Flashback to November when I was taking in the sounds and sights of Rio de Janeiro. Since then a lot has changed, but in a confusing turn of events I’m back in the Forbes car world, but not as a fulltime staff editor but as a contributor (aka freelancer) for the Cars & Bikes section covering EVs, advanced driving, car technology and more. I’ll get paid based on pageviews (please read my stories as they start to arrive this month), so here’s to going viral.
Future “Keeping Tabs” will have all my Forbes contributor tabs. Forbes Wheels is still shut down, but hopefully I can find “a real job” again and maybe even as an editor. Meanwhile, send any ideas for my new freelance position as a Forbes contributor.
Tabs time starts now.
Fresh Tabs
Next week (April 8) is an eclipse. And while I’ll be in the wrong part of the world (the Bay Area is only 44% covered) I experienced totality in 2017 and it was one of the most incredible things I’ve witnessed.
» Where in the Bay Area to watch this spring’s rare solar eclipse (SF Standard)
» Solar eclipses were once extremely terrifying events, experts say (Mashable)
» Eclipse towns have two big concerns: Traffic and port-a-potties (Washington Post)
You know I love WeWork (I’ve been to locations all over North and South America!), so here’s hoping this all comes together to save the floundering company in the weirdest news cycle ever.
» Adam Neumann and Partners Offer More Than $500 Million for WeWork (Yahoo Finance)
It’s April, so that means weddings. An oldie, but goodie from the beyond-talented Quinta Brunson. WATCH:
Here comes the AI section, which was inevitable. But the power of ChatGPT and other AI bots is hard to ignore. The video capabilities from OpenAI’s Sora are scary and cool.
» Forget Siri. Turn your iPhone’s ‘Action Button’ into a ChatGPT voice assistant instead (TechCrunch)
» Sora: first impressions (OpenAI)
» Americans’ use of ChatGPT is ticking up, but few trust its election information (Pew Research Center)
Excited to see how this turns out.
» The Flipbook Experiment (The Pudding)
Mind blown. I really had no idea the name WiFi was made up!
» 'Wi-Fi' Doesn't Mean What You Think It Means (Gizmodo)
Athletes doing impressive things never ceases to impress. WATCH:
I feel seen. Just ask Jmom and Maya.
» Is 'Eldest Daughter Syndrome' A Real Thing? A New Study May Surprise You. (HuffPost)
10 out of 10 #humblebrag. How’d you do on this fitness test?
» A Five-Second Test to See Whether You’re Aging Well (Inside Hook)
We are an enigma.
» Why Are Women Both Sadder and Happier Than Men? (WSJ)
We hear about disaster’s like the bridge collapse in Baltimore, but we usually are just flashed a few harrowing images. This collection really shows what it means when a tanker hits a major metro’s span.
» Photos: Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse (Yahoo News)
Canva is a lifesaver in that it’s spared me from having to use overwhelming Photoshop for the past few years.
» Canva Strikes Biggest Acquisition Yet in Chase to Take on Adobe (Bloomberg via Yahoo)
It’s almost Restaurant Week here in SF. Who’s trying to find a good lunchtime deal with me?
» SF Restaurant Week (OpenTable)
Microwave-Safe Tabs
In my recent-past life I was covering solar for Forbes Home, so this surfaced.
» This Fox News host gives climate skeptics airtime but went solar at home (WashPost)
Let’s judge books by their covers! (Side note: This would be a great entry for my Tumblr…)
» WHAT DOES A HAPPILY EVER AFTER LOOK LIKE? (The Pudding)
I told you there’d be some back-of-the-fridge leftovers, but even if it’s not Halloween season this is objectively cool.
» A Professional Pumpkin Carver Spills His Guts (NY Times)
We all know the struggle is real after our wine-bar-turned-breakfast-restaurant era, but this showcases another level of irksome.
» THIS IS HOW HARD IT IS TO OPEN A SMALL BUSINESS IN SAN FRANCISCO (Broke-Ass Stuart)
Crushing it on the EV front!
» Bay Area leads the nation in electric vehicle use (Axios)
Marketing for becoming a mom needs to step it up.
» How millennials learned to dread motherhood (Vox)
Trust me, you don’t want to eat his cookies.
» Nom Nom Nom. What’s the Deal With Cookie Monster’s Cookies? (NY Times)
Let’s end with some (difficult) fun. A quiz that I did terribly on.
Let me know how your eclipse viewing goes. See you on the internet soon.