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Wed. 04/13 – Microsoft and ESET Help Ukraine Keep The Lights On Apr 13, 2022

Show notes

ESET and Microsoft helped Ukraine stop an attack on a power plant. Might CNN+ become a high profile casualty of the streaming wars? Elon Musk is facing a Twitter shareholder lawsuit. People aren’t happy that Meta’s metaverse vig is higher than even Apple dares charge. And, the new privacy-focused browser from Duck Duck Go.

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Tue. 04/12 – Meta Will Pay You To Get Creative In VR Apr 12, 2022

Show notes

Meta rolls out a test to sell virtual items in Horizon Worlds. Ethereum takes a major step toward its proof-of-stake upgrade. Would you watch a Bored Ape movie? Apple has delayed a major feature for the Watch. Etsy sellers are on strike. And Netflix’s new two-thumbs-up button.

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CreditKarma.com

Links:

Meta will let Horizon creators sell virtual items (The Verge)
Ethereum Undergoes Another Stress Test Ahead of Software Change (Bloomberg)
Bored Apes Go Hollywood With Coinbase-Produced Movie Trilogy (CoinDesk)
Apple Targets Watch Blood-Pressure Tool for 2024 After Snags (Bloomberg)
Over 14,000 Etsy sellers are going on strike to protest increased transaction fees (TechCrunch)
Digital Ad Revenue Jumped 35% in the U.S. Last Year, Biggest Gain Since 2006 (WSJ)
TikTok Ad Revenue Set To Triple in 2022 (The Information)
How Netflix tests Netflix: The story behind the service’s new two-thumbs-up feature (Protocol)

Mon. 04/11 – Elon DECLINES A Twitter Board Seat Apr 11, 2022

Show notes

By declining a seat on Twitter’s board, does that mean Elon has chosen violence? Plenty of signs of a mixed reality headset in the code of the next version of iOS. Meta tried and failed to design its own chip. China has decided to let some new games launch. And even if drone delivery is moving forward, is Amazon being left behind?

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Elon has decided not to join our board. I sent a brief note to the company, sharing with you all here. (Parag Agrawal)
China Ends Game Freeze by Approving First Titles Since July (Bloomberg)
Apple Sets the Date for Another Virtual WWDC—Here’s What to Expect (Bloomberg)
Meta Platforms is Struggling to Develop Its Own Device Chips (The Information)
Amazon Drone Crashes Hit Jeff Bezos' Delivery Dreams (Bloomberg)

(Portfolio Profile) MRGN, With Yoni Rubin Apr 09, 2022

Show notes

MRGN.ai is all about intelligent budgeting for small businesses. Founder Yoni Rubin joins me to discuss the realities of founding a SaaS company in 2022, and much more. Another great company joining the Ride Home Fund portfolio!

Fri. 04/08 – Elon To Give A “Hello, Fellow Tweeps” AMA Apr 08, 2022

Show notes

Some folks at Twitter are nervous about Elon Musk’s arrival, so he’s going to do an AMA to rally the troops. Twitter is testing unmentioning. Robinhood is fully rolling out that promise wallet feature. The increasing lexicon of euphemisms people have to use to speak freely on sites like TikTok. And, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions.

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Smith.ai promocode techmeme for $100 off signup

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Elon Musk to address Twitter staff after internal outcry (Washington Post)
Twitter test lets you 'unmention' yourself in tweets (Engadget)
Robinhood widens user access for crypto wallet transfers, unveils plan to support Lightning payments for bitcoin (The Block)
Gartner forecasts global tech spending to hit $4.4 trillion this year, up 4% (Silicon Angle)
Internet ‘algospeak’ is changing our language in real time, from ‘nip nobs’ to ‘le dollar bean’ (Washington Post)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

The Scoop: Inside Fast’s Rapid Collapse (The Pragmatic Engineer)
Millennial Billionaire Ryan Breslow Created Buzz, And Enemies, Attacking Stripe And Shopify. He’s Just Getting Started. (Forbes)
SCOOP: Crypto Fund Paradigm's Assets Under Management Climb 343% to $13.2 Billion (Newcomer)
The Metaverse Has Bosses Too. Meet the ‘Managers’ of Axie Infinity (Motherboard/Vice)
This Startup Promised People Free Crypto If They Scanned Their Eyeballs. Now People Feel They've Been Scammed. (BuzzFeed)

Thu. 04/07 – Zuck Bucks Apr 07, 2022

Show notes

The crypto dream might have died, but Meta still thinks the metaverse will need some for of currency. Maybe Zuck Bucks? OpenSea adds Solana NFTs. Shein is the world’s latest mega unicorn. Is Bolt pivoting from one-click checkouts to crypto payments instead? Legos in the metaverse. And DALL-E 2.

