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The cute and cursed story of Furby

The hottest toy of 1998 was sort of adorable, and sort of annoying. It couldn’t do much – couldn’t do anything, really – but it could look at you, it could say some nonsense phrases, and it seemed uncannily aware of the world around it. That’s all Furby needed to pretty much take over the world.The story of Furby is filled with technical achievement. The fact that the furry little guy worked at all, ever, was a bit of a surprise to a lot of people involved. But Furby also represents a different way of thinking about our relationships with technology, a different idea about human-computer…

The uncomfortable truth about hybrid vehicles

This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on the EV struggle, follow Andrew J. Hawkins. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers’ inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here.How it startedApologies to the Toyota Prius, but the first hybrid vehicle of note was the Semper Vivus, developed by Ferdinand Porsche (yes, that Porsche) way back in 1900. The Semper Vivus (Latin for “always alive”) used two combustion engines to power generators, which then fed electricity to motors inside the wheel hubs. The fact that it took modern…

Netanyahu’s Iran War Is Also the War of Global Neocon Elites – Jacobin

Netanyahu’s Iran War Is Also the War of Global Neocon Elites  JacobinOne week in: Visualizing the evolution of the US-Israeli war with Iran  CNNIn War’s First Week, a Punishing Military Campaign With No Coherent Endgame  The New York TimesAmerica’s and Israel’s Goals Are Already Colliding  The AtlanticAir War Against Iran Enters Week Two (Updated)  The War Zone