Category: Newley’s Notes

Sent as a newsletter July 22, 2023. Not on my list? Subscribe here.

👋 Hi friends,

Welcome to the latest edition of Newley’s Notes, a weekly newsletter containing my recent Wall Street Journal stories, must-read links on tech and life, and funny dog videos.

Image of the week, above:

🌧️ Rainy Hong Kong, seen from above. I like the colors.

My WSJ latest:

🐦 I helped out with this story, just out: Elon Musk Replaces Twitter’s Blue Bird With an ‘X’ <– free link. It begins:

Elon Musk rolled out a new X logo on Twitter after saying its signature blue bird will fly away.

Early Monday, the Twitter website started showing the new X logo in its upper-left corner, where Twitter’s blue bird once perched. Musk had overnight changed his profile photo, as well as that of the official Twitter account, to the new “X” logo.

And:

Musk has spoken before about his ambition to use Twitter as the foundation of a vision that he has described as “X.com” and an “everything app.” In March Musk said that he thought it was possible for his company “to become the biggest financial institution in the world.” He has cited as a model WeChat, a popular Chinese app that is used for everything from messaging to mobile payments to business services.

As they say: stay tuned.

Here are 10 items worth your time this week:

1) 🎥 “Barbie” made $155 million on its opening weekend, making it the biggest movie of the year.

2) ✋ On “Oppenheimer” and that Palm Pilot.

3) 🎬 Also: Christopher Nolan’s films, ranked.

4) 🎼 Tech pioneer and musician Jaron Lanier on what his musical instruments have taught him.

5) 💪 An interesting trend in crowded, hot Singapore: “Microgyms.”

6) 💉 Why Oregon’s effort to decriminalize drugs is failing.

7) ✏️ Video: antique pencil sharpeners.

8) 🗣 How Shakespeare’s plays were originally pronounced.

9) 🪐 A timeline of the far future.

10) 🐐 Lionel Messi made his debut for MLS side Inter Miami, coming on in the 54th minute and…well, just watch.

•••

🦴 Dog-related video of the week:

“Golden Retrievers celebrating their 155th anniversary in Scotland as a species.” Backstory is here. Thanks, Anasuya!

•••

💡 Quote of the week:

“Doubt can only be removed by action.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

•••

👊 Fist bump from Hong Kong,

Newley

Sent as a newsletter July 18, 2023. Not on my list? Join here.

👋 Hi friends,

Welcome to the latest edition of Newley’s Notes, a weekly newsletter containing my recent Wall Street Journal stories, must-read links on tech and life, and funny dog videos.

Image of the week, above:

The powerful poster for a book festival that took place in Kyiv last month. Created by Art Studio Agrafka.

Here are 10 items worth your time this week

1) 🇸🇬 Huge news in Singapore, long known for its efficient government: Antigraft officials are investigating the transport minister.

2) ⏲️ Meta’s Threads is getting a lot of attention, but people might be running out of time for yet another social media platform.

3) 🇬🇺 A deep look at Guam, its people, and the territory’s strategic importance for the U.S. military as tensions with China rise.

4) 🍎 Quitting Apple’s ecosystem is neither easy nor cheap.

5) 🦦 Otters are straight up stealing surfboards in California.

6) 🌐 Las Vegas’s new $2 billion, 366-foot-tall, 1.2 million-LED orb/theater is bonkers‘.

7) 🤖 In which a New Yorker writer commissions an AI bot to try to do his job.

8) ⭐ Related: “How to Use AI to Do Stuff: An Opinionated Guide.”

9) 🐴 Excellent video from this year’s Finish Hobbyhorse Championships.

10) 🔗 Go to Wilby.me/surprise to visit a random Web 1.0 website.

•••

🦴 Dog-related video of the week:

“Clever dog uses hot dog bun as bait to snatch fish out of water.”

•••

💡 Quote of the week:

“Dogs are our link to paradise. They don’t know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring–it was peace.” — Milan Kundera, RIP

•••

👊 Fist bump from Hong Kong,

Newley

Sent as a newsletter July 3, 2023. Not on my list? Sign up here.

👋 Hi friends,

Welcome to the latest edition of Newley’s Notes, a weekly newsletter containing my recent Wall Street Journal stories, must-read links on tech and life, and funny dog videos.

Image of the week, above:

🇭🇰 A recent sunset here in Hong Kong.

My WSJ latest:

🥽 Just out, a story with my colleague Raffaele Huang: Zuckerberg’s Quest to Re-Enter China Faces Challenge: His Own Words <– Free link

The story begins:

HONG KONG—Mark Zuckerberg in late 2021 had a question for those working on Meta Platforms’ strategy for its virtual-reality headset: If Apple can sell iPhones in China, and Tesla can sell cars, why can’t we sell our devices there?

The question, posed on a video call, led to a push by Meta to restart its China business by selling its Quest headsets in the country, according to a person familiar with the matter, more than a decade after Facebook was blocked there.

The company held discussions with several Chinese tech companies and has made progress with videogame powerhouse Tencent Holdings, people familiar with the matter said. But the effort faces challenges, in part because Chinese executives worry that Zuckerberg isn’t seen as friendly to China, according to people familiar with the matter.

Here are 10 items worth your time this week:

1) 🇷🇺 In last week’s NN I pointed to several stories about Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin’s rebellion against Putin. For more, check out this excellent WSJ documentary, available on YouTube: “Inside Prigozhin’s Wagner, Russia’s Secret War Company.”

2) 🤖 People may fear mass layoffs, but artificial intelligence just represents another another wave of automation, writes tech analyst Benedict Evans.

3) 📸 Here are the winners of this year’s Audubon Photography Awards.

4) 🍕 Is that a pizza depicted in a fresco from 79 A.D. that was recently discovered in Pompeii?

5) 🪧 Here’s a beautiful collection of street sign lettering in India.

6) 🌹 With crime, open drug use, and housing prices all rising, Portland, Oregon is losing its residents.

7) 🍴 The signature dishes at the world’s 150 most legendary restaurants.

8) 📞 What after work time was like for young people before cellphones.

9) 🗾 Everything you always wanted to know about amazing Japanese convenience stores.

10) 🐊 Extreme food, Taiwan edition: crocodile ramen.

•••

🦴 Dog-related video of the week:

“Sailor the Touchdown Dog Sets Record for the Longest Catch at a Live Sporting Event” (Thanks, Anasuya!)

•••

💡 Quote of the week:

“The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.” – William James

•••

👊 Fist bump from Hong Kong,

Newley

Sent as a newsletter June 19, 2023. Not on my list? Join here.

👋 Hi friends,

Welcome to the latest edition of Newley’s Notes, a weekly newsletter containing my recent Wall Street Journal stories, must-read links on tech and life, and funny dog videos.

Image of the week, above:

A Hong Kong vanity plate for the finance buffs and economic historians out there: September 15, 2008.

Yes, that’s the day Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy.

My WSJ latest:

I’ve had a couple of stories out since my last dispatch, both touching on Hong Kong and big tech.

The first, earlier this month: 32 YouTube Videos Cited as Court Is Asked to Ban ‘Glory to Hong Kong’ Protest Anthem <– Free link

The lede:

Government officials in the financial center are seeking a court order to block the dissemination online of a popular pro-democracy song, the first major legal challenge to U.S. tech companies such as Google over politically sensitive content on their platforms.

And the second, out last week: American Tech Giants Are Slowly Cutting Off Hong Kong Internet Users. <– Free link

It began:

Bit by bit, American tech giants are shutting out users in Hong Kong, where moves by authorities to thwart online dissent are shifting the target from individuals to platforms such as Google’s YouTube.

As they say: watch this space.

Here are 10 items worth your time this week:

1) 🗞 How a graduate student at the College of Charleston discovered the largest known slave auction in the U.S.

2) 🪐 One of Saturn’s moons contains all of the elements needed for life.

