The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 Nearly 60% of Americans have had covid at least once
But that doesn’t mean it can’t be contracted again (and again.) (Bloomberg $)
+ Vaccines for under-fives have been delayed by incomplete data. (NYT $)
+ Millions of Beijing residents are being tested to try and prevent a local outbreak snowballing. (Reuters)
2 Congress is weighing up new privacy laws
Unsurprisingly, Big Tech is attempting to control the narrative. (WSJ $)
+ The European Union has warned Elon Musk that Twitter still has to follow its rules. (FT $)
+ The progress Twitter has made on moderation could be squandered. (NBC)
3 Tech giants were duped into handing over data used to sexually extort minors
By imitating police agencies and forging legal requests. (Bloomberg $)
+ Inside police departments’ cozy relationships with surveillance tech firms. (Motherboard)
+ Computer monitoring software is making workers’ lives a misery. (The Guardian)
4 Even Facebook doesn’t know what it’s doing with your data
And that lack of control makes it very difficult to change its data-sharing policies. (Motherboard)
5 Could changing how we perceive time make everything less awful? 🕒
For a brighter political future, it could be worth a try. (Wired $)
6 Internet blackouts are now the weapon of choice for authoritarian regimes
They’ve gone from last to first resort. (Rest of World)
+ But the public is getting quicker and smarter at circumventing censors. (TR)
7 The shine is coming off Netflix
It’s getting more expensive just as the steady stream of quality new content dries up. (The Atlantic $)
+ Could video games provide it with a crucial new source of revenue? (WP $)
+ Can Netflix weather the cost of living crisis? (FT $)
8 These days, even toddlers are potential NFT customers
So they can practice becoming “tomorrow’s digital citizens,” apparently. (NYT $)
9 Virtual reality might help ease chronic pain
But affordability remains the obvious obstacle to wider adoption. (NYT $)
10 How iPhone autocorrect actually works 📱
Hint: turning it off altogether is a humbling exercise in how we’ve forgotten to spell. (WSJ $)
