May
25

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Florida’s Forgotten Vaqueros: The Real O.G.s of the Wild West

Category: Nuestro Stories

When you hear the word “cowboy,” what comes to mind? Probably some rugged guy in a ten-gallon hat riding across the dusty plains of Texas or Montana. Maybe he’s chewing on a piece of hay, tipping his hat to a tumbleweed. But what if I told you that the original American cowboys weren’t in Texas, Montana, or even the so-called Wild West? No, the first real cowboys, who existed way before John Wayne, and even the word “cowboy” itself, were in Florida. Yes, Florida. The home of alligators, theme parks, and Cuban sandwiches was once filled with vaqueros, and now they’re all but forgotten. But why?

Origins of Florida’s Forgotten Vaqueros

Long before Texas claimed the cowboy aesthetic, Spanish explorers were raising cattle in far away Spain. In 1521, Juan Ponce de León, while searching for the Fountain of Youth, brought the first cattle to North America, from Spain. He brought them to Florida. However, his expedition ended badly when he was fatally wounded by the Calusa tribe.

So, what happened to all of Ponce de León’s cattle? They stuck around, multiplying into massive herds.

RELATED POST: The Sizzling History of Fajitas

“Spain’s attempts to colonize the interior of Florida were abandoned by the early 1700s,” Tampa Magazine writes. “Spanish colonists retreated to the fortress towns of St. Augustine and Pensacola or departed for their Caribbean holdings in Cuba and Hispaniola (the island now made up of the Dominican Republic and Haiti), leaving behind massive herds of Andalusian cattle, an ancestor of today’s modern Texas longhorn.”

Who Were the Original Vaqueros?

The face of Florida changed over the next century, with inhabitants …

“The second generation to settle in the Florida territory after the Spanish were pioneers who traveled south through the state in the period between the American Revolution and the Civil War,” Tampa magazine explains. “Control of Florida was still disputed by Spain and England, so settlers in the state lived outside the political control of both nations. Cattle rustlers, charged with rounding up the loose cattle in Central Florida, used long, braided leather bullwhips to bring cattle out from the underdeveloped forest brush.”

This is how the first real cowboys, or vaqueros, as they called in Spanish, were born. These men were the ultimate cattle wranglers, pioneering the skills and tools that would become cowboy staples.

“In 17th century Spain, it was illegal for commoners to ride horses, but the owners of haciendas in Mexico, Cuba and Florida quickly learned that vaqueros were an absolute necessity in order to keep herds of cattle from going feral in the vast, unsettled expanses of the Americas,” Apalache Research writes. “Thus, the vaqueros immediately had much higher status than peon farmers.”

How Did Texas Take All the Credit?

So if Florida had the first cattle ranches and the first cowboys, how did Texas and Montana end up with all the glory? Timing and marketing. By the mid-1800s, Florida’s cattle industry was already centuries old, but it wasn’t as flashy as the big cattle drives of the post-Civil War era in Texas. Florida cowboys were driving cattle through swamps, not across the wide-open plains.

Meanwhile, Texas and Montana had Hollywood on their side. The larger-than-life image of the cowboy came from Wild West shows, silent films, and eventually John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. The wide-open plains of Texas made for a much more cinematic backdrop than Florida’s mosquito-infested marshes. But make no mistake: Florida cowboys were here first.

Where Are Florida’s Ranches Today?

Believe it or not, Florida is still one of the biggest cattle-producing states in the country. In  Osceola, Polk, or Highlands Counties, in central Florida, you’ll find sprawling cattle ranches that have been around for generations. Even Miami, known for beaches and nightlife, has its cowboy roots. Drive a little west, and you’ll find small cattle operations on the outskirts of the city. Florida’s cattle industry is alive and well, hidden in plain sight among the palm trees and tourist traps.

So next time you picture a cowboy, maybe swap out that Texas image for a Florida cracker, wading through a swamp, dodging gators, and doing it all before Texas even had its first ranch. Because when it comes to cowboys, Florida was the Wild East long before the Wild West was even a thing.

The post Florida’s Forgotten Vaqueros: The Real O.G.s of the Wild West appeared first on Nuestro Stories.