Sponsors:

Rocketlawyer.com/workconfidently

Links:

Facebook owner Meta targets finance with ‘Zuck Bucks’ and creator coins (FT)
Google Play will hide and block downloads for outdated apps starting later this year (TechCrunch)
Solana NFTs Can Now Be Traded on OpenSea (Decrypt)
Facebook won’t hold its F8 developer conference this year after pivoting to Meta (The Verge)
Shein Valued at $100 Billion in Funding Round (WSJ)
Crypto Startup Wyre Being Acquired by Payments Company Bolt for $1.5 Billion (WSJ)
Lego and Epic Games partnership aims for a kid-friendly metaverse (Washington Post)
OpenAI’s DALL-E AI image generator can now edit pictures, too (The Verge)

Wed. 04/06 – Twitter Says Yes To An Edit Button? Apr 06, 2022

Show notes

I told you Elon had no intention of being a passive investor. Twitter says an edit button is probably coming soon. So, you know, that Elon, he gets things done. One-click checkout startup Fast is shutting down completely. A deep dive into how the new Unreal Engine 5 fits into Hollywood, fits into gaming, fits into the metaverse. And beware: “Will Smith” might come into your Elden Ring game and slap you.

Sponsors:

Witful.com

Links:

Musk Refiles Twitter Disclosure to Show He’s an Active Investor (Bloomberg)
Twitter is adding an edit button (The Verge)
Sky Mavis raises $150 million to reimburse Ronin hack victims (The Block)
Fast, the Troubled Fintech Startup, Is Shutting Down (The Information)
MicroStrategy Funds Latest Purchase With Bitcoin-Backed Loan (Bloomberg)
Inside Epic's Unreal Engine 5—and What It Means for the Future of Gaming, Movies, and the Metaverse (Time)
How Epic Games is changing gaming—and maybe the metaverse (Fast Company)
Elden Ring players called Will Smith keep invading and slapping people (TechRadar)

Tue. 04/05 – Twitter Adds “Passive Investor” Elon Musk To Its Board Apr 05, 2022

Show notes

So much for that “passive” stake. Twitter has appointed Elon Musk to its board of directors. Amazon is gunning for SpaceX in the race to deliver internet from space. Some datapoints around the whole question of wash trading in the NFT market. And what if I told you there was ANOTHER wildly popular thing from the creator of Wordle?

Links:

Elon Musk to join Twitter’s board of directors, teases ‘significant improvements’ (CNBC)
Elon Musk Bought Some Twitter (Bloomberg/Matt Levine)
Amazon’s Project Kuiper books up to 83 rockets to launch its internet-beaming satellites (The Verge)
Microsoft brings Arm support to Azure virtual machines (ZDNet)
Axie Infinity Was Losing Gamers Even Before Record Crypto Hack (Bloomberg)
The Hottest NFT Marketplace is Mostly Users Selling to Themselves (Bloomberg)
Hackers breach MailChimp's internal tools to target crypto customers (BleepingComputer)
Internet communities are battling over pixels (The Washington Post)

Mon. 04/04 – Elon Musk To Take Twitter Private? Funding Secured? Apr 04, 2022

Show notes

So, Elon Musk has taken a 9.2% stake in Twitter. I’d point out that the last time Twitter had an activist investor, it led to Jack Dorsey stepping down as CEO. Is drone delivery suddenly, and rapidly, becoming a reality? The nation of the United Kingdom is going to issue an NFT. And Mark Gurman’s math on how an Apple subscription would work.

Sponsors:

Grammarly.com/techmeme

Links:

Elon Musk Takes 9.2% Stake in Twitter After Hinting at Shake-Up (Bloomberg)
Alphabet's Wing will begin drone deliveries in Dallas-Fort Worth on April 7th (Engadget)
AMD Returns to Deal Making with $1.9 Billion Purchase of Chip Specialist Pensando (WSJ)
NFTs to be launched by the Treasury later this year in crypto push (City AM)
It’s a big day at the State Department for U.S. cyberdiplomacy (Washington Post)
Why Apple Is Preparing to Let You Subscribe to Your iPhone (Bloomberg)

(Bonus) Inventing FaceTime And iMessage With Apple Engineer Justin Santamaria Apr 02, 2022

Show notes

Justin Santamaria was once an Apple lead engineer on iPhone, where he created iMessage, FaceTime, the blue/green text bubbles and even unlocked emojis so people outside Japan could use them. Now, as cofounder of Future, he’s using text communication to pair people with a world-class trainer for unlimited coaching through their phone.

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