đ You never know what the day might hold, but we hope itâs not a hive of bees. Mark Zuckerberg wasnât so lucky when he had to pause plans for Metaâs new data centers after discovering a rare bee species living on the planned site. Talk about a buzzkill.
đ§ On the pod:Cofertility, a new startup attempting to make egg freezing more affordable.
NEWS FLASH
đŤ Just an FYI⌠X is changing how its block feature works. The social network will now let users view public posts, as well as following and followers lists, of people whoâve blocked them. If users want their tweets protected, theyâll need to set their accounts to private. Whatâs the point of having a block feature at all? Good question â many X users are less than thrilled with the update, arguing it puts users in danger of being stalked and harassed. X, however, argues that the change would foster more transparency on the platform.
đŚ Futuristic cargo transport comes to Japan: The government announced plans for a âconveyor belt roadâ between Tokyo and Osaka that would ferry large, wheeled boxes down a three-lane corridor alongside a highway. The project â which will start test runs circa 2027-28 and be operational by the mid-2030s â is Japanâs solution to its shrinking labor force, which has led to a shortage of truck drivers. While human drivers may still need to handle last-mile deliveries, the automated system could help cut carbon emissions.
đ° Right before Election Day: The New York Times Tech Guildâs 600+ members went on strike Monday, seeking improved pay, job protections, and full-time remote work. This includes engineers and data analysts responsible for the back-end of the publicationâs games, podcasts, and, most notably, election coverage. Support from the newsroom has been mixed about the timing, because, well, today is a pretty big news day. The guild is asking readers to not play games, like âWordle,â or use the Timesâ cooking app in support.
MORE NEWS TO KNOW
Misery loves company, so youâll probably find comfort in this: The median age of US homebuyers hit a record high of 56, up from 49 in July 2023, according to research from the National Association of Realtors.
Coca-Cola will reintroduce Barrilitos, an 86-year-old fruity Mexican soft drink it acquired in 2008, in California and Texas, reformulated to appeal to younger consumers. A larger US expansion may follow.
Nvidiaovertook Apple as the worldâs most valuable company yesterday, with a market cap of $3.39T to Appleâs $3.36T. Nvidia will replace Intel in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Friday.
TOOLBOX
Get a jump-start on the week ahead with this fresh content from around our media network:
Good to know: Instagram might not just be for engagement photos of people you went to high school with. New HubSpot data shows how Instagram Shopping can drive sales for your business.
A worthwhile watch: Find out why itâs so hard to stop Chinese vapes from hitting the US market.
Listen up: Can Reddit be more than a place to sink hours of scrolling? Learn how to unlock the social media platform as a growth and community-engagement tool.
THE BIG IDEA
Can your alarm clock play âDoomâ?
Nintendoâs new Alarmo, a video game-inspired alarm clock that wakes you up with Super Mario music, has already reached the ultimate evolutionary step of all tech gadgets: It can run âDoom.â
Youtuber GaryOderNichts figured out how to load the iconic 1993 first-person shooter (in which your character slaughters hordes of demons with shotguns and chain saws) onto the clock using just a USB â no other modifications necessary.
Alarmoâs screen and single big button make this version of âDoomâ playable. Itâs hardly ideal â but thatâs not the point.
The source code for âDoomâ was released in the â90s, allowing programmers to do all sorts of wacky stuff and creating a long-running tech meme about whether certain gadgets can be rigged to run the game.
With modifications, people have played âDoomâ on a point-of-sale terminal, an ATM, and even a single Lego brick.
For many devices running versions of Windows â like a Kodak Picture Kiosk, Redbox machine, or oscilloscope â installing âDoomâ is a breeze.
There are controversiesâŚ
⌠among the âIt runs Doomâ community, mostly centered around things that arenât actually running âDoom.â
Unlike the Alarmo mod, this modded pregnancy test, this French pharmacy sign, and the otherwise useless MacBook Pro Touch Bar run the game on traditional hardware and simply display it in a weird way.
Building rapport is everything in sales. Avoid these six common pitfalls experts say could tank your relationship before it even starts.
Get in their heads: See our revamped marketing psychology guide for a better understanding of what makes buyers convert.
DATA POINT
Revenge of the Nerds: Most of us know the classic pink-and-purple box of crunchy, tiny Nerds candy. But the brand has come a long way, and so have its profits.
In 1983, the Willy Wonka Candy Co. launched Nerds; in 1988, Nestle, which acquired the company, debuted the Nerds Rope; and in 2020, Ferrara, the brandâs newest owner, unveiled a proprietary way to make Nerds hot again, perThe New York Times.
Nerds Gummy Clusters â bite-sized, chewy gummies rolled in multicolor Nerds â did the trick. Designed by a group of scientists as a solution for the Nerds Ropeâs shortcomings, the new candy hit a nerve with consumers.
In 2018, Nerds products amassed $40m in sales. In the last calendar year, the brand brought in $800m â a 20x increase.
AROUND THE WEB
đ On this day: In 1872, 48 years before the 19th Amendment, Susan B. Anthony tried to vote in the presidential election, resulting in her arrest.
𧏠Useful: An archive of 2k+ science and medical images, all public domain and courtesy of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
đĽď¸ Thatâs interesting:Wired offers an oral history of HotWired, its first website, launched in 1994.
