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Google's Plan to Promote Political Spam Emails will Proceed
Makena Kelly: Gmail is now officially allowed to spam-proof politicians’ emails
Google’s plan, first reported by Axios in June, would allow for candidates, political party committees, and leadership political action committees to apply for the program that would make their messages exempt from Gmail’s spam detection systems. While Google did not need
Apple
Can We Improve the iOS 16 Battery Percentage Icon?
This tweet has been making the rounds today, and fair play to it, it's a really nice-looking
movie
Does Hollywood Actually Make More Sequels and Super Hero Movies Than They Used To?
Yes and yes.
The Data
I used Box Office Mojo to look at the top 10 grossing movies in the
Are Vaccines Working?
Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the New York Times has been collecting and sharing case and death
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I’ll Bet You Never Heard of this $4 Billion Company
Global Payments to acquire EVO for $4 billion
Global Payments is to acquire smaller rival EVO Payments for nearly $4 billion in an all-cash deal that will extend its reach in the B2B sector. Headquartered in Atlanta, EVO currently offers merchant acquiring and paymens processing services to more than 550,000 merchants in over
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Proxy Icons are Hidden in Plain Sight
Nick Heer: The Many Capabilities of Proxy Icons
The proxy icon should not be treated as a secret, hidden feature. It is so much more dignified and capable than that.
I've been using the Mac since 1995, I've been entrenched in the Apple community since around 2004, and hand to my
newsletter
The Birchtree Newsletter, August 2022
The Birchtree Newsletter is now monthly! I've fallen off the wagon recently, and I still want to bring you guys fun stuff, but doing that every week became too much, but monthly works so much better, so I hope you enjoy it as well. Here's what we'll cover each
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Is Your North Star Quality or Quantity?
Om Malik: The problem with Facebook
Meta’s north star doesn’t take into account value to the users, the benefit to the larger ecosystem or even the experience. Instead it is about how the company’s users time can be translated into dollars for the sole benefit for Meta.
This vibes with what I
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The Vibe Shift I've Been Waiting For
Meg Walters: Anne Hathahate was rooted in misogyny - and a new generation aren’t standing for it
Our sudden acceptance of the earnest celebrity isn’t merely a fluke – it’s a symptom of a much larger cultural shift. As a new generation comes of age, new values, priorities and perspectives are also taking hold.
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Yet Another Crypto Disaster
Ed Zitron: The Consequences of Silence
There are about a hundred different letters to the judge, many of them speaking of the fear and depression caused by having money that they desperately need to help keep their families fed locked up in Celsius’ coffers.
These stories are heartbreaking. For a movement that's supposedly
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You Don't Have to Use Instagram
Jared Polin commenting on Instagram's shift to video:
It is what it is. Instagram needs to evolve to survive, whether we like the changes or not. It's still our choice to be there or not be there, as it's a free service that we don't pay for,
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Winking at the Camera
Li Zhoh: Republicans have a nonsensical argument against the same-sex marriage bill
Many Senate Republicans, rather than confront the substance of new legislation that would provide federal protections for same-sex marriage, are instead arguing that a vote on the bill is unnecessary.
By their reasoning, lawmakers don’t need to consider this legislation,
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Spotify Discontinues Car Thing
Spotify announced the discontinuation in their earnings call this week:
“The goal of Spotify’s Car Thing exploration was to better understand in-car listening, and bring audio to a wider range of users and vehicles,” a spokesperson told TechCrunch. “Based on several factors, including product demand and supply chain issues, we have decided to
How to Write a Good Pitch Email to YouTubers
I get a lot of of emails from companies asking me to try their product and make a video about it. I don’t respond to most of these emails, but a few do catch my eye and make me check out the product. Today I wanted to share a few things I find effective
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Paved With Broken Dreams of "the Old Instagram"
Mia Sato: The Kardashians hate the new Instagram
“Make Instagram Instagram again,” the post says. “(Stop trying to be tiktok i just want to see cute photos of my friends). Sincerely, everyone.” Her sister Kim Kardashian also shared the same post, which has over 1.1 million likes. The associated Change.org petition has nearly
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NFL+ Ain’t for Me, and I’m Not Sure Who It’s For
The NFL launched NFL+ today, and I went from excited to completely uninterested pretty quickly. I live in Illinois, but my favorite team is the Green Bay Packers, so I get to see about 1/2 of their games live, but the other half just don’t air on any channel here. I was hoping