Good morning, this is The Smoke Eater for Wednesday, March 25, 2020, and get ready for the future.
Quick Hit
* A reason not to hate Facebook or Amazon * The corona-crash * Netflix-and-chill the fuck out * You're not alone, we're all going crazy * Mooning POTUS * Wash your sex toys with soap and water *
NOTE: Apologies for skipping out yesterday. Without going into details, I'm just going to blame my neighborhood's inability to comprehend social distancing. The Smoker Eater is still mobile friendly, ad-free and supported by super awesome readers. If you want to be super awesome, tip me on Ko-Fi, or subscribe to my Patreon!
Making The World A Better Place (For Once)
The sudden shift to remote working caught Silicon Valley off guard. Alison Druke writes in Vanity Fair that the strain on telecommunications has left Big Tech struggling just to keep their heads above the water. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg tells The New York Times' Mike Issac and Sheera Frenkel that they're "just trying to keep the lights on" as a users all over the world flock to the social network and its messaging apps to communicate with friends, family, and co-workers. In a blog post, some of Facebook's brass say they've seen messaging increase by more than 50 percent in the last month in some of the countries hit hardest by the coronavirus. The brass says this hasn't translated to any increase in revenue, but it has created an array of problems as employees work from home and contracted content moderators remain on paid leave.
An Amazon spox tells The Washington Post that the sudden rush of panic buying created a logistical nightmare akin to Cyber Monday -- an event the company spends months planning for. Over the last few years Amazon has made a point of getting items to some customers as fast as possible; it has now altered its delivery practices to prioritize essential items, like medical supplies, for all customers regardless of their membership status.
Read A Book
With people all over the planet staying inside, streaming video services are lowering their quality to keep stay online. Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Youtube, and Disney have taken efforts to reduce the strain on networks after officials in India, Israel, and the E.U. began taking various steps to prevent clogging the series of tubes.
Last week Davey Alba and Cecilia Kang wrote "one of the biggest mass behavior changes" has pushed the existing internet infrastructure to untested limits. Schools and businesses use more bandwidth, and thus have a bigger series of tubes than all the new home offices. Some telecom companies have offered a pittance to customers in the form of temporary increased internet speeds and a relaxing of data caps (this despite spending the better part of the last decade killing municipal broadband projects that could have mitigated these very connectivity problems). Thankfully, peak usage times are not universal across planet, so data crunch is spread out just enough.
Caroline Delbert writes in Popular Mechanics that the internet is unlikely to "crash" due to the way the internet works, and the existing architecture. Throttling is occurring so that businesses and schools can continue to function, and people in rural areas -- whom often have the little to no home internet access -- can get online. "The overall idea of bandwidth isn’t threatened by an increase in users," Delbert explains, "it's a reduction in places people usually use internet, pushing them to instead rely on phones."
In a related story, Nati Tucker writes in Haaretz that Israel's networks can handle the sudden demand in telework now, but an analysis of Israel's outdated telecom systems suggests its aging infrastructure could collapse under the demands of a future stay-at-home order. In a tragic twist of fate, Israel had the opportunity to install new fiber cable, but the corruption case against Israeli Prime Minister Benjmain Netanyahu, and the ongoing election turmoil, have ultimately slowed those efforts.
Slut Shaming For The Greater Good
The administration's business-first FCC has tried to shame telecom companies into helping needy customers with a pledge not to disconnect customers if they find themselves unable to pay their bill for the next two months. Last week FCC commissioner Jessice Rosenworcel opined the agency should use its authority under the Telecommunications Act to provide WiFi hotspots and equipment for underprivileged students based on a sliding scale, prioritizing schools with high numbers of students utilizing free and reduced lunch programs. [The Verge podcast]
BONUS: Broadband Breakfast reports that at recent panel with FCC commissioners Michael O'Rielly and Mignon Clyburn at the annual Free State Foundation's Telecom Policy Conference, the two commissioners traded barbs over the role of the FCC. Republican commissioner O'Reilly called net neutrality advocates' policy goals, like regulations on broadband industry practices like throttling, "lunacy."
ICYMI
A new Axios-Ipsos poll conducted over the weekend shows 90 percent of Americans are now concerned about the coronavirus, as well as a dramatic increase in the number of people concerned about their mental and emotional health. Additionally, the partisan gulf over the virus between Democrats and Republicans has narrowed significantly, with 84 percent of Republicans now concerned. Finally, one in four people say their ability to access healthcare is now worse.
Nerd prom has been canceled. The White House Correspondents' Association scuttled its annual dinner over fears related to the novel coronavirus. This year's event was set to be a return to form, featuring comedians Kenan Thompson and Hasan Minaj. Last year the WHCA caved to caved to butthurt from those in the administration who couldn't take a joke two years ago, and featured historian Ron Chernow as a host.
The administration is still fighting in court to bar journalists from the White House. A recently appointed DOJ attorney argues the White House had broad authority to suspend the press credentials of journalists, suggesting that requiring clearly defined rules for reporters could effectively give a reporter "one free shot" to be disruptive without being punished, including, according to Politico, sexually harassing White House staff or mooning the president. The case stems from an altercation last year between former White House advisor Sebastian Gorka, and Playboy correspondent, Brian Karem. A lawyer for Karem argues that, historically, the White House contacts a journalist's editor before taking the dramatic step of pulling what's known as a hard pass.
One More Thing...
Now for something warm and fuzzy: IT'S KEY!
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