Chinese monkey controversy

+ The world’s prettiest library

August 23, 2024

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OVERWORLD:
-Chinese monkey game controversy, haha-

ONE BETWEEN:
-Apparently, Russia is using X to manipulate opinion-

THE DEPTHS:
-The world’s prettiest library-

“Nothing in life is as important as you think it is, while you are thinking about it”
Daniel Kahneman

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✦DISCOVERY PICKS✦

Pretty funny

Chinese monkey game controversy, haha

Do you want to be an ancient mythological Chinese monkey god? You’re not alone.

That’s the premise of Black Myth: Wukong, and it’s a massive success, attracting over 2.2 million concurrent players.

But, there’s some weird political controversy going on:

Feminism and COVID-19: The game is made in China. So, some streamers with early access got explicit instructions to avoid discussing politics, feminism, Covid-19, and other potentially sensitive topics. These guidelines, from the game’s publisher, Hero Games, have backfired.

Haha: Now that the game is out, streamers have openly mocked the guidelines, incorporating the banned topics into their content.

Break all rules: One Twitch stream stood out was even titled “Covid-19 Isolation Taiwan (Is a Real Country) Feminism Propaganda”. This stream, by the creator Moonmoon was a standard playthrough, but its title was an open mockery of the guidlelines.

Hardcore: Rui Zhong, a writer and researcher, streamed her gameplay while discussing Chinese feminism and the country's one-child policy, criticizing the low-effort resistance to the guidelines. Other streamers, like linktothepabst, labeled the restrictions “bogus,” using provocative titles to protest what they saw as unnecessary censorship.

Moonmoons stream.

Guidelines provided by the game’s publisher.

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Refer a friend with this link.
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✦QUICK HITS✦

✦Business & Tech✦

Rest easy: British software mogul Mike Lynch, 59, died after his superyacht sank off Sicily, days after being acquitted of fraud in the US. His daughter remains missing; four others also died.

Cheap vs. Fake: Shein is suing Temu for copyright infringement. Specifically, operating a counterfeit-driven, fraudulent enterprise and infringing on Shein’s intellectual property. Shein claims Temu controls sellers, promotes counterfeit goods, and impersonates Shein online.

New age: Crypto companies account for almost half of the corporate donations in the 2024 election. They have poured $119 million into the 2024 U.S. elections, influencing both parties. Major players like Coinbase and Ripple are backing pro-crypto candidates, shaping election outcomes.

✦Fashion & Culture✦

Titan fall: Dame Dash, who founded Roc-A-Fella Records along Jay-Z, is selling a third of the record label. The reason being that he has “gone broke investing in his dreams”. Ahead of an auction for his Roc-A-Fella share, he offered an original label chain for bids over $10 million.

Cristiano Ronaldo launched his YouTube channel "UR Cristiano" on August 21, 2024, and broke records by reaching 1 million subscribers in 90 minutes and over 6 million in six hours.

Unveiled: Flying Lotus revealed he composed the "Daybreak" and "Chalet" ringtones for iPhones, first available in iOS 13.

✦Hmm… Interesting✦

Cozy 1-minute-read: There's No Secret

Cool 5-minute-read: How Deep Can Humans Really Go?

ONE

 BETWEEN

Twitter fingers

Apparently, Russia is using X to manipulate opinion

Back in November 2022, Elon acquired Twitter. “Wait, if I Tweet does that count as work?”, was one of his first tweets after the acquisition.

An account secretly run by a Russian intelligence agency (per WSJ) tried tapping into the meme by replying: “Your boss will be angry”. The tweet flopped — zero engagement,

That’s baby shit though. Now, Russian trolls are better, and are intensifying their efforts on social media ahead of the U.S. presidential election.

Look:

Strategy switch: Russian networks have moved away from high-investment big-follower accounts to large volumes of low-quality, easily replaceable accounts. This is a reaction to increased scrutiny from social media platforms and government authorities, making it better for foreign actors to quickly replace accounts that are detected and removed.

Mission: The network of fake personas on X/Twitter target high-profile individuals, including; Musk, Trump Jr., and Tucker Carlson. The accounts try to exploit the visibility of influential figures by replying to their posts with divisive content, particularly aiming to weaken international support for Ukraine.

Numbers: The Justice Department found nearly 1,000 X accounts linked to a Russian bot farm. While these low-quality accounts often failed to gain significant traction before being removed, but their existence proves a persistent and evolving effort to manipulate public discourse and sow discord.

Hard-to-manage: As Election Day approaches, concerns are growing about the resilience of social media platforms in detecting and countering such influence operations, particularly in light of changes to content moderation under Musk’s leadership at X.

THE DEPTHS

Cozy and godly

The world’s prettiest library

In the 1800s, Waldsassen Abbey and its library were turned into a cotton factory. Up until that point, it had lived nearly 700 years as a holy place for nuns who dedicated their lives to godly contemplation.

Thankfully, a group of Cistercian nuns bought it back and began restoring the Abbey to its former glory.

And in glory, it stands today.

From the outside looking in, however, it’s not that epic. Sure, it’s nice but the library is on a different level. It was built in 1724 by Karl Stilp, who adorned the walls and banisters with his masterful linden wood carvings.

Not only the books, but the library design in itself tells a story. Across the library, you can see wood-carved statues of allegorical figures that represent vanity, ignorance, and boastfulness.

Waldsassen also holds one of the world’s greatest rare and antique book collections, some of which are bound in pigskin and calfskin.