Linked List: April 7, 2020

Tuesday, 7 April 2020

Jelisa Castrodale, writing for Vice:

Then there’s that “Sexiest Man Alive” petition, which someone at People magazine actually had to respond to. “He has helped bring back ‘must-see TV’ to the masses, who are hungry for wisdom about how to best care for their family’s health and safety in this time of uncertainty,” Dan Wakeford, People’s editor-in-chief told Women’s Wear Daily. “Smart is sexy, no doubt.”

And, because each passing day presents the opportunity for me to type sentences that have never existed before, the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum is currently taking pre-orders for a Dr. Fauci bobblehead.

Alex Kantrowitz on Apple’s Dysfunctional Information Systems and Technology Group ★

An excerpt from Alex Kantrowitz’s Always Day One, published at BuzzFeed News:

A group inside Apple called Information Systems & Technology, or IS&T, builds much of the company’s internal technology tools — from servers and data infrastructure to retail and corporate sales software — and operates in a state of tumult.

IS&T is made up largely of contractors hired by rival consulting companies, and its dysfunction has led to a rolling state of war. “It’s a huge contractor org that handles a crazy amount of infrastructure for the company,” one ex-employee who worked closely with IS&T told me. “That whole organization is a Game of Thrones nightmare.” […]

When IS&T’s projects are finally completed, they can cause even more headaches for Apple employees, who are left with a mess to clean up. Multiple people told me their Apple colleagues were forced to rewrite code after IS&T-built products showed up broken.

Michael Tsai:

From what I’ve heard, this is a longtime problem, and it’s a mystery to me why this group has been immune to the Cook Doctrine. Apple buys forests to manage the paper used in its packaging and designs the desks its employees use and even the pizza boxes for its cafeteria. But when it comes to building the software that runs the company, that’s not considered a core competency.

I have to raise an eyebrow at Kantrowitz’s closing:

For Apple, fixing its broken IS&T division would not only be the right thing to do from a moral standpoint — it would help the company’s business as well. If Apple is going to become inventive again, it will need to give its employees more time to develop new ideas.

If Apple is no longer inventive, what is Apple Watch? What are AirPods? If it wasn’t inventiveness, what was it when Apple completely redesigned the fundamental interaction design of the iPhone with the iPhone X? When was Apple “inventive”? Once in 1984, and once more in 2007?

‘This Is What Happens When a Narcissist Runs a Crisis’ ★

Jennifer Senior, writing for The New York Times:

And most relevant, as far as history is concerned: Narcissistic personalities are weak.

What that means, during this pandemic: Trump is genuinely afraid to lead. He can’t bring himself to make robust use of the Defense Production Act, because the buck would stop with him. (To this day, he insists states should be acquiring their own ventilators.) When asked about delays in testing, he said, “I don’t take responsibility at all.” During Friday’s news conference, he added the tests “we inherited were “broken, were obsolete,” when this form of coronavirus didn’t even exist under his predecessor.

This sounds an awful lot like one of the three sentences that Homer Simpson swears will get you through life: “It was like that when I got here.”

Cut through the nightly bluster at the podium and it’s simply strikingly clear: Trump is afraid to actually do anything in this crisis.

Sony Unveils DualSense, the New Wireless Game Controller for PlayStation 5 ★

Looks beautiful, and very Sony. My son’s observation is that it looks “off-brand” to get away from color-coding the triangle/circle/X/square buttons. But this looks better.

Let’s All Wear a Mask ★

Maciej Ceglowski:

The medical evidence for the practice is overwhelming. The post-SARS countries in East Asia have known this for a long time, and America and Europe are finally coming around. I’ve put a bunch of resources about the medical benefits of mask wearing in a further reading section at the bottom of this post.

But in this essay, I want to persuade you not just to wear a mask, but to go beyond the new CDC guidelines and help make mask wearing a social norm. That means always wearing a mask when you go out in public, and becoming a pest and nuisance to the people in your life until they do the same.

It’s encouraging how many people wearing masks I now see on the sidewalk here in Philly, but the number needs to go much higher. If you have family or friends who are resisting getting on board Team Face Mask, send them this link. Ceglowski makes the case.

Last Week Tonight With John Oliver on One America News ★

Last Week Tonight:

One America News, or OAN, is a far-right news network being embraced by President Trump at his coronavirus press briefings. John Oliver takes a look at who they are, how they report, and why they could be a big problem during the pandemic.

If you think Fox News is in the bag for Trump and the Republican Party, well, meet OAN. Just jaw-dropping.