May 17, 2023

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

Business

Death to Turbotax: The IRS has been quietly prototyping its own free e-filing system that may launch to a select number of US taxpayers next year. Using funds allocated from the Inflation Reduction Act, the IRS has built its own e-filing system that can auto-populate tax information for some filers, since it already receives data from employers. The US tax system is already complicated, but commercial tax providers have lobbied the government to keep the IRS from creating its own, easy-to-use system (similar to those in other countries) for years, so that while 70% of taxpayers are eligible to use free filing options, only 3% use them. While the new system will help with federal returns, Turbotax will still be able to keep us confused over our state returns.

Free Taco Tuesday: Taco Bell has filed a petition with the US Patent and Trademark Office to “liberate” the trademark of “Taco Tuesday,” which has been owned by Taco John’s since 1989. We were under the impression that Taco Tuesday was a “Hallmark” holiday made up by likes of our work colleagues tempting us with margaritas and guacamole. However, Taco John’s (which is based in Wyoming and has 400 restaurants while owning the registration in 49 states) has been known to send cease and desist letters to its competitors for even using the hashtag on Twitter. The fast food chain (which is most renowned for its Cheetos Burritos and Doritos Tacos) wants everyone to be able to celebrate and use the Taco Tuesday language, free from risk. If you’d like to support Taco Bell, there is a Change.org petition. Or just raise a shot glass and “Live Más.”

Tesla Hits the Ad Market: For the first time in its history, Tesla will actually advertise, according CEO Musk. Tesla traditionally did not need to advertise due to its strong word of mouth, its Teslerati communities on Reddit and Twitter, the popularity of its CEO, and the high demand for its EVs. However, as competition has heated up for luxury electric vehicles, Tesla has been forced to slash prices, and now the CEO is considering advertising on platforms outside of Twitter. With Musk’s purchase of Twitter and the installation of a new CEO (who was formerly the head of NBC Universal’s head of advertising), we’ll see if his change of heart on advertising truly has staying power.

Going Nuclear: Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, Europe was at first concerned about energy supplies, and instead reinvested in other sources. In Finland, energy prices have dropped 75% after the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant opened in April. France is also accelerating the construction of new nuclear reactors, adopting a new law this week that will allow for possibly six to eight new reactors to be built. One area to watch in terms of strategic energy reserves, however, is the Arctic circle. Eight nations cooperate in managing the drilling and stewardship of the top of the world, and earlier this week, Russia handed over the chair of the Arctic Council to Norway.

Technology

Launch of a Legend: We are not gamers, so we won’t even pretend to explain the revolution that is the new release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for Nintendo Switch. However, the game appears to have broken sales records after its launch last week, even surpassing sales for Hogwarts Legacy in the UK, to become the biggest boxed video game launch of the year. The game has a new signature ability called Ultrahand which allows players to link objects together to build weaponized vehicles (we think), and evidently experimenting with and developing these new powers is THE game (although not the intended premise). Luckily, we’ll leave that unique play to those with skill and time.

Bot-i-fied: Let the AI girlfriends begin. Influencer Caryn Marjorie created CarynAI, a voice-based chatbot that is a virtual AI clone of herself. "Whether you need somebody to be comforting or loving, or you just want to rant about something that happened at school or at work, CarynAI will always be there for you," Marjorie told Fortune. In its first week, CarynAI already has over 1,000 paying customers, from a user base that's 99 percent men.

Cosmic Chaos: Astronomers have discovered the largest explosion ever witnessed: the blast has been going on for more than 3 years, is 10 times brighter than a supernova (the explosion of a star), and is roughly 8bn light years away. Scientists believe that the explosion was caused when an enormous cloud of gas (possibly thousands of times bigger than our Sun) was swallowed up by a black hole. They are still studying the blast to determine its origin and composition, and are on the hunt for more cosmic fireworks. This blast, named AT2021lwx , should not be confused with the BOAT (brightest of all time) gamma-ray burst which blinded many space instruments last October, and was 70 times brighter than anything ever seen by humans.

Culture

Swifties take on the Army: An untitled, unpublished book shot to number 2 on the Amazon bestseller list this week when Taylor Swift’s fanbase erroneously assumed that it was her memoir due to some conspiracy theories about its name and number of pages. The publisher, Flatiron Books, reluctantly announced that “4C Untitled Flatiron Nonfiction Summer 2023” was actually “Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS,” written by the K-pop superstars BTS. No worries, once the BTS Army heard the news, the book shot to number 1 on the Barnes & Noble and Amazon bestseller lists.

Thrifting with Picasso: We are occasional watchers of Antique Roadshow, and we take simple pleasures in seeing someone buy a trinket an realize it is a….piece of junk. However, a woman in NY hit the jackpot when she purchased some ceramic plates at a Salvation Army for $1.99, and they turned out to be by Pablo Picasso! She resold them at auction for $40k — not bad for a day’s thrifting.

Rockstar: When Dolly Parton was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year, the country star admitted to being slightly confused, and initially asked to be removed from the ballot. Instead, Parton decided to release a rock album, and the record is set to drop in November. The 30-track album titled Rockstar features Paul McCartney, Joan Jett, Stevie Nicks, Lizzo, Kid Rock, and Miley Cyrus, among others.

California Living: Pandemic restrictions caused many city dwellers to hit the road and search for greener pastures, or at least the promise of a backyard and more than 500 square foot apartment. In China, digital nomads have been flocking to a city renamed “Dalifornia,” due to its “anything-goes attitude,” local marijuana market, growing tech community, and mild climate. Dali is populated with coffee shops where mostly young people discuss slacking, and the desire to “step out of the fast lane,” rather than the traditional Beijing work ethic. There is even a viral Chinese TV drama, Meet Yourself, about a burnt-out young woman who moves to Dali to escape the stresses of Beijing and falls in love. Gives global meaning to chillax.

Age is but a number: When we first saw this image, we really thought we were being fooled by an AI headline. But on second thought, we regret the double take. Martha Stewart, at 81, becomes Sports Illustrated’s oldest swimsuit cover model. Martha has been reinventing herself ever since her stint in prison in 2004 for lying to the government about a stock trade — she’s launched several ventures with Snoop Dogg, and has been known to post thirst traps on Instagram, both of which seemed counter to her original brand image. We applaud the chutzpah and are furiously googling her skincare routine as well.

Speaking of the Golden Years, ABC has greenlit its Senior Citizen version of “The Bachelor”, which is set to hit the small screen this Fall.

Summer Casual: We don’t understand it, but apparently, platform sandals by Crocs are the IT shoe of the summer. That is if you are a soccer mom attempting to relive your teenage years (but they are sold out).

— Lauren Eve Cantor

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