May 24, 2019

News ⚡ — Friday, May 24

Alexa is working on a wearable that can track emotion. Global climate change strikes planned for Friday. Rei Kawakubo offers a rare interview. Samsung’s AI labs working on Deepfakes from a single image.

1. 🤖 Samsung’s AI lab can create fake video footage from a single head shot
While distorted, the resulting footage is able to animate the mouth and slight movements of the head from a single still. Unsettling.

2. 🏭 Over 1,351 climate strikes in 110 countries planned for Friday as global revolt escalates
The global strike comes two months after the reported largest international climate demonstration ever led by 16-year-old Greta Thunberg. Change.

3. 📸 Fujifilm announces the 102 MP medium format GFX 100
The diminutive camera body is set to retail for $10,000 USD but many are agreeing it’s a whole lot of camera for that price. Megapixels.

4. 🌿 Ikea is planning a meatless version of its meatball
Unlike its 2014 veggie ball, this new version will more closely resemble something made of meat, of the Impossible variety or otherwise. Impossiball.

5. 👩 Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons grants a rare interview
Topics include her motivations, the daring of retailers in the past and her day-to-day. Insightful.

6. 😃 Amazon is getting closer to building an Alexa wearable that knows when you’re depressed
The Alexa-powered wearable is meant to listen to you, decide how you feel, and make recommendations based on your emotions. Helpful.

7. 📹 Instagram will now support landscape video on IGTV
Instagram says the change comes following creator feedback and the fact landscape videos exist on IGTV already. Auto-rotate.

See all our recent News ⚡ updates here.

 

Update Log
v8 (current): Added an intro paragraph, not that it needed it but it makes it easier for us to share quickly to social media (which we were slacking on). Added an OptaJoe-inspired one-word conclusion. Inspired.
v7: <h2> gone, that was real quick (one flash). We’re testing <strong> instead for headlines
v6: Highlighted the titles as <h2> headers. Not sure we like it…
v5: Changed the order of the update entries (recent to oldest). A photo now accompanies the News ⚡ as prior there were issues with not having an image preview on social media.
v4: Went from 5 links to somewhere under 10.
v3: changed the URL slug from the emoji to flash.
v2: added a short one-liner to add a bit more context.
v1: numbered list, with emojis and a headline. Decided on five links for brevity and focus.

News ⚡
May 23, 2019

Breaking down the science of beauty and how it influences creativity

Source:

In his 2013 book, The Aesthetic Brain, neuroscientist Anjan Chatterjee discusses our brain’s ability to have aesthetic experiences—those deep “magical” moments that leave us in awe. While these responses have evolved out of the same chemical and emotional pathway that helped us survive, they now help us understand why we like the things we like.

What makes an experience aesthetic?

According to Chatterjee, there are certain configurations of sensations and of objects in the world that produce an experience that is qualitatively different than just straight perception.

But what differentiates “aesthetic experiences” from pleasurable ones such as having a good meal or seeing something or someone attractive?

He believes one way aesthetic experiences distinguish themselves is by being self-contained: the experience doesn’t go beyond your own immersion and engagement with experience and it doesn’t come with an impulse to act such as a desire to purchase an object or show it to a friend.

Liking over wanting

Neuroscientist Kent Berridge refers to two systems that work together as part of our brain’s reward system: that of liking and that of wanting. In short, we tend to like the things we want and we want the things we like. Chemically and anatomically, however, they work differently in our brains.

Dopamine’s role in learning is key to helping us get what we want, whereas the “liking” system is purely about pleasure and is mediated by our opioid and cannabinoid receptors. These two systems can be disassociated, however, as in the case of addiction where we want something we don’t necessarily like anymore.

As far as aesthetic experiences go, the liking aspect takes precedence over the wanting aspect; we like for the sake of liking.

The aesthetic triad

Chatterjee and his contemporaries involved in neuroaesthetics believe that there are three means in the brain through which we can have an aesthetic experience and can help understand how our brain is being engaged.