May
25

By

Design Solutions for Beachside Umbrella-Wind Wars

Category: Core77

Unless running their own firm, industrial designers don’t get to choose the problems they solve. The client’s problem, no matter how small, becomes your Manhattan Project. So while this may seem frivolous, let’s say your client supplies beach resorts, and this is their problem:

All this time, we’ve been so worried about robots coming for us, we took our eye off of beach umbrellas.

What would you do? Any designer would note that the solution is within the environment itself. Every beach has, in addition to wind, sand. As earth materials go, sand is the easiest to move.

This $160 BeachBUB umbrella employs an integrated sandbag. You fill it on-site, obviously, and it becomes a ballast.

This $120 AnchorONE design comes with a shovel. You dig an 18″-deep hole, then insert the anchor, which is made of HDPE and PVC. The company says they’ve tested it in a wind tunnel and that it will handle up to 44 mph gusts.

If digging doesn’t appeal to you, this $150 Blue Beach Umbrella Anchor System consists of sliding poles that serve as both the anchor and the installation tool. You hammer the thing two feet into the ground, which is supposedly enough to keep the included umbrella steady.

Not everyone craves the safety of an anchored umbrella. As you can see below, at least one Florida-Man-type sees windblown umbrellas as an opportunity to interact with his environment.

May
25

By

Intense energy to inevitable risks – Designing for a start-up

Category: Design Week

“Culturally, working with founders is intense, in the best possible way,” says Kelly Mackenzie, founder and creative director of White Bear. The London and Dublin based branding agency has form working with founder-led companies, including Tom Parker Creamery and chocolate brand Luvli.

“The business isn’t just what they do, it’s often wrapped up in their identity, sense of self-worth and purpose,” Mackenzie explains.

And because of this intensity, the agency becomes almost as invested as the client.

“When we’re asked to evolve or build their brand, we often tell them that it’s like being asked to mind their child,” Mackenzie says. “Naming that emotional connection early builds trust. It helps them feel safe in a process they’ve often never experienced before.”

Many designers talk of going on a journey with these clients.

“You have a very close relationship with the founders, and get to know them very deeply,” says Hijinks co-founder Marc Allenby. “Their idea is usually based on passion, and you – as a designer – are fuelled by that passion. That energy is self-motivating, you really care about what you’re creating.”

The WeRepresent logo and wordmark designed by Hijinks

When Hijinks presented the founder of talent agency WeRepresent with their logo, she burst into tears, which isn’t standard practice when presenting to bigger clients.

But Hijinks had created an animated version that “breathed” – a nod to the founder’s traumatic experience of being in a coma on a ventilator with Covid. A moving approach, in more ways than one.

The entrepreneurial spirit found in start-ups can be infectious.

“Rather than being jaded, they have a youthful energy, and that attracts us,” says Russell Potter, the co-founder of architecture and design firm SODA, whose many hospitality start-up clients include the Instagram-beloved crumble shop, Humble Crumble.

Then there’s the potential for creative freedom. “It’s a blank canvas. We’re creating something from nothing,” says Allenby at Hijinks, in contrast to a more mature brand that will come with its own baggage.

But these clients may not have worked with a design studio before process, and inevitably there’s a lot of hand-holding.

Dundee-based Agency of None branded the start-up QuickBlock

“Start-ups by their nature, are often a very small group of people, all trying to cover many roles. So the role of the designer is often as an educator, as much as a designer,” says Lyall Bruce, director of Dundee-based Agency of None, whose start-up clients include QuickBlock, a sustainable building block made from recycled food packaging, and coffee roaster Bryte.

As a consequence of this inexperience, the brief is rarely formal. It might be a loose deck, a stream-of-consciousness call, or a rough vision, according to Mackenzie. “And throughout, there will be extra calls to talk through thinking, being available on WhatsApp or Slack, and giving reassurance at each step.”

That naivety is both beautiful and brilliant, says Potter at SODA. But if you’re not careful, you can get dragged into a lot of business decisions. “We’re often asked to comment above our pay grade – we can’t always have the answers,” he says. “Someone client side has to have a leap of faith and make a decision.”

Inevitably budgets are tight, and agencies often need to explain the value of effective design,
“Once they see the link between strong branding and commercial outcomes, budget conversations become much easier,” says Mackenzie at White Bear. Although, as several designers pointed out, this challenge is not unique to start-up clients.

