šŗļø Picks of the Week ā April 30 + 2,000 Jobs
šŗļø Picks of the Week ā April 30 + 2,000 Jobs
Apple's Privacy Tracker, Google Domain SoldĀ for Ā£2, Bolsonaroās Covid Response Investigated, Italy's Coffee War, Smuggled Afghan Relics, Volunteers Exit Cave After 40 Days
Happy Friday folks! Itās that time of the week again where we round up the latest news from around the globe. š
Today weāll visit Silicon Valley where Appleās latest iOS update has sparked a vicious new privacy war with Facebook; Argentina where Googleās domain name was bought for the equivalent of Ā£2; Brazil whose senate launched an official investigation into President Bolsonaroās Covid response; Italy where rival citiesā attempts to make coffee officially part of their culture were rebuffed; Afghanistan where dozens of smuggled relics were returned from a New York storage locker; and France where 15 volunteers emerged from a cave after 40 days without daylight or clocks.
Make sure you check out this monthāsĀ Data Corner as we focused on Covid-19ās devastating impact on the worldās students, teachers and schools. And also yesterdayās Inside The Middle East where we dissected a new report comparing Israelās treatment of Palestinians to apartheid.
Jobs and data below, letās do this thing! š¤
Job Corner āļø
We have almost 100 deadlines in the next 10 days on the board, with 20 of them previewed belowā¦
If youāre a paying member, your jobs sheet link will remain the same. Interested in a free weekās trial? Reply to this email and weāll hook you up!
Data Corner š§®
A few datasets referenced in todayās editionā¦
Domain Names: Database on the worldās domain names, from ICANN
iOS Updates: List of all Apple iOS updates and version history, from GKGIGS
Poll Ratings: Approval ratings for all major world leaders, from Morning Consult
World Heritage: List of all global natural and cultural heritage sites by country and year, from UNESCO
Volunteers Exit Cave After 40 Days
We begin in France where 15 volunteers emerged from a cave after 40 days without natural light, clocks or communication with the outside world. The experiment assessed how a lack of external contact would affect their sense of time. Turns out most participants really did lose their bearings, as some estimated theyād spent a month in the cave, with others guessing as little as 23 days.
Scientists at the Human Adaptation Institute, which sponsored the Deep Time experiment, used sensors to monitor the participantsā behaviour, sleep patterns and social interactions. The group was tasked with creating its own electricity using a pedal bike, and drawing water from a well, all without the ability to pose time-centric deadlines. The results will be compared to samples taken before the group entered, and will help us understand how humans adapt to extreme conditions.
One of the participants said āIt was like pressing pauseā and that she didnāt feel any rush to do anything, and even wished she could have remained inside for a few more days.
Google Domain SoldĀ for Ā£2
Moving to Argentina next where Googleās domain name was snapped up briefly (and legally) for a bargain price equivalent to Ā£2. Nicolas KuroƱa, a designer from Buenos Aires, made the purchase after receiving a WhatsApp tip-off that the site was out of action for a brief, two-hour time window. Though the domain appeared as available on the countryās National Information Center database, KuroƱa was left in disbelief when he became the owner. His fame, however, was short-lived as the NIC quickly reclaimed the domain.
How google.com.ar, which isnāt set to expire until July, was released in the first place remains unanswered. While KuroƱa said there was never any malcontent on his part, ādomain squattingā is a monitored practice in which internet users purposefully buy domain names to block others from registering them to make profit. In the U.S., cybersquatters can face litigation from domain owners.
