🤒 Coinbase's $1B crypto philanthropy ambitions left a trail of disappointment

Plus: Al Gore calls the World Bank chief a 'climate denier.', How TikTok Has Bent Its Rules For Its Top Creators, and more…

Sep 21, 2022

Today’s pick

How Coinbase's $1B crypto philanthropy ambitions left a trail of disappointment and workers in the lurch. “The nature of the project is likely quite different from what you normally do on Upwork,” Waltman's message read. “But, if it appeals to you, it could be very rewarding and may allow you to help people in your… (Leo Schwartz / Fortune)

Leo Schwartz @leomschwartz

My first investigation for @FortuneMagazine: In 2018, Coinbase set out to create a $1 billion philanthropy fund to spur crypto economies in places like Venezuela and the DRC. It fell well short, leaving a trail of disappointment and workers in the lurch:

fortune.comHow Coinbase’s $1B crypto philanthropy ambitions left a trail of disappointment and workers in the lurchIs crypto-based charity a force for good or for marketing ambitions?

Al Gore calls the World Bank chief a 'climate denier.' President Biden should work for the removal of the head of the World Bank, former Vice President Al Gore said on Tuesday, calling him a “climate denier” at an event coinciding with the United Nations General Assembly. (Manuela Andreoni / The New York Times)

The New York Times @nytimes

President Biden should work for the removal of the head of the World Bank, former Vice President Al Gore said on Tuesday, calling him a “climate denier” at an event coinciding with the UN General Assembly.

nyti.msAl Gore calls the World Bank chief a ‘climate denier.’The former vice president also said President Biden should seek to have the Trump-nominated bank leader, David Malpass, removed from his role.

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How TikTok Has Bent Its Rules For Its Top Creators. TikTok has employed a two-tiered moderation system that gives preferential treatment to influencers, celebrities and other VIPs, according to leaked audio recordings of internal TikTok meetings from fall 2021. This more lenient policy enforcement… (Emily Baker-White / Forbes)

Emily Baker-White @ebakerwhite

My latest is about how TikTok created a separate, “more lenient” content moderation system for creators with >5 million followers. The system sounds like a less-sophisticated version of Facebook’s infamous XCheck shielding process.

forbes.comHow TikTok Has Bent Its Rules For Its Top CreatorsContent from accounts with more than 5 million followers has been routed through a designated, “more lenient” content moderation system, according to audio of internal meetings from fall 2021.

The Dark Side of Frictionless Technology. A few weeks ago I wrote about the joy of calm technology ; specifically, the satisfaction that I've found trying to learn a new physical skill (for me, playing guitar). A whole lot of you wrote in with your own stories, and a few of you also shared… (Charlie Warzel / The Atlantic)

Charlie Warzel @cwarzel

The newsletter this week is me thinking out loud about a central tension in tech (but in lots of areas of life too) between people focused on building at all costs and maintainers, who see value in strengthening the things we’ve already built newsletters.theatlantic.com/galaxy-brain/6…

Google is finally making its to-do list and reminder tools work together. Google is working on a big update to Google Tasks, the company said today. It’s bringing a couple of new features to the app, making it easier to add tasks, and finally integrating its reminder system across… (David Pierce / The Verge)

Casey Newton @CaseyNewton

Google Reminders are now Google Tasks. To create Reminder, use Calendar. To create Task, use Gmail. Do NOT use Keep. Hope this helps. theverge.com/2022/9/20/2336…

This sounds good and pretty straightforward, right? Well, it is. And it should have been a long time ago. For years, Google’s reminder and task systems have been incomprehensibly divided; Google Reminders was different from Google Tasks, and a reminder in Calendar was different from a reminder in Keep, which was different from a reminder in Assistant. The only place to see all your to-dos in one place was the Google Calendar mobile app. It didn’t make any sense, and everybody knew it.

Even now, Google hasn’t fully solved its problem. Its announcement today doesn’t mention Keep, which likely means that app’s reminder system will still be separate. And the best version of this feature would extend across much more of Google’s ecosystem. It might notice when someone assigns something to you in Docs or Sheets, for instance, and add it to your to-do list.

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— Jose Montes de Oca

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