The Morning After: Facebook is apparently trying to build its own Clubhouse

Facebook loves to see what’s working well elsewhere, and then do exactly the same thing for itself. Snapchat, in particular, has seen the biggest social network borrow features and ideas, like Instagram Stories, camera interfaces on WhatsApp, sharing profiles through QR codes and more. Facebook also recently showed interest in getting into the newsletter game, reportedly developing its own tool while Twitter bought up a newsletter service to bolster its own offering.

Now the social network is working on its own version of Clubhouse — the latest social app to catch the world’s attention. It’s an audio-chat iOS app (invite-only, naturally) which blew up last week when Elon Musk stopped by for a conversation. Mark Zuckerberg also recently popped in to chat as well — so its existence is definitely known to the company’s executive circle. For now, the Facebook version is still in the early stages of development.

Facebook’s track record for borrowed ideas is mixed: for every Instagram Stories, there was a Rooms, Poke or Slingshot launch that fell by the wayside. If you want to learn more about Clubhouse, here’s everything you need to know.

And no, I don’t have an invite for you, yet.

— Mat Smith

The plot feels a lot closer to home now than it did when the first game debuted.

Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey are already familiar to subscribers of HBO, Netflix and Disney+, but now they’re going to appear together. They’re playing Joel and Ellie (respectively) from Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us game, as they attempt to smuggle Ellie safely through the zombie-infested quarantine zones of a pandemic-ravaged post-apocalypse USA.
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The group used SIM-swaps to target sports stars, influencers and musicians.

Eight men have been arrested in the UK, according to Europol, after stealing more than $100 million in cryptocurrencies. They were part of a larger gang that targeted high-profile Americans, including sports stars, influencers and musicians and their family members.

They began by using SIM-swap attacks to access the victims’ phone numbers and apps by changing their passwords. SIM-swapping involves hackers taking control of a person’s phone number by deactivating their SIM and porting the number over to their own SIM card, thus being the de facto access point for password changes.This is typically done with the help of an insider at the targeted phone service or through social engineering ploys, such as phishing.

If you’re an incredibly rich celebrity, Europol advises keeping your tech software up to date, limiting your data-sharing online and using two-factor authentication where you can.
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Can’t just hawk PS5s forever.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Pokémon, McDonalds Happy Meals include a pack of special-run Pokemon cards. There are over 50 to collect, and each pack contains an exclusive holo card. Because we’re not allowed anything nice in this world, resellers are pumping eBay with card bundles, including what seems to be giant boxes of the card packs, which must have fallen off a Mickey D’s truck somewhere. These are selling on eBay for $1,000 or more. The individual packs are often selling for at least $10. For context, a Happy Meal costs around $3, depending on its contents.
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It’s functional, but clumsy.

We’re not sure if Samsung is fading out its Note phone series — reports differ — but you’re unlikely to see a smartphone that can holster a stylus inside it this year.

So, for now, you can get a version of the S-Pen (with a case) specifically for the S21 Ultra to live that phablet life, if you want to. Chris Velazco tried it out, and he wasn’t sold.
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