But for start-ups, agencies often break down payment into smaller chunks, as a way of protecting themselves.

The interior of the new Crunch sandwich shop in London’s Soho designed by KIDZ

KIDZ, which has offices in Amsterdam, Belgrade, Dubai and Paris, designed the new Crunch sandwich shop in London’s Soho. “Working with early-stage companies inevitably involves risk — timelines can shift, priorities may change, or funding may fall through,” says KIDZ co-founder Dmitrii Mironov.

“To protect our team and ensure a smooth process, we break the work into smaller, clearly defined stages. We require prepayment for each stage; keep written records of all agreements, even when communication is fast and informal; limit the number of revisions and fix the scope of work for each stage; and withhold certain deliverables until full payment is received.”

They’ve had a few cases where a project wasn’t completed because the client pivoted or changed direction unexpectedly. “While that’s never ideal, it’s part of the reality of working with start-ups,” he adds.

And sometimes it makes sense to rethink payment completely.

In lieu of fees from a business consultancy, Hijinks did a skills swap.

Meanwhile, when Run for the Hills designed a third site for restaurant chain Cricket in London’s White City, they threw in a £5,000 bar bill to make up for the smaller fee. That allowed the agency to take the team out, thereby boosting morale, and host clients, thereby showcasing their work.

The interior of one of the Humble Crumble shops, designed by SODA studio

In 2015, SODA had a start-up client in the hospitality sector who offered to pay part of the fee in Bitcoin. “We ummed and ahhed, but decided to take the £19,000 in money,” Potter says.

Some years later, it would have been worth over £1 million, though Potter points out that they would have sold it before then.

Then there’s the gamble of a profit share, where you’re investing in their business in lieu of partial payment.

At a former agency, product designer Jake Weir occasionally ended up doing sweat equity to help out, “so you’re basically partners.” When a hairdresser with limited funding came to him wanting to develop a new hair curler, the agency was given shares in the company for their design input. “We were incentivised to make it work,” Weir says. The product was a success – ultimately sold to BaByliss for “millions.”

But even when budgets are low, these jobs are still worth doing sometimes. “We’ll do them as a passion project as they’re quick turnaround and they give younger guys in the studio more on-site experience,” Potter says.

What happens when the client’s dream is never going to make it?

MAP Project Office was once asked to design a very specific backpack. “We wondered if there was a market for this,” says MAP Project Office creative director, Weir.

When people are pouring their life savings into a project, there’s a responsibility to warn them of the risks. Regardless, founders often have their mind set on these things. In these circumstances, MAP Project Office will look for a way to “dial the founders’ single-mindedness down,” Weirs says.

“If you relax the concept a little bit, you can make it less niche and more accessible, especially for a first product.”

White Bear’s work with the Tom Parker Creamery brand

And experienced designers in this sector get good at spotting the jobs to avoid.

Start-ups have a reputation for being short-lived. It’s commonly said that 90% of them fail, although the source for this stat is not at all clear.

Harvard Business Review puts it more modestly, claiming that more than two-thirds of them never deliver a positive return to investors. The food and beverage sector, in particular, is full of such tragedies, according to The Grocer.

But these potential risks shouldn’t be a reason not to take on a start-up. “The reason the project fails is not because of the design,” says Trotman at Run for the Hills, “unless the client has shittified it.”

A fish restaurant that Run for the Hills worked on in London had great interiors and a cool brand, Trotman says. “But it failed on the food, and we can’t do anything about the food.”

Conversely, when they do well, the agency is part of that success story. In 2005, Big Fish named and branded start-up chocolate puddings company Gü, cleverly persuading its founder to ditch his name, The Belgian Chocolate Company. Just seven later, it was sold for £32.5m.

And because the agency is so embedded – it’s personal, remember – the work takes on real significance.

“You really get the chance to make a lasting impact and build a long-term working relationship,” says Bruce at Agency of None. And better still for the broader industry. “The experience they have here will set up the relationship with design forever.”

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May
25

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The ‘Limpia de Huevo’ Explained: Latino Reiki, Placebo Effect, and Abuela’s Touch

Category: Nuestro Stories

If you’ve ever had a bad day, a bad vibe, or just the misfortune of receiving someone’s mal de ojo, then chances are your Abuela has performed a “limpia de huevo” on you. The sacred ritual, popular in Mexico, and throughout Latin America, involves waving/rubbing an egg all over your body and cracking it into a glass of water to read your bad spirits.

