🐤 Paying the price

🏦 Markets: And just like that, hopes for an interest rate cut as soon as June were dashed. The latest inflation numbers only exacerbate concern that has been mounting throughout the first quarter of 2024 that efforts to bring down soaring consumer prices aren’t working as planned.

The impact could be felt across Wall Street with all three major indexes experiencing a midweek dip … led by a more than 1% decline by the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

🤝 Growing collection: EBay has long been a go-to destination for both sellers and buyers of trading cards. And the online auction site continues to invest heavily in this industry in order to stake its claim as a haven for collectors. This week, the company confirmed new investments in Collectors, which owns the influential PSA grading service. In addition to streamlining the process of grading and selling cards, the deal includes eBay’s purchase of the Goldin auction house and Collectors’ acquisition of the eBay Vault, where high-value cards can be kept.

₿ Halving concerns: No matter what the naysayers have predicted over the years, Bitcoin has continued to rebound from previous dips and is still flirting with all-time high values. But will things change when the great halvings begin? Essentially, this is a strategy whereby the block reward of the digital currency is cut in half, giving buyers an opportunity to invest as demand remains high. As it stands, there seems to be no indication that the current growth is subsiding, but it remains to be seen how halving will impact Bitcoin’s market cap, if at all.

⛈️ Powerful storms: The city of Katy, Texas, bore the brunt of recent thunderstorms, with buildings receiving significant damage from high winds — including an EF-1 tornado — that struck the area this week. With winds reaching as high as 90 mph, emergency personnel from Houston were called in to assess the damage. Assistant Fire Chief Mark Donovan said several businesses were damaged, though many were closed at the time. Most injuries reported were minor and staff at one bar in the storm’s path were able to escape unscathed.

📱 No comment: Even adults on YouTube often have trouble making good decisions when commenting on videos. And minors who use the platform are particularly susceptible to contributing to the often acrimonious rhetoric found in the comments section. But the company confirmed that kids (at least those using an account with parental supervision) will soon no longer have the option of leaving their own comments. The “read-only” comments section is expected to be implemented on affected accounts within a few weeks.

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It sounds like a pretty meta solution for a very 21st century problem. But when online influencers are figuring out a strategy for virality, a growing number of them are turning to a new video game about going viral.

A brief introduction

The game in question is called Content Warning, and if you haven’t played or encountered anyone on social media playing it yet, we’ll provide a quick overview of what to expect.

On its surface, the hit title from Landfall Games bears a close resemblance to many other online games. It’s in the horror genre and allows players to virtually survive a daring quest to find monsters.

But it’s what those characters do when they encounter said monsters that makes Content Warning different. The goal is to film the experience (within the game, that is) and rack up as many views as possible on an in-game platform akin to YouTube.

The game only went live on Steam about a week ago, and it was an instant hit. More than 6 million users downloaded the title within just the first day.

Art imitates life

Inspired by the game’s content, popularity, or a combination of both, many of those gamers who have started filming monsters are also recording the experience for their real-life YouTube and Twitch channels.

It’s hard to tell if this was the specific goal of the game’s creators, but its developers did note that it was inspired by real-life experience involving a recorded adventure in the woods.

After watching footage of themselves essentially playing silly games, they decided that it was entertaining enough to serve as the basis for what would become Content Warning.

And even though the monsters warrant the game’s horror classification, it still maintains some of the frivolity of the engaging video that inspired it.

Most of us would have a hard time getting through a typical day without internet access. And even if the cost of that service can be pretty steep, we’ve collectively determined that it’s a price we just have to pay.

With a captive audience and limited competition in most areas, many internet providers have realized that they can essentially pack their bills full of hidden fees and surcharges without much backlash. But it looks like things are about to change.

Your bill’s new “nutrition label”

Similar to how regulators mandated that food products contain a label with information like calorie, fat, and sugar content, the Federal Communication Commission has mandated that internet service providers with at least 100,000 customers will now have to include a detailed assessment of what is included in each bill.

Although it might take a little getting used to, early reports indicate that the label is fairly easy to understand once you know what you’re looking for.

A few sections worth exploring when you receive your first ISP “nutrition label” include:

• Monthly Price: This section will reflect the base rate you owe for your internet service
• Additional Charges and Terms: Here’s where you’ll find a rundown of the hidden charges like activation fees.
• Speeds Provided with Plan: This is an overview of upload speed, generally shown in megabits per second.

Other important details

If your ISP charges for additional data usage or restricts your internet access through any way, it will also be shown on the new label.

As for when you’ll start seeing this information on your bill, the FCC mandate went into effect yesterday … but smaller ISPs have a bit longer to comply, with their deadline set for mid-October.

These days, it’s hardly newsworthy to hear about another private-sector spacecraft being approved for a mission.

But 20 years ago, United Launch Alliance showed up with its Delta IV Heavy rocket, which revolutionized the private space exploration industry. This week was an end of the era, though, with the craft being sent up for its final launch.

Getting to know the Delta

If you haven’t heard of the rocket, or you don’t know much about its history, let’s take a look at what made it so special.

Even though it averaged out to less than one mission per year, which is far less than modern equivalents like SpaceX, the Delta rocket nevertheless went out 16 total missions and proved that such a lofty goal can be achieved by the private sector.

Of course, this all came at a massive price that ruled out some of the current applications (like space tourism) being pursued by more recent entries into this expanding market.

The beginning of the end

Despite its shortcomings, there’s a lot to respect about this rocket. Although its enormously powerful engines began development last century, they remained a sight to behold in an era of more efficient boosters. The engines’ design meant that liquid hydrogen poured out first, rising alongside the body of the rocket and igniting in a spectacular display during each launch, giving onlookers an experience they won’t soon forget.

And in the 13 years since NASA decommissioned its space shuttle, Delta IV Heavy has been the undisputed heavyweight champ of the rocket world.

But alas, things have changed a lot since its debut. “Distributed launch” is now the norm, with less waste and lower costs. And companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin are ushering in the next leg of a journey that Delta started.

I burned 2,000 calories today.

I left my food in the oven too long.