Skip to main content

Today’s Storystream

Feed refreshed 44 minutes ago

Funky Dividends

E
External Link
Elizabeth Lopatto
Sickos.jpg

My longstanding personal obsession, Rupert Murdoch, is getting sued by Donald Trump for the story The Wall Street Journal ran yesterday about a letter to noted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. I imagine this will get either thrown out entirely or settled — Murdoch often settles — but truth is an absolute defense in a defamation case. The WSJ isn’t Fox News. It’s Murdoch’s crown jewel — one he refused to tamper with, even when it cost him a $125 million investment. A settlement could permanently damage the paper’s reputation. Who ya got?

E
External Link
Elizabeth Lopatto
Welcome back to the new season of the Trump show.

We’ve talked before about the funhouse-mirror-alternative-reality that Trump (and Musk) have built. JP Brammer, who watches much more YouTube than I do, notes something weird is going on in content land — it seems Donald Trump has lost control of the plot. NBC’s Brandy Zadrozny, writing from a more anxious angle, seems to agree. Content has now outpaced reality. I guess we’re going to find out by how much.

May the Beast You Rode in on Eat You Alive

[johnpaulbrammer.substack.com]

Perplexity’s CEO on why the browser is AI’s killer app

Aravind Srinivas on Perplexity’s new Comet web browser, the AI talent frenzy, and a future IPO.

Lenovo Legion Go S review part two: you were the chosen one!

5

Verge Score

Testing the $599 and $829 SteamOS models.

Sean HollisterCommentsComment Icon Bubble
E
The Verge
Elizabeth Lopatto
How about Jeffrey Epstein and AI?

After The Wall Street Journal’s scoop last night on Epstein’s relationship with Donald Trump, I was inspired to go look at some old stories about the sex criminal’s buddies.

On reread, one thing stuck out to me: how close Epstein was to the pioneers, commercializers, and money men of AI. The WSJ scoop suggests there are still new stories out there; I wonder what’s lurking in the field of artificial intelligence — surely I am not the only person who’d like to learn more.

J
Youtube
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy
Ring’s drone camera may fly again.

The Always Home Cam could be (re)launching soon in “limited quantities,” according to Business Insider. The publication cites sources who say that recently returned CEO Jamie Siminoff has been testing the indoor flying camera in his office and plans to make it available soon.

Announced in 2020 under Siminoff’s first tenure, the camera never shipped despite a brief invitation program. I saw it fly at CES in 2023; maybe 2025 will finally be its year.

Donkey Kong Bananza turns destruction into joy

Why yes, I would like to go ape shit.

Just For You

Just For You
    The MAGA backlash over Epstein isn’t dying down

    Right-wing influencers now have to choose between authenticity to their brand, and their loyalty to Trump.

    The best Sonos speakers to buy in 2025The best Sonos speakers to buy in 2025
    Tech
    Tech
    Chris Welch
    J
    External Link
    Jay Peters
    A new roadmap for Remedy’s multiplayer game.

    FBC: Firebreak didn’t get off to a roaring start, but the team behind it is preparing a new “Major Update” it aims to launch in late September with changes like a better onboarding process.

    Our review of the game said it “ignores Remedy’s trademark strangeness in an unremarkable shooter.”

    The best movie about the pandemic yet is still not a very good movie

    Eddington hilariously and diligently evokes 2020 but has learned nothing from it.

    Kevin NguyenCommentsComment Icon Bubble
    J
    Youtube
    Jay Peters
    I’m dreaming of October 10th.

    That’s the newly-announced release date for Dreams of Another, the trippy-looking title from Q-Games where you shoot guns to help create the world around you. I loved the brief demo I played at this year’s Game Developers Conference.

    A guide to the best sci-fi streaming this summer

    Foundation and Strange New Worlds return, while Alien: Earth and Eyes of Wakanda will make their debuts.

    Andrew WebsterCommentsComment Icon Bubble
    A
    Youtube
    Andrew Webster
    A quick turnaround.

    Wes Anderson’s latest, The Phoenician Scheme, is still in select theaters, but it’ll also be streaming very soon. Peacock just announced that it’ll air the movie starting on July 25th. The news comes just a day after the streamer announced a sizable price hike.

    D
    Dominic Preston
    Refine your own macrodata for the low, low price of $899.

    That’s how much Atomic Keyboard is charging for its MDR Dasher keyboard, based on Apple TV’s Severance, though early adopters can save $300 with a $10 deposit. That gets you an aluminum keyboard with a trackball and swappable magnetic top sheet that enables three different layouts, depending on how show-accurate you feel like being.

    If it’s a little steep for you, $197 gets you Signature Plastics’ Macrodata Refinement keycap set to upgrade an existing board.

    <em>Innie matches the show’s keyboard, but lacks keys like Escape, Command, and Control.</em>
    <em>Outie is closer to a traditional 60 percent layout, with Severance flourishes like the trackball.</em>
    <em>Dasher recreates the original DG Dasher D2 the show’s board is based on.</em>
    1/4Image: Atomic Keyboard
    V
    Instagram
    Victoria Song
    AI smart glasses are a game-changer for the blind and low-vision community.

    Don’t take my word for it — I interviewed Jason Valley, a visually impaired Verge reader, for this week’s Vergecast. Jason tells me how he uses the Ray-Ban Meta glasses as a visual interpreter, and how the Live AI feature has helped him live a more independent life after losing much of his sight. I also chat with Be My Eyes CEO Mike Buckley about why accessible design is universal design. Watch the full episode here.

    J
    Instagram
    Jay Peters
    Stephen Colbert’s version of The Late Show will end next May.

    CBS is also retiring The Late Show franchise, which it says is “purely a financial decision,” according to CBS News.

    J
    External Link
    Jay Peters
    A new executive order may take aim at ‘woke’ AI models.

    The order, which is planned to be released sometime next week, would “dictate that AI companies getting federal contracts be politically neutral and unbiased in their AI models,” according to The Wall Street Journal.

    R
    Youtube
    Richard Lawler
    Stratospheric skydiver Felix Baumgartner has died at 56.

    Baumgartner died while paragliding today on the eastern coast of Italy, reports the Associated Press. Reports from Italian media said his motorized paraglider crashed into a swimming pool at a hotel, injuring a young woman on the ground

    He was most widely known for his 2012 jump from the stratosphere that made him the first person to break the speed of sound in freefall, and the person to complete the highest-ever parachute jump, until that record was topped two years later.

    Follow topics and authors on stories you like to see related articles here. Or try one of these:
      Already a Member? Sign In

      Just For You

      Just For You
        X
        Wait 
         Seconds