  • Sensor motor circuitry: traditional beauty and scientific sense of “pleasing” aesthetics
  • Emotional and reward circuitry: the wanting and liking system
  • Semantic conceptual circuitry: refers to messages, cultural background, and contextual knowledge

This means that someone could have an aesthetic experience with a piece of art that is not necessarily “beautiful” in the traditional sense but by means of their knowledge of the nuances and concepts behind it and vice versa.

Context and culture

What we consider art and even what is likable to us changes with time and context. Despite our brains having remained largely the same for 150 years, our perceptions of objects that could move us toward an aesthetic experience are fluid and susceptible to influence.

In one Danish study, people were shown abstract images and in one condition, they were told the images were computer-generated with an algorithm. In another, they were told the exact objects were hanging in a gallery. Both the subjects’ verbal responses and imaging of their brain activity suggested they liked the images they thought were in a gallery more.

Our thoughts

Chatterjee’s view of creativity is essentially reconfiguring the problem and seeing it in a different way. He says our current culture emphasizes productivity and a brute force analytic approach to creative solutions without allowing for unstructured downtime—periods of low arousal such as showering or winding down before bed—for organic creative insights to emerge.

For creative people, our perceptions can become our references and our aesthetic experiences our inspirations. But because they can both be shaped and triggered by external contexts, our creativity—that is, our internally derived original thoughts—may very well depend on allocating more of our lives to said downtime. Otherwise, we risk investing more in consuming prevailing narratives instead of writing them ourselves.

Keep Reading (560 words)
Creativity
Science
May 23, 2019

News ⚡ — Thursday, May 23

IKEA releases rainbow bag for Pride Month. Amazon shareholders veto climate change plan. Elon Musk’s The Boring Company finally has a customer. A malware infested laptop is fetching over $1 million on auction.

1. 👚 Amazon introduces ‘The Drop’ featuring limited edition collections designed by global influencers
The influencer-lead initiative will give customers limited-edition, “street style-inspired” collections from global bloggers and social media stars when it goes on sale internationally—for only 30 hours. Pass.

2. 🌈 Ikea’s iconic shopping bag gets a rainbow pride colorway
The KVANTING bag will retail for $3.99 in the U.S. and proceeds will go to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation for programs supporting LGBT+ children, youth, and families. Timely.

3. 💻 A laptop infected with six of the world’s most dangerous computer viruses is up for auction. The bid is now over $1.1 million
The 2008 Samsung notebook actually an art piece by Guo O Dong called “The Persistence of Chaos” and was commissioned by cybersecurity firm Deep Instinct. Technohazard.

4. ♾ Las Vegas orders up a Boring Company Loop
Until now, the Elon Musk-founded company never had a paying customer until the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority granted a near $50 million contract to build mile-long version under the city’s convention center. Boring.

5. 🎤 VIBE debuts battle rap podcast, THE CHOSEN hosted by Nunu Nellz
The show focuses on the artists, entrepreneurs, and personalities that shape hip-hop battle culture. The first episode features guest SMACK WHITE. Havoc.

6. ⛔ 8,000 Amazon employees asked the company to do more on climate change. Shareholders just said ‘No.’
The proposal began as an open letter in April that asked Jeff Bezos to create a comprehensive climate-change plan for the company. Unsurprising.

See all our recent News ⚡ updates here.

Update Log
v8 (current): Added an intro paragraph, not that it needed it but it makes it easier for us to share quickly to social media (which we were slacking on). Added an OptaJoe-inspired one-word conclusion. Inspired.
v7: <h2> gone, that was real quick (one flash). We’re testing <strong> instead for headlines
v6: Highlighted the titles as <h2> headers. Not sure we like it…
v5: Changed the order of the update entries (recent to oldest). A photo now accompanies the News ⚡ as prior there were issues with not having an image preview on social media.
v4: Went from 5 links to somewhere under 10.
v3: changed the URL slug from the emoji to flash.
v2: added a short one-liner to add a bit more context.
v1: numbered list, with emojis and a headline. Decided on five links for brevity and focus.

