The Download: The Money Issue, and the problems with open sourcing Twitter’s algorithms

That is at present’s version of The Download, our weekday publication that gives a day by day dose of what’s occurring on this planet of expertise.

 Introducing: The Cash Problem

Cash is bizarre now.

Whether or not it’s a biometric-based common cryptocurrency meant to underpin Web3, cities constructed by Bitcoin, digital currencies which might be changing money, or the best way iBuying is remodeling the housing market, expertise is essentially altering the methods we purchase, spend, and get monetary savings. Even the best way we gamble.

The latest print issue of MIT Technology Review delves deep into this bizarre new world of cash. Right here’s a choice of a number of the new tales within the version, assured to get you serious about what cash means to you.

• Meet the MIT researcher helping senators to understand cryptocurrencies.
• The fascinating story of MazaCoin, an indigenous digital forex, impressed by the creator’s grandma.
• Cash is getting ready to entering completely uncharted territory, writes Eswar Prasad.
• How the fast adoption of cellular cash additionally enabled gambling addictions in Kenya.
• Lana Swartz examines what wants to vary to make cash work for us in the internet era.

We hope you take pleasure in it, and that it reveals one thing new to you concerning the current that helps you higher perceive and put together for the long run.

Read the full magazine, and if you happen to haven’t already, you may subscribe to MIT Know-how Evaluate for as little as $80 a 12 months. 

The issues with Elon Musk’s plan to open supply the Twitter algorithm

Simply hours after Twitter introduced it was accepting Elon Musk’s buyout supply, the SpaceX CEO made his plans for the social community clear. In a press launch, Musk outlined the sweeping modifications he supposed to make, together with opening up its algorithms, which decide what customers see of their feed.

Musk’s ambition to open-source Twitter’s algorithms is pushed by his longstanding concern about potential political censorship on the platform, nevertheless it’s unlikely that doing so can have the impact he wishes. As a substitute, it might carry quite a lot of sudden issues in its wake, specialists warn. Read the full story. 

—Chris Stokel-Walker

Quote of the day

“Management your soul’s want for freedom. Don’t open the window or sing.”

—A surveillance drone warns indignant Shanghai residents to not shout from their home windows, as town’s in depth lockdown continues, experiences CNN.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the web to search out you at present’s most enjoyable/essential/scary/fascinating tales about expertise.

1 Practically 60% of People have had covid at the very least as soon as
However that doesn’t imply it could possibly’t be contracted once more (and once more.) (Bloomberg $)
+ Vaccines for under-fives have been delayed by incomplete information. (NYT $)
+ Thousands and thousands of Beijing residents are being examined to attempt to forestall a neighborhood outbreak snowballing. (Reuters)

2 Congress is weighing up new privateness legal guidelines
Unsurprisingly, Massive Tech is making an attempt to manage the narrative. (WSJ $)
+ The European Union has warned Elon Musk that Twitter nonetheless has to comply with its guidelines. (FT $)
+ The progress Twitter has made on moderation may very well be squandered. (NBC)

3 Tech giants have been duped into handing over information used to sexually extort minors
By imitating police businesses and forging authorized requests. (Bloomberg $)
+ Inside police departments’ cozy relationships with surveillance tech companies. (Motherboard)
+ Laptop monitoring software program is making employees’ lives a distress. (The Guardian)

4 Even Fb doesn’t know what it’s doing together with your information
And that lack of management makes it very tough to vary its data-sharing insurance policies. (Motherboard)

5 May altering how we understand time make every little thing much less terrible?
For a brighter political future, it may very well be value a strive. (Wired $)

6 Web blackouts at the moment are the weapon of alternative for authoritarian regimes
They’ve gone from final to first resort.  (Rest of World)
+ However the public is getting faster and smarter at circumventing censors. (TR)

7 The shine is coming off Netflix
It’s getting costlier simply because the regular stream of high quality new content material dries up. (The Atlantic $)
+ May video video games present it with an important new income? (WP $)
+ Can Netflix climate the price of dwelling disaster? (FT $)

8 Today, even toddlers are potential NFT prospects
To allow them to follow turning into “tomorrow’s digital residents,” apparently. (NYT $)

9 Digital actuality would possibly assist ease persistent ache
However affordability stays the plain impediment to wider adoption. (NYT $)

10 How iPhone autocorrect really works
Trace: turning it off altogether is a humbling train in how we’ve forgotten to spell. (WSJ $)

We will nonetheless have good issues

A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction in these bizarre occasions. (Received any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)+ I actually loved this reminder of how completely different cultures enjoy their tea.
+ Very cool: music from video games including Pokémon will function at this 12 months’s BBC Proms classical music season in London.
+ Lastly—an official information on methods to submit your great idea for an emoji.
+ If returning to the workplace holds little attract, these sweet little bunnies might change your thoughts.
+ This informative look contained in the weird and wonderful world of gummy candy is making me hungry.
+ This ancient shoe uncovered in Norway is surprisingly modern.
+ Possibly Moby was proper and we actually are all made from stars—the constructing blocks of DNA have been found inside meteorites.

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