“It always made me feel better,” J.R. Gonzales, Executive Vice Chair of  the Texas Association of Mexican American Chambers of Commerce (TAMACC) tells me.

But with egg prices soaring, some have started to wonder: Can we even afford to cleanse our souls anymore? A social media user who goes by the name “Official Chingo Bling” posted a reel joking: “Due to the high cost of eggs, all limpiezas will now be canceled. If you got ‘ojo‘ you just gotta deal with it.”

And yet, high prices aside, the tradition lives on. But where did it come from? How does it work? And is there actual science behind it?

To answer these questions, and more, we turned to Dr. Gustavo Ferrer, author of “Cough Cures: The Best Natural Remedies and Over-the-Counter Drugs for Acute and Chronic Cough,” an open-minded medical professional based in Miami, Fla. He cracked this case/mystery right open for us. (Pun intended.)

The ‘Limpia de Huevo’ Explained

The limpia de huevo has been practiced for centuries across Latin America.

“The practice of cleansing bad vibes with an egg is a ritual method that has been used for hundreds of years,” El Heraldo writes. And, despite not being supported by science, many people swear by its effectiveness, believing that the egg can actually absorb and retain negative energies that have accumulated in a home or within a person, the Mexican outlet explains.

It’s been passed down through generations of abuelas who swear by its ability to absorb bad energy, ward off el mal de ojo (the evil eye), and diagnose every ailment from stress to “not calling your mother enough.”

And, thanks to social media, the tradition has gone mainstream.

“Limpia de los huevos, also known as the egg cleansing ritual, has been going viral on TikTok amongst new-age and wellness advocates,” Gurus Magazine writes. “But historically, Limpia is rooted in a collective of mystical Mexican practices that contribute to curing what ails us spiritually and clear the path toward better things. Also known as Curanderismo, it’s a practice that blends Mayan, Aztec and Spanish Catholic traditions.”

In essence, limpia is one of many global traditions that harness energy and intention for spiritual healing.

RELATED POST: Do Abuela’s Cold Remedies Actually Work? A Doctor Weighs In

“It’s like the Reiki of Latinos,” Dr. Ferrer explains, referring to the Japanese healing technique that also focuses on energy movement. “People use rituals like this all over the world. It’s about creating a moment of mindfulness, a spiritual reset.”

Which makes sense. Who wouldn’t feel better after taking a break from their stress to sit quietly while someone soothingly rubs an egg all over them?

Does it Actually Work?

So, does it actually work? Scientifically speaking, there’s no hard evidence that eggs have magical detoxifying powers. But Dr. Ferrer points out something important: the placebo effect is real.

“If someone believes a limpia will make them feel better, and it actually does, who are we to say it doesn’t work?” he asks. “Science has shown that guided meditation, slowing down, and mindful rituals can release chemicals in the brain that improve well-being. The limpia may very well fall into that category.”

If you really think about it, if abuelas have been doing it for so many years, they may be onto something, right?

The power of the Healing Touch

Of course, no limpia is complete without Abuela talking to you while she waves an egg over you. Maybe it’s not just the ritual that’s healing. It’s the fact that someone is paying attention to you, taking care of you, and reminding you that no matter what, there’s always a cure for your troubles.

“We have this need as humans to feel protected,” Dr. Ferrer explains. “And if a limpia helps someone without causing harm, why not embrace it?”

In other words, whether it’s ancient wisdom or energy healing, the limpia de huevo is too special to disregard. “It’s all about healing,” Dr. Ferrer says.

So, next time your Abuela reaches for an egg, let her do her thing. Just maybe don’t tell her how much you paid for that carton.

The post The ‘Limpia de Huevo’ Explained: Latino Reiki, Placebo Effect, and Abuela’s Touch appeared first on Nuestro Stories.

May
25

By

Google looks to level up craftsmanship in new AI Search tools

Category: Design Week

Google announced a host of AI-powered updates to its Search products yesterday, with a major focus on “richer and more vivid” designs.

“We’ve been working really hard to up the level of craftsmanship within Google search,” said Rhiannon Bell, Google’s VP of Search UX.

