Elon Musk fought the law. The law appears to have won. X, Musk’s social media platform, backed down in its fight with the Brazilian judiciary, after complying with court orders that had blocked users in the country from accessing X. (The Guardian) These included naming a representative in the country and blocking accounts that Supreme…Read More
Transformers One was expected to open to at least $30 million to $35 million in North America, more than enough to top the chart. Instead, it came in at an estimated $25 million from 3,978 theaters versus an estimated $26 million from 4,172 locations for Beetlejuice sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which is now in is third…Read More
California will, starting in 2027, prohibit social media platforms from deliberately delivering addictive feeds to minors without parental consent as part of a new law. (Axios) SB 976 also bans companies from sending notifications to users identified as minors between midnight and 6 a.m. or during the school day from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m….Read More
Gannett named Caren Bohan editor in chief of USA Today, just two months after the six-year veteran of the paper took over the role on an interim basis, the company announced Friday. (TheWrap)Read More
Former President Donald Trump’s Wednesday-afternoon pit stop at the Gutfeld! studio boosted the Fox News late-night show to a ratings high. Per Nielsen, 4.9 million total viewers tuned in to see Trump join host Greg Gutfeld in dissecting the day’s headlines, while the adults-25-through-54 audience measured in at 744,000 viewers. (TVNewser)Read More
Wall Street Week, the venerable program that has been around in one form or another since 1970, is moving beyond its usual focus on the ups and downs of the stock market. (Variety)Read More
Tim Miller doesn’t enjoy making the MrBeast face, the wide-eyed, open-mouthed smile of a million YouTube thumbnail images. But he acknowledges that the numbers don’t lie: It’s what his fans want. (Semafor)Read More
How close was Barry Diller to securing control of Paramount Global? Closer than some reports may have made it seem, if Diller’s recollection of his pursuit is accurate. (THR)Read More
It might only cost $2 in the vending machine, but that can of soda is a complicated battery.
It stores the energy of the machines that were used to mine the bauxite, the ship that brought the ore to Iceland, the astonishing temperatures used to create the aluminum, then more shipping, more processing, more handling, the lights in the store and the power to the vending machine.
But what about that book you just read? Not simply the energy to print it and ship it, or even the energy to grow the trees…
What about the energy of a life well lived by the author? The edits and rewrites and dead ends?
Everything feels different once we realize that something happened for it to become what it is now.
A poignant definition of civilization is all the conveniences, courtesies, standards, insulation and tools that we hardly notice now but that we would miss if they were gone.
