—Casey Crownhart
Casey’s story is from The Spark, her weekly newsletter covering energy and climate change. Sign up to receive it in your inbox.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 Sam Bankman-Fried is reportedly being investigated by US prosecutors
The inquiry wants to determine whether he manipulated the market for two cryptocurrencies. (NYT $)
+ The FTX founder has made his fair share of enemies lately. (Vox)
+ Facebook is asking lawmakers to go easy on crypto, please. (Motherboard)
+ An underground community in Lebanon is mining crypto in neglected dams. (Rest of World)
2 Apple is finally encrypting most of iCloud
It will protect data from both hackers and law enforcement. (WSJ $)
+ The company has dropped its plans to scan iCloud Photos for potential child abuse. (Wired $)
+ Government agencies are unlikely to welcome Advanced Data Protection. (WP $)
3 Ukraine is revolutionizing sea warfare with naval drones
The uncrewed boats are targeting enemy ships. (Economist $)
+ Russian disinformation is demonizing Ukrainian refugees. (WP $)
4 China has agreed to US inspections of its tech businesses
In a bid to avoid being placed on a trade blacklist. (FT $)
5 How France’s privacy darling turned cyber snooper
Eric Leandri used to be a staunch defender of digital privacy. Now, he runs a cybersurveillance firm. (Politico)
6 Scammers are scamming each other
And a surprising number of them are complaining about it online. (Wired $)
+ The 1,000 Chinese SpaceX engineers who never existed. (MIT Technology Review)
7 Working out the internet’s carbon footprint is surprisingly difficult
We’re using more energy, but it’s hard to compare certain activities. (The Conversation)
8 The trouble with being “chronically online”
It’s mostly a lot of people getting het up over nothing. (Vox)
+ Even the fanciest influencers are feeling the cost-of-living pinch. (Wired $)
9 The simple magic of Christmas shopping in real life
Online may be more convenient, but algorithms are unlikely to delight you with an unexpected find. (The Atlantic $)
10 How to prepare for a giant asteroid strike
The Asteroid Launcher simulator provides a fascinating look at what could happen—but hopefully won’t. (Motherboard)
+ How to stay safe from a solar flare. (Insider $)
+ Watch the moment NASA’s DART spacecraft crashed into an asteroid. (MIT Technology Review)
Quote of the day
“It’s not a good look. It’s yet another unspoken sign of disrespect. There is no discussion. Just like, beds showed up.”
—A disgruntled Twitter employee tells Forbes about beds mysteriously appearing in the company’s offices without any warning, presumably to enable staff to pull crazy hours.
The big story