What's New

Hello, dear reader, and welcome to another edition of The Monitor, WIRED's look at all that's new and news in the world of pop culture, from casting news to TV show renewals. What’s on the docket today? The Walking Dead is getting (another) new season, Anya Taylor-Joy and Edgar Wright are teaming up, and Disney is going to keep the Deadpool movies R-rated. Deadpool Will Stay R-Rated As you may have heard, the Walt Disney Company is in the process of acquiring 21st Century Fox. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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"Do you like Instagram?" Bee Fisher asks her son, Tegan Fisher, a 3-year-old Instagram sensation who specializes in posing next to his family's enormous Newfoundlands. He doesn't seem to understand the question. "Is this yogurt cooled down?" Tegan replies. "Do you like Instagram? Do you like taking pictures?" Bee asks again. Once again, the temperature of yogurt prevails. "He means, 'Has the yogurt thawed?' Our fridge froze them," Bee explains. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

First, I saw the tweet. “I miss having a real connection w/ real people. My Community. From now on you can just text me. I won't be able to respond to everyone but at least we can be real w/ each other & I can share the unedited latest & greatest in my world,” wrote Ashton Kutcher, the celebrity and tech world adjacentist, on Tuesday afternoon. And then he posted his phone number: 10 digits that held the promise of so much more. I threw the link into Slack and then did it. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Once again, it's time for The Monitor, WIRED's look at all that's new and news in the world of pop culture, from casting rumors to the current recipients of Netflix's largesse. This week: Batman gets a release date, Oscar Isaac might be going to Dune, Universal has a new plan for its monster mashup, and Zack Snyder is going back to making zombie flicks. Tune in. The Batman Is Coming in Two Years—Without Ben Affleck The Batman is coming. Yesterday, Warner Bros. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Several hours into my tour of Casper Labs, I start to feel sleepy. Casper, the company famous for its internet-sold mattresses, set up this facility in San Francisco to test its products. There are levers that press down to measure the springiness of the mattresses' foam, wire coils that take the temperature beneath the wool-blend duvets, and many nice, pillowy things. Walls are padded with fabrics, each of them soft and inviting. A collection of jars contain down feathers, foam, curly wool. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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In 2007, New York City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission, in a belated embrace of the 21st century, required that every taxi plying the streets of the five boroughs start taking credit card payments. For cash-weary New Yorkers, the new readers made life easier. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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Even though I've spent a lot of time driving electric cars, the acceleration that comes with silent, instant torque can still raise my heart rate and elicit a nervous laugh. But this time, add in the fact that the driver of the new Mercedes EQC SUV looked like he was rocketing on a collision path with one of my colleagues, and my pulse spiked a little higher than normal. https://twitter. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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Whether you’re hacking a Roomba into a home-­security droid or assembling your own robocreation, outfit your workbench with these essentials. 1. Carbide3D Shapeoko 3 When an off-the-shelf part won’t do the trick, carve your own. This CNC router subtracts material­ from a block of wood, plastic, or aluminum with its quarter-inch carbide cutter to precisely shape any widget you design on your PC. The spacious 16 x 16-inch cutting area lets you think big. $1,099 2. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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In the past few years, wirefree earbuds have sprung up in lush profusion, like baby frogs after a spring rain. I have to admit, though, it took me awhile to come around to them. Wirefree earbuds don't always fit securely and they're usually more expensive than many of the best earbuds. I'm constantly knocking earbuds out of my ears while walking, working, or adjusting my hood, and I can't afford to be that precious about them. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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There's a Sonos sale going on right now. We're big fans of Sonos speakers here on the WIRED Gear team. The speakers often have best-in-class audio, and they're designed entirely around the idea of building a network of speakers in different rooms of your home. Sonos has been making connected audio equipment for more than a decade now, and the company supports its products for long stretches of time; someone who bought a Sonos amp in 2005 can probably play Spotify on the thing today without hassle. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

There’s a ghostwriter in my machine. And it’s no Lee Israel—she’d balk at all the fast-­flying verbal inanities. I speak of Smart Reply, Google’s answer, in the form of a triad of autogenerated responses, to the problem of email. Just the other day, it saw fit to butt-reply to a frenemy of mine, “I’ll be there!” This in response to an invitation I had planned to ignore. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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If you’re a new parent, you’ve probably spent an inordinate amount of time Googling baby monitors. It's tempting to invest in a high-tech smart monitor that will track each breath and heartbeat and teach them to sleep through the night. But I must warn you, new parents: You’ll need a monitor for much longer than the first year. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

