Linked List: February 28, 2023

Tuesday, 28 February 2023

The Talk Show: ‘18-Hour Bombing Mission’ ★

Marco Arment returns to the show to discuss some genuinely startling revelations regarding iPhone and Apple ID security; the new HomePod 2; and our favorite electric vehicle maker. Also: coffee.

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Xiaomi Unveils Prototype Wireless AR Glasses and, Shocker, They’re Ridiculously Ugly ★

XDA’s headline claims these AR glasses “look like they’re from the future”. That must be a future where Apple no longer exists. In the future where Apple exists, Apple will release AR glasses that actually look good, not like some sort of instrument at your ophthalmologist. Then a year later Xiaomi (and their brethren companies) will release AR glasses that look as shamelessly like Apple’s as they can get away with. Then people who understand design will call them out as laughable copycats. Then people who don’t understand design will argue that there’s no other way to design AR glasses, so of course all of them look similar, including Apple’s.

Just Absolutely Shocking That an Erratic Tyrant Will Fire Sycophants Too ★

Rebecca Bellan, reporting for TechCrunch:

Twitter has laid off more than 200 employees, according to a report from The New York Times, Platformer and posts on social media from former workers.

And apparently not even Elon Musk loyalist Esther Crawford, the chief executive of Twitter payments who oversaw the company’s Twitter Blue verification subscription, was spared, according to Platformer’s Zoë Schiffer. Alex Heath of The Verge also confirmed that Crawford and most of the remaining product team were laid off this weekend, leading many to speculate that Musk is cleaning house to redecorate with a new regime.

Recall that Crawford had been swept up by Musk’s hardcore takeover of Twitter last year, even boasting on the platform about sleeping at the office to handle round-the-clock demands from her new boss.

Kudos to Crawford for not (yet?) deleting this put-it-in-the-dictionary-next-to-the-entry-for-“brown-nose” tweet.

Things are going just great for Twitter.

‘Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming With Dave Letterman’ ★

One of my favorite bands, my very favorite host, in one of the loveliest cities I’ve ever visited. Fucking-a right.