3) 🏃‍♂️ More and more research shows that, even compared to other lifestyle factors, ample exercise is the key to longevity.

4) 📹 A profile of YouTuber Mr. Beast – real name: Jimmy Donaldson – whose philanthropic stunts have gained him more than 150 million subscribers.

5) 🗣 South Florida is home to a new dialect of English.

6) 🧼 A look at the company culture and corporate performance of Dr. Bronner’s, which clocked $170 million in revenue last year.

7) ⭐ Dozens of the world’s most popular self-help books, boiled down to 11 core teachings.

8) 💧 Big rain + big snowfall this year = amazing waterfalls in Yosemite.

9) 📖 RIP, Cormac McCarthy.

10) ⚽ Here is a lovely story about an over–80 soccer league in Tokyo.

•••

🦴 Dog-related video of the week:

“He’ll keep doing this until you give him belly rubs.”

•••

💡 Quote of the week:

“People who think they have writer’s block don’t have writer’s block. They have fear of bad writing. If you show me all your bad writing, sooner or later you’re going to have to show me some good writing.” – Seth Godin

•••

👊 Fist bump from Hong Kong,

Newley

Sent as a newsletter April 5, 2023. Not on my list? Join here.

👋 Hi friends,

Welcome to the latest edition of Newley’s Notes, a weekly newsletter containing my recent Wall Street Journal stories, must-read links on tech and life, and funny dog videos.

Image of the week, above:

Today marks one week since my WSJ colleague Evan Gershkovich was detained in Russia.

He is accused of espionage. The Journal vehemently denies the charges. President Biden, news organizations, rights groups and more are demanding his release.

His lawyers have now met with him in prison, our editor in chief, Emma Tucker, said in a note to staff yesterday.

“Evan’s health is good, and he is grateful for the outpouring of support from around the world,” she wrote.

“We continue to call for his immediate release,” and beyond legal avenues we’re working with the White House, State Department and relevant U.S. government officials, she said.

Please take a moment to read this excellent profile of Evan by my colleagues Joe Parkinson and Drew Hinshaw: Evan Gershkovich Loved Russia, the Country That Turned on Him.

That story, like all of our updates and his previous reporting, are free to read. And we’ve set up a landing page for all of our coverage.

If you post about his situation on social media, please use the hashtag #IStandWithEvan, as I – and many others – have been doing on Twitter.

Editor’s note:

Newley’s Notes will fall silent for few weeks. See you in May!

My WSJ latest:

🇮🇳 My latest, an exclusive out last Wednesday: YouTube Looking Into Gandhi’s Claim Political Videos in India Suppressed

Here are 10 items worth your time this week:

1) ⚖️ Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to criminal charges for allegedly paying hush money during his 2016 campaign, marking the first time a former president has faced criminal charges.

2) 🏠 An unprecedented housing phenomenon is taking shape in the U.S.: home prices are falling in the West and rising in the East.

3) 🛍️ Alibaba news: the online shopping titan is splitting into six independent companies that could pursue individual IPOs. (Oh, and co-founder Jack Ma reappeared in China after about a year overseas.)

4) 📱 “The Case for Banning Children from Social Media.”

5) 🐶 Pets aren’t just great companions; they promote familial health, too: Children with dogs and cats in the house are less likely to develop food allergies.

6) 🐻 The latest vending machine offering in Japan: bear meat.

7) ✈️ Here’s a website that shows you random overhead photos of airports.

8) 🏖️ Variety reports that the next season of one of my favorite TV shows, “The White Lotus,” may be set in one of my favorite countries: Thailand.

9) 🪐 The trailer for the new Wes Anderson movie, “Asteroid City,” starring Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson and many more, is out.

10) 🎸 Video: the most popular song each month since January 1980.

•••

🦴 Dog-related video of the week:

“Good boy trying to steal food from TV”

•••

💡 Quote of the week:

“Most people overestimate what they can achieve in a year and underestimate what they can achieve in ten years.” – Unknown

•••

👊 Fist bump from Hong Kong,

Newley

Sent as a newsletter March 26, 2023. Not on my list? Join here.

