Russian Buildup Near Ukraine Features Potent Weapons Systems, Well-Trained Troops

Plus: Coinbase's Super Bowl ad crashed their app, Here's What the Pandemic Has in Store for the World Next, and more ...

Good Morning and Happy Valentine’s Day. Here is what’s on today’s edition:

• Russian Buildup Near Ukraine Features Potent Weapons Systems, Well-Trained Troops. (Michael R. Gordon via Wall Street Journal)

• Coinbase's bouncing QR code Super Bowl ad was so popular it crashed the app. (Chaim Gartenberg via The Verge)

• Here's What the Pandemic Has in Store for the World Next. (Michelle Fay Cortez via Bloomberg)

• British authorities just seized NFTs for the first time, in a £1.4 million fraud probe. (Ryan Browne via CNBC)

• India to ban over 50 more China-linked apps. (Manish Singh via TechCrunch)

• The 5 best Super Bowl ads of 2022 (and the worst one). (Jeff Beer via Fast Company)

• Why False Information Stays Stuck in Our Brains. (Charlie Warzel via The Atlantic)

That’s it for today, see you tomorrow!

— Jose Montes de Oca

P.S. Was this forwarded to you? Sign up here.

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Today’s pick

Russian Buildup Near Ukraine Features Potent Weapons Systems, Well-Trained Troops

(Michael R. Gordon via Wall Street Journal). The forces give Moscow the means to attack Ukraine from multiple directions but aren’t sufficient to occupy the entire country. Read more.

Amy Mackinnon @ak_mack

Graphic by the @WSJ shows just how far some of the Russian forces massed at Ukraine's border have travelled wsj.com/articles/russi…

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Coinbase's bouncing QR code Super Bowl ad was so popular it crashed the app

(Chaim Gartenberg via The Verge) Coinbase just made its Super Bowl debut with a remarkable clever QR code ad that might have been too popular: the company's “Less talk, more Bitcoin,” campaign appears to have temporarily knocked out its app following the ad airing during the broadcast. Read more.

Coinbase @coinbase

ICYMI 👀 Now that we have your attention we'd like to announce that we're giving away $15 in BTC to anyone who joins Coinbase by 2/15. Click below for more info and RT to tell your friends! Sign up and see terms here → drops.coinbase.com

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Here's What the Pandemic Has in Store for the World Next

(Michelle Fay Cortez via Bloomberg) We’ll be grappling with Covid-related fallout as long as the specter of new variants looms. Read more.

Bloomberg @business

When will Covid end? As the world limps through the third year of the pandemic, experts are sending out a clear message. For the rest of 2022, keep your guard up — and expect more variants. Read in full ⬇️

bloom.bgBloomberg - Are you a robot?

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British authorities just seized NFTs for the first time, in a £1.4 million fraud probe

(Ryan Browne via CNBC). Officials at Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs seized three non-fungible tokens as part of a probe into suspected tax fraud. Read more.

Ryan Browne @Ryan_Browne_

British authorities just seized NFTs for the first time, in a £1.4 million fraud probe

cnb.cxBritish authorities just seized NFTs for the first time, in a £1.4 million fraud probeOfficials at Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs seized three non-fungible tokens as part of a probe into suspected tax fraud.

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India to ban over 50 more China-linked apps

(Manish Singh via TechCrunch) India plans to ban an additional 50 apps — including Tencent's Xriver and NetEase's Onmyoji Arena — with links to China, the latest in a series of similar moves over the past one and half years, on ground of national security. Read more.

Manish Singh @refsrc

Garena Free Fire: Illuminate, which is among the 54 apps that India is banning, has over 40M of its global ~70M monthly active users in India. The local team is surprised by the move, was exploring deals with tournament organizations in recent weeks.

techcrunch.comIndia bans over 50 more Chinese apps including Garena Free Fire – TechCrunchIndia has banned Tencent-backed Garena Free Fire and NetEase’s Onmyoji Arena and over 50 more apps with links to China on national security grounds.

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The 5 best Super Bowl ads of 2022 (and the worst one)

(Jeff Beer via Fast Company). The best ads used their celebrity spokespeople to promote their brand, not distract from it. Read more.

Stephanie N. Mehta @stephaniemehta

Confession: I tuned out a bunch of Super Bowl ads because I was multitasking. Luckily @jeffcbeer of @FastCompany is on the case to let me know what I missed: https://t.co/y9ONd2RB4T

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Why False Information Stays Stuck in Our Brains

(Charlie Warzel via The Atlantic). And why we need to focus on how people think. Read more.

Adrienne LaFrance @AdrienneLaF

"Details or facts that make you feel safe or in control might be naturally sticky. Information that is repeated frequently is more likely to be internalized as true, even if, deep down, you know it isn’t." @cwarzel's latest:

newsletters.theatlantic.comWhy False Information Stays Stuck in Our BrainsAnd why we need to focus on how people think.

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Thanks for reading to the bottom and soaking in our Newslit fuelled highlights for your morning.

I hope you found it interesting and, needless to say, if you have any questions or feedback let me know by hitting reply or on Twitter.

Take care,

Jose