About: blatcho

Plus: ICE accidentally doxes asylum seekers, Google fails to uphold a post-Roe promise, and LastPass suffers the second breach this year.

Wall Street Journal: A look at virtual currencies like Roblox’s Robux, which have become many kids’ preferred way to be paid for chores or receive an allowance  —  Virtual currencies have become many families’ preferred way to pay allowance.  And Roblox’s currency is king.  —  Like many parents …

Patrick McGee / Financial Times: Tim Cook was able to placate Elon Musk within two days, but the chaos at Foxconn’s “iPhone City” may become the greatest test of Cook’s diplomatic skills yet  —  Apple chief placates Elon Musk but faces bigger questions over iPhone supply chain  —  Tim Cook was already battling …

Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge: Elon Musk thinks the “Twitter Files” show that Twitter staff nefariously helped Joe Biden, but all they show is a team debating a difficult moderation decision  —  Free-speech crusader Elon Musk isn’t happy with Twitter’s years-old decision to suppress a news story …

Messages show Twitter’s past leaders struggling with a tough moderation call with political overtones. Musk is now on the hook for such decisions himself.

Forget what you’ve heard—sexual lubricants are a nightstand essential.

Samriddhi Sakunia / Rest of World: Elections in India’s Gujarat have become a WhatsApp spam war, as the main political parties push content across thousands of groups to influence voters  —  10,000 volunteers, 50,000 WhatsApp groups, and the intense fight to “control people’s feed” in Gujarat.  —  • AHMEDABAD, GUJARAT, INDIA

Bill Gifford / Bloomberg: A profile of Duolingo, which has almost 15M DAUs, up 51% YoY, and 3.7M paying subscribers, as it expects its 2022 revenue to surpass $365M, up 45% from 2021  —  After dinner on Aug. 23—a date he will never forget—Tobi Fondse pulled out his phone to do his daily Duolingo.

Wall Street Journal: A look at Apple’s efforts to reduce dependence on Foxconn; sources: Apple wants other suppliers in China, Vietnam, and India to actively plan product assembly  —  Burned by Covid lockdowns and worker protests at Foxconn plants, the iPhone maker is looking to diversify the supply chain that has powered its growth

A group of quality assurance workers in New York just won legal recognition of its union—a second milestone for organizing efforts within the gaming industry.

Device manufacturers use “platform certificates” to verify an app’s authenticity, making them particularly dangerous in the wrong hands.

If you think “bass” equals “excitement,” then this is for you. But the fact that this high-end French audio brand is no longer bonkers does not bode well.

Aidan Ryan / The Information: Sources: ex-FTX US President Brett Harrison is raising money for a startup to build crypto trading software for big investors, seeking $6M at a $60M valuation  —  Brett Harrison, the former president of FTX’s U.S. arm, is trying to raise money for a new crypto startup focused …

New York Times: China is using phone trackers and other tools to track protestors, the first time mass surveillance has been directed at middle-class people in affluent cities  —  After a weekend of protests, the authorities in China are using the country’s all-seeing surveillance apparatus to find those bold enough to defy them.

Adam Morgan McCarthy / The Block: Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital agrees to buy high-security custodian GK8 from bankrupt crypto lender Celsius; Celsius acquired GK8 for $115M in late 2021  —  – Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital agreed to buy GK8 from Celsius.  — GK8 was originally acquired by Celsius for $115 million in late 2021.

Of more than 140,000 Twitter users who announced they were moving to Mastodon, just 1.6 per cent have actually quit Elon Musk’s social media platform

Nearly 10 percent of today’s electricity in the United States comes from wind power. The renewable energy source benefits climate, air quality, and public health by displacing emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants that would otherwise be produced by fossil-fuel-based power plants. A new MIT study finds that the health benefits associated with wind […]

Abstract language tends to be associated with leadership, meaning that how women are socialized to communicate can make them less likely to be seen as leaders.

How to get better at working with others.

We often withhold our preferences in an attempt to be more likable — but research shows that this approach can often backfire.

Elon Musk’s platform may be hell, but it’s also where huge amounts of reputational and social wealth are invested. All of that is in peril.

Olivia Solon / Bloomberg: TikTok and Bumble plan to use StopNCII.org’s database of hashes of nude images and videos to block revenge porn; Meta has been using it since last year  —  The UN’s 16 days of activism against gender-based violence is on now, and “revenge porn” is in focus.  But first…  Today’s must-reads:

Elon Musk / @elonmusk: Ye’s Twitter account is suspended after he tweeted a picture of a swastika merged with a Star of David; Elon Musk replied, saying he violated Twitter rules  —  @TheeAleexJ @kanyewest I tried my best. Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended.

