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Mon. 11/07 – Meta Layoffs Incoming? Nov 07, 2022

Show notes

Looks like those rumors of massive Meta layoffs might be coming true this week. Covid has led to brand new iPhone shortage worries. Is Apple about to make it easier to invoke Siri? Airbnb has made it easier to understand the true cost of a rental. And this weekend in the Twitter Clown Car.

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Facebook Parent Meta Is Preparing to Notify Employees of Large-Scale Layoffs This Week (WSJ)
Apple Issues iPhone 14 Pro Shipment Warning Ahead of Holiday Shopping Season (MacRumors)
Apple’s Next Change for Siri: Dropping ‘Hey’ From ‘Hey Siri’ Trigger (Bloomberg)
Airbnb to Make Cleaning Fees Clearer on Searches After Customer Complaints (WSJ)
Elon Musk Appears To Threaten Advertisers Wary Of His Twitter Takeover (HuffingtonPost)

Fri. 11/04 – The Twitter Layoffs Nov 04, 2022

Show notes

The layoffs have begun at Twitter. And while Twitter might shutter its Substack competitor, Substack has moved into Twitter’s turf by launching a sort of discussion platform. DALL-E API’s are now available for you to use. What it’s like to use Netflix’s new ad-supported tier. And, of course, The Weekend Longreads Suggestions.

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Links:

Elon Musk’s Twitter layoffs are starting (The Verge)
Substack targets Twitter with launch of discussions feature, Substack Chat (TechCrunch)
Amazon pauses hiring for corporate workforce (CNBC)
DALL-E API released by OpenAI in public beta, potential boon for app builders (VentureBeat)
With Netflix’s ads tier, you never know what you’re going to get (The Verge)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

Bored Ape Yacht Club tell all: The untold story of the $4 billion crypto startup (FastCompany)
The ‘Viral’ Secure Programming Language That’s Taking Over Tech (Wired)
The Race to Be Figma for Devs: CodeSandbox vs. StackBlitz (TheNewStack)
The Most Vulnerable Place on the Internet (Wired)
Inside the weirdly competitive industry of robots writing letters in human handwriting (FastCompany)

Thu. 11/03 – How About Some Non-Twitter News? Nov 03, 2022

Show notes

Is TikTok still in danger of running afoul of government bans? WhatsApp gets Groups. Gmail gets package tracking. Instagram gets NFT minting. Patreon gets video hosting. Layoffs come for Stripe. Yes, there was some Twitter news too. And is the Adobe/Figma deal in trouble?

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Links:

TikTok tells European users its staff in China get access to their data (The Guardian)
WhatsApp officially launches its new discussion group feature, Communities (TechCrunch)
Gmail to add a new package tracking feature ahead of holiday shopping season (TechCrunch)
Meta’s Instagram Plans NFT Minting, Trading Tools (Decrypt)
Patreon’s long-awaited video hosting feature is finally rolling out to creators (The Verge)
Elon Musk Aims to Start Charging for Twitter Verification Next Week (Bloomberg)
Stripe Cuts Headcount by 14%, Prepares for ‘Leaner Times’ (Bloomberg)
DOJ takes aim at Adobe's $20 billion deal (Politico)

Wed. 11/02 – PlayStation VR2 Deets Revealed Nov 02, 2022

Show notes

We know when the PlayStation VR2 is coming, when you can pre-order it, and how much it’s gonna cost. What do you know? A bunch of news in the whole Twitter saga. The reality of the ransomware industrial complex. And an interesting new Mac app to help you remember everything you’ve ever done on your computer.

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Links:

PlayStation VR2 launches on February 22nd for $549.99 (The Verge)
Elon Musk to charge verified Twitter users to give ‘power to the people’ (SiliconRepublic)
Elon Musk’s Twitter is working on paid-video feature with ‘high’ risk (Washington Post)
Tumblr will now allow nudity but not explicit sex (The Verge)
Twitch opens Guest Star up so anyone can run their own talk show not (TechCrunch)
U.S. banks processed roughly $1.2 billion in ransomware payments in 2021, according to federal report (CNBC)
Rewind wants to revamp how you remember, with millions from a16z (TechCrunch)

Tue. 11/01 – Twilight Of The Blue-Checks? Nov 01, 2022

Show notes

Will charging for blue checks actually help Twitter monetarily or… frankly, any way, at all? Amazon has expanded ad-free Music. YouTube is bundling streaming services. Why Uber Eats is interesting inside of Uber earnings. And is it time to start worrying about Sony’s strategy with the Playstation?

