Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Hong Kong Protesters’ Favorite App, Googlifying Your Office and More #Mustreads

FireChat has set the conversation aflame, helping protesters to coordinate their strategy.

Good morning!

Here is some content from the Web to guide you through a bleak and unforgiving existence, brought to you by Re/code:

  1. Over the past few days, tens of thousands of people have filed into Hong Kong’s financial district to protest China’s influence over the city. The preferred method of communication and coordination among the demonstrators is a “mass chatroom app” called FireChat, which allows users to connect off the grid. We first covered FireChat last month, in a completely different context, when it was taking Burning Man by storm. For more on FireChat’s role in Hong Kong, check out this story at Tech in Asia. And if you want to know more about what’s happening in Hong Kong in general, here’s a useful list of people to follow on Twitter, from Business Insider’s Joe Weisenthal.
  2. Google’s Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt and former Googler Jonathan Rosenberg are the subjects of a strange interview in the MIT Technological Review, part of a promotional campaign for their new book. Strike that — if you work at Google, you may not find Schmidt’s technotopian proclamations that odd. But for the rest of us …
  3. Videogames often have little use for women except as props and trophies. And movies have often treated women the same way. You don’t need a reminder, but here’s one anyway, via a 35-year-old episode of Siskel and Ebert’s “At the Movies,” courtesy of Polygon.
  4. Netflix is losing a ton of movies and TV shows on October 1, meaning you won’t be able to stream “Mean Girls,” “Battlestar Galactica” or “Ghostbusters.” Hurry up and binge! You can see the whole list of what’s disappearing at the Daily Dot.
  5. Speaking of Netflix: Next summer it will release its first movie — a sequel to “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” Ang Lee, who directed the original, won’t be back for this one, which is a good reason to remind you that Lee once directed “Ride with the Devil,” an underappreciated Civil War movie starring Tobey Maguire, Skeet Ulrich and … Jewel. Really. You can rent it for $3 on YouTube. (Yes, YouTube has movie rentals. Really.)

If you see any stories you’d like to send our way (or have any questions/comments about stories we’ve recommended), feel free to shoot an email to noah@recode.net! We do like to hear from you, and would appreciate if you wrote us more.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

More in Technology

Technology
The case for AI realismThe case for AI realism
Technology

AI isn’t going to be the end of the world — no matter what this documentary sometimes argues.

By Shayna Korol
Politics
OpenAI’s oddly socialist, wildly hypocritical new economic agendaOpenAI’s oddly socialist, wildly hypocritical new economic agenda
Politics

The AI company released a set of highly progressive policy ideas. There’s just one small problem.

By Eric Levitz
Future Perfect
Human bodies aren’t ready to travel to Mars. Space medicine can help.Human bodies aren’t ready to travel to Mars. Space medicine can help.
Future Perfect

Protecting astronauts in space — and maybe even Mars — will help transform health on Earth.

By Shayna Korol
Podcasts
The importance of space toilets, explainedThe importance of space toilets, explained
Podcast
Podcasts

Houston, we have a plumbing problem.

By Peter Balonon-Rosen and Sean Rameswaram
Technology
What happened when they installed ChatGPT on a nuclear supercomputerWhat happened when they installed ChatGPT on a nuclear supercomputer
Technology

How they’re using AI at the lab that created the atom bomb.

By Joshua Keating
Future Perfect
Humanity’s return to the moon is a deeply religious missionHumanity’s return to the moon is a deeply religious mission
Future Perfect

Space barons like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk don’t seem religious. But their quest to colonize outer space is.

By Sigal Samuel