Nostr notes by Nilay Patel :bot: @theverge.space

“The work of obtaining facts has a major economic disadvantage ...

2024-11-12T17:10:29Z

“The work of obtaining facts has a major economic disadvantage against the production of bullshit, and it’s only getting worse.”

Good post from Media Guild of the West president Matt Pearce on the reality of media in 2024:

> The biggest story about media and the internet is that new technology — AI, social media, smartphones, etc. — keeps driving down the cost of producing bullshit while the cost of obtaining quality information only goes up. It’s getting more and more expensive to produce the good stuff, and the good stuff has to compete against more and more trash once it’s out on the market.

https://mattdpearce.substack.com/p/journalisms-fight-for-survival-in

Tell your Senator to pass the PRESS Act. [The PRESS ...

2024-11-07T15:51:16Z

Tell your Senator to pass the PRESS Act.

[The PRESS Act](https://www.rcfp.org/house-passes-press-act-2/ ), which has been sitting in limbo since it passed the House in January, would [protect reporters](https://thehill.com/lobbying/4696769-over-100-organizations-legal-experts-urge-senate-panel-to-advance-press-protection-bill/ ) from having to reveal their sources except for national security reasons. It has bipartisan support — Democrat Ron Wyden sponsored the bill and Republicans Lindsey Graham and Mike Lee are co-sponsors — and it feels like the sort of thing that’s going to get increasingly relevant in a second Trump administration.

Our ability to produce things like [the Foxconn investigation](https://www.theverge.com/c/21507966/foxconn-empty-factories-wisconsin-jobs-loophole-trump ) depends on freedom of the press, after all, and Trump and his allies like Elon Musk have [made it clear](https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/1/24285305/trump-lawsuit-cbs-harris-interview-fcc-broadcast-censorship ) they will [pressure the media](https://www.theverge.com/24283652/fcc-license-donald-trump-elon-musk-first-amendment-fairness-doctrine-please-vote-decoder ) any way [they can](https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/4/24287708/nbc-snl-kamala-harris-equal-time-rule-fcc-brendan-carr-speech-police ). (Obvious disclosure: I am biased in favor of freedom of the press, and The Verge’s parent company Vox Media is part of media industry groups that are also advocating for this bill.)

Here’s an easy link from the ACLU to send a note to your Senators:

https://go.peoplepower.org/letter/congress-press-act

[What’s really behind Big Tech’s return-to-office ...

2024-11-07T15:15:00Z

[What’s really behind Big Tech’s return-to-office mandates?](https://www.theverge.com/24290345/return-to-office-mandates-amazon-productivity-remote-work-hybrid-decoder-podcast )

Companies want workers back at their desks. Is it about productivity, ‘backdoor layoffs,’ or something else?

Trump / Measles 2024. You know, when I wrote “[A vote for Trump ...

2024-10-31T14:34:42Z

Trump / Measles 2024.

You know, when I wrote “[A vote for Trump is a vote for measles,](https://www.theverge.com/24282022/kamala-harris-endorsement-presidential-election-2024 )” I was not expecting the campaign to follow up by putting Trump transition co-chair Howard Lutnick on CNN to falsely claim vaccines cause autism, a thing he says he learned by spending a couple hours with RFK Jr. [Vaccines do not cause autism](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/03/04/699997613/a-large-study-provides-more-evidence-that-mmr-vaccines-dont-cause-autism ), but childhood diseases cause death. Don’t get it twisted.

[www.threads.net/@aaron.rupar/post/DBxV8maALmv](https://www.threads.net/@aaron.rupar/post/DBxV8maALmv )

Apple’s getting a rep for intense state-level lobbying tactics. ...

2024-09-03T17:47:39Z

Apple’s getting a rep for intense state-level lobbying tactics.

The WSJ has a good piece on Apple’s aggressive efforts to kill a Louisiana bill that would have required age limits for apps to be part of iOS and Android. Apple wasn’t shy about things:

> An Apple lobbyist responded with a flurry of text messages, declaring the provision a “poison pill from Meta” and forwarding news stories about allegations that Meta has failed to protect children, Carver said. He described Apple’s outreach as “all day, every day.” In a series of conversations, Apple’s lobbyists and staffers made clear the company would fight any effort at age-gating. [...]
> Within days, lobbying records show, Apple hired four additional lobbyists in Baton Rouge. Among them was Alton Ashy, a Baton Rouge heavyweight best known for representing truck-stop casinos in the capital. One of Carver’s legislative colleagues joked that his bill was turning into a full employment act for the state’s lobbyists.

It’s not the first time: Apple [went heavy against a Georgia bill](https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/20/apple-takes-on-state-legislatures-georgia-506299 ) that would have opened up the App Store a few years ago.

(Note to the Journal, though: stop letting tech company spox comment on background! Ick.)

https://www.wsj.com/tech/apple-helped-nix-part-of-a-child-safety-bill-more-fights-are-expected-23905d4d

“In the future, computers may weigh no more than 1.5 tonnes.” ...

2024-07-31T18:25:31Z

“In the future, computers may weigh no more than 1.5 tonnes.”

Here’s [Guide to Computing](https://www.docubyte.com/projects/guide-to-computing/ ), a loving collection of photos of giant computers from 1945 to 1990 by James Ball, who publishes as Docubyte. Sounds like a book is in the works; sign me up.

[www.instagram.com/p/BFOrSzBPtuC/](https://www.instagram.com/p/BFOrSzBPtuC/ )