Mission Everywhere

Kherson Oblast, Ukraine. Photo by Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Occupation authorities in Kherson announced a dual-currency system that allows use of the ruble and hryvnia, the Institute for the Study of War said. The Kremlin previously ordered the transition to rubles starting May 1, when the region was fully under Russian control.  But Ukraine's military has taken back large swaths of southern and northeastern territory in recent months. Russia is abandoning a plan that would enforce a ruble-only payment system in occupied Kherson, according to the Institute for the Study of War.  "Occupation authorities in Kherson Oblast announced a dual currency system that allows the use of both rubles and hryvnya, unwinding a months-long effort to enforce rubleization in the oblast," the think tank tweeted on Sunday, referring to the broader administrative region that includes the city of Kherson. The move marks another setback for Russia's war on Ukrai...

Netflix has acquired Spry Fox, a Seattle-based independent gaming studio focused on cozy games, the streaming giant announced on Monday in a blog post. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Spry Fox is now Netflix’s sixth in-house games studio. Amir Rahimi, the vice president of game studios at Netflix, said in the blog post that the acquisition will help Netflix accelerate its creative development in another popular genre. “Our games journey has only just begun, but I’m proud of the foundational work we’ve been doing to build out our in-house creative capacity so that we can deliver the best possible games experience — including no ads and no in-app purchases — to our members as part of their membership,” Rahimi said in the blog post. Spry Fox was founded in 2010 by David Edery and Daniel Cook. The games studio is known for popular titles like “Triple Town,” “Alphabear” and “Cozy Grove.” “When David and I founded Spry Fox twelve years ago, our goal was to create...

Axios : Sources: Elon Musk told Twitter engineers to work on a Vine reboot that may be ready by the end of 2022; Twitter acquired Vine in 2012 and shut it down in 2016   —  Elon Musk has instructed Twitter engineers to work on a Vine reboot that could be ready by year end, multiple sources tell Axios. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/wau9tE8

Ben Thompson / Stratechery : Debunking five myths that may be sinking Meta's stock, including claims of Facebook users deserting, Instagram engagement falling, and TikTok dominating   —  What happened to Meta last week — and my response to it — expressed in meme-form:  —  In 2018, the market was panicking … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/Z7CzSen

News that Elon Musk’s interim Twitter leadership is considering charging users for verification on its platform has caused no end of consternation among current holders of the service’s well-known blue check marks. Complaints have arisen about price (potentially too high) and value offered (potentially too low), among other concerns. It’s also fair to note that before the Musk deal was completed, Twitter had already begun to experiment with subscription-based services targeting its most active users. I am well aware of those efforts as a Twitter addict; I signed up for Twitter Blue and continue to pay for it. (Though it appears to be only a modest revenue driver to date.) The calculus of my support of Twitter, however, has changed. Before the Musk transaction, Twitter’s product cadence had picked up pace . Therefore, buying a cheap pass to beta features, which supported the company where I have long made my digital home, seemed reasonable. Sure, simping for a public company is abo...

There are signs of a small but growing Twitter exodus underway following Elon Musk’s closure of the deal to buy the social media platform last Thursday. While many Twitter users are taking a wait-and-see approach and may not have fully deleted their accounts at this time, a sizable number of people are currently checking out Twitter alternatives. One of those alternatives is Mastodon , a decentralized social network that gained over 70,000 new sign-ups on Friday, the day after the Musk Twitter takeover completed. And this weekend, the official Mastodon mobile app saw a record number of downloads as more people fleeing Twitter began to seek out a new online home. Mastodon , to be clear, is not a new platform. The free and open-source microblogging service debuted in March 2016 , offering a different approach to online social networking. Similar to Twitter, you can follow other users and create posts that can be liked and retweeted (or “tooted,” in Mastodon lingo), use hashtags, share ...

Benjamin Parkin / Financial Times : India's ban on Chinese video games has boosted its domestic industry but foreign publishers, wary of the heavy-handed approach, are afraid to invest   —  Heavy-handed approach drives domestic success, but executives worry foreign publishers now afraid to invest in country  —  It is the year 2500. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/132zIs5

Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue/Joe Raedle/Getty Images Jack Dorsey's decentralized social-media platform, Bluesky Social, is now accepting beta users. The news coincides with Musk's takeover of Twitter, which Dorsey founded and ran for several years. Dorsey left Twitter in 2021 and named Parag Agrawal, whom Musk quickly fired, as his successor. Just as Elon Musk was finalizing his purchase of Twitter , Jack Dorsey, the company's founder and former CEO, announced a beta for a new social-media company. Dorsey's blockchain-based Bluesky Social announced last Tuesday that it's launching soon and is currently enlisting users for beta testing. The initial news drew 30,000 sign-ups within two days, company representatives said . Users can still sign up to join the app to become a beta user before the platform is publicly available. Bluesky's website said it's intended to support "a new foundatio...

Rishi Sunak is the richest person to become British prime minister. Reuters UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is worth about $850 million according to the Sunday Times Rich List. With wealth that rivals King Charles III, the former finance minister is the richest UK leader ever. Sunak's fortune has left him open to criticism about being out of touch with working people. After the most turbulent period in British politics in recent memory, Rishi Sunak became the UK's new prime minister last week. The 42-year-old former chancellor (finance minister) has a net worth of £730 million ($847 million) according to the Sunday Times Rich List, and was ranked 222nd in May. Sunak is by far the richest person to enter No. 10 Downing Street, Reuters reported. He and wife Akshata Murthy's net worth even rivals that of royals such as King Charles. Queen Elizabeth II was estimated to be worth about $440 million before her death , according to the Sunday Times. But Sunak's enor...

Ann Matica/Insider Macy's is on track to launch more than 400 Toys 'R' Us locations in its US department stores.  The partnership is the revival the toy retailer has desperately needed since going bankrupt in 2017. The store was the perfect mix of nostalgic and up-to-date, and it made me want to be a kid again.  This holiday season, Macy's launched over 400 in-store Toys 'R' Us shops in select locations across the country in an effort to expand the toy portion of its business. AP Photo/David Zalubowski Source: Insider For Toys ‘R’ Us, the newly formed partnership is a second chance at a comeback. After failing to refinance its mounting debt in 2017, the company was forced to shutter its over 700 locations for good. Getty/Spencer Platt Source: Insider I decided to check out the revival store to see if the collaboration has what it takes for Toys 'R' Us to be able to reclaim its toy-store throne. Ann Matica/Insider To get the...