Punjab Times

The fast rise and epic fall of Clubhouse

In 2020 and 2021, the social media world seemed to be on the verge of complete change. A new app called TikTok was ascendant, bringing a whole new kind of vertical video to phones everywhere. And another app – not as popular, but growing fast, and already hugely influential among the tech set – looked like it might have an entirely new social idea on its hands. It was called Clubhouse, and it was a huge bet that audio might be the future. It was the next big thing, until it wasn’t.

On this episode of Version History, we tell the story of the early days of Clubhouse, and how a simple audio group chat app turned into a booming entertainment a …

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Live-service games are a mess

Marathon video game still

This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on the slow-motion disaster of live-service games, follow Andrew Webster. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers’ inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here.

How it started

Two years ago, I stood at the top of the iconic red stairs in Times Square to experience the weirdest concert of my life. As glowing butterflies flitted about the various screens, a crowd steadily grew, knowing something was happening, but unsure of what. Then a countdown started, and a minute later one of the screens opened up, revealing Ice Spice and, later, …

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The $100,000 fee for H-1Bs is causing all sorts of problems

Last fall, President Donald Trump’s executive order raising the fee for H-1B visas to $100,000 – like many of his immigration policies – led to near-immediate chaos. Thousands of workers who had flown overseas to renew their visas ended up stranded abroad. Details about who would be affected only emerged after the fact. Six months later, the disorder from the initial announcement has mostly subsided. The H-1B registration season for the next fiscal year has just begun. With H-1B applications open until March 19th, it’s unclear what effect, if any, the new rules will have on hiring, immigration, and the workforce, but experts are warning the …

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FACT CHECK: Is Benjamin Netanyahu dead? ‘AI generated 6 fingers’, Son Yair’s last X post sparks rumours, Israel PMO breaks silence

Amid the Israel-US and Iran war, Benjamin Netanyahu being dead rumours are getting widely circulated on the internet, with Where is Benjamin Netanyahu hashtag trending. From AI edited speeches of Israeli PM, where netizens spotted six fingers on his hands and several Digital glitches, to his son Yair Netanyahu’s sudden absence from X, where he has been too much active, several theories around Netanyahu’s being killed are emerging. However, putting a full stop on these rumours, The Israeli Prime Minister’s office called these rumours fake. …read more