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This is today’s edition download, Our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the tech world.
It’s okay to give up on the crypto revolution.
Crypto advertising is everywhere. Billboards line the Bay Area and line the LA highways, and you can’t get on a train in NYC without coming across an ad for a coin or barter. A-listers like Gwyneth Paltrow are pushing crypto platforms, and this year’s Super Bowl broadcast was filled with big-budget crypto spots, each announcing an opportunity to get rich.
However, despite their ubiquity and generous spending, these ads routinely omit any explanation of what crypto is. is, or what any of the crypto companies paying to plaster our landscape are actually selling. There is good reason for this. While the industry may be good for lucky speculators with the disposable cash to risk and the time to figure out how to do it, it has little to offer the average person today.
Crypto enthusiasts claim that by taking the reins of banks and Big Tech watchdogs who have betrayed us in the past, the industry will revolutionize financial systems by decentralizing commerce. But so far, the crypto industry has not lived up to this promise of democratization. Read the full story.
—Rebecca Ackermann
Concert workers fighting against algorithms
In the Bendungan Hilir district, just a stone’s throw from Jakarta’s flamboyant central business district, motorcyclists congregate at an unofficial “base camp”. They are the drivers of Gojek, Indonesia’s largest ride-hailing firm. They are also part of the backbone of a growing resistance movement against the referral algorithms that dominate their lives.
Base camps grew out of a tradition that existed before algorithmic ride-hailing services came to Indonesia. They are networks where drivers in the city stay in close contact. This sense of community is now at the heart of what separates Jakarta’s drivers from other concert workers around the world, and it could unleash a new playbook for the resistance: a way for workers to build a collective force, gain a safeguard and take care of it. while apparently no one else will. Read the full story.
—Karen Hao and Nadine Freischlad
This is the third part of our series that explores AI colonialism and shines a light on how technology impoverishes communities and countries that have no say in its development. The final episode is coming tomorrow, but you can read the first episode herepart two hereand Karen Hao’s introduction here.
Word of the Day
“People are my mood.”
— Robin Solod, who lives alone on Manhattan’s Upper East Side New York Times how much he began to appreciate his need for socialization.
must read
I scoured the internet for today’s most entertaining/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 China claims only 17 people died from covid in Shanghai
This raises questions about how he defines covid death. (NYT $)
+ The city is forcing vulnerable and elderly residents into temporary quarantine camps. (CNN)
+ Not surprisingly, the strict quarantine has led to a major mental health crisis. (Guard)
+ China resorts to censoring its own national anthem. (News Week)
+ A Spanish woman caught covid twice in just 20 days. (BBC)
+ It’s hard to decide when to get your next booster. (WP $)
+ If you’re still feeling wary of getting covid while restrictions are lifted, that’s fine. (slate $)
2 Online disinformation is wreaking havoc in Sri Lanka
And naturally, Facebook plays a central role. (rest of the world)
+ Barack Obama is worried about disinformation. (NYT $)
+ Russia’s ‘fake news’ law used to persecute investigative reporters. (Guard)
3 A social media campaign takes a murder suspect to court
After the police backed out, a troupe of amateur detectives came to the rescue. (Cut $)
4 Meet the PPE scammers of the pandemic
Many people have seen a crisis. Others saw an opportunity to make a lot of money. (Anger)
5 Who are digital pills with tracers that warn doctors if they are not actually taken?
They are unlikely to help people who may need the most medicine. (slate $)
6th Gen Z embraces “authentic” social platform BeReal
No ads, no visible follower counts, and most importantly, no filters. (WSJ $)
+ Instagram really wants you to stop posting TikTok on Reels. (Anger)
7 Solar power is still a rich man’s game
And that’s a huge hurdle for its wider adoption. (wired$)
+Climate change is destroying lives worldwide. (WP$)
+An Ecuadorian flower was named after its own extinction before it was rediscovered.(WP$)
How does a hidden camera reveal hidden creatures in the depths of the sea?
We’re still discovering strange new underwater species. (vox)
9 Firms are so desperate for chips they’re smashing their washing machines
The semiconductor shortage is raging and companies are panicking. (Bloomberg$)
10 Gut Health is taking over TikTok
But it’s quick fixes, not long-term healthy lifestyle changes that tend to go viral. (NYT$)
+One study says that time-restricted eating doesn’t work as a weight loss strategy.(NYT$)
+Popular TikTok recipes sound equally delicious and disgusting.(Guard)
+Deep-dive analysis of all kinds of topics is taking over TikTok. (vox)
We can still have beautiful things
A place for comfort, fun and distraction in these strange times. (Any ideas?Write meortweet me.)
+ onetimeless joke for a timeless song.
+ Did you know that football managers have to send VHS tapes to the South Pacific to have their games analyzed?fascinating stuff.
+ whyso babiesIs it common in popular culture right now?
+ Enjoy this fascinating clipfeather starSea creature rocking together.
+ turns outClueless style cabinetthat’s not all it has to be – it sounds tiring.
+ This old skool special movie effectsfascinating.
+ If you ever wanted to know why Oreo cream only sticks to one wafer,here is your answer.
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