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This is today’s download., Our weekly newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s happening in the world of technology.
Eric Prince wants to sell you a “secure” smartphone that’s too good to be true
Eric Prince’s pitch to investors was simple, but ambitious: Pay just 5 million euros and you’ll cure the biggest cyber security and privacy plague of our time.
The American billionaire, known for founding the private military firm Blackwater, was pushing Unplugged, a smartphone startup that promised “speech, privacy and security” untethered from tech giants like Apple and Google.
But these bold claims are undercut by a previously unreported pitch surface discovered by MIT Technology Review. It is a mixture of improbable claims, meaningless jargon and straight fiction.
Almost every attempt to build such a phone has failed. This experiment may be no different. Read the full story.
– Patrick Howell O’Neill
Ring’s new TV show is a brilliant but outrageous viral marketing tactic.
Ring’s camera devices, which customers install to protect their homes, track deliveries and capture images of who they meet at the door, have become a social media phenomenon in recent years.
Videos like this will support the new TV show when Ring Nation launches next month, featuring funny animals, marriage proposals and fun neighborhood interactions.
As well as an extended viral marketing campaign, it’s a clever attempt to tarnish Ring’s image—the company’s frequent access to customer data and, in particular, its allowing law enforcement to access user videos without permission. Read the full story.
– Eileen Guo and Abby Ohlheiser
Fight for “Instagram face”.
With beauty filters, platforms like Instagram are helping users achieve ever-narrowing standards of beauty — only in the digital world — at an astonishing rate. There is evidence that excessive use of these filters online has a detrimental effect on mental health, especially in young girls.
The “Instagram face” is a recognizable beauty ideal: ethnically ambiguous and flawless skin, big eyes, full lips, small noses and perfectly shaped curves are often found on filters. And while Instagram has banned filters that promote plastic surgery, the growing demand for beauty on social media is complicating the issue. Read the full story.
– Tat Ryan-Mosley
It should be read
I’ve scoured the internet for the most entertaining/important/scary/amazing stories about technology today.
1 America is trying to find more monkeypox vaccines.
By moving production to Michigan and paying one-fifth of the existing amounts. (WP$)
+ It wants to provide 50,0000 vaccinations across the country for Pride events. (CNBC)
+ Everything you need to know about monkey vaccines. (MIT Technology Review)
2 The Chicago City Sensor Project has gone international.
He tracked everything from air quality to flooding. (MIT Technology Review)
3 How a Predatory CEO Has Allowed Internet Fame to Hide in Plain Sight
Dan Price shamelessly used social media to rehabilitate his image and control the narrative surrounding his actions. (NYT$)
+ Price has dropped Gravity Pay from his company. (WP$)
4. Apple’s security flaws make the devices vulnerable to hacking
Hackers can take full administrative access to iPhones, iPads and Macs if users fail to update to the latest software. (The Verge)
5 Google employees urged the company to stop collecting abortion data
The union is asking Alphabet to end its post-Roe political campaigning. (the guard)
+ An adtech firm reporting on traffic to abortion clinics has drawn the ire of the FTC. (WP$)
+ It remains unclear how employer policies covering employee abortions will be implemented. (Atlantic $)
+ Big Tech is silent on questions about data privacy in the post-Roe US.. (MIT Technology Review)
6 Our return to nature teaches us about the future. 
As the climate crisis intensifies, a ‘hunter-gatherer’ perspective may be useful. (Neo.Life)
+ Bioacoustics is a useful, if limited, method for monitoring wildlife. (Fast Company $)
7 Google quantum computer cracked
By an algorithm that runs on a regular machine. (New Scientist $)
8 How much meat should we eat? 
We both need to reduce our food consumption and our agriculture in a sustainable way. (famous magazine)
+ Leaving only half of your hamburger can help the climate.. (MIT Technology Review)
9 Find musicians who communicate with fans by email
Forget TikTok and Instagram, Substack is where it’s at these days. (the guard)
10 TikTokers are now stealing cars.
The Kia Boys trend has fueled a wave of car crimes across the US. (NY Mag $)
+ The platform reversed its decision to ban the hashtag schizophrenia. (input)
Quote of the day
“People are begging for monkeypox vaccines, and we’ve pissed off one manufacturer right now.”
– An anonymous health official described to the Washington Post how the Biden administration’s decision to divide monkey vaccines by fifths did not sit well with its maker, Bavarian Nordich.
The big story
In Singapore’s big bet on vertical farming
October 2020
It has taken decades for Singapore to wake up and realize that it is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world – as far as food is concerned.
This risk went unnoticed by the authorities in the 1970s, when more than 15,000 hectares of the country’s farmland were uprooted to grow tapioca, sweet potato and vegetable crops and replaced by large office buildings and condominiums. The focus then was finance, telecom and electronics, not food.
But while this strategy has successfully flourished Singapore’s economy (it is now the fourth richest country in the world per capita), it has left the country with only 600 hectares of agricultural land. As a result, the country is relying on technology, and high-yield urban farms are being hailed as the best option. But vertical farming is not without doubts. Read the full story.
– Megan Tatum
We can still have something good.
A place of comfort, relaxation and distraction in these strange times. (Got an idea? Drop me a line orTweet at me.)
+ Who doesn’t love the Beach Boys?
+ Avocado is an environmentally friendly avocado, apparently.
+ Great question—why *why* do so many bikes end up at the bottom of canals and lakes?
+ Here’s a brief look at some of the weird and wonderful creatures lurking in the depths of the ocean.
+ How amazing does the World Dog Surfing Championship look? (Thanks Charlotte!)
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