News ⚡
May 22, 2019

News ⚡ — Wednesday, May 22

Ai Weiwei sues Volkswagen for using his work. Nike and Under Armour urge Trump to exclude footwear from tariffs. Central Saint Martins to launch a new Biodesign master’s program in September.

1. ⚗ Central Saint Martins launches “world’s first” masters course in Biodesign
The new two-year program is intended to promote sustainable innovation and eco-friendly approaches to the design and production of architecture, product design, jewelry, fashion or textiles.

2. 👟 Nike and Under Armour urge Trump to remove footwear from tariff list
The additional tariff of 25% on Chinese goods may add $7 billion in additional costs for US customers every year, the Footwear Distributors & Retailers of America says.

3. 🏀 Fortnite x Michael Jordan NBA collaboration coming soon to Fortnite Battle Royale
The collaboration hints at a potential Michael Jordan skin in the in-game Item Shop similar to the recently released John Wick skin.

4. ⛪ How work became the millennial religion of choice
More young people are defining themselves by what they do and who they work for.

5. 💻 The new updated 8-core Mac Book Pro is Apple’s fastest laptop yet
While it promises to be twice as fast as older quad-core laptops, speed could be limited by packing a demanding processor into such a small chassis due to heat.

6. 📱 Mexicans buy fake cellphones to hand over in muggings
The mock phones cost the equivalent of $15-25 USD and include startup screens and internal weights to fool thieves. It’s an unfortunate solution to the everyday reality of armed robberies aboard buses in the capital.

7. ⚖ Ai Weiwei sues Volkswagen for using his installation of refugee life jackets in an ad
The ad features an orange car in front of his work Soleil Levant (2017), created for World Refugee Day. It uses 3,500 discarded bright orange life jackets from fleeing migrants that landed in Greece.

8. 😲 MOCA Los Angeles will no longer charge admission fees
The move to eliminate the $15 USD  fee comes thanks to a $10 USD million gift from Carolyn Clark Powers, President of MOCA’s Board of Trustees.

See all our recent News ⚡ updates here.

Update Log
v8 (current): Added an intro paragraph, not that it needed it but it makes it easier for us to share quickly to social media (which we were slacking on). Added an OptaJoe-inspired one-word conclusion. Inspired.
v7: <h2> gone, that was real quick (one flash). We’re testing <strong> instead for headlines
v6: Highlighted the titles as <h2> headers. Not sure we like it…
v5: Changed the order of the update entries (recent to oldest). A photo now accompanies the News ⚡ as prior there were issues with not having an image preview on social media.
v4: Went from 5 links to somewhere under 10.
v3: changed the URL slug from the emoji to flash.
v2: added a short one-liner to add a bit more context.
v1: numbered list, with emojis and a headline. Decided on five links for brevity and focus.

 

News ⚡
May 21, 2019

News ⚡ — Tuesday, May 21

Rihanna speaks to T Magazine about her  new fashion house. IG jacks TikTok and Snapchat features. Calvin Klein announces new direction. Plastics will burn through 14% of our remaining carbon budget.

1. 💿 Rihanna opens up about her new clothing line, the future of fashion and her next album
Fenty, created in partnership with LVMH, marks both the first black woman in charge of a major luxury fashion house in Paris and the first such house the conglomerate has created from scratch. Intriguing.

2. 🌍 The plastic industry is on track to burn 14 percent of world’s remaining carbon budget
A report published by the Center for International Environmental Law found that by 2050, making and disposing of plastics could be responsible for a cumulative 56 gigatons of carbon. Whoa.

3. © Instagram’s IGTV copies TikTok’s AI, Snapchat’s design
IG is also prototyping a number of other features to boost engagement such as being able to DM all your Close Friends at once but separately. Flattery.

4. 📊 Westin Workout Gear Lending x New Balance is a potential future of the sneaker sharing economy
New Balance partnered with hotel and resort chain Westin to offer shoes and clothing rentals for workouts for only $5 USD. Promising.

