For secondary school, my parents shipped me away to boarding school. So regularly, I would return and notice the difference in the house, new neighbours, new joints. Once I returned, and I noticed something unmissable.
Outside a tiny flat at the end of the road, fleets of cars were parked outside. There were mostly saloon cars, Toyotas and Hondas. But then there was the Range Rover, green and still uncommon in Lagos streets. It was driven by a guy who had become something of the leader of the pack. Every night they smoked the air out, drank drunk, used the trunk of their cars as a closet. Sometimes they slept in the cars because the house was too tiny to fit all of them in.
We never really knew for sure, but it was widely agreed that they were into romance scams. Eventually the police raided the compound, and all the young men fled, many just shy of 18 years.
This week, we reported on the reemergence of scam compounds in Thailand and the viciousness with which the ringleaders demand that they make money. I kept on thinking about those young men, working hard only for the guy in the Range Rover to take most of what they earned. I also have been thinking about him and what he is up to now. If he made something of himself or continued in that life.
If, like me, you ever wondered what their ranks were like and how they lived and treated each other in those windowless dens they spend time in, then you should read our explainer on scam compounds in Thailand.
— Dennis, Managing Editor
👨🏾‍💻 Where Hackers Hang Their Hats
I used to be the most sceptical person of spaces preaching productivity maxxing. In so many ways because the productivity hacking industry was at some point rife with grifters. I think these days things are changing.
People are coming into the industry to share fact-based feedback on how we can do more. It is in the spirit of this that I have become increasingly interested in hacker houses. This week we looked at 17 of the best hacker houses for tech talent and founders in the world. Fascinating!
đźš– Two Superpowers, One Road
In America, Elon Musk has been widely regarded as a genius of our time. In so many ways he has been a pioneer in many fields that he has entered. In China the story is less the same. The country has presented a huge competition to Musk and the entire American tech innovation.
This week we put it to the test using Musk’s Tesla Model Y and the Chinese manufacturer BYD’s Sealion 7, two innovative EV leaders, to the test. Our result might shock some.
🦾 AI on Guard
As we have forged ahead in the digital revolution, if one can still call this a revolution, cybersecurity has become more and more important for everyone. This week the newsletter publishing company Substack announced a breach of data. But AI startups are focusing on solving some of this. Anthropic announced an AI solution called Claude Opus 4.6.
The company says the model will be able to uncover high-severity vulnerabilities “out of the box,” without custom tooling or specialised prompting.
It is official. Anthropic and OpenAI are now in an open cold war. After Sam Altman announced that ChatGPT will now have some form of advertising in the future, Anthropic has seized on it to roll out a fleet of advertising targeting the move. Altman pushed back forcefully all week.
🪦 Rest in Power
This week Adobe announced that it was shutting down Adobe Animate, its long-running 2D animation software after 25 years. While the move speaks to the trends, it is barely the end of 2D animation. To mark the continuity of the form, we offered 10 alternatives to Adobe Animate for you.
đź‘ľ Gaming Announcements
- PlayStation Store January 2026 Top Downloads: ARC Raiders Dominates PS5 Charts
- Rockstar to Begin GTA 6 Marketing Campaign Soon, Release Still Set for November 19, 2026
- Forza Horizon 6 Gets Full Cross-Save Across PS5, Xbox, and PC
- All the Major Gaming Announcements from the Nintendo Direct: Partner Showcase 2026
- The Switch Is Now Nintendo’s Best-Selling Console of All Time
đź›’ Game-Day Gear
Are you in the market for the best weekend deal on tech gadgets this Super Bowl weekend? Say no more. From Best Buy to Amazon, we’ve scoured the internet for the most jaw-dropping Super Bowl weekend deals you’ll find.
