Good morning and happy Thursday!

No rant this morning, just some cool headlines.

oh, and a brand-new podcast based on this newsletter that just launched its pilot episode a couple of days ago. Check it out, give it a like, and subscribe to Decent Media’s YouTube! It’s free, you’d be helping us out, and you can help ensure that the content always stays better than average.

-Wally

Random

Coke Launching New Permanent Flavor

For the first time in 3 years Coke is adding a permanent flavor to its brand’s arsenal, Coke Spiced. I first read it as “spicy” which is why I clicked the story in the first place. Apparently “Spiced” means raspberry and other “spiced” flavors… whatever that means.

I swear by Coke Zeros (not sponsored, maybe one day) so the likelihood of me trying this is slim, but I might purely out of curiosity.

It launches in the US on Feb. 19, let us know what you think when you try it!

[email protected]

Key Stories

Speedrun

• Disney gives Epic Games $1.5b to build cool stuff.

• ESPN is rolling out another streaming platform.

• AI isn’t going to take your job, learn how to use it and get ahead.

• Apple is launching an AI model!

Business & Entertainment

Disney and Epic Games Team Up to Create a New Universe

Disney is diving headfirst into the gaming world with a whopping $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games, the masterminds behind Fortnite. This isn't just a splash; it's a tidal wave signaling Disney's most ambitious foray into gaming yet. CEO Bob Iger is painting a picture of a "games and entertainment universe" where Disney's goldmine of IPs, from Mickey to Marvel and Star Wars to Avatar, could interact and come to life in ways we've only dreamed of.

This partnership is looking to blur the lines between gaming, entertainment, and interactive storytelling, capitalizing on Fortnite's evolution from a battle royale game to a platform where imagination is the only limit. This means an environment for videogames is just the tip of the iceberg, it’s likely Disney will seek to push the limits on how their content is consumed.

This collaboration calls back to Disney's 2011 "Disney Universe" attempt, but with today's tech, including VR's rise, the potential is legitimate. As Epic and Disney merge their communities, we're on the brink of exploring a universe where the boundaries between different Disney realms could vanish. If done right, this venture could redefine the landscape of gaming and entertainment.

On This Day

1857: Mary, Queen of Scots, Beheaded

History has some pretty metal moments, and the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, is right up there with the most hardcore. It's wild to think that back in the day, beheading someone inside of a royal castle was just another item on the royal agenda, a grim spectacle of power and betrayal. Mary's life was a rollercoaster of alliances, imprisonments, and ultimately, a deadly rivalry with her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I. Her execution was a dramatic climax to a life spent navigating the treacherous waters of 16th-century royalty. And there, in a moment as final as the fall of an axe, history was written in the most brutal way possible.

Streaming

ESPN Unveils Its Standalone Streaming

Right after Disney announced a joint sports streaming venture with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery (yes, the one we talked about yesterday), they're rolling out a standalone ESPN service, aiming for a fall 2025 launch. Bob Iger is laying out the red carpet for sports enthusiasts, offering up the complete ESPN experience we've been asking for since the ESPN3 and ESPN+ launches. Disney's playing a savvy game, lining up partnerships while also going solo with ESPN to cover all bases in the streaming league.

This standalone ESPN deal is shaping up to be a sports junkie's paradise, packed with live games, studio shows, and a dash of betting and fantasy leagues. Plus, with personalized content on the horizon, ESPN is finally tuning into the consumer’s wants. For sports fans, this could be the ultimate pass to cut the cable cord without missing a beat on sports action.

With Disney's history of bundling hits like Disney+ and Hulu, this new ESPN platform is gearing up to be the next big thing in the ever-evolving streaming landscape. While the price tag's still under wraps, Iger's hinting it'll be easier on the wallet than the traditional cable bundle. It's clear Disney's looking to redefine how we watch sports.

Headline Palooza

Decent Destinations

Patagonia, Argentina

Patagonia in Argentina is an adventurer's playground, where the landscapes are as vast as they are breathtaking. It's not just the towering mountains and sprawling glaciers that grab your attention, it's the incredible array of wildlife that calls this place home. From the majestic Andean condors soaring in the sky to the guanacos roaming the plains, Patagonia is teeming with life. Hiking through this part of the world, you're as likely to have an encounter with nature as you are to be awestruck by the scenery.

AI & Jobs

AI in the Workplace: Fear Not, Adapt and Thrive

A recent PEW research study revealed that 25% of Americans worry about AI impacting or even replacing their jobs. Yet, the latest from Microsoft and its CEO Satya Nadella in Mumbai suggests a different narrative: AI isn't here to snatch jobs but to transform how we work. Nadella's confidence in Microsoft's AI, particularly GPT-4, is a call to action for businesses to harness AI for productivity and innovation.

The key takeaway? The labor market is shifting, not shrinking. As we inch towards the horizon of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) – AI with the ability to understand, learn, and apply knowledge across a wide range of tasks like a human – the immediate future is about collaboration between humans and AI. Learning to work alongside AI, leveraging tools like OpenAI's GPT models, is going to be essential to staying ahead in the game.

Nadella's push for AI integration in India, with plans to skill 2 million individuals in smaller cities and towns, begins to create a global trend. AI is not a wave to duck under but one to ride. Jobs aren't disappearing; they're evolving. Those willing to adapt, to learn the ropes of AI, will find themselves not just surviving but thriving in this new landscape. So, rather than fearing AI, the focus should be on embracing and mastering it, ensuring you're a part of the workforce of the future, not left behind.

Technology

Apple Dips Its Toes into AI Image Editing

So, Apple's finally making a move in the AI space with their new open-source AI model for image editing, dubbed MGIE. As someone who's wrestled with Adobe's janky text-to-image editor, I can tell you, the bar for improvement is in another stratosphere. Adobe, while a giant in the creative software realm, hasn't quite cracked the code on seamless AI integration, leaving plenty of room for newcomers to make a splash.

Enter Apple's MGIE, which leverages multimodal large language models (MLLMs) to turn your typed commands into photo edits. It sounds like magic, right? You tell the tool to jazz up your pepperoni pizza photo into something healthier and it tosses some veggies on it. Beyond intuitive editing, MGIE promises to handle the basics too – cropping, resizing, and even playing with the brightness and contrast, all via text prompts.

Apple's throwing this out into the world via GitHub, with a demo for the curious minds on Hugging Face Spaces. Now, whether Apple's going to weave this tech into their products remains a mystery. But in the AI arena, especially in tools that make sense for everyday use, it's anyone's game. And while Apple might not be reinventing the wheel with MGIE, they're certainly rolling it in the right direction, making their contribution to the great AI race.