The Profile: The fentanyl king & the people left inside the metaverse
The Profile: The fentanyl king & the people left inside the metaverseThis edition of The Profile features Usher, Gianni Infantino, Arvind Narayanan, and more.Good morning friends, The Profile’s first (and only!) staff writer Simran Bhatia interviewed Martin Webb, the filmmaker and director behind ‘Formula 1: Drive to Survive’ and Break Point. The whole interview is excellent, but there is one answer that sent shivers down my spine: And that’s because I spend a lot of time thinking about the human experience. What is that one thing we all experience — regardless of our age, our religion, our geographic location, or our past experiences — that makes us authentically human? Here’s what ‘Humans of New York’ creator Brandon Stanton said about interviewing strangers all over the globe:
War photojournalist Lynsey Addario said that the biggest lesson she’s learned about the human experience is that no matter what is going on in the world, life goes on. Even in the midst of war, Addario shows scenes of people celebrating birthdays, weddings, and graduations. “It’s human nature to try to have fun, to laugh, to have some normalcy despite the disruptiveness and the devastation that war brings,” she says. “People try to find some semblance of routine, peace, and happiness. I see those moments over and over in war, and it’s always surprising to me, but it always gives me this reassurance. At the end of the day, we are all so similar.” What Martin Webb, Brandon Stanton, and Lynsey Addario have in common is that they are all professional observers. They notice (and document) the tiny mundane details that make us human, something we can all strive to do on a daily basis. — PROFILES.— The fentanyl king [**HIGHLY RECOMMEND**] PEOPLE TO KNOW.The fentanyl king: When the United States invaded Iraq, Alaa Allawi was a 13-year-old living in a suburb of Baghdad. On his 18th birthday, he applied to become an interpreter for the US Army. He got the job. In 2012, Allawi emigrated to Texas as part of a special visa program offered to US Army interpreters to start a new life. With a promising tech career ahead of him, how on earth did he end up becoming one of the biggest drug dealers on the dark web? What a profile. (WIRED; reply to this email if you can’t access the article) “There is American saying. If you hang around the barber-shop too long, you will end up with haircut.” The people left inside the metaverse: Bodies stop at the waist in Horizon Worlds, which is Meta’s home base in the metaverse. In Mark Zuckerberg’s vision, the metaverse will be nothing less than the internet’s next iteration, one for which he will control both the hardware and the software. Zuckerberg doesn’t just want a lock on online experience; he’s planning to move all of experience online. So far, the gamble hasn’t paid off. Only 20 million Quest headsets have been sold — nowhere close to his goal of a billion users. So who are the metaverse’s true believers, those left behind when the rest of fickle reality has moved on? (New York Magazine) “The greatest poverty is not to live in a physical world.” The researcher who would teach machines to be fair: Computer scientist Arvind Narayanan and his team at Princeton has uncovered surreptitious ways that websites track users and extract sensitive data. His team found out that a group like the National Security Agency could use web browsing data (specifically, cookies placed by third parties) not only to discover the user’s real-world identity, but also to reconstruct 62% to 73% of their browsing history. In this Q&A, he discusses his work on de-anonymization, the importance of statistical intuition, and the many pitfalls of AI systems. The interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. (Quanta) “Decision-makers, government agencies, companies and other people who are buying these AI tools might not recognize the serious limits to predictive accuracy.” The most popular (and hated) president in the world: Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, woke up one morning last November, feeling like an entirely new man. “Today I feel Qatari,” he announced at a press conference in Doha. “Today I feel Arab. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel [like] a migrant worker.” His remarks drew swift condemnation. Activists called his comments “crass” and dismissive—an “insult” to the lives of workers. In spite of this, nothing happened. None of FIFA’s 211 member federations called for Infantino to step down, and no one dared suggest that FIFA could do better. Here’s why he is the personification of soccer’s gilded age. (Mother Jones) “This will be the World Cup that really underpins just how dirty the game is.” The new king of Vegas: Usher was one of the defining artists of the ’90s and 2000s (fun fact: he went to my high school!), but in the 2010s his output mellowed, and he seemed to disappear from the spotlight. He had gotten stuck in a creative rut. And then he discovered Las Vegas. Take a look inside Usher’s Vegas revival. (GQ) “Las Vegas is very important because it actually speaks to my career, to be in a place where I can dream, where I can incubate ideas.” The men paying to have their jaws broken: What will humans not to do in the name of beauty? Well, the latest trend is jaw-dropping (pun intended). A growing number of men are paying crazy sums of money to have their jaws broken and reshaped in the hope to get the “superhero jawline” and attract more romantic prospects. What a world we live in. (GQ) “We often see patients who expect too much out of surgery. I cannot change your personality.” ✨ The rest of this newsletter is only available for premium members of The Profile. Their support makes this work possible. If you’re not already a premium member, consider upgrading your subscription below for access to an additional section of weekly audio + video recommendations. ✨... Keep reading with a 7-day free trialSubscribe to The Profile to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives. A subscription gets you:
|
Key phrases
Older messages
Exclusive: ‘Formula 1: Drive to Survive’ Director Martin Webb on His Creative Process, Interview Techniques, and t…
Wednesday, March 22, 2023
In his first in-depth interview, the filmmaker explains how he captures life's illuminating moments.
The Profile: The novelist whose inventions went too far & the TikTok therapists
Sunday, March 19, 2023
This week's edition of The Profile features Lisa Marie Presley, HG Carrillo, Katey Stone, and more.
The Profile Dossier: Robert Caro, the Biographer of the World’s Most Powerful People
Thursday, March 16, 2023
“Power doesn't always corrupt. Power can cleanse. What I believe is always true about power is that power always reveals.”
The Profile: The rapper mixed up in a global financial scandal & Putin’s secret weapon
Sunday, March 12, 2023
This edition of The Profile features Pras Michél, Emma Chamberlain, and more.
The Profile Dossier Classic: Leymah Gbowee, The Peace Activist Who Ended a 14-Year Civil War
Wednesday, March 8, 2023
"You can never leave footprints that last if you're always walking on your tiptoes."
You Might Also Like
Play and Earn with Dimension X; Elixir Games Season Pass; The Machines Arena Open Beta; Worldshards dropping NFTs during early access; Life Beyond preview and more in Play to Earn Newsletter #225
Saturday, May 4, 2024
May 04, 2024 Pixels remains on top; My Neighbor Alice Beta; new Unity build for Voxie Tactics; Wanderers Closed Beta; Paradise Tycoon mint; Dimension X Arenas, and more in Play to Earn Newsletter #226
The Three SaaS Metrics That Matter in 2024
Saturday, May 4, 2024
The three most under-discussed metrics To view this email as a web page, click here saastr daily newsletter The Three SaaS Metrics That Matter in 2024 with SaaStr Founder and CEO Jason Lemkin By Amelia
Does experience matter?
Saturday, May 4, 2024
Also: Forecasting private capital's path to $20 trillion in AUM; Recapping market performance in April; Can payments re-energize enterprise fintech? Read online | Don't want to receive these
'You Have To Bring Solutions, Ideas and Be Prepared'
Saturday, May 4, 2024
We spoke to Alabama Assistant Basketball Coach Ryan Pannone about lessons from coaching across the globe and keys to advancing a career.
The curious case of Google Trends in India
Saturday, May 4, 2024
For nine of the last ten years, the most searches were for why Apple products and Evian water are so expensive ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
3,500 sign ups in 24 hours
Saturday, May 4, 2024
Today's hack Do you piggyback on Slack communities? ;) Noam Schwartz gained 3500 sign ups in 24 hours. Recently I received an email from Noam Schwartz - a member of our gorgeous community: I did an
Your Personal Trainer for Making Sales
Saturday, May 4, 2024
If you want the best results, you're going to need the best trainer... View in browser ClickBank When you're at the gym, you can do one of three things: Use the machines randomly Follow a
Zhipu AI: The Rise of an AI Tiger Reaching for AGI
Saturday, May 4, 2024
The only overview of Zhipu AI's technology, open-source efforts, partnerships, and future goals in English
So long, Henry.
Friday, May 3, 2024
A combined issue flush with key insights and original thoughts in two new, data-driven reports. View this email in your browser So long, Henry. (No. 994). The economy is squeezing consumers to the
He survived all recent Google updates
Friday, May 3, 2024
Advice from Birdzilla's founder