At its annual I/O developer conference in California, CEO Sundar Pichai unveiled what he called “a total re-imaging of Search” which with 8.5 billion daily enquiries, brings “AI to more people than any other product in the world.”

The new tools announced yesterday include:

AI mode and Deep Search, which allow deeper queries, follow-up questions, and let users create “an expert-level fully-cited report” in minutes.
Search Live which lets users talk back-and-forth with Search in real time through your camera.
AI agents to help with tasks like booking tickets.
A data visualisation tool which uses AI Mode to “analyse complex datasets and create graphics that bring them to life.” These will allow users to create custom-built charts and graphs and will roll-out first for sports and finance queries – to compare two stock prices over time, or two teams’ win ratios, for example.

The new AI tools are available from today in the US, but Google couldn’t yet confirm when they will be available in the UK.

Bell, a British design leader who has been based in San Francisco for the past two decades, said it was a big moment for the brand.

“This technology is allowing us to do things that we could have only dreamed of before,” they say. “Bringing the Search product and the AI capabilities together is a phenomenal product and design opportunity.”


https://d3faj0w6aqatyx.cloudfront.net/uploads/2025/05/Deep-Search-AI-Mode.mp4

But they explained, there are also a raft of design challenges their team must consider when implementing AI into Google’s product suite.

“This technology is incredibly powerful and we are bringing that power into people’s lives,” Bell explained. “I think we have a responsibility to make sure that it is really accessible.

“We’re moving so fast, and this technology can do so many things, I do worry sometimes that we’ll over-complicate things. And so we have protocols around making sure we’re keeping certain aspects of what Google’s really good at – at in terms of its core simplicity – as sacred as possible.”

Bell said there was “a constant dialogue” between the design leaders to ensure they are “staying true” to the Google Search product.

https://d3faj0w6aqatyx.cloudfront.net/uploads/2025/05/Complex-Analysis-Data-Visualization-AI-Mode.mp4

Alongside this simplicity, Bell also explained the team was focused on creating more crafted UX across the new tools.

“I really wanted to make sure that we were bringing the vividness, the variety, and the visual richness of the open web to the foreground,” they said.

This will show up in the way images are displayed and organised, Bell said, as well as new shopping experiences and specific design elements like the eclipse – a new waveform that appears when users are speaking with the AI tools.

https://d3faj0w6aqatyx.cloudfront.net/uploads/2025/05/Search-Live-AI-Mode.mp4

The wave goes up when people speak to their device, and down when the AI model is responding, and Bell says it’s designed to create “synergy” across different touchpoints in a visually pleasing way.

More broadly, Bell says they understand designers’ anxiety around AI and what it might mean for the profession. But she is optimistic around the opportunities for skilled designers to translate AI into usable, and exciting, interfaces.

“I feel like UX is actually having a bit of a moment,” they say. “Our role in shepherding this technology to people everywhere is so important. It’s not going to happen without us.

“AI is changing our discipline, but I think it’ making us more capable. And I think the nuances of user experience design, and that dialogue with users, are very hard to replicate.”

Other announcements at I/O included Google Flow, a new AI filmmaking tool, and a new version of its image-generation tool Imagen. The new model is said to be “significantly better at spelling and typography.”

Google also unveiled its new Google Glasses, which use Android extended reality (XR). The tech giant will partner with eyewear brands Gentle Monster and Warby Parker to design glasses that people “want to wear all day.” The move echoes Meta’s collaboration with Ray-Ban on its XR glasses.

https://d3faj0w6aqatyx.cloudfront.net/uploads/2025/05/Agentic-Capabilities-AI-Mode.mp4

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May
25

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Who Put the ‘Miranda’ in Miranda Rights?

Category: Nuestro Stories

If you’re a fan of crime shows or movies, you definitely know Miranda Rights: “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can, and will, be used against you in court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you.”

But, have you ever wondered who put the Miranda in “Miranda Rights”? While the term is ubiquitous with getting arrested in the United States, the story of Ernesto Miranda, the Mexican-American man behind the name, is less known. His case changed the law forever and left its lasting mark on pop culture.​ So, who was Ernesto Miranda?

Who is the Miranda of ‘Miranda Rights’?

“Ernesto Miranda was an uneducated Hispanic man,” The University of Arizona explains.

