David Lidsky's Blog, page 248

How the broligarchy is imitating Trump in more ways than one

Some of the billionaire tech CEOs who now support Trump also seem to have adopted parts of his personality.

Sooner or later, the politicians who most admire Donald Trump begin to emulate him. They adopt his populist rhetoric, specific diction, or aggressive tone. If they happen to be men, they might stuff their closets with navy suits and red ties. Some of them even start to stand like him. It’s not just politicians, though. A lot of the tech billionaires who have recently become more open to Trump (who have been dubbed the “broligarchy”), have to varying degrees also come to resemble him in one way or another.

How Mark Zuckerberg’s call for more masculine workplaces could stifle innovation

Based on research, it seems like promoting rigid masculinity in the workplace is not the best solution for an arguably already struggling Meta.

When Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared on a January 10, 2025, episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, he lamented that corporate culture had become too “feminine,” suppressing its “masculine energy” and abandoning supposedly valuable traits such as aggression.

Innovative solutions to transform luxury travel

How sustainability and personalization will redefine luxury travel in 2025

You may have arrived in a hotel room to find a chocolate on your pillow or a welcome message on the TV. But imagine checking in and finding the exact pillow you specified, the temperature just right, and a personal menu, along with a bespoke wellness program. This is not a fairytale—it’s the future of luxury travel, powered by technology.

College isn’t dead to Gen Z yet. Enrollment just hit a post-pandemic high

Despite rising costs and concerns over the value of a college degree, new data suggests young people are still invested in higher education.

New numbers released on Thursday showed college enrollment in the United States increased in the fall of 2024, for the first time surpassing pre-pandemic levels.

World’s largest iceberg moves toward an island off Antarctica where millions of penguins live

The trillion-ton slab of ice named A23a could slam into South Georgia Island and get stuck or be guided around it by currents.

The world’s biggest iceberg — a wall of ice the size of Rhode Island — is lumbering toward a remote island off Antarctica that’s home to millions of penguins and seals.

If you think Big Oil is trying to manipulate you on social media—you’re right

New research highlights companies’ ‘aligned and coordinated’ use of Twitter to deny climate change and delay solutions.

To the extent that X ever was the “public square” of the internet, it’s clearly no longer such a place. The platform—known as Twitter until it was rechristened in 2023 by Elon Musk—has become an echo chamber for extremist conspiracy theories and hate speech—or, depending on what you’re looking for, a porn site.

OpenAI’s new Operator is a step into AI’s agentic future

The tool perceives a user’s computer screen and completes multistep tasks.

OpenAI announced on Thursday a research preview of Operator, an AI agent that can browse the web and perform tasks for the user. Operator is powered by the Computer-Using Agent (CUA), an AI model that merges GPT-4o’s vision capabilities with reasoning capability.

Subaru security vulnerability exposed millions of cars to tracking risks

The flaw also meant hackers could retrieve any vehicle’s complete location history from the past year.

Two security researchers discovered a security vulnerability in Subaru’s Starlink-connected vehicles last year that gave them “unrestricted targeted access to all vehicles and customer accounts” across the U.S., Canada, and Japan, according to a Wired report.

A new Instagram feature might expose your embarrassing habits

Instagram Reels has added a new feature that allows your friends to see every video you’ve liked.

Instagram Reels has added a new feature that shows you a feed of videos that your friends have liked. The bad news: It works both ways, meaning your friends can now see every video you’ve liked. 

Michael Bloomberg to fund UN climate body after Trump exits Paris agreement

Bloomberg is a media billionaire who also serves as a UN special envoy on climate change.

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg‘s philanthropy arm said on Thursday it will provide funding to help cover the U.S. contribution to the UN climate body’s budget, filling a gap left by President Donald Trump.