5. ⚡ The launch of 5G networks could make it more difficult to predict bad weather and warn people
The similarities in frequencies could interfere with weather tracking, giving less time to warn people of inclement weather and to evacuate. Priotities.

6. 😲 Gosha Rubchinskiy and Adrian Joffe respond to misconduct allegations
The responses address Rubchinskiy’s alleged inappropriate contact with a minor. DMs.

7. 🤝 Virgil Abloh x Pioneer DJ collaborate as part of “Figures of Speech” exhibition
The exhibition includes the “TRANSPARENT” CDJ-2000NXS2 and “TRANSPARENT” DJM-900NXS2, a multiplayer and digital mixer created specifically for Abloh. See-thru.

8. 🕶 Data vizualization is the new branding as Pentagram hires Georgia Lupi
She joins Pentagram’s New York office as its first partner in seven years. Her work is best known for presenting data with quirks and hand-drawn touches. Infopaintings.

9. 👖 After revealing it would no longer be showing on the runway, Calvin Klein announces its next venture
Its new direction sees the brand refocusing on underwear and jeans and four to six initiatives a year released under its youth-driven ‘InCKubator.’ MyCalvins.

See all our recent News ⚡ updates here.

Update Log
v8 (current): Added an intro paragraph, not that it needed it but it makes it easier for us to share quickly to social media (which we were slacking on). Added an OptaJoe-inspired one-word conclusion. Inspired.
v7: <h2> gone, that was real quick (one flash). We’re testing <strong> instead for headlines
v6: Highlighted the titles as <h2> headers. Not sure we like it…
v5: Changed the order of the update entries (recent to oldest). A photo now accompanies the News ⚡ as prior there were issues with not having an image preview on social media.
v4: Went from 5 links to somewhere under 10.
v3: changed the URL slug from the emoji to flash.
v2: added a short one-liner to add a bit more context.
v1: numbered list, with emojis and a headline. Decided on five links for brevity and focus.

News ⚡
May 20, 2019

Jeff Koons' record-breaking art sale might be part of a bigger and worrisome movement

Source:

Jeff Koons recently broke the record for highest auction price for a living artist when his 1986 “Rabbit” sold for $91.1 million at Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art sale last Wednesday.

Why was it so expensive?

While the hammer price (winning bid price) of the metallic rabbit sculpture and that of the previous record holder—a 1972 painting by David Hockney called “Portrait of an Artist (Pool With Two Figures”—was significantly lower at around $80 million, Christie’s raised the buyers’ fees that pushed the work to its total price.

But really, why was it so expensive?

We’re entering a new era of art collection with a heavy concentration around household names and their ability to generate hype and value. Top-tier artists and galleries are taking a comparatively large chunk of the pie. A recent series of stats show that art transactions exceeding USD 1 million were 40% of the art market, but only 3% of the transactions.

Should we dismiss Koons so quickly?

What can the 62-year-old artist look back upon in his three-decade-old career? :

  • His work is influential to sculpture by combining elements of pop, minimalism, and Duchamp
  • He’s introduced a sense of “MAYA,” Most Advanced Yet Acceptable by taking familiar concepts and changing their meaning and scale.
  • His particular affinity for shiny objects brought color and a new energy to the field that draws a quiet admiration if it isn’t drawing disdain.

For better or worse, many objects of his that are easy to write off as gaudy, simplistic and just plain bad—such as his eponymous “Balloon Dog (Orange)” that sold for USD 58.4 million and “Play-Doh” that went for a mere USD 22.8 million—speak to audiences even now and thus generate regular discussion that keep the artist relevant and the dollars coming.

But the real issue is that with these types of record-breaking transactions, they’re firmly leaving the next generation of artists potentially out on their own. In a recent New York Times article, affluent but not super rich collectors were no longer willing to participate in the art market. Seeing living artists sell for upwards of USD 90 million suggested their five-figure work was not worth buying. While Koons’ sale is breaking records at the auctions, the real concern is the hollowing out of the middle and emerging class of artists who may never have the opportunity to break out.

