A bunch of folks got emails this morning from Twitter informing them that they’d have to start spending money for the privilege of spending money. The company is now requiring advertisers to buy checkmarks in order to advertise on the service.
If any ISPs are watching this: please don’t start getting any funny ideas.
Who won the race to 5G? Who knows!
Buckle up: the finish line has just changed. (But apparently we’re still trying to beat China.)
I’ve been off of Twitter for about two years now and it’s incredible. You really can stop thinking about it after just a little while if you commit to moving on.
None of these platforms are inevitable! They will all die someday! You don’t have to be on them!
“Real winners quit.”
Business Insider has always loved reporting from the sky, and this time it’s upgraded from coach:
I commute between Boston and New York City up to three times a week on a seaplane. Here’s why it beats taking the train or flying commercial
Extremely relatable!
[Business Insider]
Those other states and cities that made outrageous bids for Amazon’s new headquarters? They may have dodged a boondoggle.
The Washington Post reports that Virginia legislators and watchdogs are worried that Amazon’s post-pandemic hybrid work policy could cut the value of the subsidies promised to attract all those jobs to the region.
[Washington Post]
Citing data from analytics firms, NYT says BeReal is facing a precipitous decline in downloads and users:
The number of people who use the app daily has dropped 61 percent from its peak, from about 15 million in October to less than six million in March, according to Apptopia.
Are you still on BeReal?
[The New York Times]
This Vanity Fair cover story on Rupert Murdoch and the heirs to his throne is a rich tale of power, scheming, and betrayal. You can easily imagine how all of the juicy drama could be wrapped into a compelling television show about thirsty children vying for control of a vast media empire.
Ah, too bad, though. Vanity Fair reports that the divorce settlement between Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall prohibits Hall from giving story ideas to HBO writers.
[Vanity Fair]
The Atlantic has a fun little piece about “Martin:” a chess bot that’s designed to play poorly. Apparently it’s the most popular bot on Chess.com, powering “about 10 million games a week, the most of any bot on the site.”
[The Atlantic]
As spotted by Slate, Twitter, Inc. has been folded into “X Corp.”
Elon Musk has been obsessed with an “everything app” for some time, and “X” is his chosen moniker for that effort. The name change here is just a game of musical chairs for now, but it’s also one more knife in the back of the old Twitter.
[Slate Magazine]
I’ve enjoyed a rare fortune of time and place in human history, which includes the distinctive growl of a flat-six performance engine. It was rad! It was also terrible.
Americans have been blessed — but moreover, simultaneously cursed — with indulgent forms of freedom. Fighting gasoline cars in this country looks a lot like fighting against guns: something we ought to do, but, because of the problem of collection action, demands the sacrifice of courageous actors. Kudos to those who try to break through:
