Tech Boys

For young people, 2021 was a year of Y2K fashion and vintage tech nostalgia. Gen Z did what young people do best: pick the most iconic accessories and trends of the past and bring them back into style. Forgotten fashion moments like yoga pants and claw clips came to the forefront of pop culture this year thanks to TikTok, a platform that allows cyclical style trends to proliferate and become mainstream again. With a little help from Emma Chamberlain, Olivia Rodrigo, and an unwavering nostalgia for simpler times, Gen Z brought back a slew of iconic tech and fashion accessories... much to the collective dismay of Millennials. Here are my favorite things Gen Z brought back: 1. Wired headphones A cheaper and cooler alternative to AirPods , wired headphones are the latest go-to tech accessory for style influencers. Although they largely became obsolete after AirPods came onto the scene in 2016, they had their comeback in 2021. Pioneered by "It" girls like Lily Rose Depp, Z...

Hurricane Ida is now Louisiana's joint most powerful storm ever. MARK FELIX/AFP via Getty Images 20.5% of US adults lived in households unable to pay all their utility bills in the last year, per the Census Bureau. Climate change is increasing price of raw materials. Additionally, energy companies have been accused of gouging prices during climate crises. It's getting harder for Americans to keep the lights on — literally.  According to the Census Bureau , 1 in 5 US adults lived in households that were unable to pay all their utility bills in the last year. That might be partly due to the increased cost of utilities over the course of the pandemic. Climate change and extreme weather bear much of the blame: these conditions raise the prices of raw materials, which raise the prices of heat, electricity, and even coffee. Additionally, energy companies have been accused of gouging prices during climate crises. As a result, thousands of Americans won't have power and ...

Sophie Alcorn Contributor Share on Twitter Sophie Alcorn is the founder of Alcorn Immigration Law in Silicon Valley and 2019 Global Law Experts Awards’ “Law Firm of the Year in California for Entrepreneur Immigration Services.” She connects people with the businesses and opportunities that expand their lives. More posts by this contributor Dear Sophie: What’s allowed between a K-1 visa and a green card? Dear Sophie: 2 questions about resuming consular appointments Here’s another edition of “Dear Sophie,” the advice column that answers immigration-related questions about working at technology companies. “Your questions are vital to the spread of knowledge that allows people all over the world to rise above borders and pursue their dreams,” says Sophie Alcorn , a Silicon Valley immigration attorney. “Whether you’re in people ops, a founder or seeking a job in Silicon Valley, I would love to answer your questions in my next column.” TechCrunch+ members receive acce...

To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3 p.m. PST, subscribe here . Hi all, and welcome back to Daily Crunch for December 28, 2021! I hope you’re all staying dry, warm and safe as we come to the end of another weird year. I haven’t heard from Alex how his vacation is going, which I’m hoping means he’s having a great time and playing way too much Crusader Kings III . Alex should be back next week. In the meantime, I’ll try to be half as good at wrapping up the top stories from the past day or so. — Greg The TechCrunch Top 3 WTF is .xyz?: Have you noticed the sudden uptick in “.xyz” domains in the wild? Wondering why? Anita Ramaswamy has a great overview of .xyz’s history, its growing role in the web3 world and how Google/Alphabet might’ve sparked the trend. Black Girls Code CEO suspended: What’s going on at Black Girls Code? Why was the non-profit org’s CEO and co-founder, Kimberly Bryant, suddenly suspended? ...

Waymo, Alphabet’s autonomous driving technology arm, is partnering with Chinese automaker Geely to build an all-electric, self-driving ride-hailing vehicle. The companies will integrate Waymo Driver, Waymo’s AV system, into Geely’s Zeekr vehicles for use in U.S. markets “in the years to come.” While Waymo is not providing a specific time frame for either the start of production or when these vehicles are expected to hit the streets, the partnership signals that Waymo is pursuing a multi-platform approach to OEM partnerships. Waymo’s current ride-hail fleet is made up of Jaguar I-Paces and Chrysler Pacifica hybrids, which provide autonomous rides in Phoenix, Arizona . The company has also expanded its partnership with Stellantis, which owns Fiat Chrysler automobiles, to include local delivery services. Waymo’s plans with Geely should not have an effect on the company’s existing partnerships, according to a Waymo spokesperson. Zeekr, a luxury EV brand that Geely established in March ,...