Previous Picks of the Week š
š Picks of the Week āĀ April 23
š Picks of the Week āĀ April 16
š Picks of the Week āĀ April 12
š Picks of the Week āĀ March 19
Appleās āApp Tracking PrivacyāĀ Feature
Staying with tech for a sec, Appleās latest iOS update includes an āapp-tracking privacyā setting that will for the first time prevent advertisers from tracking usersā app activity. Version 14.5 allows users to opt in or out of the setting and, following a prompt, they can deactivate the unique user ID websites and apps use to track digital movements. Increased privacy is undeniably a great thing, unless youāre Facebookā¦
The social media giant responded to Apple's update with harsh criticism, claiming it could slash ad revenue in half. Turns out you can hit your arch enemy where it hurts and also improve the world slightly. Facebookās head of ads even insisted the move toward anti-personalized advertising could set the world back a couple of decades. Alright Facebookā¦ š
Video: Apple vs Facebook ā Why iOS 14.5 Started a Big Tech Fight
Bolsonaroās Covid Response Investigated
Moving to Brazil next, whose senate ordered a parliamentary inquiry into far-right President Jair Bolsonaroās abysmal handling of the pandemic, ahead of next yearās presidential election. Brazil has registered the most cases and deaths per capita in South America.
Bolsonaro has repeatedly downplayed Covid, calling it a ālittle fluā and again refusing a national lockdown three weeks ago. The mask-shunning president also endorsed hydroxychloroquine as a cure for the virus with Donald Trump, calling it a āmiraculous cure.ā It isnāt.
Under Bolsonaroās watch, Brazil is on its fourth health minister since the pandemic began (the other three were fired or quit). And in January, the country suffered its worst health care collapse so far when hospitals in the state of Amazonas ran out of oxygen tanks. Brazilās vaccination rollout is also behind schedule, with only six percent of the population vaccinated.
The inquiry comes amid plummeting popularity ratings for Bolsonaro, which have lived between 30 and 40 percent for most of 2021. Some analysts claimed Bolsonaroās pandemic response is reminiscent of necropolitics: use of political power to dictate life or death.
Smuggled Afghan Relics
We return to the subject of stolen relics, a topic weāve covered before after African activists were fined for trying to reclaim treasures now housed in European museums. This time, a collection of 33 historic artefacts worth approximately $1.8m (Ā£1.3m) were returned to their owners in Afghanistan, after being smuggled out of the country by a New York art dealer. The repatriation of the statues is part of a U.S. government initiative to return stolen artefacts found in New York City storage units. So far, relics have been returned to Nepal and Sri Lanka, with Thailand next on the list.
āEach one of these pieces are priceless depictions of our history,ā said Roya Rahmani, the first female Afghan ambassador to the U.S, who emphasized their importance given the Talibanās destruction of the countryās historic artefacts.
In 2001, the terrorist group infamously blew up the Bamiyan Buddha statues, and then broke into the National Museum of Afghanistan and destroyed all artefacts they believed to be blasphemous to Islam. Before this, roughly 70 percent of the museumās relics had already been destroyed during the Soviet-Afghan War.
Video: Afghan relics seized from smugglers return home
Italian Coffee War
We end this week in Italy, where coffee aficionados are clashing over UNESCOās approval of coffee being part of the nationās cultural heritage. In 2019, coffee lovers in the northeastern city of Treviso launched a bid for the espresso to be recognized, and a year later the city of Naples placed its own, who wanted their city to be recognized for its own coffee culture separate from the rest of the country.
Although coffeeās origins lie in neither city, Napolese coffee has a reputation for being superior to the rest thanks to the Naples coffee pot and unique mineral content in the cityās water supply. Last month, however, UNESCO told both candidates to reapply next year.Ā
Coffee isnāt the only thing Naples claims is part of its intangible cultural heritage. In 2017, the Napolese art of' āpizza twirlingā was awarded world heritage status for being a unique gastronomic tradition. The anthropologist responsible for Naplesā coffee bid said the debate is another example of age-old north-south tensions within the country, which have deepened during the pandemic as tourist-dependent southern regions have suffered the most.
Daniel wants you all to watch this video of Conan OāBrien drinking coffee in Naples, the same place he went to (Gran Caffe Gambrinus) because Conan did. Loserā¦
Video: Conan Trying Napolese Coffee
See you next week for more jobs and global fun! š