It's not kind to find amusement in other people's distress. So I won't. I'll just casually mention that it's a tremendous waste of money to send some people to college. So it's not that big of a deal that this money was dumped into a meme stock at a stratospheric high, shortly to make its way to the Pink Sheets. According to modern monetary practice, it's a much better allocation of the same money to send a stockbroker's kids to college. In a Porsche.
On to today's links!
Brokers of Reddit how crazy is it where you work/ on the trade floor rn?
As much as young people on the internet like to imagine this as an epic, David vs Goliath, Wall Street vs Main Street showdown for the history books, from a bird's eye view it's actually just a brief dumpster fire where a couple hedge funds lost their shirts betting on one little small cap stock. It has happened before, and it will happen again. In 6 months, nobody will remember or care, except that (maybe) it will become more difficult for retail investors to trade options.
Ah, GameStop remorse will become a thing now. Well, say what you want about the Tulip Mania, but at least you could grow some flowers with what was left of your investment. Experts suggested planting the bulbs point down in the smoking hole of your finances.
Dante's descendant seeks to overturn poet's 1302 corruption conviction
The reputation of Dante Alighieri needs little burnishing: his Divine Comedy, tracing the poet’s journey through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise, is widely regarded as one of the greatest works ever written. But more than 700 years after Dante was accused of corruption and condemned to be burned to death, his descendant is looking to clear his name. Sperello di Serego Alighieri, an astrophysicist, and the law professor Alessandro Traversi are working to see if Dante’s 1302 sentencing for corruption in political office can be reversed.
They're also thinking of revising the book to be more topical. They're adding a tenth circle to hell. It has a bad internet connection.
Australia’s PM Suggests Bing Adequate If Google Blocks Searches Down Under
It used to be a joke, but it’s not so funny anymore. Google is threatening to block searches in Australia if the country implements a compulsory profit-sharing deal that would force tech giants like Google and Facebook to pay media companies for their content. But Australia’s Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, isn’t sweating it. Morrison suggested Monday at the National Press Club of Australia that Australians can just use Microsoft’s search engine Bing if Google really wants to leave the country.
There are only two ways to look at this situation. If there is no adequate alternative to Google, then Google is a monopoly, and it can safely be regulated into the ground. If there are adequate alternatives, then Google can safely be regulated into the hereafter. Simple.
FTC says Amazon took $62 million in tips from drivers
Amazon is paying nearly $62 million to settle charges that it took tips from its delivery drivers. The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday that Amazon didn’t pass on tips to drivers for more than two years, even though it promised shoppers and drivers it would do so. The FTC said Amazon didn’t stop taking the tips until 2019, when the company found out about the FTC’s investigation.
I have no idea where the exact inflection point was, but somewhere along the way WalMart became a charming, plucky, mom and pop store compared to Amazon.
Jeff Bezos Is Stepping Down As Amazon CEO Later This Year
It has been announced that Andy Jassy will become the new CEO of Amazon at the time. Jassy currently oversees the company's booming Amazon Web Services (AWS) division. Bezos says that he will be leaving Amazon in good hands as Andy is "well known inside the company" and has been a part of the Amazon family for "almost as long as I have."
He's going to retire to spend more time with his family and his employee's tips.
Language Development During Interstellar Travel
This paper explores the consequences that language change might trigger in the languages of crew
members during a long journey in space or interplanetary settlement. Languages drift apart as communities grow more isolated from each other, so the long isolation of a traveling community may lead to enough difference to render its language unintelligible to the original community it left.
I don't know what this dialect would sound like, but I know that no matter how far out into space they go, no one is ever going to be able to correctly spell loser, rein, definitely, compliment, it's, or their ever again.
Exclusive: Suspected Chinese hackers used SolarWinds bug to spy on U.S. payroll agency
Suspected Chinese hackers exploited a flaw in software made by SolarWinds Corp to help break into U.S. government computers last year, five people familiar with the matter told Reuters, marking a new twist in a sprawling cybersecurity breach that U.S. lawmakers have labeled a national security emergency.
But I tholt it was the Lussians.
Ancient Jersey teeth find hints at Neanderthal mixing
Research leader Prof Chris Stringer, from London's Natural History Museum, said: "Given that modern humans overlapped with Neanderthals in some parts of Europe after 45,000 years ago, the unusual features of these La Cotte individuals suggest that they could have had a dual Neanderthal-modern human ancestry."
No word on modern New Jersey teeth, but after watching Jersey Shore, I have my suspicions.
Exclusive: Wikipedia launches new global rules to combat site abuses
The new code of conduct bans harassment on and off the site, barring behaviors like hate speech, the use of slurs, stereotypes or attacks based on personal characteristics, as well as threats of physical violence and ‘hounding,’ or following someone across different articles to critique their work. It also bans deliberately introducing false or biased information into content. Wikipedia is a relatively trusted site compared to major social media platforms which have struggled to curb misinformation.
I can't imagine from what political perspective information will be determined to be "false or biased." It's a deep mystery.
Manhattan Office Supply Hits Record High With Skyscrapers Empty
Leasing fell by nearly 47% from the same period last year. That came even as asking rents dipped for the seventh straight month to $73.65 a square foot on average, the lowest in almost three years.
It's going to be really hard to get the working wealthy back into pants.
Have a great Wednesday, everyone.
