Despite the high number of job openings, the number of qualified applicants has dropped significantly, leaving many employers feeling frustrated and overwhelmed.
Meanwhile, job seekers are finding it difficult to land a job, even with all the opportunities out there. They are applying for various job openings but getting ghosted by potential employers.
It's called the “Great Mismatch.” Here's what's causing it.
You get to taste amazing wines nobody has tried yet, and even wines that are only halfway between grape juice and incredible wine. (This is an incredible winery in Veneto, Italy, during The Venice Prosecco Experience.)
I got to guest on TWiG with hosts Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis and Stacey Higginbotham! We explored the shiny, new GPT-4 AI language model, Silicon Valley Bank's implosion, Deadpool's sale to T-Mobile of Mint Mobile, Google matters, Facebook fiascos, Microsoft layoffs, LEGO houseplants and more!
Watch this episode of TWiG now, and go here to subscribe!
Watching the sun rise over the Sahara desert give you an indescribable feeling. No need for shoes. It’s all just pure burnt-orange sand in the Moroccan Sahara. You really should add this to your bucket list.
The restaurant is newish and has no signage. It’s not on Google Maps. You just have to know about it, I guess.
Reverse prompt engineering is the process of querying text-producing generative AI tools like ChatGPT to find out which text prompts led to a specific output result.
It's so good, it's almost a dessert. Amazing bread, the cooks hand-whip the milk and egg batter custom with each order, tons of cinnamon, organic berries on top and whipped cream. This french toast is not to be trifled with.
Dr. Pizza used to be the best pizza in Mexico City. But it's time for Dr. Pizza to go back to pizza medical school because now Aborigen is the best!! Their crust is unusual, in that it's not only naturally leavened, but it has a rustic quality to it that's just incredible.
It's a tiny one-room place in a tiny town in the Oaxaca valley. The lady who makes it just ladles the stuff out of the plastic buckets she ferments it in. So fresh and good. (Pictured above: The outside of the place; below: my pulque lady with one of her customers and also her pet goat, who happens to be peeing on the floor in this picture.)
Mexico is the food capital of Latin America. And Oaxaca is the food capital of Mexico. Oaxaca is where Mexicans go when they want to go to Mexico. AMA.
I'm not a vegan anymore, but I love vegan tacos at a sidewalk stand called Por Siempre. Always tasty!
You really should join us for the Mexico City Cocktail Experience!
In this issue of Mike's List:
Why paid social is a no good, horrible idea
Now you can find a stalker’s AirTag *before* it “travels with you”
This tiny 3D printer actually works!
Waterproof boots look like LEGOS but they’re actually made out of coffee
Why go to a regular bar when you can find one with retro arcade games?
And more!
The Big Question about TikTok, the crack-like addictive social network owned by China's ByteDance, is: "Does the Chinese government intend to use the global reach and power of TikTok to spy or influence? Yes or no?
The "Yes" camp gets another point today after the Chinese government warned that Europe's ban on the use of TikTok by the European Parliament, the European Commission and the EU Council on official devices "harm business confidence" in Europe.
The US government and more than half of US states have banned the TikTok app on government-owned devices as well, and the Chinese government "lashed out" about that as well.
Lots of countries are banning TikTok in one way or another. But the Chinese government seems especially vexed by the bans on US and European government devices.
If the Chinese government did not want to use TikTok for bad intentions, why does it care so much about it being installed on European and American government devices?
And if TikTok is so great for business confidence, why did the Chinese government ban it in China?
Here's a question Meta doesn't answer on its paid-verification explainer: If I'm shadowbanned on Instagram and Facebook (which I am) and I pay to get "expanded reach" and "increased visibility," which wins? The shadowban or the paid reach and visibility?
(Oh, I'm not going to pay. I'm just curious.)
It seems to me that people are way too excited about the "metaverse" and way not excited enough about the other major use of VR goggles: "digital twins."
So I wrote a piece for Computerworld about what "digital twins" are and why they're going to literally change the world and make everything better, safer and cheaper. Check it out!
I got a chance to show up at Xochimilco in the dark, ride a boat to a farm and watch the sun rise over an active volcano. (Xochimilco is a series of canals built by the Aztecs in what used to be a lake but which is now Mexico City.) What an experience!
One of our friends in Oaxaca surprised us by taking us to a restaurant called Almú in the tiny and remote town of San Martín Tilcajete in the Oaxaca Valley.
As we drove through town, our car was blocked by dozens of men and boys dressed like devils and painted black pretended to rampage through the town as part of how Oaxaca celebrates carnival. It's a tradition called the "La Danza de los Diablos" or "Dance of the Devils," a name coined by Spanish missionaries. I got out and took a few pictures.
When the Spanish first came to Oaxaca in the 16th Century, Zapotecs (the main indigenous ethnic group in Oaxaca) tried to scare them away by painting themselves black and acting like monsters.
It's part of Zapotec tradition since before the Spanish arrived. The black "paint" is made with cooking oil mixed with charcoal. Many also paint their faces white, red, or black.
Until recently, only men and boys participated, but a few years ago a few women and girls started joining in.
Traditionally they wore shells around their waists to make a racket while running around town. Nowadays, they use bells. They try to scare people, and, if they can they wipe some black coloring on the faces of women and girls -- the "kiss of the devil," a way of flirting with them.
The tradition has variants around Oaxaca, but it's particularly strong in San Martín Tilcajete, and the town is locally famous for it.
Also: There's drinking involved. As we drove through the town after our four-hour lunch, some of those devils were conspicuously hammered.
Derek Robertson penned a piece for Politico that describes the current "metaverse winter." After an initial surge in excitement and investment, some of the companies who would bring the "metaverse" into mainstream acceptance are cutting funding and laying off workers, further delaying the arrival of widespread VR, AR and XR.
GlobalData Thematic Research by Verdict used the phrase in a January 20 report in which they said the "metaverse winter" is an opportunity for businesses to restrategize. GlobalData also trotted the phrase around in various interviews and press releases, claiming that the "metaverse winter" is being caused in 2023 by "cooling interest, economic obstacles, and the immaturity of enabling technologies."
The "metaverse winter" of 2023 was predicted by Dataquest in November of 2022.
An even earlier reference to the phrase appeared in September of 2022 by a crypto enthusiast and blogger named xuanling11, who claimed that the "Metaverse Winter is So Cold."
Also in September of last year, a Turkish publication claimed that Turkey was going through a "metaverse winter" because Turks has stopped buying up real estate in VR, for the most part.
Café de olla -- the old fashioned way.
The bugs include roasted grasshoppers, ants and agave larvae (also known as a mezcal worm or maguey worm). Made by Chef Alex Ruiz.
This is just blue-corn tortilla, some natural lard and a little cheese cooked on a comal. Put some hand-made salsa on it, and it's heaven on earth.
It's basically Mexican horchata (made with rice), blended with ice and topped with whipped cream. This is available in several places in Oaxaca. Fantastic!
Also: Here's a more complete missive I wrote about the wonderful world of horchata.