Linked List: March 22, 2021

Monday, 22 March 2021

Dodgers Fans Buy Sign at Fenway Park Thanking Boston Red Sox for Mookie Betts Trade 

I don’t know how I wound up with so many Red Sox fans as friends, but I have a bunch. Every single one of them thought the Betts trade was the worst the Sox have made since you-know-who. Just baffling — he’s clearly a generational talent.

COVID-19 Vaccine Manufacturing in U.S. Races Ahead 

Peter Loftus, reporting for The Wall Street Journal (News+ link):

After a slow start, Pfizer Inc., its partner BioNTech SE and Moderna Inc. have raised output by gaining experience, scaling up production lines and taking other steps like making certain raw materials on their own. Pfizer figured out how to stretch scarce supplies of special filters needed for the vaccine production process by recycling them. Moderna shortened the time it needed to inspect and package newly manufactured vials of its vaccine. […]

The increased output should be enough to fully vaccinate 76 million people in the U.S. in March, another 75 million in April and then 89 million more in May, according to estimates from Evercore ISI analysts. The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines require two doses.

By midsummer, 75% of Americans 12 years old and above should be vaccinated, according to Morgan Stanley.

Outstanding news all around. This sort of large-scale industrial effort — both to manufacture the vaccines and get them into arms — exemplifies the U.S. at its best. Sign up and get vaccinated as soon as you can.

Facebook ‘Reality’ Labs 

This is all just pretend nonsense. It’s no more real than the interfaces Tony Stark uses in the Iron Man movies.

Me, back in 2011, regarding a concept design video from Microsoft:

This video encapsulates everything wrong with Microsoft. Their coolest products are imaginary futuristic bullshit. Guess what, we’ve all seen Minority Report already. Imagine if they instead spent the effort that went into this movie on making something, you know, real, that you could actually go out and buy and use today.

And in a follow-up:

I’m not arguing that making concept videos directly leads to a lack of traction in the current market. I’m arguing that making concept videos is a sign of a company that has a lack of institutional focus on the present and near-present. Can you imagine a sports team in the midst of a present-day losing season that makes a video imagining a future championship 10 years out?

The designs in these concept videos are free from real-world constraints — technical, logical, fiscal. Dealing with constraints is what real design is all about. Institutional attention on the present day — on getting innovative industry-leading products out the door and creating consumer demand for them — requires relentless company-wide focus.

Gizmodo: ‘Zuck Slowly Shrinks and Transforms Into a Corncob Ahead of Apple’s Looming Privacy Updates’ 

Alyse Stanley, with a truly splendid headline for Gizmodo:

Now though, with Apple’s updates looming close on the horizon, Facebook is apparently adopting a new strategy: corncobbing. Aka, to continue to embarrass oneself rather than admit to being brutally owned.

On Thursday, Zuckerberg reiterated concerns that Apple’s decision could still hurt small businesses and developers, but also expressed hope that Facebook might benefit from the situation, CNBC and CNET report.

“It’s possible that we may even be in a stronger position if Apple’s changes encourage more businesses to conduct more commerce on our platforms by making it harder for them to use their data in order to find the customers that would want to use their products outside of our platforms,” he said.

Facebook Is Building an Instagram for Kids Under 13 

I am reminded of an old Letterman gag from the 1980s. It was during a bit called “Rejected FDA Products”, and one of them was “Gerber’s Cigarettes for Infants”.