-
Tech NewsSick Days
Everything Seemed to Just… Stop
Are you a frontline worker dealing with new stresses or irresponsible management? Is working (or not working) from home starting to take a psychological toll? How are you coping with reopening? Submit a story using this Google form or send me an email with the subject line “My Covid Story” and provide as much detail as … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech News
What the Fuck Is My Wifi Password?
I don’t really know how it happened, or why a thing with no moving parts suddenly fails catastrophically, but my modem shit the bed. Almost exactly a week after wifi in huge swaths of the country went down due to Hurricane Isaias, my internet stopped working yesterday again. My roommate and I went through the … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsNews
The Bad Number Went Up Again
According to data released today by the Department of Labor, about 500,000 more Americans went on unemployment between July 11 and 18, pushing that number above 31 million in total. In economics, it’s sometimes the case that big number equals good. This is not such a case. Half a million is a grim improvement over … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsSick Days
Honestly I Just Want to Get Off This Ride
Are you a frontline worker dealing with new stresses or irresponsible management? Is working (or not working) from home starting to take a psychological toll? How are you coping with reopening? Submit a story using this Google form or send me an email with the subject line “My Covid Story” and provide as much detail as … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsFacebook
Congrats to Instagram on Its New Bloatware
Like a dyed-in-the-wool narcissist, Facebook absolutely can’t stand the idea anyone would care about another company—hence its propensity to buy up or rip off anything that so much as threatens to peel away a fraction of its users’ attention. Anyway, here’s Reels, something no one asked for. TikTok. You’ve heard of it, probably because there’s … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsNews
Three Charged in the Single Worst Hack in Twitter’s History [Updated]
Earlier this month a number of Twitter accounts belonging to prominent, highly-followed individuals like Elon Musk, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and Jeff Bezos were compromised, seemingly to defraud strangers out of bitcoin. Unfettered access to potentially sensitive information contained therein generated speculation: Was the cryptocurrency gambit a front to cover up blackmail attempts … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsNews
Bad Advice From Dictators: Gasoline Edition!
Has anyone else noticed a strong correlation between “countries where Covid-19 misinformation proliferates readily” and “countries with strong autocratic tendencies”? Maybe it’s just the fumes getting to me, but I’m pretty sure Rodrigo Duterte told the 106 million Filipinos he ostensibly governs to huff gasoline. The Philippines under Duterte’s regime is a brutal place to … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsSick Days
I Only See My Family Through FaceTime
Are you a frontline worker dealing with new stresses or irresponsible management? Is working (or not working) from home starting to take a psychological toll? How are you coping with reopening? Submit a story using this Google form or send me an email with the subject line “My Covid Story” and provide as much detail as … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
io9
He Knew
On May 21, 2019, this sly son of a bitch gazed into our bleak future, and now he reaps the bitter fruit of the trap he set. I refer, of course, to George R.R. Martin, author of the wildly successful A Song of Ice and Fire high-fantasy series, the final installments of which—The Winds of … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsNews
NYC Sends Revel Scooters Down to Hell Where They Belong
With a top speed of 30 mph and a growing body of malfunction-based lawsuits and traffic incident data working against them, Revel’s fleet of app-rentable mopeds is, as of today, no longer operating in its home city of New York. Who, besides absolutely everyone, could have seen this coming. After a second rider was killed … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsNews
What to Expect at Wednesday’s Big Tech Antitrust Hearing
After an understandable delay, a change of venue, and no small amount of prodding, four of the most recognizable business magnates in the U.S. are set to explain to lawmakers just how, exactly, they became so powerful. Yes, it’s a big deal, and not just because it will be Jeff Bezos’s first time being personally … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech News
The Essential Dirtbag Tip for Running During a Pandemic
“If there’s one thing covid-19 has taught me, it’s that nothing really matters,” a complete stranger told me last night while I was tattooing him in my living room. It was time to do dumb stuff in March. In the months that followed, our mastery grew into idiot-expertise, and as July yawns into the doldrums … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsSick Days
I Keep Having to Stop People From Dropping Their Pants in the Middle of the Aisles
Are you a frontline worker dealing with new stresses or irresponsible management? Is working (or not working) from home starting to take a psychological toll? How are you coping with reopening? Submit a story using this Google form or send me an email with the subject line “My Covid Story” and provide as much detail as … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsNews
Microsoft’s Doing the Monopoly Thing Again, Slack Says
Workplace messaging software company Slack is accusing Microsoft of monopoly behavior in an antitrust complaint filed today to European Union regulators. Unsurprisingly, the accusations hinge on the same practice that helped make Microsoft rich in the first place. Bill Gates, Windows, innovation, yes, yes, OK—undoubtedly Microsoft had a lot to contribute to the early years … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsSick Days
I’m Too Old to Learn a New Career, and Too Young to Retire
Are you a frontline worker dealing with new stresses or irresponsible management? Is working (or not working) from home starting to take a psychological toll? How are you coping with reopening? Submit a story using this Google form or send me an email with the subject line “My Covid Story” and provide as much detail as … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech News
Uber Is Running Out of Ideas on How to Save Its Own Ass
Even for regular schmucks with no background in economics or labor law, one of the glaring problems with Uber’s claim that its drivers are independent contractors rather than employees is that Uber sets the price of rides. Without the ability to set their own rates, or a contract drivers have any power to negotiate the … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsSick Days
They Will Never Be Held Responsible for the Havoc They Have Created
Are you a frontline worker dealing with new stresses or irresponsible management? Is working (or not working) from home starting to take a psychological toll? How are you coping with reopening? Submit a story using this Google form or send me an email with the subject line “My Covid Story” and provide as much detail as … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsNews
Did the NYPD Try to Scrub References to Police Brutality From Its Wikipedia Page?
While we legally cannot, with 100% certainty, claim “New York’s finest” tried to lazily edit their own entry on Wikipedia to be infinitely more flattering—signs point strongly toward them doing precisely that! The substantial change was caught Wednesday morning by @NYPDedits, a Twitter bot that automatically posts when anonymous changes are made on Wikipedia by … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsAmazon
Tax Amazon’s Successor Passed Seattle’s City Council, and You Can Already Guess What It Does
Unemployment in the US is still over 11%, and yet during this economic crisis, Jeff Bezos has added an astonishing $56.7 billion to his already colossal fortune. If ever there was a time to redistribute some of that wealth, it’s now, and it seems that experiment in equity will begin in Seattle. The Tax Amazon … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsNews
Reddit’s Solution to the Stress of Moderating 2020 Is a First-Come First-Served Mindfulness App Subscription
It’s been a very hard year, for a lot of reasons. If you’re one of the thousands of unpaid moderators of Reddit, you’ve likely had to deal with misinformation, harassment, conspiracy theories, hate speech: all the stuff that makes being online an intolerable nightmare. By means of showing gratitude, the site appears to be offering … Continued
By Avery Ellis