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Thu. 05/19 – TikTok To Get Into Games? May 19, 2022

Show notes

A code red alert about vulnerabilities in VMware products. TikTok has a clever new program to crowdsource ad content from TikTok users. Oh, and they’re getting into games. FTX gets into regular old stock trading. The dreaded down rounds have arrived. And are there more Airbnb’s available in NYC right now, than there are apartments for rent?

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2 vulnerabilities with 9.8 severity ratings are under exploit. A 3rd looms (ArsTechnica)
TikTok’s new ad product gives creators a chance to partner with marketers on branded content (TechCrunch)
EXCLUSIVE TikTok plans big push into gaming, conducting tests in Vietnam -sources (Reuters)
FTX US launching zero-commission stock trading (The Block)
Defiant Chinese netizens skirt lockdown censorship using blockchain (Financial Times)
SoftBank-Backed Fintech Giant Klarna Looks for New Funds at Lower Valuation (WSJ)
New York Now Has More Airbnb Listings Than Apartments for Rent (Curbed)

Link to tomorrow's twitter space with Chris Dixon

Wed. 05/18 – Apple Takes A Covid Step Back May 18, 2022

Show notes

Apple is delaying its recent return to work policy indefinitely. If crypto mining is banned in China, how come it still the second biggest contributor to the global hashrate? Twitter’s board says it’s going to hold Elon’s feet to the fire. And the interesting raise for a startup looking to save encryption from quantum computing?

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Apple Delays Plan to Have Staff in Office Three Days a Week (Bloomberg)
Apple Executive Who Left Over Return-to-Office Policy Joins Google AI Unit (Bloomberg)
China Makes a Comeback in Bitcoin Mining Despite Government Ban (Bloomberg)
Netflix Hit By Layoffs; About 150 Mostly U.S.-Based Employees Affected (Deadline)
Acer Just Revealed External Monitors With Stereoscopic 3D, and I'm Dying to Try Them (Gizmodo)
As Musk Tweets, Advisers Labor to Keep Twitter Deal on Track (Bloomberg)
Elon Musk Does Not Care About Spam Bots (Matt Levine/Bloomberg)
Cornami raises $68M to support quantum encryption (VentureBeat)

Tue. 05/17 – Sigh… More Elon/Twitter Stuff May 17, 2022

Show notes

Now Elon says he can’t move forward with the deal until he gets solid answers from Twitter about the bot issue, even though, we have the paperwork of his original offer and there were no contingencies about bot numbers, and he totally could have written that into the deal. Will Apple use E Ink on their foldable device? Coinbase is slowing hiring, while Microsoft is boosting pay. And a big test of driver assist systems says they’re still not as reliable as we all hope they are.

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LCX.com/ride

Links:

Elon Musk Says Twitter Must Prove Bot Claims for $44 Billion Deal to Proceed (Bloomberg)
Apple ‘testing’ foldable with secondary E Ink display, says analyst (The Verge)
Apple Now Letting Developers Automatically Charge for Some Subscription Price Increases (MacRumors)
Coinbase Expands Features, Allowing Some App Users to Access Ethereum-Based Dapps (CoinDesk)
Coinbase slows hiring to help weather market downturn (The Block)
Satya Nadella details Microsoft plan for ‘significant additional investment’ in employee compensation (GeekWire)
Report spotlights vast scale of adtech's 'biggest data breach' (TechCrunch)
Cars in driver-assist mode hit a third of cyclists, all oncoming cars in tests (The Register)

Mon. 05/16 – F It! Netflix Is Doin’ It Live! (Maybe) May 16, 2022

Show notes

Is Netflix about to experiment with actual live broadcasts? Where did all the bitcoin go in the whole Luna/UST backstop debacle? Spotify is testing NFTs. Uber Eats gets into the ankle robot delivery game. And the Texas law that has all of big social media platforms worried.

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Netflix Exploring Live Streaming For First Time; Plans To Roll Out For Unscripted Series & Stand-Up Specials (Deadline)
LFG Reserves Dwindle to Just 313 Bitcoins From 80K After UST Crash (CoinDesk)
Exclusive: Spotify tests letting artists promote NFTs on their profiles (MusicAlly)
OpenSea is adding NFT copy detection and verification features (The Verge)
Uber Eats pilots autonomous delivery with Serve Robotics, Motional (TechCrunch)
Tech groups ask Supreme Court to block Texas social media law (Washington Post)
Just How Incredibly Fucked Up Is Texas’ Social Media Content Moderation Law? (TechDirt)

(TWTR SPC) Techpocalypse Now! W/ @EricNewcomer @loganbartlett & @alexrkonrad May 14, 2022

Show notes

Techpocalypse Now! W/ @EricNewcomer@loganbartlett & @alexrkonrad

How bad is it? How bad can it get? How do we get out of this?

Fri. 05/13 – Elon Puts Twitter Bid On “Hold,” But Is “Still Committed” May 13, 2022

Show notes

Ok. Are you sitting down? Would you believe me if I told you Elon Musk is giving signals that the Twitter deal might be off? Could we fix the whole stablecoin mess if we just turn it off and turn it back on again? The refugees from Meta’s failed crypto project have a new startup to call home. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions™.

