—Rebecca Ackermann
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 How Xi Jinping became unsurmountable
China’s president demands unwavering loyalty. (BBC)
+ His speech to the Communist party’s congress did not favor stronger ties with the west. (FT $)
+ Xi is known as “Chairman of Everything.” (New Statesman $)
+ Here’s what a third term of Xi would mean for the rest of the world. (Vox)
+ The USA’s anti-China restrictions are already biting. (Bloomberg)
2 Peter Thiel is pouring millions of dollars into the US midterm elections
He’s hellbent on overturning the current political system through right-wing nationalism. (The Guardian $)
+ Thiel is reportedly trying to obtain Maltese citizenship. (NYT $)
3 The metaverse is already floundering
Meta’s Horizon Worlds just isn’t compelling enough to attract regular visitors. (WSJ $)
+ Investors are spooked, too. (Economist $)
4 Should social media platforms do more to help those in crisis?
Platforms are both a potential exacerbator of mental distress and a lifeline, which makes this a minefield to navigate. (The Information $)
+ Establishing causation between social media and mental illness is enormously complicated. (Wired $)
5 Russians are following an online playbook to flee Putin’s war
The Telegram guide wants to help them integrate into new societies. (WP $)
+ Elon Musk has decided he will keep funding StarLink in Ukraine, after all. (The Guardian)
+ Russia has conducted renewed strikes in Kyiv. (FT $)
+ Ukraine is charming allies for more donations with humorous videos. (BBC)
+ Russia’s battle to convince people to join its war is being waged on Telegram. (MIT Technology Review)
6 Mexico is investigating whether its spyware purchase was legal
The previous Mexican administration had bought Pegasus spyware from the NSO group. (Reuters)
+ The hacking industry faces the end of an era. (MIT Technology Review)
7 Gas-running appliances are still a major problem in the US
Not only are they mini-polluters, they’re dangerous to boot. (Vox)
+ Climate change has ruined Alaska’s Snow Crab Season. (Motherboard)
8 Caregivers are tracking people with dementia using Apple AirTags
Experts are worried that tracking tech encourages a false sense of security. (WSJ $)
+ Dementia content gets billions of views on TikTok. Whose story does it tell? (MIT Technology Review)
9 This robot dog is an excellent goalkeeper
It stays cool in the face of penalty pressure, too. (IEEE Spectrum)
+ This robot just taught itself to walk. (MIT Technology Review)
10 The internet is united in fury at Dunkin’ Donuts 🍩
That’ll teach them not to meddle with their loyalty program. (Wired $)
Quote of the day
“He would need to sue everyone on the internet doing Pilates.”
—Christina Gadar, a Pilates instructor, tells the New York Times about an ongoing quarrel with physical therapist Sean Gallagher, who she and others claim has unfairly lodged copyright complaints about their use of Pilates-related materials online.