2 minutes estimated reading time
Pandemic triggers wave of billion-dollar US bankruptcies – really interesting data points and charts on large US bankruptcies in this FT article. The bigger question are these billion dollar US bankruptcies like ripping a band-aid off as their demise was inevitable, or are good businesses going to the wall in extreme times? (paywall)
The Effects of Hong Kong’s National-Security Law Are Already Clear | 新聞 – Yahoo雅虎香港 – Just a few weeks after China’s imposition of a new “national-security law” on Hong Kong, we can already see the law’s effects: It has emboldened the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to suppress dissent, punish activism, and create fear within the city’s democracy movement. In 1997, the United Kingdom returned Hong Kong, which it had governed for 99 years under a lease extorted from the Qing Dynasty, back to the People’s Republic of China. At the time, the PRC promised to preserve the political autonomy and freedoms the city had enjoyed under the British until 2047. The national-security law and the crackdown it initiated marked the breaking of that promise.
An Oral History of ‘Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater’ – The Ringer – the bit about motion capture purely for marketing, rather than improving game play was gold
Gen Zer men think feminism has ‘gone too far’ | Canvas8 – ok dodgy headline. The interesting thing about this is that it questions the blanket progressiveness wrapped around gen-z. Which is also an indicator of how useless generations can be as shorthand. It would be interesting to see how they compared to previous cohorts of 18 – 29 year olds. Not terribly surprising though. More consumer behaviour related posts here.
Here’s Why Jackie Chan Is Really Unpopular in Hong Kong | Vice – accurate, but neglects to mention a number of relevant points. That the fate of Chan’s son (arrested on drug use) rests with the Chinese government. So there was at least one point of leverage that the party has over Chan. Adding to the complex relation of Chan’s relationship to the Chinese Communist Party is is own family history. Chan’s father was a Koumintang intelligence officer hounded by the communists. After successive assassination attempts on his life; Chan’s father eventually ran away to Hong Kong and eventually Australia where he worked as a cook. Chan’s mother had smuggled opium in her past. Meanwhile his brothers who were left in China lived a life of hardship full of communist punishments because of who their father was.
The Case of the Top Secret iPod – TidBITS – interesting article about an impressive device hack to repurpose it for other things
DigiTimes: HiSilicon engineers abandon ship – Huawei is apparently looking to build a 45nm silicon chip fabrication plant without US tech, which DigiTimes claims is ‘mission impossible’. Kind of related form the FT: Huawei employees worry about lay-offs after tougher US sanctions. Not surprised that the global marketing team seems to be taking the cuts. It was often quoted to me that ‘the best advertising for Huawei was its employees’ and attributed to Mr Ren. This was when the company was reluctant to do co-marketing deals and advertising for handsets