He was born Ernesto Arturo Miranda in Mesa, Arizona, in 1941, and had a childhood that was less than stellar. After his mother’s death when he was young, Miranda had a strained relationship with his father and stepmother. He dropped out of school in eighth grade and soon found himself on the wrong side of the law. By his late teens, he had a criminal record that included arrests for theft and other minor offenses. 

The Arrest That Changed Everything

On March 13, 1963, an 18-year-old woman in Phoenix, later known as Jane Doe, reported being abducted and sexually assaulted. The police, acting on a lead, brought in Miranda for questioning.

RELATED POST: The Menendez Brothers: Revisiting a Cuban-American Tragedy

After hours of interrogation, Miranda confessed to the crimes. However, there’s a catch: he was never informed of his right to remain silent or his right to an attorney. This omission would become the crux of a legal battle that reached the highest court in the land.

Miranda v. Arizona: A Supreme Court Showdown

Miranda’s confession led to his conviction, but his court-appointed lawyer appealed, arguing that the confession was inadmissible because Miranda hadn’t been informed of his constitutional rights. The case, Miranda v. Arizona, made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. In a landmark legal decision in 1966, the Court ruled that detained criminal suspects must be informed of their rights prior to police questioning.

“In a 5-to-4 decision, the Court ruled that Miranda’s confession could not be used as evidence because the officers had violated his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights,” YouTuber, and History Buff, Mr. Beat explains. “Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered the opinion of the Court. Warren pointed out that the police had messed up by misleading Miranda and not clearly informing him of his rights.” 

This decision gave birth to what we now call the “Miranda Rights.”

Why Do We Know the Rights but Not the Man?

It’s ironic that while “Miranda Rights” are a staple in American culture, Ernesto Miranda himself remains an obscure figure. Perhaps it’s because his post-Supreme Court life didn’t follow a redemptive arc. After his conviction was overturned, Miranda was retried without the confession as evidence. He was convicted again based on other evidence and served 11 years in prison.

After his release, he eked out a living signing autographs on Miranda warning cards.

In a twist of fate, Miranda was stabbed to death in a bar fight in 1976.

The post Who Put the ‘Miranda’ in Miranda Rights? appeared first on Nuestro Stories.

May
25

By

Sir Jony Ive to lead design and make new products for OpenAI

Category: Design Week

Sir Jony Ive will “assume deep design and creative responsibilities” to build new products for OpenAI, the company that makes ChatGPT.

It comes after the company bought io, a hardware start-up Ive founded with fellow Apple alumni Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey and Tang Tan in 2024. The long-term plan was seemingly always to merge with OpenAI.

The deal is reported to be worth $6.5 billion, and although Ive will not join OpenAI himself, his LoveFrom studio will “take over design for all of OpenAI, including its software,” Bloomberg reports.

The first products are expected to launch in 2026, although there are no details yet as to what they will be.

“I have a growing sense that everything I have learned over the last 30 years has led me to this moment,” Ive said.

“While I am both anxious and excited about the responsibility of the substantial work ahead, I am so grateful for the opportunity to be part of such an important collaboration.”

A statement posted on the OpenAI website said that founder Sam Altman started working with LoveFrom – co-founded by Ive, Marc Newson and Peter Saville – two years ago.

“Tentative ideas and explorations evolved into tangible designs,” the statement says.

“The ideas seemed important and useful. They were optimistic and hopeful. They were inspiring. They made everyone smile. They reminded us of a time when we celebrated human achievement, grateful for new tools that helped us learn, explore and create.”

“I have a growing sense that everything I have learned over the last 30 years has led me to this moment.”

This led to the realisation that OpenAI’s “ambitions to develop, engineer and manufacture a new family of products demanded an entirely new company” and this led to the creation of io.

“AI is an incredible technology, but great tools require work at the intersection of technology, design, and understanding people and the world,” Altman said. “No-one can do this like Jony and his team; the amount of care they put into every aspect of the process is extraordinary.

“What it means to use technology can change in a profound way. I hope we can bring some of the delight, wonder and creative spirit that I first felt using an Apple Computer 30 years ago.”

