2 minutes estimated reading time
Digital Hucksters
The Digital Era: A Golden Age for Hucksters | EE Times – interesting take on UX. Digital hucksters use dark patterns and behavioural understanding to sell to customers. These customers are looking to mediate their interactions online rather than with a real sales person. On a semi-related note, check out the ludricous experience of needing an app to order in a pub – Interesting post on ordering in a UK pub. More ethics related content here.
Hong Kong
More American Chamber of Commerce members say they are considering leaving Hong Kong, with many citing national security law | South China Morning Post – numbers have doubled compared to last August. This might not be a bad thing from the perspective of the Chinese government, but it is also likely to drive further trade decoupling
Luxury
The evergreen nature of preppy style. A classic example of everything old is new. The main thing of interest for me is the way Princess Diana has been resuscitated as as a fashion icon over the past year or so – Buy Yuppie Scum: ’90s Rich-Guy Gear Is in Style | GQ
Stocks as luxury consumption, I imagine that this might start to hit jewellery sales as well – Young Korean Couples Are Gifting Each Other Tesla Stocks, Not Flowers
Discover VS Series & World of SK-II | ChangeDestiny | SK-II City
Media
Brands don’t need to avoid violence – just make sure it’s right for your audience | Campaign – guessing Xaxis must be having brand safety related issues
Security
UK to ban default passwords for smart TVs, speakers to boost security | Reuters – this is big if it gets more widely adopted. Not sure how this will deal with all the products that are bought on Amazon Marketplace etc though
The Crypto AG scandal rumbles on – Swiss spy chief exits after reports of row over CIA-linked firm | Reuters
The digital detectives searching for North Korea’s disappeared | Financial Times
Technology
No sooner has Elon Musk shown a decline of interest in bitcoin due to its energy impact than this news comes out of Microsoft – Microsoft is shutting down its Azure Blockchain Service | ZDNet
The lack of semiconductor manufacturing in Europe by Jan-Peter Kleinhans of Shiftung Neue Varantwortung eV – Could they be driven by pushes from the current fabs owners not to have any competition?
Daimler decentralises spare parts production – via 3D printer
Breakthrough for room temperature quantum computing | EE Europe
Google has been designing a new category of chips for their own needs and has even developed its own tools used to help in the chip design process. This software is used in conjunction with Mentor Graphics EDA software – Google BigChip? | Digits to Dollars