How the Elon Musk biography exposes Walter Isaacson
One way to keep Musk’s myth intact is simply not to check things out.
One way to keep Musk’s myth intact is simply not to check things out.
Feed refreshed
Drummer James Edge got down on Apple’s “Marimba” ringtone in this TikTok, and it’s now the soundtrack for the rest of my work day.
And as a bonus, here he is doing Toe Jam & Earl, too.
9to5Google spotted a change in the Android YouTube app that removes the “Library” tab from the bottom of the app, replacing it with a new “You” tab that takes you to the same place but with some slight differences. I see the same in the iOS app, while my colleague Victoria Song does not.
Other things have shuffled around a bit — YouTube Premium benefits are now in the You tab instead of tucked in the menu that tapping your profile picture in the top right used to show, for instance.
No batteries, no infrared — just the original “clicker” TV remote’s ultrasonic pings translated into digital commands by an Arduino computer, which then speaks in a robotic voice to get Alexa to do your bidding.
Here’s our Button of the Month about the 1956 gadget — and its service manual.
Bloomberg reported yesterday that the “embarrassing” document that Judge Amit Mehta referenced when allowing the DOJ to post documents from the Google Antitrust trial was from a “mock” training session.
In it, Michael Roszak, Google’s VP of finance, reportedly called search ads one of the “greatest business models ever created” and likened it to “illicit businesses (cigarettes or drugs).”
Developer Innersloth announced that the game won’t receive updates or further support on the platform starting October 4th, 2023. As for why, the developer cites “the discontinuation of the Rift S headset, and many Rift players already moving to SteamVR.”
Players can get a SteamVR key for the game by submitting proof of purchase, using this form, by October 20th, 2023.
[www.oculus.com]
This week’s new entertainment releases cover a lot of ground. To start, there’s plenty on Netflix: the dark animated series Castlevania: Nocturne, the crime thriller Reptile, and Wes Anderson’s The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar.
Meanwhile, Gareth Edwards’ sci-fi epic The Creator is in theaters, Counter Strike 2 is out on PC, EA Sports FC 24 is available on PC and console, and a new batch of Playdate games dropped.
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At this year’s Code Conference, the CEO of one of the world’s largest computer chip companies discusses competing with Nvidia’s leading GPU, AI regulation, and the global supply chain.
is X CEO Linda Yaccarino’s description of the state of her company.
CNBC interviewer Julia Boorstin had been pushing Yaccarino for hard numbers on the state of X — whether it’s growing, shrinking, turning a profit. Yaccarino said, essentially, none of that matters as long as there’s no social media equivalent to X.
Parisian brand Coperni can’t resist a fashion show stunt. This is the same company that orchestrated the viral Bella Hadid spray-on dress moment last year, followed by robot dogs shortly after.
This season, Coperni sent models down the runway wearing Humane’s “Ai Pin,” a buzzy and mysterious device that we don’t know much about yet. I say “stunt” because it doesn’t seem like they... used it at all?
The government just extended the shelf life of some at-home tests in addition to announcing it’ll offer them for free again earlier this week. That means you might be able to use the tests you ordered last year, even if the kit “expired” in the past month. Just look up your kit in this table and click on the “extended expiration date” link to find out how much longer it’ll last.
[U.S. Food and Drug Administration]
Linda Yaccarino didn’t quite answer that question while onstage at Code, but she did pose a question that, frankly, feels easier to answer: “Who wouldn’t want Elon Musk sitting by their side running product?”
Google’s AI chatbot might get a new “Memory” feature that keeps track of your personal preferences and other important details, according to an early version of Bard’s UI viewed by 9to5Google. Bard may then use this information to tailor its future responses.
As shown in a screenshot shared by 9to5Google, this may mean you won’t have to remind Bard that you avoid eating meat when asking it to find recipes, or that you have two kids when prompting it to come up with a vacation itinerary.
First we run through the greatest hits of the Code Conference (including Linda Yaccarino’s interview, which was ... something!). Then we catch up on all the news from Meta Connect, how Hollywood is approaching AI and data going forward, the Logitech racing chair of Nilay’s dreams, and much more. It’s The Vergecast, the flagship podcast of publishing late today.
The Signal Tower from 1924 was restored from a 16mm copy back in 2019 and got a new score in 2020. The film is a guy who changes railroad signals at the foot of a mountain. Everything is great until he and his wife reluctantly allow a fellow employee to board with them.
The film is considered one of the best of Universal’s early ones and what’s really impressive is just how goregously shot all its very real trains (and occasional train models) are. The film is a real treat and a good illustration of just how far (and in some cases not far) filmmaking has come.
It’s not embeddable but you can watch the whole film here. I’ve got it casting from my phone to my TV as we speak.
[San Francisco Silent Film Festival]