The Daily Valet. - 5/1/23, Monday
✔️ A Serious Milestone
Monday, May 1st Edition
By Cory Ohlendorf, Valet. Editor
It's May Day ... and here I am, without my maypole.
Today’s Big Story
The Internet Turns 30
A look back at the one decision that altered the course of our connected world
Over the weekend, the public version of the web celebrated a milestone birthday. On April 30, 1993, 37-year-old British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee made a decision that would quite literally change the world as we know it: He gave free access to a new software protocol he had recently invented.Thirty years ago, the World Wide Web—which Berners-Lee had created four years earlier—became public domain. According to History.com, the browser, originally called Mesh, became the first royalty-free, easy-to-use means of perusing the emerging information network that developed into the internet as we know it today. And in less than two years, more than 24 million people in the U.S. and Canada were spending an average of five hours per week on the internet.“Almost everything which you needed to know in your daily life was written down somewhere,” Berners-Lee told NPR in 1996. “And at the time, in the 1980s, it was almost certainly written down on a computer somewhere. It was very frustrating that people's effort in typing it in was not being used when, in fact, if it could only be tied together and made accessible, everything would be so much easier for everybody.” But his decision to make the web public domain was pretty much a non-event. “I don't remember people going, ‘Wow. You're gonna remember where you were on that day.’”Abbreviations that we often see but may not think about, such as HTML and HTTP, stem from his original project. The “H” in both stands for hypertext, essentially a format for linking pieces of information or media. Freeing the programming language and protocol of the web meant anyone could start a server or website and access it from any connected computer.Of course, the evolution sparked by the web “fundamentally remade the global economy, society and politics,” said Robert Siegel, a management lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. It unleashed a new wave of entrepreneurship that gave birth to companies that dominate the globe today. But where is it headed? “The short answer about the 30th anniversary of the Web is it's too soon to tell what this means,” Paul Saffo, a Stanford professor and well-known Silicon Valley forecaster, told The Examiner. “Because this revolution is still gaining steam.”
You've Got Mail:
A former AOL executive confirms that at one point in the ’90s, 50% of all CDs produced worldwide had an AOL logo on them.
First Republic Bank Seized and Sold
It’s the Second-Largest U.S. Bank Failure
As part of a deal announced early Monday after officials scrambled over the weekend, regulators have seized control of First Republic Bank and sold it to JPMorgan Chase. As the New York Times reports, it's a dramatic move aimed at curbing a two-month banking crisis that has rattled the financial system.JPMorgan will assume all of First Republic's $103.9 billion in deposits and buy most of its $229.1 billion in assets, the FDIC said earlier this morning. According to the Wall Street Journal, the FDIC will share losses with the bank as part of the agreement. The agency estimated that its insurance fund would take a hit of $13 billion in the deal.First Republic failed despite having received a $30 billion lifeline from 11 of the country's largest banks in March. It will go down in history as the second largest U.S. bank by assets to collapse after Washington Mutual, which failed during the financial crisis of 2008. It also means that 84 First Republic branches in eight states will reopen as JPMorgan branches.
FYI:
Three of the four largest-ever U.S. bank failures have occurred in the past two months.
In 1923, the Supreme Court had issued 157 rulings by May 1. On the same date a century later, the current justices have disposed of just 15 cases, fueling speculation about why they are falling behind.”
- NBC News on why this Supreme Court is slow
Inside Uber’s Lost and Found
Do we even want to know what people leave in the back of these cars?
Pass the aux cord because Uber just released its annual list of items forgotten by passengers in cars and it includes some truly bizarre items. We're talking about everything from a house-arrest ankle monitor and a unicycle to a slushy machine.The ride-share company published its 2023 Lost & Found Index just as Mercury makes its way back into retrograde—a time of the year astrologists say influences forgetfulness, according to Uber. The index is based on missing item reports filed by passengers. Of course, the 10 most forgotten items come as no surprise and include the requisite phones, wallets, keys and headphones.Several living things were also reported lost, including multiple dogs, turtles, hamsters and at least one rat. But don't worry ... all were safely reunited with their owners. Also notable was over 40 sets of dentures and false teeth were found, however the company said it actually saw a decrease in lost diamond-encrusted grills, which according to Insider, were reported lost 20 times on the 2022 list.
FYI:
In 2022, Uber had 131 million monthly active users and 5.4 million Uber drivers.
The Future of Museums?
studio gang sculpted the American Museum of Natural History’s new wing like an eroded canyon
From the outside, the American Museum of Natural History's latest addition, the Gilder Center, is a white-pink granite cliff with yawning windows shaped a little like the openings to caves. Inside, it becomes an atrium in the guise of a towering canyon, a city block deep.Design Boom calls the otherworldly space a groundbreaking architectural achievement, its organic surfaces inspired by geological landforms carved by wind and water—an ‘innie’ building drawing visitors inside and inspiring exploration. Opening on May 4th, the museum is designed to ignite curiosity, and make anyone feel small in this big world around us.Is this the future of museums? Scientific wonders—including a butterfly vivarium, an insectarium and a 360-degree immersive experience—fill every inch of the space. And it's not just models and digital experiences. Visitors also can pass under a transparent sky bridge to see 500,000 leaf-cutter ants transporting pieces of blackberry bramble to create their colony's fungal food.
Dig Deeper:
The New Yorker points out that the museum arrives at a fraught political, ecological and cultural “post-truth” moment.
In Other News
It’s hard to predict when it will end.
Have you heard about ...
Upgrade Your Tech For Work and Play
We’re Giving Away the Only iPad That Matters
As we head into summer, you might planning to work remotely more. Maybe you're planning some travel. Or perhaps you're simply looking forward to relaxing. Either way, a fully loaded iPad is the one piece of tech that can help you with all of that.Which is why we've teamed up with a few of our favorite brands to give away the top-of-the-line iPad Pro. This features Apple's souped-up M2 chip for unmatched performance, an amazingly clear Liquid Retina XDR display and some of the best cameras you can get on a portable device, along with immersive augmented reality capabilities. So if you haven't entered to win yet, now's the time to do it before it's too late.
Shoot Your Shot:
Enter today to win the iPad Pro with 1TB capacity, worth $1,799.
Shopping
What We’re Buying
Pizza Oil
Do you oil your pizza? Brightland, Instagram's favorite olive oil brand, just dropped a new pizza oil ($32). The handsome, easty-to-squeeze bottle is filled with a custom blend of California olives freshly crushed with jalepeños, garlic, oregano and basil—the combo is meant to up the flavor profile of your favorite pies. Or bread. Or pasta. The herbaceous blend adds a layer of heat without being overly hot, but we will warn that it is addictive. And it's not exactly cheap, so squeeze with care.
Want More?
The five stylish items you should be buying this week.
Morning Motto
Make the time.
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