Nanoleaf bets its future on robots, red light therapy, and AI
Nanoleaf bets its future on robots, red light therapy, and AI Nanoleaf teased a trio of new products focused on embodied AI as it looks to move its brand beyond smart lighting. | Image: Nanoleaf Smart lighting company Nanoleaf has been unusually quiet recently. While competitors such as Govee and Philips Hue have been pumping […]
Apple TV’s new horror series is scarier because it’s also hilarious
Apple TV's new horror series is scarier because it's also hilarious Matthew Rhys and Stephen Root. | Image: Apple Kate O’Flynn views comedy and horror as “kind of the same thing.” Both are at their best when they surprise – a laugh or a scare that comes out of nowhere hits the hardest. That’s why, […]
Lina Khan was right
Lina Khan was right Hindsight is 20/20. | Image: The Verge / Getty Images In 2021, the virtual world was the future of the internet. The pandemic had sequestered everyone indoors, heightening the appeal of digital communities. Facebook rebranded to Meta – a sign of the tech giant’s investment in and commitment to the metaverse […]
How a prize-winning cartoonist brings hand-drawn comics to the web
How a prize-winning cartoonist brings hand-drawn comics to the web Jailed during the 2021 coup in Myanmar, American journalist Danny Fenster spent six months as a political prisoner. For much of his incarceration he battled boredom and fear, subsisting on meditation and podcasts on an SD card smuggled in by mail, sent by his girlfriend, […]
Laurie Spiegel on the difference between algorithmic music and ‘AI’
Laurie Spiegel on the difference between algorithmic music and 'AI' From Bell Labs to Macs, Laurie Spiegel has pushed musical boundaries. | Image: Irina Prosser / Eventide In 1986, electronic music pioneer Laurie Spiegel created Music Mouse, a way for those with a Mac, Atari, or Amiga computer to dabble in algorithmic music creation. Music […]
Pluribus’ Vince Gilligan on making shows that ‘attract really smart viewers’
Pluribus' Vince Gilligan on making shows that 'attract really smart viewers' Rhea Seehorn in Pluribus. Now he’s best known for the crime-fueled duology of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, but when Vince Gilligan was first starting out in television, it was in the realm of sci-fi. Over seven years he penned a number of […]
Bored Ape Yacht Club is making a comeback — as a metaverse
Bored Ape Yacht Club is making a comeback — as a metaverse It’s dusk, and bugs are chirping all around me. I’m wandering through the middle of a big, virtual swamp toward the sound of thumping bass off in the distance. There isn’t much else nearby – some trees, a couple of other players. It’s […]
Alien: Earth’s beefy tablets were inspired by Sony’s classic Watchman
Alien: Earth's beefy tablets were inspired by Sony's classic Watchman Though technology has always played an important role in the Alien franchise, FX’s Alien: Earth series is the first chapter to really dig into the inner workings of the tech companies responsible for unleashing xenomorphs onto humanity. To corporations like Weyland-Yutani and its competitors, the […]
American Sweatshop depicts content moderation as the hell it is
American Sweatshop depicts content moderation as the hell it is In American Sweatshop, German director Uta Briesewitz’s new psychological drama, every character working at a content moderation firm understands that ingesting horrific images is part of the job. They have all seen the disturbing footage uploaded to social media, and they know how important it […]
Six years after launch, Apple Arcade is striving for a bigger audience
Six years after launch, Apple Arcade is striving for a bigger audience In 2019, Apple Arcade launched with roughly 70 premium mobile games that had no ads, no in-app purchases, and no sex or violence. Some of the games in the initial launch period, like What the Golf?, were praised for their innovation and depth […]