How to build an equitable vaccine passport that respects people’s privacy

One of President Joe Biden’s executive orders aimed at curbing the pandemic asks government agencies to “assess the feasibility” of linking coronavirus vaccine certificates with other vaccination documents and producing digital versions of them. A vaccine passport, an official document that shows your vaccination status, may soon be required to work or travel. Airlines, industry groups, nonprofits, and technology companies are building a version of this idea that you can display on your mobile phone as an app or part of your digital wallet. Fully reopening the economy requires that we quickly build and administer a protected and equitable digital vaccine passport system . Yet, there are two significant challenges to its success: trust and the digital divide. The American public does not trust our institutions and government with our private data, including information needed for a digital vaccine passport. And for good reason—we can’t protect what we can’t control. According to a recent Pew Research Study , more than 6 in 10 U.S. adults don’t think it’s possible to go through daily life without having data collected about them. We’ve seen the devastating effects of this lack of trust throughout the pandemic response: widespread public rejection of digital contact tracing systems and now, new concerns over vaccine passports. The other challenge, the digital divide, surrounds all aspects of the pandemic response and further complicates the feasibility of a digital vaccine passport Read More …

This science-backed athletic wear can help you sit up straight

Working hunched over a desk or a kitchen table or reclined on a couch is probably ruining your posture. So is staring at your phone for prolonged periods of time or walking with your head down. But what if you could wear something that made you sit just a little taller during the day? A company called Formewear (previously called IFGfit Labs) has created shirts, leggings, and sports bras that physically help people shift their shoulders backward and better align their spines. The clothing not only helps relieve back problems—it also improves a person’s ability to breathe. “If you wear [the clothes for] one to two hours a day in various activities for several weeks, you will start to see a noticeable change,” says Seiji Liu, cofounder and chief operating officer of Formewear. “Over several weeks people will be able to stand taller.” The Formewear signature men’s shirt has tension bands on the inside that pull shoulders back and down, so they sit where they’re supposed to. The sports bra physically pushes shoulders back so they form a straight line, perpendicular to the spine. The goal of this clothing is to assist people in having better posture as well as train them through muscle memory to maintain that posture. The leggings, both for men and women, are designed to encourage good form during cardio workouts. Perhaps the greatest technological innovation in these clothes is good tailoring based on complicated biomechanics Read More …

Writers who crave independence should skip Substack—and do this instead

Let me start by saying that I appreciate what Substack is trying to do for journalism. The promise of the hosted publishing platform is that anyone can start a subscription-based publication—primarily as a newsletter—without having to worry about building a website, setting up a membership system, and fussing with design. Just put good words in, and if your audience is devoted enough, money will come out. For a growing number of writers, it’s a welcome reprieve from feeding the algorithms of Google, Facebook, and Twitter—and a chance to make some decent money along the way. But one thing I’ve realized in nearly five years of publishing my own independent newsletters is that doing things the hard way has its own rewards, from keeping more of the money to maintaining a stronger sense of independence. As more writers start building up their own newsletter businesses, I suspect a lot of them will discover this for themselves. Starting from scratch If we’re being honest, I probably would have jumped on board with Substack myself if it had been available when I started writing a newsletter about cord-cutting in 2016. Nearly every newsletter service back then was focused on email marketing instead of editorial writing, and they all charged high prices if your mailing list grew too large. As I started to outgrow Mailchimp’s 2,000-subscriber limit for free users, self-hosting seemed like the only option that didn’t cost upward of $30 per month. (Mailchimp did have its own writer-friendly service called Tinyletter , but it, too, had a 5,000-subscriber limit Read More …

How internet pioneer Radia Perlman overcame bias to invent an core component of the web

By Cyril Bouquet, Jean-Louis Barsoux, and Michael Wade Computer scientist Radia Perlman is often referred to as the “Mother of the Internet”—a title she shuns, but which has stuck due to her accomplishments and contributions to the creation of the web. Perlman is rightly considered an internet pioneer, but she also encountered barriers because of her gender. Read More …

Inside the new playbook for creating a kids’ TV hit in the streaming age

When we think about the must-see TV that draws us to sign up for streaming platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, and Apple TV Plus, the list is endless. The Crown , The Handmaid’s Tale , Bridgerton , Ted Lasso . But what about kids’ shows? Sure, there are old episodes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Pokémon , but there’s a gaping dearth of new, buzzy series with any real lasting power. (Does Netflix’s Miraculous: Tales of Lady Bug & Cat Noir really have a significant following?) Kids tune in to a new Netflix show here and there, but for the most part the platform’s real appeal for children is its sprawling, buffet atmosphere—and all those reruns. ( The Mandalorian over on Disney Plus is an exception, though that show skews heavily toward teens and adults too.) Cyma Zarghami , a veteran of children’s TV who spent 33 years at Nickelodeon, most recently as its president, sees this as white space in the industry, one that she is eager to fill. Last year Zarghami started MiMo Studios , a kids’ production company that aims to create the kind of franchises that have been lacking in the kids’ TV space in recent years in both the linear and digital worlds. “ SpongeBob [ SquarePants ], Peppa Pig , PJ Masks , those are all at least seven to eight years old,” Zarghami says, ticking off some of Nickelodeon’s biggest hits. “Nothing has emerged off the old platform or the new that’s really resonated with audiences.” Cyma Zarghami [Photo: MiMo Studios] As for why that is, Zarghami says, “There are too many choices, there’s not enough marketing, everything is a little derivative, and quantity, not quality, is the mandate”—especially in streaming. “So nothing has really floated to the top.” She also says that streaming companies’ priority is to grow subscribers and minimize churn, as opposed to “building the next Game of Thrones for kids.” At MiMo—which stands for “mini movie”—Zarghami hopes to do exactly that by investing in properties built on great, preexisting stories and characters that have the maximum potential to become a franchise. But the Hollywood formula ends there. Read More …