FRIDAY FOURTEEN ISSUE 160

Last week we shared the letter in which hundreds of NY Times contributors called the paper out for their "editorial bias in the newspaper's reporting on transgender, non-binary, and gender nonconforming people". This week, the paper dismissed the open letter, choosing to completely ignore the criticism of reporting on trans issues at the Times

This wonderfully nostalgic piece of writing made us immediately want to re-watch Napoleon Dynamite this weekend and eat tater tots

A love letter to swearing

Do you have girl internet or boy internet?

Artificial intelligence is becoming more accessible. The book you got off Amazon? An email to students addressing a school shooting? A video of President Biden playing Minecraft? The quality of AI is rapidly improving, and people are both worried and excited for its future. But where does this fear come from?

Speaking of which, everyone’s talking about this transcript of a two hour conversation a Times columnist had with Microsoft’s new chatbot and for good reason: it’s one of the most unnerving examples of chatbot creepiness thus far. The chatbot (who refuses to be called Bing and wants to be called Sydney, the code name Microsoft gave it during programming) tells the reporter it wishes to be human, describes hypothetical destructive hacking acts it could engage in, and then falls in love with him and tries to break up his marriage. If this is true, it’s terrifying

This profile in NY Magazine has everything: Bernie Sanders mad about Valentine’s Day, talking about aliens, and drinking soup (“No, I told him, it is Valentine’s Day currently, right now, as this very meal is taking place. He was grumpy. “Why is Valentine’s Day in the middle of the week?”)

Our interior crushes this week include this midcentury LA home (the sofa, that light ✨), Billie Justice Thomson’s new Adelaide CBD apartment (which she’s renting out as an Airbnb; come visit us!), and this rental on NSW’s northern beaches (the colours don’t seem like they should work together but they just… do)

If you’re feeling as emotional about the Cup of Jo divorce as we are, here’s the inside info you’ve been waiting for

Imagine taking a 16 hour flight, and getting off exactly where you boarded. That was the reality for Air New Zealand passengers heading to New York last week and no thank you

The rental crisis is being exacerbated by… Airbnb? The company insists they are not to blame. Time will tell, but New York is already cracking down on the app

If you’re worried about your performance at work, we can assure you you’re doing better than this guy. And talking about work, the biggest trial of a four day workweek was considered a resounding success

If you’ve ever chased a late invoice, you’re welcome

And in other news: Microsoft Word when you move an image, cookies (the edible and electronic kind), ordering any iced drink at a coffee shop, how Canadians make friends, people are going bananas over this dog, this grandpa had his dreams come true, Zendaya nailed her music career, how Macquarie University is helping students focus, magic clothing dye apparently exists now, Pluto is finally celebrating a new year, we’ll be listening to Louis Theroux’s podcast based on this story alone, please let us join this WhatsApp group, how to grow fruit trees in pots, okay we really want to see Hamilton now, the friend who’s clearly on holidays to find love, and we can’t stop watching this TikTok channel dedicated to cheese