“Blizzard canceled its survival game Odyssey after six years in development largely due to its struggling technology. One factor behind those struggles may have been the company’s inability to retain or attract senior engineers, in part, because of a lack of remote-work flexibility. But the hardest impact of this policy is that both companies asked…
“Out of Stock – Instacart, Elon Musk, Cruises, and Crabs” – A Scammer Darkly
“Instacart lost two billion dollars last quarter, which somehow beat Wall Street expectations. The markets have decided that gig grocery delivery is something society needs so badly it’s worth blowing billions and grinding a dwindling independent workforce into dust to make it happen” https://newsletter.scammerdarkly.com/archive/out-of-stock-instacart-elon-musk-cruises-and-crabs/
“I hated going back to games – until The Last of Us Part II Remastered came along” – Keith Stuart (Pushing Buttons, Guardian)
“Replaying a linear narrative game is like rereading a favourite novel: nothing changes apart from you. The way you feel, the age you are, the experiences you’ve had – these all contribute to your new experiences with the text. Vladimir Nabokov once said, “One cannot read a book; one can only reread it. A good…
“January 24, 2024” – Letters from an American
“In his resignation letter, DeWit claimed the recording had been “taken out of context” and said he had been “set up.” He noted that Lake has “a disturbing tendency to exploit private interactions for personal gain,” calling out “her habit of secretly recording personal and private conversations. This is obviously a concern given how much…
“The libertarian developer looming over West Maui’s water conflict” – Anita Hofschneider & Jake Bittle (Grist)
“Tremble’s letter implied that a state official key to implementing local water regulations — and the first Native Hawaiian to lead the state water commission — had impeded firefighting efforts. He soon walked back the claim, but his first letter had immediate effect. The state attorney general launched an investigation into the official, the governor…
“The Stranger Times” – C.K. McDonnell
https://thestrangertimes.co.uk/the-stranger-times/
“The Secrets of the JFK Assassination Archive” – Scott Sayare (Intelligencer)
“In 1979, after a thoroughgoing reinvestigation, the House Select Committee on Assassinations officially concluded that Kennedy “was probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy.” But such findings seemed not to penetrate. “In view of the overwhelming evidence that Oswald could not have acted alone (if he acted at all), the most remarkable feature of…
“Unleash the bololô” – Laís Martins (restofworld)
“Named after the sound of a revving motorbike, these bololô protests have become a common tactic for delivery drivers in Brazil. Often, they’re used as a response to physical threats or racist attacks on the workers. Because drivers have little recourse for nasty customers on the apps that employ them, the bololô has become both…
“What Does “Defence” Really Mean?” – Samia Madwar (The Walrus)
“Defence” is not supposed to be about seeking justice from your enemy,” says Colleen Bell, an international relations scholar at the University of Saskatchewan. Yet that’s how the concept is largely perceived. Many have rightly questioned how many Palestinians Israel needs to kill before it feels it’s sufficiently defended itself. While international humanitarian law dictates…
“How the Winklevii’s Second Act Went Bad” – Kevin T. Dugan (Intelligencer)
“It was an aggressive move to offer the general public a brand new interest-bearing product without clear regulatory approval — and this time Gemini didn’t ask the Department of Financial Services for permission ahead of time, according to two people familiar with the approval process. To knowledgeable observers in the crypto world, the logic of…