July 17, 2020

empowering you with insights and information from the edge of today’s headlines

Technology

Twitter suffered its worst security breach this week when several prominent accounts were hacked. The hackers asked users to donate bitcoin under the ruse that they would pay them back double. The first to post was Elon Musk’s account, and since he is known to tweet strange messages, it didn’t seem much out of character. However, once the ball got rolling — hitting Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Joe Biden, Apple, Barak Obama — the fraud was exposed. While the hackers got away with around $120K, they demonstrated significant risks to the information economy.

The hack raised concerns around potential fake tweets coming from elected officials: could the hackers have started a nuclear war by threatening Russia or North Korea; could the hackers have pulled a Comey and posted criminal charges against Joe Biden or other prominent politicians? We wondered why the hackers went all out in July rather than waiting until the November elections where they could have really caused monumental chaos. But maybe they preferred to expose the platform’s flaws early?

One of our favorite responses to the hack was the Wendy’s account, using the language of the hackers, but offering spicy nuggets instead.

Raising our eyebrows: We’ve heard that children are vulnerable to pedophiles, child traffickers and other criminal elements in online communities. Now one more threat: the US Military. The US Armed Forces has been using its e-sports channels on Twitch to recruit children. Twitch caught the US Army engaging in fake prize giveaways (which directed players to recruitment sites rather than giving them the promised XBox) during their Twitch streams. Although the giveaways have been stopped, the streaming play and recruiting continues.

Stating the Obvious: Netflix reported earnings yesterday and revealed that it added more than 10M global subscribers this quarter (last quarter it added 16M). Prior to the pandemic, Netflix’s growth seemed to have plateaued, at least in the US. With most of Hollywood on lockdown (both in terms of production and distribution through movie theaters), Netflix continues to have the edge. Netflix’s catalog of original content continues to have a steady stream of release dates. We’ll see what happens to viewership and subscribers when we begin to re-open, but with the prospect of continued lockdowns in the US, we don’t think anyone is pulling the plug on that subscription anytime soon.

What we are watching: This week Zoom, the video conferencing app, announced a hardware offering. The $599 device is a standalone smart screen with three cameras and eight microphones, and aims to make it much easier to set up your home office, at least for conference calls. The new device is essentially an updated, larger iPad with Zoom built in and will compete with the Facebook Portal, Google Nest and Amazon Echo. Not sure we need one more device to invade our privacy, so we’ll just keep playing around with MMhMM, our virtual backgrounds and strategic use of the mute button.

What we are also watching: The X-Prize Foundation is a non-profit organization that sponsors competitions intended to foster technological innovation. The foundation has sponsored challenges ranging from building lunar landers to apps for adult literacy. This week the newest X-Prize was announced: $1M for a Next Generation Covid Mask. The goal is not only to build a technically better mask, but one that helps Americans get over their cultural distaste for the face coverings. (We’d save the $1M and just announce a national mandate, but that’s just us.)

US Politics

Mail-in voting has become much more popular in light of the pandemic, and many states have expanded (although some have limited) the criteria for casting a vote through the mail. There are several risks to this scenario, however.

A recent NPR study found that a significant number of mail-in votes were rejected during this year’s primaries because they arrived late in the mail (through no fault of the voter) although postmarked by election day. Adding to that issue, the new US Postmaster General launched a cost saving policy that allows mail carriers effectively to slow down mail service.

Adding to the disenfranchisement of voters, the US Supreme Court has made several rulings recently that make it harder for Americans to vote. In Florida, the Supreme Court allowed what is essentially a poll tax: those with a criminal record must pay off all fines before they can vote, although in most cases, Florida can’t actually tell them how much they owe. The Supreme Court also allowed Texas to impose discriminatory limits on mail-in voting and pulled back Alabama’s opening of restrictions due to the pandemic. Luckily, some county executives and local attorneys general have begun the process of easing voting restrictions, since the judiciary doesn’t seem to be keen on preserving a free and fair election. In the end, 2020 will be about turnout. Get your votes in early!

Climate Change

This week Joe Biden announced a $2T plan aimed at fighting climate change with a goal of net-zero carbon emissions in the US by 2035. The plan increases the use of clean energy in transportation, electricity and construction, and also promises to create new jobs through the transformation (hello, Infrastructure Week). Bloomberg likens the plan to FDR’s New Deal, stating that

On the flip side, the Trump administration has been rolling back environmental regulations under the radar, while we are focused on the pandemic. According to the NY Times, the administration has reversed 100 environmental rules relating to carbon emissions, clean air and water, and toxic chemicals. The rule changes have been carried out by both the EPA (which is run by a former coal executive) and the Interior Department (headed by a former oil industry lobbyist).

While the pandemic might have given the planet a break due to limited fossil fuel usage, climate change needs to remain top of mind. We hope Biden’s reframing of the issue around jobs might actually get some traction, if he gets the chance to drain the swamp.

Culture

Working from home has many challenges, but we’ve also come to realize that WFH can also mean work from anywhere (with wi-fi). The island of Barbados is hoping to entice remote workers (at least British ones, since Americans can’t necessarily travel there) with a 12-month remote working incentive. Barbados gets to host working tourists and workers get to leave their living rooms. Other countries that are dependent on tourists are offering similar incentives: Cyprus, Italy, Greece and Mexico. Check your passport and look for those free hotel rooms!

Strange but True: We’ve all watched late night television in an effort to lull ourselves to sleep, but now HBOMax is creating a new series that promises a new twist on Netflix and Chill. The Calm App, yes the app meant to relax you, put you in a meditative state and lower your anxiety, is getting its own TV series. While we love the idea of listening to Idris Elba’s voice calm us into oblivion, we are not sure we’d watch him read (well, maybe Idris, but would we really want to fall asleep).

— Lauren Eve Cantor

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