 

Keep Reading (359 words)
Art
May 20, 2019

News ⚡ — Monday, May 20

EDEN Power Corp creates its inaugural eco-friendly line. Fashion brands turn to blockchain for tracking products and verifying authenticity. The Space Type Generator lets you create your own motion graphics. Hip-hop country hit ‘Old Town Road’ gets its own music video at last.

1. ⛓️ Alyx is partnering with Iota to track authenticity on the blockchain.
Clothing designer Matthew Williams’ luxury fashion brand Alyx announced that it will use Iota Foundation’s distributed ledger technology to track the production of clothing from raw materials to the final product.

2. 💫 The Space Type Generator is helping usher in the future of digital design.
Thanks to the tool’s creator, designer Kiel Danger Mutschelknaus, we now have a means of creating and experimenting with our own motion graphics. Try it out for yourself!

3. 🌍 Why the Guardian is changing the language it uses about the environment
From “climate emergency” in place of “climate change” to “global heating” over “global warming,” the media outlet recently updated its style guide to reflect the urgency of environmental crises facing the planet.

4. 👜 LVMH launches a blockchain service as authenticity
Faced with a monumental struggle against a massive counterfeit market, valued at $1.2 trillion in 2017, LVMH has partnered with blockchain company ConsenSys and Microsoft to launch AURA to track and authenticate luxury products.

5. 🍽 Uber Eats is facing a price war — just like Uber
Much like Uber’s ride service, its food delivery business isn’t profitable yet either. In Q1 of this year, 46% of people who ordered from Uber Eats in the US also ordered from one or more of its competitors, showing brand loyalty is still hard to come by.

6. 🐴 ‘Old Town Road’ finally gets the video treatment
After spending weeks at the top of the Billboard charts, the virtually created hip-hop country hit finally became a music video featuring Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus, among others.

7. 👕 EDEN Power Corp debuts eco-friendly clothing line
Parisian designer Issac Larose (founder of the eponymous hat label Larose) launches a new line focused on renewable energy and natural wines for dyes as well as adopting sustainable transportation and diets. EDEN’s design ethos is to “provide the knowledge and tools to create better energy, a better life, and a better world.”

See all our recent News ⚡ updates here.

Update Log
v8 (current): Added an intro paragraph, not that it needed it but it makes it easier for us to share quickly to social media (which we were slacking on). Added an OptaJoe-inspired one-word conclusion. Inspired.
v7: <h2> gone, that was real quick (one flash). We’re testing <strong> instead for headlines
v6: Highlighted the titles as <h2> headers. Not sure we like it…
v5: Changed the order of the update entries (recent to oldest). A photo now accompanies the News ⚡ as prior there were issues with not having an image preview on social media.
v4: Went from 5 links to somewhere under 10.
v3: changed the URL slug from the emoji to flash.
v2: added a short one-liner to add a bit more context.
v1: numbered list, with emojis and a headline. Decided on five links for brevity and focus.

News ⚡
May 17, 2019

News ⚡ — Friday, May 17

Bella Hadid, a real human influencer, makes out with Lil Miquela, a digital influencer. Gucci is setting forth its path of self-destruction. Nike is creating the playbook for sustainable design. Brands are now deliberately making “clickbait” clothing.

1. 🤔 Is CBD able to cure everything it claims?
Is CBD’s massive list of curable things actually legit? Dubious.

2. 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 Watch Bella Hadid and Lil Miquela make out for Calvin Klein
The world of influencers is entering a new frontier with real/digital crossovers featuring Bella Hadid (real) locking lips with Lil Miquela (digital). Groundbreaking.

3. 🤦‍♀️ Gucci takes another L with their Sikh-inspired “Indy Turban”
At this point, Gucci’s missteps seemed like some sort of experiment. Disappointment.

