Extra, Extra

Glass Houses: NYT (Gift Article): Meta Plans to Add Facial Recognition Technology to Its Smart Glasses. “Meta’s internal memo said the political tumult in the United States was good timing for the feature’s release. ‘We will launch during a dynamic political environment where many civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns.'” (Big tech is not your friend…)

+ There Goes the Neighborhood: “It’s not hard to see why ICE has expanded its reach beyond the Twin Cities. The qualities that have hindered ICE’s operation in Minneapolis and St. Paul — density and walkability; a large, almost exclusively left-of-center population — are absent here. In Minneapolis, I saw patrollers on nearly every street corner. It’s easy to gather for protests or come together to organize a mutual aid network. The sidewalks in Lakeville were deserted, as were the broad streets that led onto the highway. Had there been any bystanders, they may not have wanted to get involved.” ICE moves out to the suburbs.

+ There’s Something Happening There: High-profile resignations and replacements as Epstein case fallout spreads. (Some people in some places are being held accountable.)

+ Who’d Have Predicted? “This was in Iowa City in 1988, long before anyone could bet on elections or Super Bowl halftime shows with their phone. The professors were trying to solve the sort of problem social scientists tackle over lunch. Why did polls get elections so wrong — and what could be done about it?” Three economists grabbed a beer. A multibillion-dollar industry was born. (The breakthrough came too soon for them to lay a bet on Bad Bunny’s first halftime show song.)

+ Ejected: “This school prepared more umpires for professional baseball than all the other schools combined. Over half of MLB’s 76 active major-league umpires this year are graduates from the Wendelstedt school. Numerous others are working toward that goal in the minor leagues. ‘It’s the Harvard of umpire schools.'” And it just closed. The machines are coming for these jobs, too. The Athletic (Gift Article): The ‘Harvard of umpire schools’ closes as changing times favor tech over tradition.

+ Cost in Space: “Summer Heather Worden claimed that McClain had illegally accessed her personal bank account from the International Space Station in July 2019.” Astronaut’s Ex-Wife Sentenced for Lying That Former Spouse Committed First Ever Crime in Space. (Elon still has a shot to be the first space criminal.)