The Daily Valet. - 11/12/21, Friday

✔️ Nightmare Before Christmas

November 12, 2021

Friday, November 12th Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

TGIF, right?

Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

Today’s edition is presented by

Today’s Big Story

Nightmare Before Christmas?

Gaming companies big and small are going to be feeling the sting of the global chip shortage well into next year

The global chip shortage has had a massive effect on the entire technology industry for more than a year, but a wave of gaming hardware news over the past week and change has shown that things aren’t going to get better anytime soon.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the problem is worsening—with wait times lengthening, buyers hoarding products and the potential end looking less likely to materialize by next year. Demand didn’t moderate as expected. Supply routes got clogged. Unpredictable production hiccups slammed factories already running at full capacity.

Apple warned Thursday that supply-chain disruptions are hindering iPhone and other product manufacturing ahead of the holiday-shopping quarter, even as the company reported a record 12-month profit.

The Verge reports that gaming companies big and small are going to be feeling the sting well into next year, and it’s not just Sony and Microsoft’s next-gen consoles that could be hard to get a hold of.

Sony reportedly expects to make fewer PS5s, according to Bloomberg. Valve’s Steam Deck handheld gaming PC was delayed two months from a December to a February launch on Thursday as well. And if you don’t already have one of the Switch-compatible N64 controllers, you’re out of luck until next year.

Regardless of when this is presumed to end, inflation and low supply will persist for some time. As much as we want the new generation of consoles, Hackernoon points out that it’s probably best to wait until the market balances out again so that all consumers can comfortably own one in their homes and not have their packages stolen.

↦ FYI: According to video game market researcher NPD Group, record-breaking video games spending reached $13.3 billion in the third quarter of 2021 alone.

White House Pushes Boosters for All

But support is not universal; CDC director ‘wants to see the data’

With a surge of coronavirus infections enveloping Europe and cases ticking up in several parts of the United States, senior health officials in the Biden administration are pressing urgently to offer vaccine booster shots to all adults.

However, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky has expressed caution about making extra shots so broadly available now, according to several officials familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. As a result, tension is rising among officials over how quickly to proceed and who should get the shots.

The debate comes at a critical time for the country, with medical experts growing increasingly fearful the country could slide backward into a fifth pandemic wave amid colder weather and declining vaccine protection.

Meanwhile, while FDA rules allow booster shots for those 18 and over who are at high risk of exposure to the virus, states like Colorado and California are opening up boosters to all.

Partner

Surprise your partner with something unexpected. Give a gift that will heat up an otherwise chilly season.

Restomods Are the Future

Hyundai reached into its past to turn a boxy sedan into a handsome EV

You may recall earlier this year when Hyundai introduced an EV restomod of its Pony hatchback—the brand's first mass-produced car as well as its first exported vehicle out of South Korea. The second concept in the Heritage Series was just unveiled: The Grandeur EV, a reimaged version of the luxury sedan from 1986.

The Grandeur was Hyundai's original flagship, though we know it better today as the Azera, which left the U.S. in 2017 (around the time Genesis became a thing).

While the Grandeur failed to distinguish itself from its competitors back in its day, its rebirth in Hyundai's showroom in 2021 shows us how timeless the clean lines of the 1980s feel today—a style that Hyundai calls “retro-futurism.” Seriously, this car is being talked about by everyone from gear heads and car nerds to the men's fashion crowd.

This specific Grandeur restomod is an EV conversion, which is very cool, but the detail put into keeping the 1986 shape of the original—to celebrate its 35th anniversary—is even cooler. According to The Drive, Hyundai has replaced the Grandeur's original '80s headlights with pixel-style LEDs and gone even further at the rear, with jutting LED rectangles, similar to the divine Prophecy concept. Of course, it's got chrome wheels, and the car generally looks sleek, simple and mean as hell.

↦ Dig Deeper: Car and Driver has a closer look at both the exterior and interior of the Grandeur.

Finally Time to #FreeBritney?

Here’s how she could get her life back today

After more than 13 years, a new beginning is on the horizon for pop star Britney Spears, who has been living under a restrictive conservatorship since 2008.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny is expected to rule on Spears' request to terminate her conservatorship at a court hearing Friday. Outside the courthouse, hundreds of her supporters are expected to hold a #FreeBritney rally.

The primary issue on the table today will be the termination of the conservatorship, reports Variety. Whether and when the judge determines to terminate is unclear, though legal experts say that momentum seems to be moving toward the pop star's path to independence. Spears' freedom, it seems, could be imminent.

“I think the conservatorship of the person will end at this hearing,” Tamar Arminak, an expert probate lawyer with extensive experience in conservatorships, told Vulture. If that happens, “the muzzle will be gone,” said Arminak. “I imagine we're going to hear from her a lot more frequently.”

In Other News

↦ Appeals Court Delays Release of Trump Records to the House While Fast-Tracking Arguments

↦ First Blizzard Warnings of the Season Issued As Powerful Storm Crosses the Country

↦ How ‘Succession’ Makes Wealth Look Miserable

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

The new Uniqlo +J collection

Salt and pepper hair

The Row’s new fragrances

Your Weekend Pairing

Passing + a Bee’s Knees Cocktail

If you had the chance to make your life easier, would you take it? The answer, usually, would be an unequivocal “yes.” But such trade-offs are never free, are they? That's the central theme in Passing: both the 1929 book by Nella Larsen, and the new movie streaming on Netflix. It tells the story of two Black women who pass for white, navigating the uneasy color line of 1920s New York.

So far, it's getting rave reviews and holds a 90% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes. Salon calls the film “a masterpiece of subtle expression, rendered in black and white.” Literally. The film is shot in black and white: a smart choice, because the shifting tones make everything more, not less ambiguous. Here in 2021, your eye might not perceive the two as white women at all, but that's part of the point. NPR points out that who passes is as much in the eye and mind of the beholder as in the intent of the one passing.

↦ Your Pairing:What better to sip with a movie set in the '20s than a prohibition era cocktail like the Bee's Knees? This refreshing gin sour was extremely popular during that time and apparently used lemon and honey to mask the harsh smell of bathtub gin.

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