đ Good morning. Or, at least, we hope it is. Itâs harder than ever to see the office mug half full: Only 44.4% of workers have a positive outlook for their company over the next six months, the lowest since 2016, according to the Glassdoor Employee Confidence Index. You probably know some of the things driving this trend without us telling you â large-scale layoffs, economic uncertainty, and burnout, to name a few.
đ§ On the pod:Can fake nature make us care about real nature?
NEWS FLASH
âď¸ This change will cost ya: Southwest is ending its decades-long perk of free checked bags for tickets purchased on or after May 28, with some exceptions. Itâs a big departure from the airlineâs policy, which set it apart from its competitors â âtwo bags fly freeâ is a registered trademark on its website â and one spurred by activist Elliott Investment Management, which took a stake in the airline last year. While itâs unclear how much Southwest will charge for checked bags, the airline obviously wants a cut of the $5B+ generated from bag fees last year. Mull this math over: Southwest predicts it will gain $1B-$1.5B from charging for checked bags but lose $1.8B of market share.
đ§ The soothing sounds of logging off: A new TikTok feature will play âcalming musicâ and display a âwind downâ reminder if teens under 16 are still scrolling after 10 pm, followed by a second reminder thatâs harder to dismiss if the first is ignored. Perhaps more impactful is the appâs new Time Away feature. Part of its Family Pairing parental controls, Time Away allows caregivers to schedule times when teens canât use TikTok. Caregivers can also now see accounts their kids follow, who follows them, and which accounts theyâve blocked.
đŽ Thatâs one way to say goodbye: A 55-year-old Texas software developer is facing jail time for sabotaging the company he worked at for a decade. According to the Department of Justice, Davis Lu wrote malicious code set to trigger in the event he was terminated â which happened in September 2019. Luâs code deleted coworker profile files and locked out users, costing the company thousands of dollars in losses. Lu has been convicted of causing intentional damage to protected computers, for which he faces 10 years in prison.
MORE NEWS TO KNOW
Seeing a lot of idling profiles on Slack? Your coworkers might be working â just not where you think. The number of American adults holding second jobs reached 8.9m in February, the highest since tracking began in 1994. Thatâs 5.4% of all employed workers.
Sure, why not? Buffalo Wild Wings is rolling out goggles that allow the wearer to watch multiple TVs at once. The $10 B-Dubs Vision Goggles have four arms and five mirrors just in time for March Madness, which brings a 23% increase in wing orders with 2.3B portions consumed.
Brick to bit: Lego CEO Niels Christiansen told the Financial Times that the iconic toy brand is building a gaming division. Lego has already enjoyed several successful tie-ins with other studios â âLego Fortnightâ saw 87m players.
STEAL THESE STRATEGIES
How big companies solved big problems
As part of our little daily gifts⢠program, todayâs prize is 15 field-tested strategies that worked for converting leads, launching products, balancing pipelines, and altogether sending more sales.
Plus, 10 bite-sized case studies simplifying how bigwigs like Figma, GitHub, and Toast tackled performance and alignment initiatives (itâs all on one spread).
If this is what tickles your brain, then youâll also love Mark Robergeâs deep-dive interviews on The Science of Scaling podcast.
Virtual reality has often been referred to as an âempathy machine,â suggesting that its increased immersion can trigger heightened compassion.
For example: In 2018, Stanford researchers found that study participants who watched a 7-minute VR experience about homelessness developed longer-lasting empathy than those who engaged with the same topic via other media.
Real tears, fake animals
Recently, reporter Becca Warner wrote that a VR experience from Habitat XR made her cry. It featured a pangolin who, due to climate change, starved to death.
Habitat XR founder Ulrico Grech-Cumbo said that the companyâs nature-centered experiences often make even âhigh net worth individualsâ at fancy fundraisers shed a tear.
Previous studies have found participants are more likely to sign petitions or engage in conservation practices after watching a VR experience on the environment.
Alice Chirico, a psychologist who studies VR, told the BBC that these experiences induce awe at nature’s vastness, which supports a âsense of attachment towards the environment.â
Thatâs all very nice, butâŚ
⌠others have argued VR doesnât actually work as an empathy machine. Itâs too short, can be ended at any time, and, despite even serious messaging, itâs often too fun.
We canât strap people âBlack Mirrorâ-style into bleak VR experiences they canât escape, but some startups aim to enhance the techâs immersion.
Haptic gloves, sleeves, vests, backpacks, and other devices can vibrate to simulate touch, including impact and movement. There are a reported 73 haptic tech startups in the US.
Other startups are developing devices that allow users to smell or even taste while in VR.
Perhaps soon you’ll smell the fresh pine of a forest and feel the wind in your hair, all while indoors.
But while studies have found that VR nature is better than no nature, it canât fully replicate the benefits we receive from being outdoors â so maybe any medium that gets people to care about preserving it is beneficial.
It sure feels like layoffs are more common than ever â but it turns out that theyâre not actually good for business. So why do companies keep using them?
NEWSWORTHY NUMBER
Price of Cortical Labsâ CL1, which itâs calling âthe worldâs first code deployable biological computerâ and which Gizmodo has referred to as a âbrain in a box.â
The CL1 uses lab-grown neurons that grow across a silicon chip and exist in a simulated world created by a âBiological Intelligence Operating System (biOS),â which sends the neurons info about their environment.
That sounds complicated, but the gist is that Cortical Labs has built a computer that runs on living human cells. Potential applications include drug and disease research, but Cortical Labs also claims that its CL1 is capable of learning faster than silicon-based AI.
HOW YOU HUSTLE
We donât need to tell you â our readers are amazing. So amazing, in fact, that it was worth dedicating some real estate to. Hereâs our weekly spotlight on a Hustler doing something big.
The elevator pitch: âWe talk to your Grandma so you don’t have to send her to voicemail! Weâre the secret sauce to keeping aging loved ones happy, connected, and scam-free.â
Why?: âI have seen how lonely it is for our elders as they transition to a senior community or go to live with their kids and lose a piece of their independence⌠I have been a lifelong connector and knew I could make a difference.â
One big win: âTalking to a 95-year-old member for nearly 912 days straight, and having his family share how much we make a difference in his world.â
Advice to fellow founders: âYou must execute every day. Every day is a new opportunity to learn and earn. Your efforts will compound.â
Want to be featured here? Tell us how youâre hustling.
AROUND THE WEB
đť On this day: in 1933, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt broadcast his first fireside chat, addressing the nation amid the Great Depression. At that time, 90% of US households owned a radio.
đ Video:Tracking down last combo-KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut.
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đ Haha: Rejected vanity plates, including the reason they were rejected.
While he might have had pure intentions, The Coconut Cult founder Noah Simon-Waddell is in fact selling incredibly expensive yogurt.
The brand sells 8-ounce jars for ~$10 in stores and 16-ounce jars for $39 a piece on its website. While steep, the probiotic-packed yogurt isnât meant to be downed in one sitting. It has a serving size of 2 fluid ounces.
Simon-Waddell took to TikTok â the very app on which his product has gone viral â to explain his backstory. The founder says he created the yogurt to fix his own gut health issues, and is now on a mission to âheal guts everywhere.â
SHOWER THOUGHT
You are someoneâs emotional support animal.SOURCE
Today’s email was brought to you by Juliet Bennett Rylah and Sara Friedman, with help from Kaylee Jenzen. Editing by: Ben âMore of a Go-Gurt guyâ Berkley.