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Elon Musk says Twitter deal ‘on hold’ after spam / fake account report (The Verge)
Terraform Again Halts Blockchain Behind UST Stablecoin, Luna (Bloomberg)
Ex-Meta crypto chief David Marcus launches Bitcoin payments startup backed by a16z and Paradigm (TechCrunch)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions™:

Terra: To the Moon and Back (Not Boring)
Why financial engineering has gone full circle with Terra (The Blind Spot)
Tech workers in Latin America want to make Spanish the primary language of programming (Rest of World)
The Thing That Makes It Work Means It Doesn’t (Garbage Day)

Thu. 05/12 – The Everything Everywhere All At Once File Overflows May 12, 2022

Show notes

Other algorithmic stablecoins are teetering. Meta is cutting back, even when it comes to the Metaverse. Could an Instacart IPO lead us out of this darkness? Disney’s streaming business is holding up. For now. And the AR demo that was the most exciting thing from the I/O keynote yesterday.

Sponsors:

Ortto.com

Links:

Terra Crunch Shakes Foundations of Crypto Stablecoin Complex (Bloomberg)
Exclusive: Facebook-owner Meta tells hardware staffers to prepare for cutbacks (Reuters)
SoftBank Reports Its Biggest-Ever Full-Year Loss (WSJ)
Instacart Files Confidentially for an IPO That Could Happen This Year (Bloomberg)
Senate confirms Bedoya to FTC, establishing Democratic majority (The Verge)
Disney+ Hits 137.7M Subscribers, Beating Wall Street Expectations in Streaming (The Hollywood Reporter)
Google releases Android 13 beta 2 with finer privacy controls and improved Material You (Neowin)
Google Glass’s successor teased at I/O (TechCrunch)

Wed. 05/11 – Google I/O 2022 May 11, 2022

Show notes

All the headlines from Google’s I/O keynote this afternoon. The stablecoin fiasco has gotten rapidly worse. More carnage in tech stocks. Is Apple shifting to USB C for the iPhone at long last? And pour one out for the iPod, the product and brand that very much kicked off our modern era of gadgetry.

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Google Maps bringing a new ‘immersive view’ of select cities, Live View’s AR for other apps (9to5Google)
Google’s new ‘multisearch’ features hint towards an AR glasses future (TechCrunch)
Google will let you talk to Assistant on the Nest Hub Max just by looking at the screen (The Verge)
Google announces Pixel 6a powered by Tensor processor for $449 (9to5Google)
Google gives us our first glimpse of the Pixel 7 (Android Police)
Google unveils the Pixel Buds Pro (9to5Google)
Google previews the Pixel Watch, coming this fall with Pixel 7 (9to5Google)
Google will release a Pixel Tablet… in 2023 (TechCrunch)
As Luna holders watch the token slide, many won’t be able to cash out for weeks (The Block)
Coinbase revenue drops 27% from a year ago, stock slides (CryptoWorld)
Kuo: iPhone 15 to Switch From Lightning to USB-C in 2023 (MacRumors)
The iPod is dead (TechCrunch)

Tue. 05/10 – UST Stablecoin Not So Stable May 10, 2022

Show notes

A major algorithmic stablecoin has lost its peg to the dollar. More concerns of a slowdown as Tiger Global has racked up massive paper losses. Match Group sues Google. Has GDPR crushed the European app economy? Amazon engages mom and pop stores to deliver packages. And an interesting raise that is building the GitHub of machine learning.

Sponsors:

ConstantContact.com

Links:

UST Stablecoin Loses Dollar Peg for Second Time in 48 Hours, LUNA Market Cap Falls Below UST's (CoinDesk)
Crypto’s Audacious Algorithmic Stablecoin Experiment Crumbles (Bloomberg)
Tiger Global hit by $17bn losses in tech rout (FT)
Europe's GDPR coincides with dramatic drop in Android apps (The Register)
Match Sues Google Over App Store Billing Rules (Bloomberg)
Amazon’s surprising new delivery partners: Rural mom-and-pop shops (Recode)
Hugging Face reaches $2 billion valuation to build the GitHub of machine learning (TechCrunch)

Watch iconic Broadway theatre rise 30 feet above the ground (Borat voice: MY WIFE!)

Mon. 05/09 – Everything Is Down May 09, 2022

Show notes

Everything is down, not just tech stocks, but now crypto too. More signs of belt tightening and possible hiring freezes, this time from Uber. Twitter has avoided the overall market route thanks to Elon’s bid, but could the downturn effect that as well? Instagram launches an NFT pilot. And what to expect from Google’s I/O later this week.

Sponsors:

OurCrowd.com/ride

Links:

Bitcoin’s Unraveling Hits 50% From Peak With Drop Below $33,000 (Bloomberg)
Uber CEO tells staff company will cut down on costs, treat hiring as a ‘privilege’ (CNBC)
Why Musk’s Twitter Bid Has Shaken Tesla Investors (NYTimes)
Meta to start testing digital collectibles on Instagram (The Block)
Costa Rica declares national emergency after Conti ransomware attacks (BleepingComputer)
What to expect from Google I/O 2022 (The Verge)

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