Anil Ananthaswamy / Nature: DeepMind unveils DeepNash, an AI agent that matches human experts in the board game Stratego by combining game theory and model-free deep reinforcement learning  —  Anil Ananthaswamy is the author of Through Two Doors at Once, among other books.  His next is on the mathematics of machine learning.

Never miss a delivery. These WIRED-tested picks will help you keep tabs on your front porch from anywhere.

Cameras can offer peace of mind, but choose carefully when you’re inviting one into your home.

These weatherproof devices can keep a watchful eye on your property and let you get on with life.

Tony Romm / Washington Post: US House committee report details how fintech companies, like Blueacorn, allegedly disbursed billions in fraudulent PPP loans, while collecting billions in fees  —  Little-known firms such as Blueacorn and Womply allegedly collected taxpayer-funded fees as they overlooked signs of grift …

Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch: Parler’s owner says it “has mutually agreed with Ye to terminate the intent of sale of Parler”, after announcing the deal in October  —  Despite a joint statement between Ye (fka Kanye West) and Parler in October noting that the two had reached an agreement for the rapper to buy …

Jay Peters / The Verge: Epic makes RealityScan app, which lets users scan real-life objects to turn them into 3D models, available for free on iOS, after a limited beta launch in April  —  Epic Games’ RealityScan app, which lets you scan real-life objects and turn them into 3D models for video games or other […]

An AI has learned to deceive human opponents in the war-themed board game Stratego, which involves imperfect information and a huge number of possible game scenarios

A small device shaped like Pac-Man can move on the surface of water and around obstacles without a motor

When we press our temples to soothe an aching head or rub an elbow after an unexpected blow, it often brings some relief. It is believed that pain-responsive cells in the brain quiet down when these neurons also receive touch inputs, say scientists at MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research, who for the first time […]

In a world powered increasingly by clean energy, drilling for oil and gas will gradually give way to digging for metals and minerals. Today, the “critical minerals” used to make electric cars, solar panels, wind turbines, and grid-scale battery storage are facing soaring demand — and some acute bottlenecks as miners race to catch up. […]

Imagine entering a 3D virtual story world that’s a digital twin of an existing physical space but also doubles as a vessel to dream up speculative climate stories and collective designs. Then, those imagined worlds are translated back into concrete plans for our physical spaces. Five multidisciplinary teams recently convened at MIT — virtually — […]

Growing quickly requires giving up some control. It’s investors’ responsibility to make sure that happens.

Every organization across the supply chain should rely on retailers’ forecasts of end-customer demand.

An analysis of 20 million LinkedIn profiles sheds light on the power of casual relationships.

In a bid to keep its two-day delivery promise, the fast-moving tech giant entered the risk-averse air cargo business—with some bumps along the way.

The company is vying for an edge in an increasingly crowded field that seeks to let people control machines with their minds.

Andrew Liszewski / Gizmodo: Disney unveils FRAN, an AI tool that helps TV or film producers make an actor look older or younger without the need for complex and expensive visual effects  —  With just a few clicks, actors can look younger or older without the need for expensive visual effects.  —  Alerts

Nilay Patel / The Verge: In a rare interview, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew explains how US data will be kept out of China through “Project Texas”, discusses “booktok”, algorithms, and more  —  The 40-year-old Chew was funny and relaxed for most of the interview, even if many of his answers sounded straight …

Associated Press: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy says the company does not plan to stop selling “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America”, an antisemitic film promoted by Kyrie Irving  —  Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said Wednesday the company does not have plans to stop selling the antisemitic film …

Law enforcement says that in some scenarios a lethal robot is the only way to protect public safety. Experts say the policy will harm communities of color.

The Heliconia hacking tool exploited vulnerabilities in Chrome, Windows Defender, and Firefox, according to company security researchers.

Protesters are calling for China to ease restrictions most nations have already ditched. But the country faces a fraught path toward normalcy.

Sara Fischer / Axios: Mark Zuckerberg says Apple’s policies that let the company unilaterally control which apps can be installed are not sustainable and cause a conflict of interest  —  Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday added to the growing chorus of concerns about Apple, arguing that it’s …

Thomas Germain / Gizmodo: Pathmatics: Apple’s Twitter ad purchases grew from $989K in October to $1M+ in November; on November 28, Elon Musk said Apple “mostly stopped” Twitter ads  —  Musk tweeted that Apple had all but stopped buying ads on Twitter.  The iPhone maker’s ad purchases had actually increased, according to an ad analytics […]

Jon Swartz / MarketWatch: Box reports Q3 revenue of $250M, up 12% YoY, and billings of $258.2M, up 12% YoY, and forecasts Q4 revenue between $255M and $257M, vs. $259.3M est.  —  Software company reports sales just $100,000 shy of $250 million and expects to top the mark in fourth quarter, but neither hits analysts’ […]

A gliding sensor inspired by Javan cucumber seeds could be used for environmental monitoring, and then quickly biodegrade, leaving no waste behind