The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 Nokia’s tech aided digital surveillance in Russia
The Finnish company’s equipment and software was used to track opposition supporters. (NYT $)
+ How Putin became the tyrant he is today. (NYT $)
+ Why Europe is still playing catch up with Russia’s spying efforts. (FT $)
2 China’s covid strategy is crumbling
Xi Jinping’s party faces little choice but to abandon its hopes of a zero-covid policy. (Economist $)
+ Shanghai has locked down as cases rise across China. (Guardian)
+ Elsewhere in Asia, covid restrictions are being dropped – despite the spread of omicron. (NYT $)
3 Around a third of NFT collections have basically expired
Insiders insist the bubble isn’t bursting, but interest certainly seems to be cooling. (Bloomberg $)
+ Museums are jumping on the NFT bandwagon—but do buyers want masterpieces? (NYT $)
+ Turns out buying property in the metaverse is just as expensive as IRL.(IEEE Spectrum)
+ A plain text internet is beckoning. (Protocol)
4 Keanu Reeves has been wiped from the Chinese internet
The Canadian actor (and beloved web figure) participated in a pro-Tibet concert, to the chagrin of Chinese authorities. (LA Times)
5 Black Tesla workers allege rife racial abuse in the company’s factories
They report having to work under utterly grim conditions. (LA Times)
+ Screaming, threats to sue and angry emails are just the tip of the iceberg for auto regulators dealing with Elon Musk. (WP $)
+ Musk thinks he can be “helpful in conflicts.’ (Insider)
+ Tesla bros are making it harder to report problems with Full Self-Driving software. (Observer)
+ A primer in parallel parking. (The Conversation)
6 News about a study on fake news turns out to be…fake 🤥
Does anyone else’s head hurt? (The Atlantic $)
+ Scientists are using Twitter to monitor whether their work is misunderstood.(Science)
+ Conservative influencers are worried that right wing platforms are echo chambers. (NBC)
7 Maybe we don’t want jetpacks after all
It’d actually be total chaos to have tons of them flying about all over the place. (Slate $)
8 Are mental health tech startups making it too easy to get ADHD drugs?
The lines between ‘patient’ and ‘customer’ look concerningly blurry here. (WSJ $)
9 Billions of genetically modified mosquitoes will be released in California 🦟
It’s a vast experiment to control the potential spread of dangerous diseases. (Guardian)
10 Is this the end of the teenage houseparty?
Smart home tech is getting in the way of Gen Z letting their hair down. (The Information $)
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