Linked List: October 13, 2021

Wednesday, 13 October 2021

IBM Will Follow Biden Vaccine Order, Defying Texas Ban ★

Clara Molot, reporting for Bloomberg:^*

International Business Machines Corp. said it will follow President Joe Biden’s mandate requiring that employees be vaccinated against Covid-19, overriding an order from the Texas governor Monday blocking such actions.

“IBM is a federal contractor and must comply with federal requirements, which direct employees of federal contractors to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 by December 8th or obtain a medical or religious accommodation,” a spokesperson for the New York-based company said. “We will continue to protect the health and safety of IBM employees and clients, and we will continue to follow federal requirements.”

More like this, please.

* You know.

Must Be in the Front Row ★

Wonderful profile of Milwaukee Brewers legend Bob Uecker — 87 and going strong in the broadcast booth — by Adam McCalvy for MLB.com:

It’s been like this in Milwaukee forever. When Uecker joined the Brewers’ radio team in 1971, he was only four years removed from playing the final season of a Major League career that spanned the Milwaukee Braves, the Phillies and then the Atlanta Braves. Then-Brewers owner Bud Selig originally hired Uecker as a scout, but it was a failed enterprise. Selig swears that he once received a scouting report in the mail from Uecker that was smeared with mashed potatoes and gravy.

Leaked Promotional Shots of HTC’s New AR/VR Headset ★

Speaking of forthcoming AR/VR headsets, Evan “Evleaks” Blass has leaked a slew of marketing images for the apparently imminent HTC Vive Flow. Looks cool, in a Nite Owl sort of way. The future’s going to be weird if these things go mainstream, though.

Update: Does seem kind of suboptimal, to say the least, that it has a fan.

Magic Leap Somehow Raises Another $500 Million in Funding ★

Kim Lyons, reporting for The Verge:

Magic Leap has raised $500 million in funding and is preparing to release a new AR headset, the Magic Leap 2, next year, the company announced Monday. The headset will be generally available next year, the company said, and “select customers” are using it as part of an early access program.

CEO Peggy Johnson said in a statement that with the new funding “Magic Leap will have greater financial flexibility and the resources needed to continue our growth trajectory as we expand on our industry-leading AR technology.” She revealed the new device in an Monday appearance on CNBC.

I can’t believe this company still exists, let alone is convincing investors to give them more money.

LoveFrom Unveils a Teaser Website ★

Beautiful, simple (purely typographic), elegantly animated, and well written. But, well, it’s really just a statement.

Reload for many — seriously, many — comma animations, each delightful.

More at Wallpaper from Sarah Douglas, including details on LoveFrom Serif, the firm’s bespoke typeface.