By John Gruber
Build anything with exe.dev. It’s just a computer.
Linked List: April 24, 2023
Monday, 24 April 2023
- CNBC: ‘Apple Declares Victory After Decision Reached in Epic Games Appeal’ ★
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CNBC:
An appeals court on Monday mostly sided with Apple over its App Store rules in a suit with Epic Games. The decision signals that Apple’s control over the App Store and the fees it charges likely won’t significantly change as a result of an ongoing legal challenge by Epic Games.
Long story short, Epic has been barking up the wrong tree.
- The Twitter Blue Apocalypse Is Nigh ★
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Climate scientist Peter Gleick:
Any tweet now with science, data, and facts about #climatechange is now swarmed by climate-denying trolls, bots, and idiots because science, data, and facts scare the hell out of them, and because Elon’s Twitter now promotes them. What a cesspool. Example:
I think there’s a line of thought that Elon Musk had months ago ruined Twitter, but the last few days have shown that it’s gotten far worse than ever before. The main buyers of Twitter Blue are, indeed, “trolls, bots, and idiots”, and Twitter is now hardwired to prioritize tweets and replies from those accounts.
The blue-check accounts now are just Catturd, people who want to be Catturd, and million-plus-follower users who sure as shit are not paying for their verification status.
Here’s a tweet from MIT’s official account that simply states a fact: “We did not subscribe to Twitter Blue.” Look at the replies. They’re all blue-check MAGA-hats.
- CNN Fires Star Anchor Don Lemon ★
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Michael M. Grynbaum, John Koblin, and Benjamin Mullin, reporting for The New York Times:
“CNN and Don have parted ways,” Chris Licht, CNN’s chairman, said in a statement. “Don will forever be a part of the CNN family, and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years. We wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavors.”
That benign language contrasted sharply with Mr. Lemon’s interpretation of the day’s events. In a scathing message on Twitter, Mr. Lemon told viewers that he was abruptly informed by his talent agent “that I have been terminated by CNN.”
“I am stunned,” Mr. Lemon wrote. “After 17 years at CNN I would have thought that someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly. At no time was I ever given any indication that I would not be able to continue to do the work I have loved at the network.” (CNN disputed Mr. Lemon’s account, saying the anchor “was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.”)
In a clear sign of acrimony, Mr. Lemon has retained the aggressive Hollywood litigator Bryan Freedman to handle his exit. His contract with CNN runs through 2026, according to two people with direct knowledge of his deal.
Brian Stelter: “It’s the craziest day in cable news history.”
- Fox News Dumps Tucker Carlson ★
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The New York Times:
Fox News said Monday that it was parting ways with Tucker Carlson, its most popular prime time host who was also the source of repeated controversies and headaches for the network because of his statements on everything from race relations to L.G.B.T.Q. rights.
The network made the announcement less than a week after it agreed to pay $787.5 million in a defamation lawsuit in which Mr. Carlson’s show, one of the highest rated on Fox, figured prominently for its role in spreading misinformation after the 2020 election.
In making its announcement, Fox offered a terse statement of gratitude. “Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor,” it said.
Here was the end of what turned out to be Tucker Carlson’s final Fox News show last Friday. Certainly no indication that he didn’t expect to be on the air tonight. In fact Tucker’s final words are, “We’ll be back on Monday.”
Let’s make one thing very clear: Tucker Carlson did not choose to leave Fox News like this. Others can decide whether the word “fired” applies here, but he isn’t leaving on his own terms.
It seems like it’s unlikely to be a complete coincidence that Fox News settled the Dominion lawsuit for nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars, but odious though Carlson may be, he wasn’t really at the forefront of Fox’s election lies. Maria Bartiromo and Lou Dobbs were — and they’re both still employed at Fox.
Some people are speculating that it might be acquiescence to The Boss in Mar-a-Lago, after text messages uncovered in the Dominion suit revealed Carlson writing to colleagues, of Trump, “I hate him passionately.” But if Trump had a grudge against Carlson, why did he do an interview on Carlson’s show just two weeks ago?
Makes me think something else is going on. Maybe some sort of harassment situation? Or maybe the Murdochs figured someone had to be fired, and it might as well be the guy who’s too big for his britches?
Update: The LA Times:
People familiar with the situation who were not authorized to comment publicly said the decision to fire Carlson came straight from Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch. Carlson’s exit is related to the discrimination lawsuit filed by Abby Grossberg, the producer fired by the network last month, the people said. Carlson’s senior executive producer Justin Wells has also been terminated, according to people familiar with the matter.