Techflier

April 1 is the dumbest day on the internet, and this year, it’s not just because brands will try to prank you by selling “hot iced coffee.” Starting on Saturday, Twitter will begin removing blue checks from “legacy verified” users if they don’t sign up for a Twitter Blue subscription. This is part of new owner Elon Musk’s grand plan to make Twitter profitable, but this particular scheme has a glaring issue: If anyone with $8 per month can get a blue check, the symbol won’t be cool anymore (and also disinformation will proliferate , but Musk doesn’t seem super worried about that). Twitter initially launched its verification system in 2009 to protect celebrities from impersonation. Someone made an account pretending to be former St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, but instead of just asking for the account to be taken down, La Russa sued Twitter. And so, the three-year-old company introduced its iconic blue check badge. Now, we’ve come full circle. Celebrities are a day awa...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images A group of Florida evangelicals on Thursday criticized a bill that criminalizes the transport of migrants. The bill makes it a felony to knowingly assist an undocumented immigrant. Church leaders warned it could hinder their ability to preach the gospel. A group of evangelicals on Thursday spoke against an effort by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Republicans to make it a felony to knowingly transport an undocumented immigrant, calling it a potentially dangerous infringement on religious liberty. DeSantis, who is weighing a run for the presidency , has styled himself as a warrior for the Christian faith and a hardline opponent of illegal immigration. But on a conference call, Florida pastors said his support of a measure making its way through the Florida legislature threatens their ability to preach the gospel. "As followers of Christ, we are living out our faith most clearly when we answer...

Spencer Platt / Getty Images JPMorgan Asset Management CIO says markets  are headed for a "feel good period" before an economic slowdown. Investors should not lean into the fleeting rally next quarter, as a recession is looming, he said. "If we've been taught anything this past month, you may see it coming or you may not."  Markets are headed for a brief rally before an inevitable slowdown in the economy, JPMorgan Asset Management CIO Bob Michele says.  In an interview with Bloomberg on Friday , Michele says risk assets will rise in the next quarter as they did during the Great Financial Crisis in the mid 2000s when a slew of major banks failed as well.  "Having been an investor through the financial crisis, and [having looked at] that seminal moment when Bear Stearns and JPMorgan combined...The next quarter was great for markets. Equities went up 15% to 20%," Michele said. "High-yield credit spreads retraced a quarter and then the b...

Netflix is restructuring its film units and vowing to make fewer but better movies, according to a new report from Bloomberg , which Netflix partially confirmed. The report said the streaming giant is combining film units that produce small and midsize films, resulting in a handful of layoffs, including two longtime executives. Netflix told TechCrunch that these changes were made to simplify its structure and set it up for the next phase of its growth, but declined to comment on how many people were being let go. Scott Stuber, chairman of Netflix Film, has been looking to scale back the company’s output of films to ensure that more of them are high quality, according to the report. It appears that this change has already been implemented, as the report comes as Netflix recently revealed its 2023 original films lineup , which consists of 49 titles. In comparison, the company had 85 original films in its lineup last year. For context, a Netflix original refers to both the content that...

Former US Sen. John Edwards exits the federal court May 31, 2012 in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Sara D. Davis/Getty Images) Sara D. Davis/Getty Images John Edwards was charged with campaign finance violations in 2011 for hush-money payments similar to the ones made by Donald Trump. Edwards was accused by the DOJ of funneling nearly $1 million in donations to his pregnant mistress. Edwards was acquitted of one campaign finance violation charge — the others were dropped. Legal experts are debating what the outcome of a trial might be after a Manhattan grand jury indicted former President Donald Trump on Thursday for an alleged hush-money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Those experts don't have to look far to find precedent: The last time a grand jury criminally charged a presidential candidate for payments made to a mistress, John Edwards faced up to 30 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines. That was in 2011.  Edwards was John Kerry's ...

Ukrainian servicemen fire with a D-30 howitzer at Russian positions near Bakhmut, eastern Ukraine, on March 21, 2023. Photo by SERGEY SHESTAK/AFP via Getty Images Russia is once again seeking weapons from pariah states like North Korea to fuel its war in Ukraine. Moscow is offering Pyongyang food in exchange for munitions, the White House says.  North Korea has battled food shortages in recent years while Moscow faces weapons shortages. Russia is offering North Korea food in exchange for weapons, a top White House official said on Thursday, marking the latest instance where Moscow has turned to Pyongyang for help as it struggles to wage war in Ukraine. White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that Russia is seeking additional weapons and munitions from North Korea as part of the proposed deal. The US has previously accused North Korea — and other isolated countries like Iran — of backing Russia's campaign by providing it with military a...

Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida on January 3, 2023. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images A legislative aide who works for GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz is a convicted war criminal, The Intercept reported. The aide, Derrick Miller, spent eight years in prison after murdering an Afghan civilian, the report said. Gaetz's office defended its decision to hire Miller, saying he was "wrongfully convicted." A legislative aide who advises Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz on military issues is a convicted war criminal, according to The Intercept . The report said that the aide, Derrick Miller, previously served in the US Army and spent eight years in prison after he was convicted at court-martial of murdering an Afghan civilian, Atta Mohammed, during a 2010 interrogation. A spokesperson for Gaetz defended the decision to hire Miller, saying the former sergeant was wrongly convicted and now advises Gaetz's office on issues including laws governing the military justic...

Being an artificial intelligence company has become the soup du jour of startup land. Companies are scrambling to either incorporate AI into their existing business model or change up their marketing so whatever they were already quietly using AI to do is front and center. Y Combinator’s latest class is no different. Angel investor Gokul Rajaram tweeted recently that he had heard from a company in the latest YC cohort that half of the class was looking to use chatGPT. Now, with a letter circulating that asks AI researchers to pause development and with YC demo day next week, we decided to see if that checks out. Turns out, it’s not that far off. Ninety-one startups, or 34%, of the current YC class list that they are an AI company or use AI in some kind of way, according to the accelerator’s handy online database . If you narrow that down to generative AI you get 54, or 20%. While not quite half, it’s still striking when compared to past cohorts. In previous years, the highest numbe...

You’ll have to forgive the truncated newsletter this week. Turns out I brought more back from Chicago than a couple of robot stress balls (the one piece of swag I will gladly accept ). I was telling someone ahead of the ProMat trip that I’ve returned to 2019 travel levels this year. One bit I’d forgotten was the frequency and severity of convention colds — “con crud,” as my comics friends used to call it. I’ve been mostly housebound for the last few days, dealing with this special brand of Chicago-style deep-dish viral infection. The past three years have no doubt hobbled my immune system, but after catching COVID-19 three times, it’s frankly refreshing to have a classic, good old-fashioned head cold. Sometimes you want the band you see live to play the hits, you know? I’m rediscovering the transformative properties of honey in a cup of tea. The good news for me is that (and, hopefully, you) is I’ve got a trio of interviews from ProMat that I’ve been wanting to share in Actuator. As ...

Margaritaville at Sea's $900 cruise pass comes with a few restrictions and blackout dates. Margaritaville Margaritaville at Sea announced a $900 cruise pass that allows travelers to sail on the majority of its 2023 cruises. Margaritaville launched its cruise brand in 2022 with its Margaritaville at Sea Paradise vessel. The 30-year-old ship is now operating nonstop two-night itineraries from Florida. For $900, you could spend most of 2023 nibbling on sponge cake and watching the sun bake aboard a floating Margaritaville resort . The cruise line is currently operating nonstop two-night sailings from Florida's Port of Palm Beach to the Bahama's Freeport, Grand Bahama island. These set itineraries range from about $170 to over $500 (not including current deals). But if there's nowhere you'd rather be than on a Margaritaville cruise ship, you could potentially save hundreds of dollars with its newly announced cruise pass. Margaritaville at Sea has taken a pag...

POS infrastructure providers are scrambling to align their offerings mPOS providers are trying to balance demands from upmarket sellers and micromerchants Payment gateways must double down on omnichannel to woo customers As the landscape of market leaders shifts, we forecast that the US point-of-sale (POS) terminal installed base will grow from 17.3 million this year to 20.2 million in 2026, largely due to providers upgrading technology.  Insider Intelligence Consumer and merchant demands for all-in-one solutions are blurring the lines between POS hardware and software as the desire for simple, affordable, single-integration offerings increases. With terminal installation growth slowing due to digital payment acceptance approaching ubiquity, two types of technology—near-field communication-based and biometric terminals—are at the forefront of upgrades for POS in 2023. However, looming in the not-so-distant future is autonomous checkout, which poses a huge threat to tradi...

Investors just pumped millions into Irrigreen , a startup vying to quench America’s thirsty lawns with “approximately 50% less water.” Seed investor Ulu led the $15 million funding round. Two tech investors that are focused on water conservation — Burnt Island and Echo River — also chipped in, among a handful of others. The San Francisco–based sprinkler startup says it maps lawns to drizzle water precisely where lawn-havers want it, without clumsily soaking walkways and passersby. Irrigreen’s system tasks users with tracing the contours of their yard, and identifying obstacles, such as footpaths and driveways. The tech sounds somewhat like Roomba’s Keep-Out Zones , yet these sprinklers are stationary; instead of wandering the lawn, the startup says its sprinkler heads adjust the stream to send water where you want it. Image Credit: Irrigreen Americans are thirsty mfs: The typical family uses around 320 gallons per day, “about 30 percent of which is devoted to outdoor uses,” t...