Month: November 2021

Enlarge / Stream keycap (left), Forest Ring (center), Lava (right). (credit: Drop)

Artisan keycaps, with their detailed artwork crammed into their tiny box shapes, do a lot to change the feel of your keyboard. Adding the latest from keyboard enthusiast Drop, however, may just have dwarves, elves, and one particularly stringy-haired, emaciated creature after you, because it puts the ring from The Lord of the Rings right on your peripheral.

The Drop + The Lord of the Rings The One Ring keycap announced Wednesday is a resin piece that comes in one of three designs to mark various resting places of the coveted One Ring.

The Lava ring depicts Mount Doom, where it started and ended, with swirls of red, orange, and yellow to mimic the deadly molten rock. Sharp eyes can spot Mordor characters engraved in the ring. And critical fans will note the Eye of Sauron, curiously set in a vertical position, rather than horizontally.

Enlarge (credit: Bloomberg | Getty Images)

In an effort to combat the ongoing global chip shortage, chipmaker GlobalFoundries and the Ford Motor Company have announced a "strategic collaboration" today, both via press release and coverage in The Wall Street Journal. The "non-binding agreement," according to the release, "opens the door" for GlobalFoundries to deliver more chips to Ford in the short-term, while promising collaboration on future chips for cars.

"These could include semiconductor solutions for ADAS, battery management systems, and in-vehicle networking for an automated, connected, and electrified future," the release reads. "GF and Ford also will explore expanded semiconductor manufacturing opportunities to support the automotive industry."

This all sounds promising, though the press release doesn't actually commit either company to any specific actions. When contacted for information on more particulars, Ford spokesperson Jennifer Flake reiterated that this was "an agreement to work together on the areas called out in the release," but had no further information to share.

Enlarge (credit: Nitat Termmee | Getty Images)

Before his firm’s investment in Theranos, Brian Grossman acknowledged certain risks. The company may not have its devices approved by the FDA. It might fail to deploy its machines as quickly as hoped. It might not be able to rein-in manufacturing expenses for its proprietary devices. Those gave him pause before his firm invested $96 million, but these were questions of execution, the stuff experienced investors like Grossman know how to assess.

But with Theranos, there were questions beyond execution, questions that even savvy investors didn’t think to ask. “Did you think one of the risks here was that the founder and CEO was not being truthful to you?” assistant US attorney Robert Leach asked Grossman yesterday in the criminal trial of Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos’ founder. 

“We did not think that was one of the risks,” Grossman replied.