You've KonMaried your closet. You've made strides toward Inbox Zero. You've unburdened yourself of your old tweets, and now you feel free as a bird. The one thing left to do: find harmony in your digital work-life by tidying up your Slack. If you’re one of the 8 million people who uses Slack as an intraoffice communication platform, then you're likely well aware of how slovenly the app can be. Slack is a time-saver, and Slack is a time-suck. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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From swooping landscapes to the most dramatic selfie vids ever, a drone can capture it all. These tips will help make your footage extra fly. Get That Film Look The first setting to adjust is frame rate: 30 frames per second looks like reality TV, while 24 fps looks like a Hollywood feature—set it to 24. You typically want to shoot in 4K, which will capture the tiniest details and give you flexibility to crop the frame while editing. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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Physicist Sean Carroll has served as a science consultant on major studio films such as Tron: Legacy and Thor. And while Hollywood movies may have massive budgets and audiences, the job requirements for a science consultant aren’t exactly stringent. “The two main things are be a scientist and live in Los Angeles,” Carroll says in Episode 344 of the Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

When Breville first sent me the Smart Oven Pizzaiolo to review, the company anxiously inquired if I planned to consult my professional pizzaiolo friend. I understood their hesitation. Wood-fired pizza seems like a simple dish, but it’s challenging to get right. If I hadn’t been making wood-fired pizzas for months, it’s easy to imagine all the different ways I could have messed things up. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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Another Thursday, another installment of The Monitor, WIRED's roundup of the latest in the world of culture. But this Thursday is much busier than most. Why? Well, there's a new Ghostbusters movie in the works from Jason Reitman (son of the original's director), Apple is adding some big names to its initiative to make original content, and Steve Carell is working on a Netflix show about Space Force. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

That fluffy white stuff is falling from the sky again, but you can’t go out in there all naked and expect not to die. Here's some of our favorite new gear to maximize your fun in the snow. Franco Snowshapes Custom Snowboard I've demoed a fair number of snowboards from top brands over the last decade, but ridding a board that was custom made for you is incomparable. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Drivers of gasoline-powered cars have it easy. Gas stations are everywhere. Fill-ups take just a few minutes. Drivers of electric vehicles, not so much. Public charging stations are far from ubiquitous, and boosting a battery means spending at least half an hour plugged in. So anything that makes an EV easier to use and own helps, and a newly announced goodie aims to make topping off a depleted battery easier than ever. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Friday nights are usually a time for celebration—the end of the work week and the start of something far better. In Seattle though, this Friday marked the transition into a terrible time, one city officials are calling the period of maximum constraint. At 10 pm, the SR 99 Alaskan Way Viaduct—damaged in a 2001 earthquake and temporarily reinforced—officially closed, for good. Over the next three weeks, traffic-fearing Seattleites will stay home, flee town, or at least carpool. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Have you been inside an Uber? How about a Lyft, or another ride-hailing service? If the answer is duh, rethink your sense of superiority. Because you’re in the minority. According to a new poll conducted by the Pew Research Center, just 36 percent of American adults say they have used ride-hailing services. Sixty-one percent say they have heard of the services but hadn’t taken a ride. The remaining 3 percent said they hadn’t heard of them at all. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The minute I walked onto the showroom floor at CES, one of the world’s largest consumer trade technology shows, a spokesperson for Philips’ Pregnancy+ app accosted me. “Would you like to experience what it’s like to be a pregnant woman?” he asked. “I already have,” I told him, but it was too late. Before I knew it, I was standing on a platform with a pair of headphones guided over my ears. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

