Tootfinder

A few remarks on "AI" usage and the narrative surrounding it. I think it's about the difference between disconnected creating and embodied making.
(Original title: Something from nothing)
https://tante.cc/2025/12/12/something-from-nothing/

Something from nothing
I am not a talented person, I’ve never been called “gifted” or anything like that. Anything I can do, anything I achieved took a lot of work and stubbornness to achieve. Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that I’m “selfmade” and that my position in society, my access to resources, etc. had nothing […]

Will purchase: #music

130 Tracks of Guitar Per Song? Sunn O))) Is Back, and Going Big.
The hard-to-categorize duo recorded its new, self-titled album surrounded by nature. It’ll be the band’s first on the storied Seattle label Sub Pop.

Sources: Meta plans to lay off ~10% of its 15,000-person Reality Labs division, disproportionately affecting those working on VR headsets and Horizon Worlds (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/technology/meta-layoffs-reality-labs.html

Meta Plans to Cut 10% to 15% of Employees in Reality Labs Business
The layoffs are set to be announced this week and would affect Meta’s work on the metaverse, as the company spends heavily on building artificial intelligence.

What a treat: A reader send me a bunch of hand-printed cards inspired by my article "Something From Nothing" https://tante.cc/2025/12/12/something-from-nothing/

Crypto casinos have become online gambling havens for teens and problem gamblers, propped up by operators who turn social media influencers into recruiters (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/1

How Online Crypto Casinos Use Celebrities and Livestreamers to Recruit Gamblers
Using exploitative marketing strategies, the illicit gambling websites have profited and lured in a young generation of gamblers.

Sources: the US nears a trade deal with Taiwan that would reduce tariffs on the island's exports and include a commitment from TSMC to build 5 fabs in Arizona (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/business/economy/trump-taiwan-deal.html

Trump Administration Nears Trade Deal With Taiwan
The deal would cut tariffs and include a commitment from Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation, the island’s chip giant, to build more manufacturing plants in the United States.

Netflix is shifting its video game strategy to focus on popular titles like Pictionary, Boggle, and Tetris, playable on TVs with smartphones as controllers (Nicole Sperling/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/business/media/netflix-video-game-tv.ht…

Netflix Is Bringing Video Games to Users’ TVs
The company is shifting its video game strategy to focus more on popular games you already know, such as Pictionary and Boggle.

Sources and filings: Peter Thiel donated $3M to a group to beat California's wealth tax, the first of several expected major donations by tech leaders in 2026 (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/us/politics/peter-thiel-california-weal…

Thiel Gives $3 Million to Group Seeking to Block California Wealth Tax
More large donations from wealthy Silicon Valley figures are expected as they try to marshal opposition to a proposed ballot measure that would impose a new tax on billionaires.

A look at Cybathlon, an event by ETH Zurich where researchers team up with people with disabilities in a competition to test brain-computer interfaces (Oliver Whang/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/scien…

At the Cybathlon, May the Best Brain-Computer Interface Win
Every four years at the Cybathlon, teams of researchers and technology “pilots” compete to see whose brain-computer interface holds the most promise.

Sources: Apple and Major League Soccer agree to make all MLS games available on Apple TV for no extra charge in 2026, ending the MLS Season Pass subscription (Paul Tenorio/The Athletic)
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6804777/2025/11/13/mls-apple-tv…

MLS, Apple TV to bring games outside of extra paywall in 2026: Sources
Beginning next season, MLS games will be even more accessible via Apple TV