4. ♻️ Nike Circular Design Workbook
Nike is pushing the narrative of sustainability with a new handbook created in conjunction with Central Saint Martins and University of the Arts London. Conscious.

5. 🎣 Brands are now creating outlandish “clickbait” clothing
Real-life fashion trends and memes allow one to contribute to the discussion and defend/create identity.

6. 👀 Korean eyewear company Gentle Monster is suing Malik Yusef from Kanye’s camp over defrauding them
Yusef is in hot water for delivering a track that was never actually produced by Kanye. This isn’t the first time Yusef has gotten in trouble. after defrauding Philipp Plein for a performance with Kanye that never took place.

7. 💸 Art collecting is a sport only for the mega-rich as affluent collectors step away
The sale of Jeff Koons’ USD 91 million rabbit suggests that there’s a huge art market consolidation. This makes support and discovery of small and emerging artists much more difficult.

See all our recent News ⚡ updates here.

Update Log
v8 (current): Added an intro paragraph, not that it needed it but it makes it easier for us to share quickly to social media (which we were slacking on). Added an OptaJoe-inspired one-word conclusion. Inspired.
v7: <h2> gone, that was real quick (one flash). We’re testing <strong> instead for headlines
v6: Highlighted the titles as <h2> headers. Not sure we like it…
v5: Changed the order of the update entries (recent to oldest). A photo now accompanies the News ⚡ as prior there were issues with not having an image preview on social media.
v4: Went from 5 links to somewhere under 10.
v3: changed the URL slug from the emoji to flash.
v2: added a short one-liner to add a bit more context.
v1: numbered list, with emojis and a headline. Decided on five links for brevity and focus.

News ⚡
May 17, 2019

News/Analysis — Adobe Tells Users They Can Get Sued for Using Old Versions of Photoshop

Source:

In a move that shocked—or didn’t shock—Adobe users, the company announced that customers could face legal consequences for using old discontinued versions of Photoshop, warning them that they were “no longer licensed to use them.”

This week, Adobe began sending some users of its Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, Premiere, Animate, and Media Director programs letters warning that they weren’t legally allowed to use software they had previously purchased.

“We have recently discontinued certain older versions of Creative Cloud applications and and a result, under the terms of our agreement, you are no longer licensed to use them,” Adobe said in the email. “Please be aware that should you continue to use the discontinued version(s), you may be at risk of potential claims of infringement by third parties.”

How we got here

In 2013, Adobe moved away from its original business model, whereby users could purchase hard copies—and continue to use them regardless of later versions being released. The new subscription-based service Adobe Creative Cloud resulted in notably higher revenues due to the constant stream of monthly fees from users. Naturally, requiring users to regularly sign in online to confirm their paid subscription also curtailed the use of pirated or cracked versions of Adobe’s software that became widespread with the previous business model.

Everyone’s gone insane with subscriptions

Adobe’s transition to subscriptions isn’t necessarily new nor unusual. From video games and mobile apps to delivery-based health food plans and even clothing, business models based on subscriptions are extremely common now to ensure the companies providing them have regular cash flow. But the issue with software and other tech is that they are by their nature modifiable via wireless updates, meaning that features can be added, disabled or removed simply by going online. Worse, some companies can make these modifications mandatory and in Adobe’s case, make accepting the modifications mandatory to continue using the software or service.

And as you might have guessed, we’re also complicit in continuing this behavior because the stipulation that the company is free to do so is buried but clearly written in those End User License Agreements we unashamedly skip through and agree to. This gives companies—pardon the pun—free license to modify products that we don’t own in any concrete way and this most recent move extends to products people thought they owned in perpetuity.

What’s to be done?

Seeing as Adobe’s software serves as the industry standards for many creative fields (Premiere for video, Photoshop and Illustrator for graphic design and InDesign for publishing among others), it’s hard to peel away from that software we might have trained on, are used to or the rest of our collaborators are using. For established creatives, that’s a business expense that can certainly pay for itself (assuming you earn over $60 USD a month on projects), but it’s a big upfront cost for artists that are starting out or looking to go digital.

