Jacob Kastrenakes

Executive Editor

Jacob KastrenakesDec 5, 2022

Green light.

I asked ChatGPT to write a few bullet points summarizing today’s top tech news for me, but in good news for my ongoing job prospects, the AI bot told me it isn’t able to “keep up with current events.”

So without further ado, here’s your human-curated morning roundup:

–ChatGPT rejected me, but Stack Overflow has rejected ChatGPT

–Fortnite has dirt bikes now and got a visual upgrade, too

–Elon says he needs more time for the second data dump of internal Twitter communications. The first one was a total dud.

–DJI’s Mini 3 drone appears to have leaked ahead of a proper announcement

–And now I’m gonna go watch this new Last of Us trailer

Jacob KastrenakesDec 5, 2022

“Metaverse” lost word of the year to “goblin mode.”

In what can only be bad news for Mark Zuckerberg’s virtual-reality dreams, the publisher behind Oxford English Dictionary announced the results of its word of the year poll. In a three-way matchup between “metaverse,” “goblin mode,” and “#istandwith,” metaverse took home just 4 percent of the vote.

Goblin mode — a phrase I have exclusively seen on TikTok, Twitter, and news articles about its use on TikTok and Twitter — came in first with an overwhelming 93 percent. I look forward to Meta’s 2023 pivot to Goblin, Inc.

The Word of the Year Goes Goblin Mode

[The New York Times]

Elon Musk’s promised Twitter exposé on the Hunter Biden story is a flop that doxxed multiple people

Jacob KastrenakesDec 3, 2022

Jacob KastrenakesDec 2, 2022

What do you do for a living, “What do you do for a living” guy?

The LA Times caught up with Daniel Mac, TikTok’s legendary interviewer of people with extremely expensive cars. I’ve always wondered how staged the videos are, but it turns out, there’s just a lot of standing around and waiting.

A number of elements have to break in his favor: An expensive vehicle is essential, but it also helps if it is in the rightmost lane with the windows down. Timing is tricky — if the stoplight on Rodeo is green, there isn’t enough time for an ambush. Auto owners who refuse to say what they do lead to higher engagement in the comments section, and “if there’s a female in the car,” Macdonald says, “it’s gonna go 10 times more viral.”

This TikTok star makes up to $100,000 a month by asking the super-rich about their cars

[Los Angeles Times]

Jacob KastrenakesNov 30, 2022

The latest twist in the Elon–Apple fight: a meeting at Apple HQ.

Musk tweeted that he met with Tim Cook at Apple’s Cupertino headquarters, and we are told Apple employees saw the pair walking around. No details on what they discussed, but Musk sounds a lot kinder toward Apple for now.

This comes two days after Musk tweeted a meme indicating he would “go to war” with Apple over its 30 percent App Store fees. That tweet has since been deleted.

Jacob KastrenakesNov 30, 2022

Spotify’s CEO is glad to have another ally in the fight against Apple.

In a lengthy tweet thread this morning, Daniel Ek criticized Apple’s App Store policies as a “threat to the future of the internet” — and he welcome Elon Musk to the fight.

Spotify has been critical of Apple’s policies for years, but it was only this week that the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX realized he might run into some problems with Apple now that he owns Twitter.

Last.fm turns 20 and now has a following on Discord

Jacob KastrenakesNov 22, 2022

What are Apple’s audiobook rules, anyway?

Jacob KastrenakesNov 1, 2022

Jacob KastrenakesOct 31, 2022

How much would you pay for a verification badge?

Elon Musk seems to think people will pay $20 per month to stay verified on Twitter. He’s directed engineers to finish building a paid verification system by next week — they’ll be fired if they don’t, per a new report from my colleague Alex Heath.