Heads up — no, really, lift ‘em up: Another geomagnetic storm may trigger auroras over the US tonight. The northern lights may not be as intense as they were during May’s storm, but they could be visible as low as Illinois and Oregon — so if you live anywhere south of those states, it’s time to jump in a car now and start driving north.
In today’s email:
Take a walk: Zoom wants to remind you to enjoy life.
Olympic payouts: Which country gives its gold medalists the most cash?
Weird patents: A gym for your mouth.
Around the web: A Chipotle price tracker, a new card game, and more.
👇 Listen: How the top 1% of podcasts are making all the money.
The Big Idea
Zoom wants you to — briefly — get off Zoom
Zoom filed a patent application for a tool that would remind users to take breaks.
2024-07-30T00:00:00Z
Juliet Bennett Rylah
Zoom — now a ubiquitous part of life for anyone who works remotely — wants to make sure you step away from the screen sometimes.
It recently filed a patent application for a “remote management of work-life balance scheduling” tool that would use machine learning to analyze workers’ schedules and remind them to take breaks.
How it works
Users can select what kinds of breaks they desire — journaling, family time, exercise, etc. — and under what circumstances: For example, users might be reminded to take their medication at a specific time, or prompted to take a walk or stretch after a long meeting.
Breaks can incorporate third-party apps, such as music players, fitness apps, or calendars.
Over time, the tool will learn users’ preferences and what activities work best when, offering more personalized recommendations and schedules.
Why it matters
Zoom was king during pandemic lockdowns — people used it not just for remote work, but virtual lessons, performances, and to connect with friends. Now, remote work is still in, but people are doing a lot more IRL.
While Morning Brewreported on Zoom’s recent resurgence through virtual rallies for likely Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, it noted something dire:
In October 2020, Zoom had a closing stock price of ~$568. On Monday, it was down 89% to ~$60, lower than even 2019.
Zoom must find…
… new ways to remain relevant, especially among competitors like Microsoft Teams, and it seems like it’s leaning on everyone’s favorite hot topic: AI.
Last month, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan discussed the AI-powered Zoom Workplace, designed to boost productivity and reduce busy work. His ultimate vision includes a digital twin that could act as employees in meetings it determines they don’t need to attend.
Paired with this patent, one could imagine a future in which AI decides you don’t need to go to that meeting and, instead, hands you your arm-day workout and a protein shake recipe, then attends in your stead.
That may sound extremely unsettling to anyone who’s unwilling to let the machines take over — but it does sound kind of appealing, doesn’t it?
TRENDING
Princess Leia’s gold bikini sold at a Dallas auction house for $175k. The costume, worn and screen-tested by Carrie Fisher for Return of the Jedi, is just the latest Star Wars memento to fetch a big sum — a model of a Y-wing fighter from the original film sold for $1.55m at auction.
SNIPPETS
McDonald’s saw same-store sales drop 1%, its first decline since 2020. The chain, which introduced a $5 meal deal to lure back diners, reported a Q2 net income of $2.02B, down from $2.31B last year.
Apple Intelligence is here, kinda: A waitlisted developer beta of the suite of AI features was released yesterday.
… As for the rest of us? Our iPhones won’t turn into emoji-making writing assistants until at least October, later than expected, perBloomberg.
The Ohio Supreme Courtruled that boneless chicken wings can, in fact, have bones. The decision came in response to a man who sued a restaurant after tearing his esophagus on a two-inch chicken bone in the “boneless” wings he ordered.
TikTok rolled out “Sound Search” to select users, a feature that allows them to hum a tune to identify the song and videos that use it.
Ouch: Overone million Americans now owe $200k+ in federal student loan debt, up from 600k in 2017. Experts attribute this to the rising cost of education, especially among grad students.
A federal court ruled that border agents in the Eastern District of New York can’t search phones without a warrant. The ruling regards a 2022 incident in which a man’s phone was searched at JFK Airport.
A study found that in states with legalized sports betting, the average credit score dipped ~0.3% from 2018 to 2023, while states with online sports gambling saw the likelihood of bankruptcy filing increase by 25%-30%.
How we source our stories: largely from 52 top-notch news sites, 28 whip-smart socials, and 15 beautiful newsletters. Peep the secret spreadsheet.
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Data Point
Going for gold: When an athlete wins gold at the Olympics, it comes with recognition, pride, and — if they’re lucky — a heaping pile of cash. This summer, at least 33 countries will award cash prizes for gold medals, 15 of which will pay $100k+, perForbes.
The lowest bonus of $13k will be awarded by Australia, while the highest — a staggering $768k — will be doled out by Hong Kong. And while the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee will award $37.5k for every gold medal, it will also pay out $22.5k for silver and $15k for bronze. All Polish medalists will additionally take home a painting from a Polish artist, a diamond, and a vacation voucher, with gold medalists also receiving a two-bedroom apartment in Warsaw.
While being handed a giant check at the top podium sounds cool, the USOPC found 59% of Olympians make less than $25k in the year of their games. And decathletes and heptathletes, considered the best athletes in the world, fare even worse financially.
Our takeaway? When reality TV watching becomes an Olympic sport, we’re moving to Hong Kong.
Fit The Bill
There are thousands of companies valued at $1B+. How many clues do you need to identify today’s billion-dollar brand?
Clue 1: If we told you which midsize US city this company was founded in, you’d get the answer a little too quick.
Clue 2: In 2019, this company brought back its famous logo, which depicts an animal crossing a stream, seen on an 1861 insurance policy it issued to Abraham Lincoln.
Clue 3: This Connecticut-based company, which calls itself a “purpose-driven insurance leader,” focuses on property and casualty insurance, group benefits, and mutual funds.
👇 Scroll to the bottom for the answer 👇
Weird Patents
Chew on this: You might go to the gym and keep up your physical fitness, but when’s the last time you worked out the ol’ chompers? We’re guessing not recently. But, rest assured, Charles Purdy of Brooklyn, New York, patented an “exercising device” in 1923 — for your mouth. The device consisted of a plate molded to a user’s teeth that was attached to the end of a cord and spring. The user would then jerk their head back and forth repeatedly to create tension, exercising the gums and teeth. The kicker: The other end of the cord could be mounted on a wall, or attached to another plate in someone else’s mouth for more of a Lady and the Tramp experience.
AROUND THE WEB
📅 On this day: In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare into law at a ceremony in Independence, Missouri.
