Less than two weeks ago, we saw something historic happen: ConstitutionDAO led the largest crowdfund for a physical object to date, raising $47 million worth of Ether in just a few days. Their goal? To purchase one of eleven rare copies of the U.S. Constitution, a true attempt of ownership by the people, for the people. Even though ConstitutionDAO ultimately lost the bid, what we have left is more than a conversation. Now, we find ourselves in the middle of a movement, with a growing number of i
Do you want to eat (1) poorly (2) moderately or (3) well? A long, long time ago in Minneapolis, this question loomed over a small group of eighth-graders. Appearing on a teletype machine—basically a primitive computer keyboard connected to a printer—at Jordan Junior High School, the strange question broke open the world of The Oregon Trail. Decades later, the title remains perhaps the most influential educational video game ever created, one that endures today as its influence is s
Twitter’s new CEO Parag Agrawal didn’t waste any time making his mark on the company. Just four days after Jack Dorsey announced his surprise departure over Twitter, his successor announced a reorganization that will have chief design officer Dantley Davis and head of engineering Michael Montano leaving by the end of the month. The reorganization is consolidating Twitter into three new divisions—consumer, revenue, and core tech—which will be led by Kayvon Beykpo
After years of work by Apple and Google to ensure that no app on your phone can turn on its cameras without you knowing it, the company behind the chipsets in most Android smartphones now wants to keep the front camera on all the time. Qualcomm announced this “always-on camera” feature as a component of the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, a mobile chip platform that will ship in some smartphones by the end of the year, at its Snapdragon Tech Summit in Waimea, Hawaii. And executives with th
The Federal Trade Commission is suing to block the graphics chip maker Nvidia from acquiring the mobile chip design powerhouse Arm from its current owner, Softbank. The proposed merger, and the FTC’s case to block it, represent a number of firsts for the tech industry and its regulators. The $40 billion merger, which was announced in September, is being called the largest in chip industry history. If approved, it would send seismic waves through that industry and position Nvidia as an ess
When Elon Musk founded SpaceX in 2002, he thought it had a less than 10% chance of succeeding as a business. “I just accepted that I would probably just lose everything,” he said in 2016, “but that maybe we would make some progress if we could just move the ball forward. Even if we died, maybe some other company could pick up the baton.” SpaceX’s advancements indeed have given birth to a growing space economy and revived the manufacturing base south of Los Ange
A version of this article originally appeared on Principal.com. What do a 30-year-old accounting clerk from Oregon and a 37-year-old school consultant from Minnesota have in common? They’re both on track to retire early, possibly by 55. When Erynn Ross moved back home to Oregon after graduating from college, he knew he’d save money by living with his mom. What he didn’t expect was that she would tell him he could pay her rent—or pay into an index fund. “T
Some people get excited about the holidays in December. Others focus their enthusiasm on Spotify Wrapped—and that group is a lot more vocal. The music streaming service’s annual look back at what you listened to can be a fun wrap-up to a rough year. But it can also expose some truths about your listening habits that you might not be ready to face. And, naturally, that has resulted in an explosion of memes. Twitter and Instagram are being flooded with people gleefully sharing their
When Apple gave out its annual App Store Awards last year, the overarching theme was obvious: In one way or another, a high percentage of them helped us get through one of the weirdest, most stressful years most of us have ever experienced. (Exhibit A: The iPad app of the year was Zoom, a fact that felt virtually preordained.) The pandemic is still with us, but this year’s App Store Awards are back to a more traditional, eclectic mix of products. Here’s Apple’s list in its e
Fun fact about me: I love, love, love working from home. It is, quite simply, the best. That’s one man’s opinion, though. You might also love it, hate it, or fall somewhere in the middle. Whatever the case, if you find yourself working from home on a regular basis, you absolutely, positively must add these four free apps to your remote-work setup. Block background noise with Krisp You’re on a Zoom call with your boss. The dog is barking. The baby is crying. Your anxiety leve