culture

Tom Jones9/2/24

We might have seen peak Burning Man

For many, the Labor Day weekend means kicking back and relaxing with loved ones. For thousands of others, it’s going to the Nevada desert to construct a temporary city, take in an array of art and live music performances, and party at Burning Man.

This year, though, appetite for the event attended by tech billionaires and techno lovers alike burned a little less brightly, with tickets failing to sell out in advance for the first time in almost 15 years, according to some reports.

Last year’s downpour in the desert, which left thousands stranded in Black Rock City, has likely perturbed a lot of would-be burners this year. In 2023, organizers estimated that ~77,000 came out to take in everything that the desert had to offer, which was already down from the pre-pandemic peak of 78,850. The figure’s said to have dropped to the ~70,000 mark for this year.

Like Coachella before it (where ticket sales dropped around 15% this year), Burning Man 2024 likely suffered from cash-strapped revelers wearied by inflation choosing to prioritize other ways to spend their money.

Burning Man attendance — Sherwood News

This year, though, appetite for the event attended by tech billionaires and techno lovers alike burned a little less brightly, with tickets failing to sell out in advance for the first time in almost 15 years, according to some reports.

Last year’s downpour in the desert, which left thousands stranded in Black Rock City, has likely perturbed a lot of would-be burners this year. In 2023, organizers estimated that ~77,000 came out to take in everything that the desert had to offer, which was already down from the pre-pandemic peak of 78,850. The figure’s said to have dropped to the ~70,000 mark for this year.

Like Coachella before it (where ticket sales dropped around 15% this year), Burning Man 2024 likely suffered from cash-strapped revelers wearied by inflation choosing to prioritize other ways to spend their money.

Burning Man attendance — Sherwood News

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Millie Giles4/15/26

The most popular male and female names in the US, according to the latest Census

New data published Tuesday by the US Census Bureau has revealed the most common names provided in the 2020 Census, in the first release to include forename data since 1990.

As described in the brief, Michael was the most popular name for males in the US, with roughly 3.5 million American men reporting having this name or a close variant. This is up from fourth place in the 1990 Census, when the top US male name was James — though there were still 3 million Jameses in 2020’s tally.

Despite a three-decade gap, Mary remained the top name for American females in both censuses, with the 2020 survey counting almost 1.8 million females with this given name. Interestingly, Mary was one of just two predominantly female names that broke the top 10 given names in the US, with the overall list dominated mostly by male monikers.

Most popular names US census 2020 chart — Sherwood News

In all, American females had far more first-name diversity than male counterparts: 16% of US males had one of the top 10 most frequent names among men, compared with 7.8% of women. Zooming out, almost 3x as many given names were needed to cover a quarter of the US female population than that of males.

culture

Max Knoblauch & Tom Jones4/14/26

6 months after hiking Game Pass prices by 50%, Xbox determines it may be too expensive

Microsoft’s new Xbox chief, Asha Sharma, thinks the division’s recent price hikes have been a mistake, per an internal memo to employees seen by The Verge.

“Short term, Game Pass has become too expensive for players, so we need a better value equation,” Sharma’s memo reportedly read.

It’s an interesting take, given that Xbox hiked the price of its Game Pass subscription by 50% in October, before Sharma took over. The memo is a signal that Sharma’s tenure — which began in February, taking the industry by surprise — will include some big changes for Microsoft’s gaming strategy.

Whether Game Pass prices will drop is not yet clear. Last month, The Information reported that Sharma and Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters have “kicked around ideas” about potential bundles. That would fit with Netflix’s renewed gaming ambitions.

Xbox Game Pass Chartr — (Sherwood News)

Xbox Game Pass ‘has become too expensive,’ says Microsoft’s new gaming chief in leaked memo

Xbox Game Pass ‘has become too expensive,’ says Microsoft’s new gaming chief in leaked memo

It’s an interesting take, given that Xbox hiked the price of its Game Pass subscription by 50% in October, before Sharma took over. The memo is a signal that Sharma’s tenure — which began in February, taking the industry by surprise — will include some big changes for Microsoft’s gaming strategy.

Whether Game Pass prices will drop is not yet clear. Last month, The Information reported that Sharma and Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters have “kicked around ideas” about potential bundles. That would fit with Netflix’s renewed gaming ambitions.

Xbox Game Pass Chartr — (Sherwood News)

Will a resolve to reduce screen time see a revival of landline telephones?

For parents trying to limit their kids’ exposure to smartphones, the answer could be yesterday’s tech.

Closeup of Woman on the Phone

Rory McIlroy just secured a second consecutive Masters title — and the biggest prize pot to date

Winning a sixth major title in the year of a record purse, McIlroy is now the Masters’ highest-earning golfer.

The Masters - Final Round

culture

Max Knoblauch4/13/26

Roblox announces age-based accounts for young users as child safety lawsuits pile up

Roblox on Monday announced its first accounts created specifically for young children and teens, furthering its efforts to increase child safety on the platform.

In June, Roblox Kids (for ages 5 to 8) and Roblox Select (for ages 9 to 15) will roll out, following the company’s global launch of mandatory age checks in January.

The new account types will feature different default settings — chats will automatically be set to “off” on Kids accounts — and limit access to games of certain ratings depending on age.

Child safety lawsuits and social media bans are piling up for Roblox, whose shares have dropped more than 30% year to date. In February, Los Angeles County sued the platform, alleging it created a “largely unsupervised online world” in which “child predators can readily locate, contact, and interact with minors.”

Roblox Introduces New Age-Based Accounts and Expanded Parental Controls for Users Under 16

Roblox gaming platform says it is ready to make changes to get Russian ban lifted

The new account types will feature different default settings — chats will automatically be set to “off” on Kids accounts — and limit access to games of certain ratings depending on age.

Child safety lawsuits and social media bans are piling up for Roblox, whose shares have dropped more than 30% year to date. In February, Los Angeles County sued the platform, alleging it created a “largely unsupervised online world” in which “child predators can readily locate, contact, and interact with minors.”

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