Lattepunk Recommendation Especial (October Two Edition)
Lattepunk
I told myself to send an email once a week, so you get this.
Reader, have I been busy.
I got a new TV, which surprisingly hasn’t fallen off the wall yet, and I took the time to set up HomeBridge cause I really don’t want the SmartThings app on my phone (not perfect, going to have to try it again). I did that in between learning about TypeScript and convincing all my friends to play Deadlock with me.
Plus, I now need to learn about Web Servers and using APIs. Oh...I need to pack too.
But Mark Zuckerberg is making a big bet on face computers being the next big platform (remember the metaverse!?) by showing off some new glasses. Of course it uses A.I., but it was also brought up how A.I. will be infused into social media apps.
The vision is you’ll see the posts of your friends and family (cause that’s why we’re on social media...right!?) alongside content it thinks you’ll like (TikTok style). But now they want to start generating content it thinks you like and showing that mixed in as well.
As someone who is blind enough to need glasses all the time (I can’t see my dreams if I don’t sleep with my glasses on) and an avid avoider of social media, I want to relay that message in a meaningful way to you. Instead I decided to tell you about the idea of writing about it. I need to be an responsible adult from time to time reader, cut me a break.
Instead of leaving you dry for a week, I got a Recommendation Especial for you. Also, I dare you to go try a new restaurant this week. You won’t.
Pro-tip: If you use a Macbook laptop with your Airpods (as a true enthusiast does), in your sound settings set your default input as the Macbook microphone and the output as your Airpods. Basically the Airpods have too much work to get audio from the Macbook and still send back audio from the microphone. And apparently the microphone built into the computer is really good. Try it out.
things i wish i could buy:
A new Space Invaders “smart” watch is getting funded on Kickstarter. Thing looks cool and gives the right kind of vibes. I can’t buy it cause I’ve recently got my first smartwatch. I fought the good fight for while but I finally caved. I can download apps to do all this stuff on my current watch. Plus: I funded enough projects on Kickstarter. It got funded without my help though!
SPACE INVADERS™: My Play Watch
Balatro is this roguelite poker game. It’s super popular and crazy addicting. They gon just get up and drop the game on mobile. Available on iOS and Android. I want this so bad!!! My employer thinks I’m already lazy as is, I can’t kill the little bit of production I already contribute by installing this on my phone. Plus: I already own it on Steam.
things i read this week:
Nintendo Museum
Inside the Nintendo Museum: a joyful celebration of machines, magic and the art of play | Katharine Castle for Eurogamer
Nintendo’s shiny new museum needs more dirt | Andrew Webster for The Verge
Healthcare
Patients Are Turning to Vibrators to Relieve Their Migraines | Helen Thomson for Wired
That Message From Your Doctor? It May Have Been Drafted by A.I. | Teddy Rosenbluth for NY Times
Paralyzed Jockey Loses Ability to Walk After Manufacturer Refuses to Fix Battery For His $100,000 Exoskeleton | Jason Koebler for 404 Media
Maylia and Jack: A Story of Teens and Fentanyl | Lizzie Presser for ProPublica
Security
Timeshare Owner? The Mexican Drug Cartels Want You | Krebs on Security
Millions of Vehicles Could Be Hacked and Tracked Thanks to a Simple Website Bug | Andy Greenberg for Wired
Red team hacker on how she 'breaks into buildings and pretends to be the bad guy' | Jessica Lyons for The Register
Paypal Opted You Into Sharing Data Without Your Knowledge | Samantha Cole for 404 Media
Entertainment
LG TVs start showing ads on screensavers | Scharon Harding for ArsTechnica
Sony, Ubisoft scandals prompt Calif. ban on deceptive sales of digital goods | Ashley Belanger for ArsTechnica
Trump’s $100,000 Watches Are the Most Tragic Celebrity Watch Yet | Alistair Charlton for Wired
Sports Betting Apps Are Even More Toxic Than You Thought | Ira Boudway for Bloomberg
Saving Cyberpunk 2077: How CD Projekt Red recovered from one of video games' most disastrous launches | Chris Tapsell for Eurogamer
Social Media
Neo-Nazi Telegram Users Panic Amid Crackdown and Arrest of Alleged Leaders of Online Extremist Group | A.C. Thompson, James Bandler and Brandon Roberts for ProPublica
Meta’s big tease | Alex Heath for The Verge
Inside Two Years of Turmoil at Big Tech's Anti-Terrorism Group | Paresh Dave for Wired
This Camera Went Viral Two Years Ago. You Still Can’t Buy One | Curtis Heinzl for Bloomberg
School
This Hartford Public High School grad can’t read. Here’s how it happened. | Jessika Harkay for CT Mirror
Labor
Shein Workers Have Had It—and They’re Going Public | Louise Matsakis and Johanna Costigan for Wired
A Lawsuit From Backers of a ‘Startup City’ Could Bankrupt Honduras | Nicholas Kusnetz, Katie Surma for Inside Climate News
To build a giant sheep, man spends 10 years smuggling, cloning, and inseminating | Nate Anderson for ArsTechnica
Environment
This Florida neighborhood recovered from flood after flood. Will it survive Helene? | Jake Bittle for Grist
Extreme botany: Paramotorists soar across remote Peru desert to collect threatened plants | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew for Phys
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