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Links:

Mon. 10/31 – Would You Pay $20/Month For Twitter Blue? Oct 31, 2022

Show notes

Just, massive wholesale changes at Twitter, including possibly making folks pay up for features. Pitty the poor tech billionaires who have collectively lost half a trillion in wealth this year. When the M2 MacBook Pros should be showing up. And what colors might you be blocked from using on Adobe products?

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Links:

Elon Musk wastes no time changing Twitter (The Verge)
Twitter is planning to start charging $20 per month for verification (The Verge)
The 20 Richest Tech Billionaires Have Lost Nearly Half a Trillion Dollars This Year (WSJ)
Apple Gears Up to Launch Its Next Crop of Macs Early Next Year (Bloomberg)
India's Central Bank to Start Wholesale CBDC Pilot Nov. 1 (CoinDesk)
You’re Going To Have To Pay To Use Some Fancy Colors In Photoshop Now (Kotaku)

(Portfolio Profile) Readocracy Oct 29, 2022

Show notes

Readocracy is restoring sanity to the world by making how you inform yourself count for something. Troll-free, bot-free, ad-free.

Fri. 10/28 – It Actually Happened Oct 28, 2022

Show notes

Area man completes acquisition of social media platform. And now the fun begins? Amazon had bad earnings, but Apple mostly didn’t. YouTube is trying to be like TikTok too, but they’re giving their users options. And of course, the weekend longreads suggestions.

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Links:

How Twitter Will Change as a Private Company (NYTimes)
Amazon stock sinks 13% on weak fourth-quarter guidance (CNBC)
Apple reports strong quarter but expects sales slump (Silicon Republic)
YouTube redesign gives long-form videos, Shorts and Live videos their own tabs on channel pages (TechCrunch)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions

Smartphone Storage Space Is the New Turf War for Game Makers (Bloomberg)
The First Minute of Every Phone Call Is Torture Now (The Atlantic)
The Try Guys and the Prison of Online Fame (NYTimes Magazine)
The Crypto Story (Matt Levine/Bloomberg Businessweek)
Which AI Creates the Best (and Most Terrifying) Art? (PC Mag)
The Fantasy of Instant Delivery Is Imploding (Bloomberg)
The beginning of the monster Game of Thrones Twitter Thread (Ben Schwartz)

Thu. 10/27 – Meta (Insert Bomb Emoji Here) Oct 27, 2022

Show notes

(BOMB SOUND). That’s the sound of Meta’s disastrous earnings announcement yesterday. That’s the sort of insightful analysis you come to this podcast for. But also, Argo AI is shutting down. Google Cloud has a new blockchain tool for developers. And the Elon Twitter thing is happening. It’s really happening, people. Behave accordingly.

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Links:

Meta Tumbles as Sales Forecast Shows Depth of Ad-Market Weakness (Bloomberg)
Meta Plummets 25% as Zuckerberg’s Plea for ‘Patience’ Falls Flat (Bloomberg)
It’s Official: Meta Is a Disaster (Intelligencer)
Mark Zuckerberg Is Going To Kill His Company (Ed Zitron's Where's Your Ed At)
Ford, VW-backed Argo AI is shutting down (TechCrunch)
Samsung's Third-Quarter Profit Plunges Amid Chip Market Woes (CNET)
Google's new service helps Web3 developers build for blockchain-based platforms (ZDNet)
Elon Musk Is In Twitter’s Office and Will Address Staff Friday (Bloomberg)
Elon Musk, on Eve of Twitter Deal Close, Promises Advertisers It Won’t Become a ‘Free-for-All Hellscape’ (Variety)

Wed. 10/26 – Meta Calls Apple On Its "Rentier Capitalism" Oct 26, 2022

Show notes

Meta and Spotify both call Apple out on their recent App Store aggressiveness. Soft earnings from Microsoft and worrying earnings from Alphabet. Twitter seems to already be hemorrhaging its power users. LinkedIn fights its own bot war. And are unicorns back to becoming a rare thing?

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