Lawrence W.

Personal news: On Monday, I was laid off at Inverse.com. BDG had layoffs last week that didn't affect Inverse so I thought the Gear team and I had escaped death once again, but in this extremely poorly managed digital media landscape, the writing has been on the wall for quite a while. After getting bounced from Input (after its closure) to Inverse in October 2022, the Gear/Tech section has been whiplashed through three editor-in-chiefs — so I am not at all surprised. 2023 was a complete shit show filled with just rollercoaster ups and downs every day; it was really hard to get great work done. I did a lot of great work this year (some of my best at Inverse/Input) and I intend to keep the strong momentum going. I'm not leaving tech media/journalism/content creation any time soon. If anything, this unfortunate news reaffirms that now is the time to invest in myself and go all-in on my work. I've been in tech journalism for almost 14 years professionally — and the way things have been in digital media, it's time I bet on myself and create a sustainable business that isn't built primarily around churning out reblogs and SEO-chasing junk. I want to thank everyone who I worked with on the Gear team. It's been a hell of a ride these past (almost) 5 years at Input/Inverse. I especially want to thank James Pero, my second-in-command, who was also sadly laid off. HIRE HIM for editing or writing! You'll get a great colleague, a funny-as-fuck writer, and a hell of a friend. Everyone's support on social whenever I publish stories (I read all your comments) has been incredible, and I plan to return it all back 1000x with even more passion about technology and cool shit. In fact, I've been cooking up something this year, which I'll now be accelerating, and you'll hear more about that very soon! (I'm also open to freelance writing/editing opportunities, or anything comms/PR-related if you know of any!) My DMs are open and if you'd like to get in touch, please do reach out with a reply (or drop a comment to connect!) My old email is dead (don't bother corresponding with anyone there, they killed the Gear/Tech section and aren't investing in the vertical): officialraywong@gmail.com

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When it comes to energy access at the last mile, the market doesn’t always know best, says Aneri Pradhan at New Energy Nexus. She explores the shortcomings of market-led approaches to energy access in last-mile communities across Africa, pointing out that these customers cannot afford clean energy at their current income levels. Instead, she encourages funders to support non-profit models that have proven their ability to reach these communities at scale. https://lnkd.in/eN7uhtvm #EarthDay #EarthDay24 #EarthDay2024 #EnergyAccess #Solar #Africa #SolarEnergy #SolarPower #PAYGOSolar #EmergingMarkets #ImpactInvesting #SustainableEnergy #Philanthropy #NonProfits #CleanEnergy #RenewableEnergy #EnergyBusiness #Philanthropists #ClimateFinance #ClimateAction #ClimateChange #ClimateMitigation

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One more connection between moving and our minds. My latest for AARP Staying Sharp examines how balance exercises expand the parts of the brain responsible for spatial awareness. #brainhealth #health #healthyaging #journalism #cognition #memory #aarp

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Transforming data and strategic goals into impactful video content is an art that is becoming a science. 🎨 🔬 Classes like this one from Section and Amit Rawal are helping us art majors properly nerd-up. https://lnkd.in/eHf4mjjv

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#podcast Fadi Micaelian, CEO of SPARKDIT, is an AI strategist who brings insights into using generative AI to support political consultants and voters. These voters are weighing choices and making tradeoffs as they decide who to financially support and vote for. Using additional data points to predict voting behavior is increasingly essential as voters become more partisan and face pressure from friends and family to make decisions about candidates and issues.  We talk about training AI to think like humans, using tradeoff criteria to improve predictive models to identify likely voters & how voters make decisions. #SPARKDIT #AI #VoterSegmentation #PoliticalMessages #Voters SPARKDIT.com https://lnkd.in/g3Xa5X-j

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Sharing some LinkedIn news for the LinkedIn folks today: LinkedIn’s Wire Program — a rev-share program that enables media companies to sell 3- to 15-second-long pre-roll ads on their editorial video — is launching its beta test phase today. Publishers like Bloomberg, Reuters, Forbes and The Wall Street Journal spent the past few months pitching this offering to advertisers, signing deals with anywhere from three to 35 clients each. There are no concrete plans at the moment for when the Wire Program will open up to more publishers, but the program is evolving to an auction-based pricing model next month to make CPMs more competitive for in-demand audience segments. More below: https://lnkd.in/giwsNX9T

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Prometheus has been a divisive film for years now, but there's been a movement over the years to critically reevaluate it. To be blunt, I still think the movie has the same problems that have plagued it since 2012, but I forgot just how technically astounding the movie is to look at (and how far that takes Prometheus): https://lnkd.in/gHWvMh6c

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Definitely a must dive.

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Please join us this Friday, April 26th, at 10 am PDT for a special episode of Virtual Producer! We'll be chatting with Bryan Pratte about Hallway, creator of Avatars supercharged with artificial intelligence. Please reserve your spot on the event page now and join us live! You can answer questions, network and comment, and we'll reply live during the show. If you're at all interested in the possibilities of AI, this is the episode for you. And here's the event link for more details: https://lnkd.in/gyHT8nEn #virtualproduction #linkedinlive #generativeai #artificialintelligence

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Director Lee Isaac Chung raises an interesting point. While he might not have intended Twister to be a "message movie," it's hard to deny that films inherently carry messages, even the most entertaining ones. Action flicks celebrate courage and overcoming adversity. Comedies nudge us to laugh at ourselves and the world around us. Even a summer blockbuster like Twister, with its awe-inspiring storm sequences, can spark conversations about humanity's relationship with nature. Think about it this way: Wall-E, with its mountains of trash, subtly critiques consumerism. Black Panther, with its technologically advanced Wakanda, celebrates Black excellence. Every movie reflects a worldview, even unintentionally. Now, Chung is right that sometimes the message is more implicit. Perhaps Twister doesn't explicitly mention climate change, but the portrayal of powerful storms can't help but resonate with audiences facing very real threats of extreme weather. The film might be a thrilling disaster flick, but it still holds up a mirror to our world, even if it's not a mirror emblazoned with a giant neon message. Ultimately, appreciating the director's creative vision doesn't negate the fact that movies, by their very nature, carry messages. They can be subtle whispers or blaring pronouncements, but they're always there, waiting to be discovered by the audience. #movie #climate #message #studios #hollywood #sustainability #speaker #nature #twisters #moviestudios #movienews https://lnkd.in/esBCuAkk

From DEI-infused historical figures to woke diverse Nazis, Google Gemini highlighted the issues with biased AI. Nina Schick is one of the world's best at talking honestly about these problems on both sides, and the bizarre future we face. Pls like & share! Watch here: https://lnkd.in/edZeSYyf

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I recently had a Q&A with TIG's Drew Figdor, one of the most experienced managers in the merger arb world-- he has run the strategy for three decades and never had a down year. We talked about the current market landscape and his team's approach of doing research and making bets. The secret sauce? "We use the old-school methods, boots on the ground." Check it out this Bloomberg Deals newsletter (and subscribe if you haven’t!):

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Hey folks, I've been exploring Open NY Data to find datasets for a deeper look at NYC. There are many to share, but first, take a look at the MTA's Permanent Art Catalogue to find a subway station with art near you! I also used the MTA subway station entrances and exits dataset to locate each art piece. Hope you all enjoy it, and there's more to come! EDIT: New link is here: https://lnkd.in/eBVwM48q #NYC #MTA #OpenData #DataAnalysis #PublicArt #SubwayArt #NYCSubway #ExploreNYC #Tableau #DataViz

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We talk about the evolution of #AI @CadeMetz, technology correspondent at @the-new-york-times on the latest episode of "Night Owls."  https://lnkd.in/eJc-VWW4  Cade wrote a great book on the subject, called "Genius Makers." https://lnkd.in/eUZPtrbe It is well worth reading and very readable.

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It's time for this week's #ConsumerPulse, where we take a look 👀 at trending searches and hashtags related to beauty. 💄 Featured this week are: Kylie Cosmetics and Crumbl, per Google Trends; Korean #sunscreen, per Exploding Topics, along with COSRX; #waxyhair, per SPATE; and more. Check it out! #cosmeticscience #formulatingbeauty Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gVbyd6VC

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It's a big day for me. Last December, I was scrolling through TikTok when I came across a post about a series of earthquakes in 1811 and 1812 that struck what today is the central U.S. I had no idea that earthquakes happened in this part of the world, and it got me wondering how many other people did too. That's how my earthquake news feature was born. Fast forward half a year, one grant, dozens of interviews, and one reporting trip to today. My reporting took me down a rabbit hole on the strange science of the New Madrid Seismic Zone--which one source called "one of the most enigmatic seismic zones on the planet." Today, the eight states that border the NMSZ are still largely unprepared for even moderate shaking. But is a big quake even coming? Read about it in my latest for Undark: https://lnkd.in/enHwya9C

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