👋 Hi friends,

Welcome to the latest edition of Newley’s Notes, a weekly newsletter containing my recent Wall Street Journal stories, must-read links on tech and life, and funny dog videos.

Image of the week, above:

🏙 An apartment building here in Hong Kong. I love the textures.

My WSJ latest:

✏️ I’ve had three stories out since my last dispatch.

🇮🇳 From March 6, with my colleague Jeff Horwitz: YouTube, Facebook and Instagram Gave Platforms to Indian Cow-Protection Vigilante

✂️ From March 10, with Jeff and colleagues Salvador Rodriguez and Sam Schechner: Meta Plans New Layoffs That Could Match Last Year’s in Scope

💸 And from March 13, with my colleagues Raffaele Huang and Clarence Leong: Asian Startups’ Confidence in U.S. Banking Wanes After SVB Panic

Here are 10 items worth your time this week:

1) 📱 TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew was grilled by U.S. lawmakers over matters such as where data on users in the U.S. is stored, who can access it, and more.

2) 🧠 The AI revolution has begun, Bill Gates writes, arguing that new tools like ChatGPT could be as disruptive as mobile phones and the internet.

3) ⚖️ Following the guilty verdict in the Alex Murdaugh murder trial earlier this month, the New Yorker’s James Lasdun sums up what he calls a “fittingly theatrical spectacle.”

4) 📈 Gordon Moore, who co-founded Intel and posited that the number of transistors in a computer chip doubles about every two years, a theory known as Moore’s Law, died at the age of 94.

5) 💻 Related: For The Atlantic, Virginia Heffernan visits Taiwan’s TSMC, the world’s biggest semiconductor maker.

6) 🌎 Interview with tech visionary Kevin Kelly, who was an editor of the Whole Earth Catalog and founding editor of Wired (and whose “Cool Tools” podcast I have listened to for years).

7) 🖌️ Artvee allows you to search for and download artwork that’s in the public domain.

8) 🔪 “Instagram face” as “an instrument of class distinction.”

9) 🏀 For the first time ever in March Madness, all the number one seeds lost before the Elite Eight, setting up a final four featuring Florida Atlantic, San Diego State, Miami and UConn.

10) 💪 Mental heath break: imagining U.S. presidents as professional wrestlers.

•••

🦴 Dog-related video of the week:

⚽ An excellent dog-on-the-pitch moment.

•••

💡 Quote of the week:

“People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

•••

🤗 What’s new with you? Hit reply to send me tips, queries, random comments, and videos of dogs who just wanna be part of the action.

•••

👊 Fist bump from Hong Kong,

Newley

Sent as a newsletter Monday, February 27. Not on my email list? Join here.

👋 Hi friends,

Welcome to the latest edition of Newley’s Notes, a weekly newsletter containing my recent Wall Street Journal stories, must-read links on tech and life, and funny dog videos.

Image of the week, above:

🇺🇸 🇺🇦 From our Tuesday page one: I loved this photo of President Biden and Ukraine’s President Zelensky in Kyiv. By Evan Vucci of the Associated Press.

My WSJ latest:

🥽 My newest story, out Tuesday with my colleague Raffaele Huang: Meta in Talks to Reboot China Business With VR Headsets

It began:

Tencent Holdings Ltd. is in talks to sell Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc.’s popular virtual-reality headset in China, home to the world’s biggest pool of internet users.

Tencent, China’s biggest videogame company, has proposed to Meta that it become the exclusive seller of Meta’s Quest 2 headsets in China, people familiar with the discussion said. Tencent has also sought to publish Chinese versions of existing videogames for the device, they said.

The discussions, which began in recent months, are still at an early stage and a deal might not be reached, some of the people said.

Here are 10 items worth your time this week:

1) 🦠 In a new report, the U.S. Energy Department said it has determined that Covid began due to a lab leak, highlighting “how different parts of the intelligence community have arrived at disparate judgments about the pandemic’s origin,” my colleagues Michael R. Gordon and Warren P. Strobel report.