If President Trump's tenure in office has any lasting impact on the jobs market, it might just be his ability to keep fact-checkers gainfully employed. Going back to the election debates in 2016, diligent researchers at nearly every major news outlet have made it their business to find the truth (and fiction) in the claims Trump makes. (It's truly hard to keep up, he just says so many things. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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It’s a few minutes shy of six on a Friday, and Gabriel strolls into the misty San Francisco evening. Seeing his ride, he walks past his ninth-grade classmates loitering around their prep school’s entrance, waiting for a parent or babysitter to shuttle them home. He approaches the van parked at the curb with the bright pink kangaroo pasted on its side, slides open the door, and jumps into the back seat. As Gabriel buckles in, Ariana Garcia begins her last ride of the day. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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At the 2018 Worldcon, fantasy author N.K. Jemisin became the first person to ever win three consecutive Hugo awards for Best Novel. Given that level of success, science fiction editor John Joseph Adams felt she’d be the perfect guest editor for the latest edition of his anthology series The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Attempts to reinvent the humble monitor have in recent years seen mixed results. Some are curved, some are huge, some are huge and curved, and, well, you get the idea. But Samsung’s latest design suggests an alternative: A monitor that dazzles by demanding less of your space rather than more. That’s not because the aptly named Space Monitor is tiny. It comes in 27-inch and 32-inch sizes, the latter of which offers full 4K resolution and costs $500. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Tesla has built its business on being a pioneer. It was the first automaker to produce electric cars that were fast, fun, and desirable, with battery ranges measured in hundreds instead of dozens of miles. Now, it’s pushing into another new, less welcoming, frontier. Elon Musk's company just became the first automaker to lose access to the full $7,500 federal tax credit designed to spur the adoption of electric cars. As of January 1, its customers only qualify for a $3,750 credit. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

By nearly any measure, Netflix has had a ridiculous year. When all is said and done, the company will have spent upwards of $10 billion (and perhaps as much as $13 billion) to produce more than 550 new movies and shows. Those new movies and shows, in turn, have helped to attract some of the more than 27 million new subscribers that Netflix signed up in 2018—adding to a customer base that was already close to 120 million strong worldwide. (And picking up 23 Emmys in the process. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In early February, the technologist Tristan Harris stood in front of a crowd at a tech conference and held up his iPhone like Martin Luther presenting his Ninety-five Theses. He was there to warn of the plain and common dangers of our phones, which he has compared to slot machines and to cults, while announcing a coalition called the Center for Humane Technology to liberate us. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

For eight months this year, I used a flip phone. For most of those eight months, I hated myself and everyone else. Frankly, I’m embarrassed to write about this semifailed experiment. Disconnection has become the most congratulated, least convincing narrative gimmick of recent times, a widely excusable hypocrisy. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The death of the Chevrolet Volt was a quiet one. It came in early December amid news that General Motors was cutting 14,000 jobs, closing three assembly plants, and also ending production of the Chevy Cruze and Impala, the Buick LaCrosse, and the Cadillac CT6. It made sense: Sales have been slowing, Americans aren’t buying compact cars or sedans anymore, and GM is repositioning itself for a future that includes both bigger vehicles and many more electrics. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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Yesterday, Vladimir Putin presented his country with a belated Christmas present: the Avangard hypersonic missile. According to Russian media, it's capable of reaching Mach 20. And if its ability to conduct evasive maneuvers at high velocity is as good as the Russian president boasted back in March, it would render missile defense systems effectively useless. Cold War recidivists aren't the only ones hoping hypersonic technology will deliver a futuristic throwback. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

“It seems like journalists are used to being in charge of editorial processes.” —“Algorithms for Journalism: The Future of News Work,” The Journal of Media Innovations (2017) News breaks like a rain cloud, or a daydream. Roy arrives at his desk just in time to claim the story: Rival militias started a gunfight at a federal water pipeline that they both wanted to steal from. Nine people dead, another 17 injured. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

“It’s fully electric!” Mark Frohnmayer yells to the guy in the pickup truck idling next to us. It’s a sunny Friday afternoon on San Francisco’s Embarcadero, and Frohnmayer and I are the center of attention at this red light. Now there’s another guy in another pickup truck, on the other side of the first one, who also has questions about the vehicle we’re sitting in. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The new children’s book Max Einstein: The Genius Experiment, written by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein, aims to introduce small children to the work of Albert Einstein. It’s a challenge that Patterson initially found a bit daunting. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

“Human enhancement with in-the-body technologies introduces new potential for both individual opportunity and individual exploitation.” —“Cyborgs, Robots and Society,” Technologies (2018) It’s not like I haven’t thought about killing the humans since I hacked my governor module. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices