, the band's place of origin is exceptional: suburban Philadelphia. Even Still Climbing, the band's fourth and final record, was recorded between Kajem West in Gladwyne, Pa., and Devonshire Studios in Los Angeles. Kajem West was once located on the site of a munitions factory and mill, and Devonshire's former location at 10733 Magnolia Boulevard in North Hollywood, California, is now home to Salami Studios, which offers audio/video post-production. The band also reportedly practiced in the attic of an American Legion building in Wayne, Pa. (Perhaps Post 668?)

The one-time cover band, which started in the early '80s, quickly graduated from local and regional shows—Cinderella performed at the Empire Rock Club in Philadelphia and was the house band at the Galaxy in New Jersey—to going on tour with Ratt, Bon Jovi, and David Lee Roth. (Two of the original members went on to form Britny Fox.) Cinderella was inducted into the Philadelphia Music Alliance's Walk of Fame in 2015.

I was also struck by the band's music—and the power of presumption. These two records, at least, did not at all meet my expectations of ballad-heavy hair metal, which is how I've always associated the band. Instead, Heartbreak Station is periodically country-tinged, and Still Climbing is even more straight-forward in its blues-rock stylings. And there are horns! They're more subtle on Still Climbing and more forward on Heartbreak Station, which also included some strings work. (There's also some rollicking piano on the latter album, as well.) Based on these two albums alone, I'd compare Cinderella more to AC/DC, Guns n' Roses, and the Rolling Stones than the bands I'd previously considered their peers: Great White, Tesla, and who knows what else. A Bon Jovi comparison is also valid, especially given Jon Bon Jovi's hand in the band's initial discovery and emergence. 

Definitely worth a listen. Experiencing a rapid rise and fall over the course of about a decade, the band was in the right place and time to benefit from the opportunity offered by the glam and hair metal boom—and fell prey to the emergence of a subsequent sound or genre: grunge. It also participated in an East Coast musical ecosystem, benefiting from the proximity of Bon Jovi—and contributing to the evolution of Britny Fox and other local bands. A real Cinderella story, for sure.

Daily Headlines for June 13, 2022

Years after finding it, archeologists enter chamber under a Peruvian temple
The room was lost even to generations of people who lived and worshipped at the site.

Records show ICE uses LexisNexis to check millions, far more than previously thought

Zero-COVID and Free Speech

Welcome to Meta’s weird advertising war with Apple—the musical
Meta’s bizarre $6 million advertising blitz shows just what’s at stake for the company.

The DeanBeat: The Summer Game Fest had no Elden Ring, but it still showed the vibrancy of gaming

Starfield gameplay premiere resembles “No Man’s Skyrim,” leads Xbox showcase
Forza Motorsport stands out as a current-gen stunner. But what about today's no-shows?

Watch 15 minutes of Starfield gameplay
A hugely ambitious new IP from Bethesda

Bethesda’s Todd Howard gives us another glimpse of Starfield

Microsoft unveils A44’s Flintlock: Siege of Dawn action RPG

June’s Journey is helping the planet one tree at a time

Is "acceptably non-dystopian" self-sovereign identity even possible?

Google engineer says AI bot wants to ‘serve humanity’ but experts dismissive
Blake Lemoine claims of sentience for artificial intelligence bot described as ‘ball of confusion’ by Steven Pinker

Google engineer put on leave after saying AI chatbot has become sentient
Blake Lemoine says system has perception of, and ability to express thoughts and feelings equivalent to a human child

Google suspends engineer who claims its AI is sentient
It claims Blake Lemoine breached its confidentiality policies

“Sentient” artificial intelligence: Have we reached peak AI hype?

Best running gear: top gadgets to keep you motivated
From music on the go to GPS watches and apps such as Strava, tech to help you clock up the miles

A living room on a skateboard: how electric vehicles are redefining the car
Future EV designs offer drivers more space and leisure, with fewer parts making production more sustainable

Cloud costs are unmanageable: It’s time we standardize billing

Web3 is a myth, and that’s okay

She tracked her boyfriend using an AirTag — then killed him, police say

Unity CEO: The killer app of the metaverse will be more like TikTok than Fortnite
John Riccitiello doesn’t think people really want universal avatars. Many metaverse destinations won’t require avatars at all, he told Protocol.

Apple Goes Deeper Into Finance With Buy Now, Pay Later Offering
Tech giant will approve borrowers and fund loans itself rather than rely on a bank

As energy prices soar, the bitcoin miners may find they have struck fool’s gold
The rising price of electricity and the plunging value of the cryptocurrency could burst the speculative bubble for today’s prospectors

As startup layoffs continue, some perspective

John Oliver on big tech: ‘Ending a monopoly is almost always a good thing’
The Last Week Tonight host examined Google, Amazon and Apple and efforts to address ‘anti-competitive conduct’

At WWDC, Apple finally turned all its devices into one big platform
Instead of feeling like five operating systems, iOS, iPadOS, MacOS, WatchOS, and tvOS are now one big experience—mostly for the better, with some caveats.

Meta Scrutinizing Sheryl Sandberg’s Use of Facebook Resources Over Several Years
Review focuses on the extent to which staffers worked on her personal projects

Meta-morphosis or More Pain? Possible Futures for Facebook’s Parent Company
Meta Platforms is facing all kinds of headwinds—from flat user growth to $10 billion in lost revenue this year alone from Apple’s privacy changes. Realizing its transformative goal may depend on successfully building a whole new business for itself.

Yahoo appoints six new board members, including Jessica Alba

Spotify is buying a company that helped put Val Kilmer in Top Gun: Maverick
Spotify has bought AI voice outfit Sonantic for an undisclosed sum.

Cereal maker Magic Spoon scoops up $85M as it lands spot on Target shelves

Biden Plan for EV Chargers on Highways Meets Skepticism in Rural West
The U.S. wants fast EV chargers on the interstate, but Colorado, New Mexico and other states with miles of remote highway say putting chargers everywhere doesn’t make sense

This stunning garden uses playground equipment and copper tubes to water itself
Milan’s botanical garden is self-powered—thanks partly to the energy created by its human visitors.

Netflix reveals new Dragon Age and Tekken animated series

Dragon Age gets a new anime on Netflix
Hopefully it will be better than the last Dragon Age show

For All Mankind’s first season is currently free to stream
Its third season released on Apple TV Plus last week

Squid Game season two is finally, officially announced for Netflix
Not that it was ever in doubt

Marc Newson designed his Knoll task chair to last ‘forever’
The industrial designer shares the design process behind his first task chair, and why he aims to build icons rather than circular designs.

Song of the Day: Chris Kenner, "I Like It Like That"

 

Song of the Day: Chuck Rio and the Originals, "Margarita"

 

Daily Headlines for June 9, 2022

Feds seize SSNDOB marketplace that listed personal data of 24 million people
SSNDOB websites taken down by seizure orders, but no arrests have been made.

Best podcasts of the week: Who really profits from porn?
In this week’s newsletter: Two reporters get to the heart of the adult industry in Hot Money: Who Rules Porn? Plus: five of the best food podcasts

The Quarry review – engrossing buffet of horror staples
The makers of Until Dawn return with a cinematic and satisfyingly tropey teen horror that’s tense, fun and simple to play

Israeli Tech Firm Rolls Out Tracking Devices the Size of Postage Stamps
Wiliot’s tiny tags are aimed at tracking smaller crates instead of truck trailers and shipping containers. Its first big customer, supermarket chain Shufersal, will use the tags to follow produce from farms to stores

How AI is shaping the future of work

Ecosia gets a new look as it gears up for an era of green search

The ugly economics behind Apple’s new Pay Later system
Apple’s foray into the buy now, pay later scheme poses some serious questions about consumer safety

The early signs of startup layoffs to come

How to get the best employee stock options when negotiating your contract
Everything you need to know

This creative exercise turns disorganized thoughts into gold
This method can help you untangle your to-do list from your big, passionate ideas.

You can’t ‘future-proof’ your career. Here’s what to do instead
Futurist Elatia Abate says the more we can employ curiosity to learn what is changing, how it is changing, and what it means, the better we and our careers will be prepared to thrive.

3 questions leaders should ask any time they’re making changes
It’s widely reported that 70% of all change initiatives fail. Lindsey Caplan and Josh Levine offer a framework for making change stick.

Research reveals why so many big tech whistleblowers are women
Chalk it up to exclusion in organizations, and gender socialization

Big Tech Has Spent $36 Million on Ads to Torpedo Antitrust Bill
Legislation would block Amazon, Google, Facebook and Apple from favoring own products; backers of the bill have spent less than $200,000

Jewelry giant settles gender-discrimination lawsuit for $175 million
The case, in which 68,000 women alleged unfair pay and promotion practices, had become a hallmark of #MeToo activism

Selling the future: How marketplaces will continue to drive new experiences

Old Navy’s plus-size experiment failed. It didn’t have to
A number of startups have shown that brands can be both size-inclusive and profitable.

Netflix buying Roku would make a lot of sense
With Netflix getting into advertising, it’s more aligned with Roku than ever.

Spotify hypes the revenue potential of podcasts and audiobooks at its second Investor Day event

Microsoft’s Phil Spencer lays out a 20-year vision for games

Exclusive: Mattel makes its play for the metaverse—and the metaverse plays back
The famed toymaker will turn its iconic characters into playable avatars in Cryptoys’ NFT gaming world.

Brown Foods ushers in new age of dairy, raises a ‘latte’ money for cowless cow’s milk

This game designer predicted COVID 10 years ago. Here’s what’s coming next
According to Jane McGonigal, the pandemic wasn’t unimaginable. “We just didn’t have a critical mass of people imagining it.”

These stress-relief strategies could be doing more harm than good
The problem with many “tried and true” stress-relief strategies is that they often don’t help, and they can do more harm than good, says author Arin N. Reeves.

New research points to bad math behind corporate renewable energy claims
Lots of companies with climate pledges are responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than they say they are

Tree planting programs can actually do more harm than good
Companies and organizations often introduce new tree plantations to incompatible biomes, where they don’t thrive and can destroy existing ecosystems.

Goodbye gasoline cars? EU lawmakers vote to ban new sales from 2035

Watch these satisfying videos of the ocean getting a much-needed cleanup
It's time to clean up our mess

NASA joins the hunt for UFOs
The scientific study follows separate efforts by the Pentagon and intelligence agencies

Forget IRL concerts. Here’s how ABBA’s new arena was designed for digital avatars
The ‘ABBAtars’ may have stolen the show, but the illusion wouldn’t be complete without the dazzling infrastructure that supports them.

Watch the first trailer for the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime
Coming to Netflix in September

Entergalactic’s first trailer shows off a trippy musical ride
A cross between Arcane and Spider-Verse

The freelance artist behind a million-dollar NFT collection
Antoine Mingo created the art behind Pudgy Penguins — but he hasn’t shared in all of its success