The Onion Buys InfoWars

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The Onion Buys InfoWars

What That Means for the Web

Tom Merritt

Nov 14, 2024

Transcript

Hello folks,

Leading off with The Onion story because I think it's got some interesting implications for the Web. More speculation in the audio version today, I think. Plus, ESPN is merging into Disney+. Just another way they're becoming a platform, not just a streaming service.

And a new Final Cut Pro is here!

Cheers,
Tom

The Onion Buys Infowars

The Onion just bought Infowars - The Verge

This may not be the techiest story, but it does involve two of the most iconic brands on the Web. Satirical news publisher The Onion has purchased the assets of Infowars from bankruptcy court. The Onion said on X that it plans to relaunch Infowars in January with a "relentless barrage of humor for good."

The Onion itself has changed hands a few times. Univision acquired it in 2016, it was merged into Gizmodo, then sold off to a private equity firm, which, in April 2024, sold it to a group led by former NBC News reporter Ben Collins and created by former Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson. Collins said in a post on Bluesky that they want to make Infowars “a very funny, very stupid website” with the help of The Onion and Clickhole “hall of famers.”

I can't wait to talk to Justin Robert Young about this on DTNS today. I sort of consider these two outlets to be two sides of the same coin. The Onion delivers avowedly pretend news with an eye toward delivering biting social commentary while making you laugh. Infowars delivered what it wanted to pretend was real news, but with a tacit understanding that it was exaggerating. Many folks find The Onion in poor taste. Many folks found Infowars repellent.

But the other interesting aspect of this is that, with the assets, all old Infowars links will still point to the site that The Onion now controls. The normal thing for a company to do in these cases is to point those links to the home page. I sort of expect more from The Onion. And hilarity could ensue.

The European Commission fined Meta 797.7 million Euros Thursday for linking Facebook Marketplace to Facebook. Other online classified services advertise on Facebook, and the EU said the linking of Marketplace gave Meta an unfair advantage over competitors. Meta's terms let it use data from those advertisers to improve its own products, allowing it to outcompete them with Marketplace. Meta denies that it used its data that way and said it will appeal the decision.

Apple Releases Updates to Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for the Mac and iPad - MacStories
Apple releases Final Cut Pro 11 and updates its suite of creative apps - The Verge

Apple launched the latest version of its video editor, Final Cut 11. Magnetic masks let a user identify a person or object in a video and add color grades or other effects to just them. It can also generate captions. And it can edit spatial video for the Apple Vision Pro. The iPad version gets new color tools, including the "enhance light and color" tool, and expands live drawing on video. Final Cut Pro Camera gets LUT previews, meaning you can monitor exposure and color while recording. Final Cut 11 is free for existing users and $299 for new users.

Gemini for iPhone: Google releases its AI app for iOS - The Verge

A separate app for Google's chatbot Gemini is now available on iOS. You can prompt it with text, voice, or shots from your camera. It also offers Gemini Live, a voice mode that's been on Android for a few weeks. Live can show up in the dynamic island and on your lock screen. It can access other Google apps like YouTube and Maps as well.

How the new Android System Key Verifier keeps your contacts safe - Android Authority

Google launched the Android System Key Verifier to help you catch if someone's messaging account has been hijacked. If and when it gets adopted by messaging apps, it manages end-to-end encryption keys. You share a QR code with a contact, and then both devices are verified. If you suspect that a contact has been hijacked, you can ask to verify the keys. If they're on a different device, the keys won't verify. When you get a new device, you just scan the QR code to authenticate it. Android Faithful's Mishaal Rahman has an excellent breakdown on Android Authority.

Disney Sets Date For ESPN Tile To Be Added To Disney+

Disney announced that Disney+ added 4.4 million new subscribers to pass 120 million. Netflix has 287 million. Disney+ has a Hulu section, and on December 4th, it will get an ESPN section. If you're an ESPN+ subscriber, you can get all your ESPN+ content there. If you're not, Disney will make some ESPN programs available to you anyway.

Disney is setting up its own mini-platform. You'll be able to get a wide variety of news, sports, and entertainment now. When the full direct-to-consumer ESPN launches next year, that will likely supercharge this feature, and with a possible bundle discount, bring a lot more people to Disney+.

Amazon announces its first Mini LED Fire TV — and this one’s also built for gaming - The Verge

Amazon launched the first of its TVs to use Mini LED backlighting for improved contrast and brightness. It also supports Dolby Vision IQ, HDR10 Plus Adaptive, and Dolby Atmos audio. And it's optimized for gaming with a 144 Hz refresh rate and support for AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, Variable Refresh Rate, and a low latency mode. The Fire TV Omni Mini LED series is priced lower than comparable models from TCL and Hisense. It also uses some AI to optimize picture settings if you're not the type to do it yourself. The TVs are available in four sizes now, starting at $819.99 for the 55-inch and topping out at $2,099.99 for the 85-inch.

Google will let you search for products on Maps - The Verge

Google has made it easier to search for items you're shopping for, like clothes or electronics, in Google Maps. Results will show individual item listings at nearby stores along with stores that have that type of item if they aren't listed in Google Shopping. The product listings include whether it's in stock and how far the store is from you.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau moves to place Google under supervision - TechCrunch

The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau took a step toward putting Google under federal supervision. This may sputter out when the administration changes, but the idea is to give the federal agency access to internal records regularly in order to protect consumers from unfair, deceptive, or predatory financial practices. The government imposes this kind of supervision on banks.

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