The solution for them? Draw a line in the sand and stick to open source or free programs that are actively maintained and have a community. There’s no Photoshop equivalent industry standard for creative writing work (as much as Microsoft Office wishes) because people care more about the end result more than the software it was produced on. If you have talent or willingness to create good work, even if it means a few more steps to do with free software what some of Adobe CC’s cutting edge technologies could do better and quicker, the portfolio will speak for itself.

For those tired of getting nickel-and-dimed? You might need to take stock of and start Marie Kondo-ing your monthly and yearly subscriptions and decide whether you could put those savings towards more permanent solutions you own (such as making your own NAS in place of regularly paying for cloud storage).

Keep Reading (600 words)
Creativity
Tech
May 16, 2019

News ⚡ — Thursday, May 16

Luggage brand Away may soon be a fashion brand. LEGO unveils Stranger Things play set. The new TWA hotel opens at JFK airport. An ensemble cast awaits season 5 of Black Mirror.

1. ↕ LEGO launches ‘Stranger Things’ set which can be flipped over to ‘the upside down’
True to the Netflix show’s universe, the release makes use of attachment points on the LEGO people’s feet so they can literally walk on the upside down side of the mirrored playset. Demogorgon.

2. 😋 The Munchies Paradox: the new science of pot and appetite
Researchers are trying to decipher the complicated link between the two and reconcile that with the seemingly paradoxical findings that longer-term cannabis users are maintaining healthier weights and are leaner on average. Yum.

3. ✈ TWA Hotel opens at JFK airport
Trans World Airlines (TWA) finally opens its hotel at JFK after years of back-and-forth about construction, permissions and rights. The Eero Saarinen-designed hotel is the airport’s only on-site hotel and has 512 rooms and 50,000 feet or so of event space. Check-in.

4. 🛒 China’s millennial burnout culture wears luxury like a badge
Ambitious but chronically overworked, Chinese millennials are treating luxury shopping as a salve for their burnout. Painkiller.

5. 📺 New ‘Black Mirror’ trailer features Miley Cyrus, Anthony Mackie and more dystopia
Coming up on its fifth season after its Bandersnatch choose-your-own-adventure film, the series will return to episodic storytelling and will feature Anthony Mackie, Miley Cirus, Topher Grace, Ludi Lin, and Pom Klementieff among many others. Ensemble.

6. 👟 Nike c/o Virgil Abloh “Athlete in Progress” Terra Kiger is announced
The collection, which debuted in Paris last September, was part of the Off-White SS19 runway show and looks back on Nike’s heritage in track and field to produce an assortment of post-run apparel. Fire.

7. 🛄 Away, now worth $1.4 billion, may soon be a fashion brand
Once a scrappy startup four years ago, a new $100 million investment by Wellington Management Co., has pushed the luggage brand’s valuation to $1.4 billion. Among plans to enter into travel-focused wellness products, apparel could also be on the horizon for Away. Carry-on.

8. 📣 Nike’s Chairman, President and CEO releases a new Impact Report
Mark Parker shares some of the company’s progress in addressing inequality and its goals for tackling its environmental footprint. Action.

See all our recent News ⚡ updates here.

Update Log
v8 (current): Added an intro paragraph, not that it needed it but it makes it easier for us to share quickly to social media (which we were slacking on). Added an OptaJoe-inspired one-word conclusion. Inspired.
v7: <h2> gone, that was real quick (one flash). We’re testing <strong> instead for headlines
v6: Highlighted the titles as <h2> headers. Not sure we like it…
v5: Changed the order of the update entries (recent to oldest). A photo now accompanies the News ⚡ as prior there were issues with not having an image preview on social media.
v4: Went from 5 links to somewhere under 10.
v3: changed the URL slug from the emoji to flash.
v2: added a short one-liner to add a bit more context.
v1: numbered list, with emojis and a headline. Decided on five links for brevity and focus.

News ⚡
Play Pause
Context—
Loading...