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Welcome to the Mozilla News Beat, a glance at the best and worst internet news this week. Enjoy! |
 | Existential Cat. "Who am I? What is this world? Are we all just faucets in the sink of life?" These, and more, are probably all questions this cat asks itself as it slowly gets dripped on. Weird sentence, we know, you just have to check out the video for yourself. Hit the link below. | Via @sarahcruz06 on TikTok |  | Lifehack Hack. Ever watch a lifehack video and think, "that person is doing way too much"? Khabane lame probably feels the same. A year and a half ago, the 21-year-old from Senegal was a factory worker. Now he's one of TikTok's most popular influencers, with 100 million followers and counting. Which isn't a surprise â lame knows how to 1-up a lifehack with an even better way of doing something: the regular way. | via Quartz Africa |  | App Update. A new bill from US Congress seeks to limit the amount of control companies like Apple and Google have over their phones' app stores. The Open App Markets Act could lead to some drastic changes, especially on Apple's platform. If it passes, it could allow iPhone users to download apps from other app stores, not just Apple's. | via Bloomberg |  | Robo Maneuvers. Why does it feel like every time Boston Dynamics comes out with a new demo video we feel like we're getting a glimpse into the eventual (potential? inevitable?) robot apocalypse? Anyway, hit the link below for some robot parkour. | via The Verge |  | Smartphone Vax Passport. Vaccine passports are becoming more popular. The latest? Companies like Samsung are partnering with the Commons Project to make vaccine passports more readily accessible via QR code. But privacy experts worry about potential tracking, especially when the paper version of a vaccine card is just as effective. | via NBC News |  | Misinformation Evaluation. Who knows exactly how bad Facebook is at curbing the misinformation on its platform? The answer: Facebook. The dilemma: would the company tell us if it were doing a bad job? The social network is barring external researchers from studying this problem. Many have spoken up in opposition of the decision including the MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation and (yours truly) the Mozilla Foundation. | via Vox |  | Turmoil In Afghanistan. Shortly after the US military exited Afghanistan, the Taliban took control of many of the country's cities. Evacuation efforts in Afghanistan are being organized over WhatsApp and even Google's survey site, Google Forms. According to one expert, WhatsApp and other messaging platforms are "being used to make snap [visa] decisions." MIT Tech Review describes the approach as chaotic and ad-hoc. | via MIT Tech Review |
The News Beat
Written By Xavier Harding
Edited By Anil Kanji, Xavier Harding
Art Direction Nancy Tran
Social Xavier Harding
Email Production Alexander Zimmerman |
| Want more? See stories that just missed making the News Beat on our Pocket. |
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