Apple's website allows you to delete or deactivate your Apple ID. Westend61/Getty Images You can delete your Apple ID from Apple's Data & Privacy website. Deleting your Apple ID will also delete any content stored in your iCloud account and revoke your access to Apple services.  You may instead choose to deactivate your account and then reactivate it at any time to restore access to your Apple ID and Apple services.  Visit Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories . While an Apple ID is essential for using an iOS device, if you are leaving the Apple device ecosystem, you might want to delete your account to clean up your digital footprint. Whatever reason you might have to want to deactivate your account, though, Apple makes it easy to do this on its Data & Privacy website.  How to delete an Apple ID account If you anticipate having no need for your Apple ID ever again and want to permanently deactivate it, you can use Apple's Data & Pri...

The last few days have been fairly quiet, so far as CES is concerned — no doubt owing to the holiday. The last major dropout came from Microsoft , which confirmed on Christmas Eve it would no longer be traveling to Las Vegas for the event. That news followed similar announcements from GM, Google, Lenovo, Intel, T-Mobile, AT&T, Meta, Twitter, Amazon, TikTok and Pinterest. A number of big names are still confirmed for next week’s show, including Samsung, LG, BMW, Qualcomm and Sony. As of December 23, the CTA noted that “over 2,200” companies were still planning to attend the show. I will say that, anecdotally, I’ve heard from a number of startups who have opted not to attend, and also plenty who are still planning to be at the show in-person. Today, some key companies have added their names to the list of the former, including AMD, MSI, OnePlus and Proctor & Gamble. A spokesperson for AMD confirmed the company’s decision in a statement to TechCrunch: After careful deliberati...

The desire to make or at least market an electric vehicle as a performance vehicle is strong. The benefit of EV torque makes anything with some wheels and a little bit of power an off-the-line joy. But sometimes the performance vehicle in a lineup is best used at lower speeds. For example, the Arcimoto Roadster. The companion vehicle to the Arcimoto FUV, the Roadster is the more performance-oriented vehicle from the automotive startup. Instead of a car sitting position, you ride it like a motorcycle. In our tests we realized, that likes its roofed sibling, the Roadster is more fun around town taking care of errands and turning heads. from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/3JlDixc via IFTTT

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Drew Angerer/Getty Images Mark Zuckerberg added 110 more acres to his estate on the Hawaiian island of Kauaʻi.  The purchase includes a reservoir that sparked a deadly flood in 2016. Zuckerberg's presence in Hawaiʻi has been controversial since he put down roots in 2014. Mark Zuckerberg has added to his massive Hawaiʻi compound once again.  The tech billionaire and CEO of Facebook parent company Meta purchased 110 more acres of land on the island of Kauaʻi, the Honolulu Star Advertiser's Andrew Gomes first reported . With this latest addition, Zuckerberg's estate, which he nicknamed Ko'olau Ranch, has grown to nearly 1,500 acres on Kauaʻi's North Shore.  According to the Star Advertiser, the purchase cost Zuckerberg $17 million and includes a century-old reservoir that sparked a deadly flood in 2006, killing seven people. The reservoir still has not been repaired and is considered high risk, but Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla...

A Blockbuster store. Popmotion Pictures BlockbusterDAO is a group of investors who want to purchase and relaunch the movie-rental company.  The group outlined its aim to raise at least $5 million through NFTs to buy the brand from Dish Network.  The organization envisions Blockbuster running as a decentralized film-streaming service. Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell . A group of investors wants to unleash Blockbuster's potential in the next iteration of the internet by purchasing and rebooting the movie-rental company as a decentralized streaming service. The investors, via a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), are aiming to raise at least $5 million to purchase the "nostalgic" and "historic" company. Such a move would follow last month's high-profile attempt by another DAO to purchase an original copy of the US Constitution .  "It's time to liberate the brand from purgatory and give it a ...