That Slap

Sunday night’s Oscars were… memorable for a big reason. But I’m not here to talk about THAT. Instead, I want to mention CODA. This movie has been on the radar since it debuted on Apple TV+. And in a first, this film took the award for Best Picture when it was only on a streaming service. Owen Gleiberman over at Variety has more. …just as “CODA’s” Oscar triumph signifies that we’re in a whole new ballgame of an era, where streaming is the paradigmatic new normal (which potentially scrambles the very metaphysic of “movies,” since that word no longer means…

City Bank

Here’s an interesting update on the most affordable cities to live in in 2022. This list, courtesy of Living Cozy, shows that Tulsa, Oklahoma is the most affordable place to score a 2-bedroom apartment. At under $900 per month, this is a steal compared to most places. Here’s more of the breakdown from Ash Read. Huge numbers of people do not own their own homes, renting them from landlords instead. There are many reasons why people might rent rather than buy, the foremost being the huge cost of purchasing your own property. Aside from that, renting gives people the flexibility…

Uber Truce

Long ago, an app / service rolled into New York City and declared war on an institution. A scrappy startup called Uber wanted to usurp the sleepy taxi industry that was the lifeblood of New York. In only a few years, “taking an Uber” became so commonplace, it’s used all the time. People don’t use taxis as much. But with any war, it must end and now, Taxis will join in on Uber’s giant customer base. Andrew J. Hawkins at The Verge has more. Riders will pay the same fare for taxi rides as they would for an Uber X…

But Tesla Doesn’t Need a PR Dept

Tesla has been applauded for many things. They were the first to make a legit EV that is ‘sexy’. They had the foresight to know people wanted a reliable charging infrastructure and built one. Elon Musk has become a Founder / CEO visionary-type that uses charisma to get things done. But Tesla also has a lot going against it. Racism seems to be one of those. Lawrence Hodge reports on this at Jalopnik Three workers and their accounts are detailed in a lawsuit that was filed February 9 in the California Superior Court in Alameda. With over 4,000 Black workers…

Reminder: I’m still away and this week’s newsletters won’t have any updates going on with me. I’ll be back next week. -Aaron 👍🏻

Back To The Lego

In 2013 Lego introduced the first Back to the Future kit. This time-traveling Delorean was notable for being the first Lego Cuusoo fan-created set to be sold. Of course I bought it right away and to this day it sits on a shelf for everyone to see. But, like most Lego, it takes a bit of imagination to see it for what it is. That is now going to change. Jonathan Gitlin at Ars Technica has more details. For those who missed out, there’s now a way to get a Lego BTTF DeLorean—no time machine required. On April 1, the…

California’s Mushroom Kingdom

New theme park experiences are a big focus at Disney with the Galactic Starcruiser, Galaxy’s Edge, and the new Avengers experience. Not to be outdone, Universal Studios opened Super Nintendo World in Osaka about a year ago. Now, they have announced this immersive experience is coming to their California theme park. A. Khalid at Engadget has more. What can fans expect from the US park? The original Super Nintendo World in Osaka has a ride where fans can race on a life-sized Mario Kart course, as well as a slower ride on Yoshi’s island. While Universal representatives aren’t giving details on which rides are…

Unauthorized Storefront

A restaurant group in Florida is suing Google for allegedly setting up landing pages that don’t belong to the eateries. According to the group, Google is providing a profile within their search results that have “Order Online” buttons but those point to delivery apps. Tim De Champ at Ars Technica has the story. When users click the “Order Online” button, they’re directed to a page that in many cases contains large links to food delivery companies, complete with their logos. The restaurant’s own site gets a link as well, though it’s a small, generic “website” button. In some cases, Google…

Reminder: I’m still away and this week’s newsletters won’t have any updates going on with me. I’ll be back next week. -Aaron 👍🏻

Be Our Guest. Please.

When Disney announced the price of their Galactic Starcruiser experience I was taken aback by the cost. Six grand for a 72-hour experience in Florida is asking a lot of people. Maybe it’s because of the price or people still not wanting to travel because of COVID, but Katie Dowd at SFGate reports that Disney isn’t exactly in need of any sort of waitlist. [The Galactic Starcruiser] is not even close to selling out, Disney’s availability calendar shows. Guests who check the “start planning your voyage” page will nearly have their pick of dates through the second half of 2022.…

Going Maskless

When Apple debuted Face ID for the iPhone, it was a wonderful idea and one wherein they thought the days of Touch ID were numbered. COVID completely derailed the reliability of something that worked so well. Apple, nor anyone for that matter, could’ve predicted constant mask-wearing. Now, finally, with iOS 15.4 Apple has created a system to work around it. Jose Adorno at 9To5Mac has more. Just after you update your iPhone to iOS 15.4, a new prompt screen will appear explaining the new “Use Face ID with a mask” feature. Even though Apple actively gives users this new option,…

Permanent Savings

With yet another shifting of the clocks forward to begin Daylight Saving Time, the frustration I (and many others) shared with super-early sunsets was alleviated. Finally we got back to a time I prefer where it will get dark at sometime closer to 6:30 than 5:30. Then out of nowhere, it seems this change is on its way to becoming permanent. Without any sort of fanfare or reporting before the fact, the United States Senate voted on the “Sunshine Protection Act” (talk about an over-dramatic name!) that would make Daylight Saving Time permanent beginning in 2023. Sam Machkovech at Ars…

A good Saturday to everyone. I am so excited for Spring to arrive tomorrow. Here in NY the weather has begun to shift and it’s actually somewhat possible to go outside with only a hoodie or light jacket on. With the time change comes a lovely extended evening too. These past few days have me enjoying the “Time To Walk” feature of Apple Fitness+ on my watch. These audio walks feature notable people going on a walk and recounting interesting things about their life. So far I’ve quite enjoyed them and it’s a nice way to get in some activity…

The Lime Is Back

In the heydey of the aughts, it was extremely common to find music downloading software running on every college kid’s computer. Music piracy was rampant. After the downfall of Napster, one service became king: LimeWire. It was sued into oblivion by the RIAA in 2010. Now, it returns but in the most 2022 way possible: an NFT marketplace. Meera Navlakha at Mashable has more. The defunct platform is getting a crypto makeover, thanks to a pair of entrepreneurs in Austria who have just bought the rights to LimeWire. Paul and Julian Zehetmayr will be relaunching under a new company, LimeWire…

Electric Buzz

After a very public and very humiliating experience with trying to get around car emission requirements, Volkswagen promised to do better. They also promised to go all-in on building electric vehicles. The ID4 was released with a nice look to it and now VW has dipped into the nostalgia well with the ID Buzz, an electric reimagining of the classic VW Bus. While the car only releases in Europe this year and won’t come to America for another 2 to 3 years, it is worth noting this is a production car and IS coming. The Buzz looks really cool with…

No Chorus, No Problem

Generally, music follows a structure. A song will have some verses, a chorus, a bridge, then more chorus. That key and repeating part of the song is usually what sticks the most. Now, enter this video from David Bennett that goes over famous songs without a chorus. The chorus is also a big way in which we identify a song. There are so many “I didn’t know what song this was until the chorus” situations that have crossed my mind over the years. However, Bennett talks about specific songs that are mega-hits. None of them have a chorus. But a…

Reboot Madness

Clicking around the internet, you may be looking for something new to watch. Some TV shows look interesting while some have run their course, yet continue for another season. But then you spot it. Something familiar. A title that hasn’t crossed your mind in 5, 10, or even 20 years. A TV show that once graced the airwaves is in the news again. But it’s not because of some controversy. It’s because it’s new. And it’s coming back. It happens again and again and it’s the state of many streaming services to bring back “TV comfort food”. Because we live…

👋🏻 Happy Tuesday… TimeMachinerserers? I never gave much thought as to how I could address my readers, but “you awesome people” is a good start. So, Happy Tuesday you awesome people! Have a better suggestion? Hit reply and let me know! 😆 It’s crazy to think we’re halfway through March. However, it is fantastic to get some daylight back in the late afternoon. I, for one, was not enjoying the sunset at 5:15. Hopefully, we’re reaching the end of winter. It’s a nice feeling to get out for a walk and enjoy some fresh air. Today’s issue will be three…

Reinventing the Wheel

I always say that we’re living in the future, we just haven’t realized it yet. More proof comes out of this report by Steve DaSilva over at Jalopnik. It recounts  Jón Schone’s attempts to 3D print a Mercedes wheel that would actually work on his car. He started it back in 2020 and only recently got it to function somewhat. Not only did the wheel support the weight of the Mercedes and the pressure of an inflated tire, it held up to driving, turning, and stopping. It may not quiteclear the Mercedes’ front calipers, judging by all the scraping sounds, but…

Green Hill Zone: Act 2

A sequel to look forward to. That’s what I’ve been calling the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie. This was the last movie I saw in theaters and was only a short time before COVID lockdowns began. Now at a lull in the pandemic, we get the sequel. And, oh man, it looks great. The trailer looks to have a lot of faithful lifts from Sonic 2 and Sonic 3. Chaos Emeralds, Knuckles, snowboarding, red biplanes, and, of course, Miles “Tales” Prower. Luckily enough we don’t need to worry about Paramount retooling Sonic’s look this time after their disastrous Sonic look…

And We’re Calling It ‘Back To Office’

With COVID numbers falling across the country from Omicron’s spread, many companies are calling their employees back to the office. Apple has pushed back their return date many times, but this time it may stick. Earlier this month they announced April 11th will begin the transition for employees to return. Kim Lyons at The Verge has more. In the third week of the pilot, Cook writes, employees will come in twice a week, with the full hybrid pilot — where workers will come into the office on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday and work “flexibly” on Wednesday and Friday — would…

Hello and happy Saturday to you. A special welcome to some of the new people who’ve come to see what TimeMachiner is all about. This past week was dominated by Apple’s Tuesday event, which I’ll speak more about below. Additionally, we got the first trailer for Disney’s Obi-Wan Kenobi show. Oh boy it looks freaking amazing. It may be many years since The Phantom Menace, but Dual Of The Fates remains a powerful score to this day. Thats it for me. For everyone who’s new, be sure to check out the latest edition of The Longform on the archives. It’s…

I’ll Spin

Every few months some new Wheel of Fortune “controversy” swirls around the internet. This time around it’s about three contestants who either don’t know, what looks to be an obvious, answer or never get the chance. With the puzzle nearly revealed, a contestant asks to solve and then gets it wrong. It’s a cringy moment, but it happens. Heck, it’s a game show. People are going to mess up. But then the next contestant also guesses letters that weren’t there and the third ends up landing on Bankrupt. They go around the horn a few more times, with the middle…

Why Bother, Nintendo

For all the good Nintendo does for their products, the biggest bugaboo for them has been their online service. From the eShop being a complete mess to their online services lacking basic features, it’s something the company stumbles upon again and again. Five years after the Switch has released, they’ve come out with version 2.0 of their mobile app. Jon Porter at The Verge has more. For my money, the 2.0 update’s most interesting improvement is that it offers an easier way to find and share your friend code, the cumbersome 12-digit identifier that’s the primary way of adding friends…

27″ of Hurt

Tuesday’s Apple Event unloaded a bunch of new products. A revised iPhone SE, an M1 chip in the iPad Air, a new Mac called the Mac Studio, a 27″ Studio Display, and a new green iPhone 13 / 13 Pro color were all brought to the market. However, there was one thing quite evident with Apple this time around: the Mac is back to being expensive. Really expensive. For years the argument against Apple has been their Pro line of computers was really not Pro enough. The price and specs did not cater to that audience. Now with the updates…

Green Update

While Microsoft may have pioneered regular software updates back in the Windows 98 days, they are not alone in this realm anymore. We live in (and have lived in it for a long while) a world where software constantly updates. It is to the point where developers will even ship software to get it out the door and patch / update it later on. Now, Microsoft is doing something interesting: updating when the computer is using green energy. Andrew Cunningham at Ars Technica has more. Using “regional carbon intensity data” from electricityMap and Watttime, Windows will keep tabs on what…

Hello and a good Tuesday to everyone! For those who celebrate, happy Apple March Event Day. 😉 I, for one, am always excited to see what Apple reveals during their events. I find the March one especially interesting because it doesn’t always have a set agenda. That lineup uncertainty adds a bit of mystery. This past week I was elated to begin season 2 of Star Trek: Picard. With only one episode so far, I am already excited to see what is going to happen. The show looks to be setting up some big storylines. For the bibliophiles out there,…

Playing Password

One of the biggest pains when signing up for a service or an overzealous policy is choosing a password. Back in the day, you came up with something you could remember. That was it. Then it became more complicated. Systems began requiring a mix of upper, lower characters, special characters, and numbers. Soon our passwords looked something like P@ssword123. Then with being forced, usually at work, to change them periodically, we soon just settled into P@ssword1234, P@ssword1235, and so on and so on. Enter Hive Systems and their “Password Table” that explains how secure a password can be. They recently…

Self-Hacked

Academic researchers have discovered that if you get within close enough proximity, you can “hack” an Amazon Alexa device to execute commands the owner may not want. I put the word hack in quotes because this is less of a security failure and more of a “that’s how this thing works” way that the Echo (or any voice assistant) operates. Dan Goodin at Ars Technica has more. The attack works by using the device’s speaker to issue voice commands. As long as the speech contains the device wake word (usually “Alexa” or “Echo”) followed by a permissible command, the Echo…

Hertz So Good

Katie Wedell and Laura Layden writing for USA Today with a bonkers story on how renting a car could literally turn you into a criminal. She’s [Paula Murray] now one of 230 plaintiffs suing Hertz for false arrest and in some cases prosecution. The lawyers for this cohort say they know there are more cases out there – warrants for arrest that people who rented from Hertz years ago don’t even know exist, like ticking time bombs waiting to explode their lives at any moment. USA Today This entire thing sounds like something out of a low-budget comedy, but it…