2) 🌎 Friday marked one year since Russia invaded Ukraine. Now it’s a war that the U.S. and allies are all-in on helping Ukraine win, writes my colleague Yaroslav Trofimov.

3) 👟 Excellent investigation by Reuters: how used sneakers that Dow Inc. and the Singapore government said were being recycled into playgrounds wound up being sold in Indonesia.

4) 💻 Author Neal Stephenson, who pioneered the concept of the metaverse, talks about the future virtual reality.

5) ✏️ Several news publishers in the U.S. dropped the “Dilbert” comic strip following creator Scott Adams’s comments about Black people.

6) 🤖 Sci-fi magazines are getting swamped with AI-generated submissions.

7) 🇻🇳 Why Ho Chi Minh City is Southeast Asia’s newest hotspot for startups.

8) 🗺 HistoryMaps uses maps, timelines, graphics and more to illuminate the past visually.

9) 😴 I have three words for you: Human Dog Bed.

10) 🐐 Goat-related video of the week: “Apparently goats love tomatoes.” Bonus link: metal music version.

•••

🦴 Dog-related video of the week:

“this husky was supposed to learn how to swim, but discovered that she could just float instead.”

•••

💡 Quote of the week:

“As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

•••

👊 Fist bump from Hong Kong,

Newley

Sent as a newsletter Monday, February 13. Not on my email list? Join here.

👋 Hi friends,

Welcome to the latest edition of Newley’s Notes, a weekly newsletter containing my recent Wall Street Journal stories, must-read links on tech and life, and funny dog videos.

Image of the week, above:

A misty Hong Kong, seen from Victoria Harbour last night.

My WSJ latest:

My newest story, an exclusive out Wednesday: Guns Offered for Sale in Facebook Groups Devoted to Religious Extremists in India

It begins:

Facebook users have offered for sale on the platform handguns, rifles, shotguns and bullets to members of a forum devoted to an extremist Hindu organization with a history of violence in India.

Eight posts, some of which had been up since April, caught the eye of Raqib Hameed Naik, the founder of a group that monitors attacks against religious minorities in India. He began reporting them to Meta Platforms Inc. in late January as contravening the company’s publicly stated policy that prohibits private individuals from buying or selling firearms or ammunition on Facebook platforms.

Facebook declined to remove them, saying the posts didn’t violate the company’s rules, according to responses from the company that The Wall Street Journal reviewed.

After the Journal inquired about the posts, Facebook on Tuesday removed them, saying they ran afoul of the company’s policies.

Here are 10 items worth your time this week:

1) 🎈The Pentagon says it’s shot down four flying objects over the U.S. That comes after the downing last week, off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, what the government called a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon.

2) 🇨🇳 In recent hours China has fired back (sorry) by saying the U.S. has sent balloons into its airspace more than ten times over the last year, though it didn’t offer evidence.

3) 🎤 Beyoncé won a Grammy for best dance/electronica album for “Renaissance,” breaking the record for the most Grammy wins – 32– in history.

4) 🏀 LeBron James became the NBA’s all-time highest scorer, surpassing the great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

5) 💻 How Microsoft’s Bing search engine is harnessing AI and, just maybe, poised to challenge Google.

6) 🚋 Fun travelogue: What it’s like to ride an Amtrak train 43 hours from Chicago to Los Angeles.

7) 🐔 RIP Bob Born, the candy company executive who gave the world Peeps.

8) 📷 Twitter thread: “Portraits famous photographers have taken of their partners.”

9) ⚖️ I was unaware there’s a new – and popular – “Night Court” reboot, complete with John Larroquette.

10) 🌍 What did Earth look like hundreds of millions of years ago? Check out this interactive globe.

•••

🦴 Dog-related video of the week:

“It’s fun.”

•••

💡 Quote of the week:

“Change before you have to.” – Jack Welch

•••

👊 Fist bump from Hong Kong,

Newley