Links
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,
Links
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
Links
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
Links
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
Links
Take (way) More Screenshots
Alex Chan: You should take more screenshots
Digital files exist in a context: they rely on particular hardware and software to be useful. The more time passes, the harder a context is to replicate. It is possible to emulate older systems, but it’s requires a lot of time and expertise; more than I’m
Links
Google Walks Back a Crazy Change
Ron Amadeo: After public outcry, Google will reinstate Play Store app permissions list
The app permissions list is a factual, computer-generated record of what permissions an app can request, while the Data Safety section is written by the developer. You can't cheat the app permissions list, while Data Safety runs on the
Links
Martin Shkreli Wants to Help Me Save Money on Medicine? It's a Web3 Project?! How Could Anyone Be Skeptical?
Molly White: After five years in prison for a Ponzi scheme and a lifetime ban from the pharmaceutical industry, Martin Shkreli announces his new venture: a web3 drug discovery platform
Web3 projects and Shkreli were basically made for each other, so I guess this should come as no surprise. From the press release:
"For
Links
On "the Best Laptop"
John Gruber: Wirecutter’s ‘Best’ Laptop
My longstanding complaint about The Wirecutter is that they institutionally fetishize price over quality.
And:
They do have a “Mac or Windows (or Something Else)?” preface to the whole comparison, but if you’re going to name a “best laptop”, putting aside OS preference, it’s incompetent not to
Links
Epidemic Sound Sues Meta for Massive Copyright Infringement
Meta Hit With Massive Piracy Lawsuit Over Epidemic Sound Royalty-Free Music
“Epidemic knows of over 950 of its music tracks that have been reproduced, stored, made available to, and distributed to its users by Meta through its Music Library or through its other content sharing tools without a license. Epidemic is confident that further
Links
Rage Against the Standards
Gruber snarking on consortiums working on open standards:
The good news is, Bluetooth is an open industry standard, governed by a consortium.
Hear me out here, but I actually think it's good that Bluetooth exists, and I think it's good that USB-C, Qi, Wi-Fi, and Matter are net good
Links
What Counts as Broadband Could be Changing
Jon Brodkin for ArsTechnica:
Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is aiming to increase the agency's broadband speed standard from 25Mbps to 100Mbps on the download side and from 3Mbps to 20Mbps for uploads.
And:
The 25/3Mbps metric was adopted in January 2015 under then-Chairman Tom Wheeler and was never updated
Links
A Gerenational Change
Pew has polling out showing a pretty remarkable difference in how young and old Republicans see climate policy in the U.S. Stealing just one chart as an example:
I can't find anything breaking down "leans Democratic" age groups, and I'm hesitant to extrapolate too much from young people
Links
The Glorious Decimation of Smoking
I enjoyed this thread on things what were normal in the '90s but are non-existent now, and the thing the immediately came to mind for me was smoking indoors. You would go to a restaurant and you'd be asked two things:
1. How many people are in your party?
2. Smoking
Links
Eventually You Need to Upgrade
Nintendo Life: XEL - Promising Zelda-Style Sci-Fi Adventuring That Falls Short On Switch
Sections of the map will slowly spawn into existences as you approach, breaking the immersion that the developers are working so hard to create. The worst technical issue, however, is the stuttering frame rate that shows up when groups of enemies
Links
Renewables Accounted for Nearly 1/3 of U.S. Energy Usage in April
Elizabeth Weise USA TODAY: 'A 'Wow' moment': US renewable energy hit record 28% in April. What's driving the change?
The percentage of U.S. electricity produced by renewable energy from wind, solar and hydroelectric dams has been steadily rising, from 8.6% in April 2001 to this April'
Links
Everything is a Subscription Because the Line Must Keep Going Up
Andrew J. Hawkins: The future of cars is a subscription nightmare
“For automakers to achieve their revenue aspirations by charging consumers extra for features and services, they have work to do,” Cox’s Michelle Krebs said.
I don't have the answer here, but I think there's something fundamentally wrong with how
Links
We're Still Talking About How Bad this Metal Gear Character was 7 Years Later
Ashley Bardhan: Metal Gear Turned 35, But Quiet’s Character Design Marks A Timeless Controversy
That’s what Quiet’s bullshit vocal cord parasites really are. Not a plot point created by a genius to make us feel ashamed of our words and deeds and counter the exceedingly tired confines we impose on women in
Links
Forget SaaS, let's talk about GaSaaS
Allen Pike: Giving a Shit as a Service (via Michael Tsai)
In some ways, that’s the fundamental value proposition of a small boutique, whether it be a furniture shop or a software studio. Giving a shit as a service. Sure, you can always get a commodity good from off the shelf – when you’re