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The Love-to-Hear-Your-Stories Edition Thursday, May 22, 2025

How ‘The Studio’ Creators Seth Rogen And Evan Goldberg Seduced (And Skewered) Hollywood, by Mikey O'Connell, Hollywood Reporter

Rogen agrees there’s been a shift now that the first season is out in the world. “I think when people were telling us stories, they didn’t think we’d actually use them,” he says. “Now they know that we actually will.”

“Please, everybody,” Goldberg interrupts. “We’d still love to hear your stories.”

I Helped A Lost Dog’s AirTag Ping Its Owner: An Ode To Replaceable Batteries, by Kevin Purdy, Ars Technica

When something important goes missing—especially something that likes ear scritches and pumpkin treats—it is best not to have to find a charging cable or magnetic charging pad, or discover the cells inside are dead. Coin cells are not perfectly recyclable, because nothing really is, but they're generally much easier to handle than lithium-ion waste.

Ai Ai Ai

Details Leak About Jony Ive’s New ‘Screen-free’ OpenAI Device, by Jess Weatherbed, The Verge

The mysterious device that OpenAI is cooking up with former Apple designer Jony Ive will be pocket-size, contextually aware, screen-free, and isn’t eyewear. Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed details about the project in an internal staff call reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, after announcing the $6.5 billion acquisition of Ive’s AI hardware startup, io.

[...]

Altman dropped some hints during the call that shape our expectations, however, including that it will be unobtrusive, fully aware of a user’s life and surroundings, and will serve as a “third core device” a person would put on a desk after a MacBook Pro and an iPhone.

We Did The Math On AI’s Energy Footprint. Here’s The Story You Haven’t Heard., by James O'Donnell and Casey Crownhart, MIT Technology Review

Tallies of AI’s energy use often short-circuit the conversation—either by scolding individual behavior, or by triggering comparisons to bigger climate offenders. Both reactions dodge the point: AI is unavoidable, and even if a single query is low-impact, governments and companies are now shaping a much larger energy future around AI’s needs.

We’re taking a different approach with an accounting meant to inform the many decisions still ahead: where data centers go, what powers them, and how to make the growing toll of AI visible and accountable.

Stuff

Vivaldi 7.4 For iOS Adds Background Audio Playback And New Tab Management Features, by Tim Hardwick, MacRumors

Vivaldi has released version 7.4 of its iOS browser, introducing background audio playback that lets users continue streaming music, podcasts, and videos even when switching apps or locking their screen.

Notes

A Judge Blocked Apple From Collecting These Commissions, by Jack Nicastro, Reason

Brian Albrecht, chief economist at the International Center for Law and Economics, tells Reason that Apple's in-app fees can be justified by platform investment incentives and security concerns, which shield Apple from liability under federal antitrust laws.

[...]

Albrecht explains that the ruling will increase competition payments, which will help consumers, but reduce Apple's investments in the App Store, which will harm them. "It's hard to see how completely ripping [the system] apart will be helpful to consumers," says Albrecht.

New Apple Study Teaches Robots How To Act By Watching Humans, by Marcus Mendes, 9to5Mac

The project is a collaboration between Apple, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, the University of Washington, and UC San Diego. It explores how first-person footage of people manipulating objects can be used to train general-purpose robot models.

Bottom of the Page

Today, I've finished watching the first season of the wonderful The Studio. And I've found out that some AI company and Jony Ive are developing a third-device (the iPad is dead?) that we will all want.

It's not an apples-to-apples comparison. It is probably not even a fair comparison, as we still don't know what that AI device is.

But my gut feeling is I'll rather have more The Studio and other wonderful stories than a third-device.

~

Thanks for reading.