H-1B Visas, TikTok, Hardware Flops, Santa Claus, and Jinxes
Weekly Review of News in Technology, UX and AI
Here’s the latest news, resources, and use cases from the world of product, UX, AI and technology. Let’s go:
🖼️ Scaling Authorization
🖥️ H-1B Visas
📱 TikTok
🥽 Hardware Flops
🎅 Santa Claus
😈 Jinx
Podcast
Scaling Authorization with Jake Moshenko: Lessons for Product Leaders
In this episode, I sit down with Jake Moshenko, co-founder and CEO of AuthZed, to discuss his journey from working at major tech companies to becoming a two-time founder. After his first company Quay (a Docker registry service) was acquired, he founded AuthZed to solve application permission challenges. Jake shares the contrasts between his two founding experiences, transitioning from a bootstrapped two-person company to a venture-backed enterprise-focused business. He emphasizes the importance of choosing the right problem space and being prepared for the long journey of entrepreneurship. We also discuss the significance of open-source in modern software development and his perspectives on AI technology.
News and Useful Reads
Trump Backers Battle Online Over Skilled Immigrants
Tech billionaires like Elon Musk have supported Donald Trump and his anti-immigration policies. As long as they don’t apply to their companies. The latest fight this week is about H-1B visas, and shows the major rifts between MAGA and the billionaire class. Expect much more disfunction to come…
The dispute, which late Thursday exploded online into acrimony, finger-pointing and accusations of censorship, frames a policy quandary for Mr. Trump. The president-elect has in the past expressed a willingness to provide more work visas to skilled workers, but has also promised to close the border, deploy tariffs to create more jobs for American citizens and severely restrict immigration.
Elon Musk pledges "war" over H-1B visa program, calls opponents racists
It’s a delicious twist to see MAGA supporters calling each other racists and idiots.
Elon Musk pledged Friday night to go to "war" to defend the H-1B visa program for foreign tech workers, branding some Republican opponents as "hateful, unrepentant racists."
Trump asks the Supreme Court to let him rescue TikTok
The TikTok ban is looming. The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments. But it seems like Trump may want a say as well. I wouldn’t hold out too much hope, but there are a lot of people involved now.
President-elect Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to let him negotiate a deal to save TikTok from an imminent US ban.
In an amicus brief filed to the court, Trump says he “seeks the ability to resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office,” and that he “alone possesses the consummate dealmaking expertise, the electoral mandate, and the political will to negotiate a resolution to save the platform.”
Revisiting the 3 Biggest Hardware Flops of 2024
Unsurprisingly, the biggest flops this year were AI and AR hardware. Those are some of the most hyped areas of tech, yet we’re in the early stages of figuring out how to create the right experiences, especially in hardware.
These three spectacularly hyped products have one thing in common: They all flopped.
Why Santa Claus is the Perfect Product Manager
For those of us in product manager roles, there are some fun lessons to take from Santa:
The truth is, every Christmas Eve he ships a product that fills hearts with joy and keeps the magic alive.
You might say he’s never compromised on quality in his entire career.
But how does he do it? What hidden skills turn a bearded fellow in a red suit into the world’s most remarkable product manager?
Other Interesting Finds
Why Do We Say “Jinx”?
“Jinx” is one of my kids’ favorite words. They love to jinx me (or anyone) if you say the same thing at the same time (thanks Bluey). And they are very aware of jinxing something by saying it aloud. But where did the term come from?
The practice of labeling bad luck as a jinx is so commonplace that it’s easy to gloss over the origins of the word. So what exactly is a jinx, and when did we start jinxing one another in the first place?