OpenAI also released a ten-minute video announcing the new partnership. In the film, Altman says he believes, “they have an opportunity to completely re-imagine what it means to use a computer.”

io’s team of hardware and software engineers, physicists, researchers and manufacturing experts have already produced the first prototype. Altman says Ive called it “the best work he had ever done” while Altman thinks it will be “the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen.”

So far, AI-enabled products like the Rabbit R1 companion and the Humane AI Pin have been underwhelming – tech blogger Marques Brownlee called the latter, “the worst product I’ve ever reviewed.”

But Altman is clearly confident that their products will buck this trend. In the film, Ive points out that the hardware people use to work with AI comes from a different era.

“The products that we are using to connect us to unimaginable technology, they’re decades old,” he says. “And so it’s just common sense to at least think, surely there’s something beyond these legacy products.”

Altman agrees. “I think this technology deserves something so much better,” he says.

When he appeared on the BBC’s Desert Island Discs programme in February, Ive said that society needed “healthy discussions” about AI and in particular “the rate of change” which he feared was not yet being fully grasped.

In the same interview, he also admitted that he was troubled by the iPhone’s legacy.

“The nature of innovation is there will be unpredicted consequences,” he told host Lauren Laverne.

“I celebrate, and am encouraged by, the very positive contribution, the empowerment and the liberty it has provided to so many people, in so many ways.”

And while what he calls “the not-so-positive consequences” were unintended, “that doesn’t matter relative to how I feel responsible,” Ive said. “That weighs, and is a contributor to decisions that I have made since, and decisions I am making in the future.”

In the OpenAI film, Altman says the pair bonded over “shared values about what technology should be, when technology’s been really good, when it’s gone wrong.”

“Our motivations and values are completely the same,” Ive adds.

Ive also has previous experience working with a visionary but controversial founder, in Steve Jobs.

In a review of tech journalist Karen Hao’s new book, Empire of AI: Inside the Reckless Race for Total Domination, The Guardian described Altman as, “depending how you view him, the villain who has put humanity on the path to mass extinction, or the visionary utopian who will bring us cures for diseases and a revolution in how we work.”

Speaking on Desert Island Discs, Ive complained about the “absurd anecdotes and stories” about Jobs and his leadership style, which Ive insisted had been taken out of context.

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May
25

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A New Umbrella Shape from Japan

Category: Core77

I’m always interested when people re-think old objects. So when I saw this new shape for an umbrella from Japan, I thought “Cool. I wonder what UX improvement this offers?”

The marketing photo featuring a model holding it had me puzzled. We’ve all been in those drenching sideways storms, is that what this new shape is for?

Well, no. As it turns out, this umbrella was shaped…to resemble the energy shields wielded by Mobile Suit Gundams.

For those of you that don’t know, those are giant mecha suits from what is arguably Japan’s most popular anime franchise. Their shields are used to block projectiles and energy beam weapons. Down here on Earth, raindrops is the best we could do.

The umbrellas were selling last month in Japan for ¥6,930 (USD $48) and are already sold out.

May
25

By

Wait, Cameron Diaz Is Cuban?! And Her Family Helped Build Tampa’s Ybor City With Cigars?

Category: Nuestro Stories

When you think of Cuban-American culture, your brain probably jumps to Miami and its internationally-known beaches and always-booming salsa music. But way before the Castro Revolution made Miami the unofficial Cuban capital in the United States, there was another Florida city full of the island’s flavors. That place? Tampa. Specifically, a neighborhood called Ybor City, an industrial, cigar-scented melting pot where Cuban immigrants helped roll both cigars and history. And the latest person to remind us of that rich legacy? Cameron. Freakin’. Diaz.

“My family … went to Tampa and were cigar rollers,” Diaz explained.  “That was the first Cuban settlement before Miami, outside of Cuba, was in Tampa, Florida, in a place called Ybor City.”

Yes, this is the same Cameron Diaz who head-butted Tom Cruise in the movie “Knight and Day” and danced in her underwear in the iconic film franchise “Charlie’s Angels.” The star casually dropped a genealogy bomb in an interview currently making the rounds on YouTube and Instagram. “My father was Cuban,” she said in the decade-old interview. “Spanish via Cuba to Tampa, Florida, where my family came many generations ago, back at the turn of the century, (during the) Spanish American war.”

Wait, what? Tampa? Cubans? Cigar rollers? Let’s roll back the history.

Ybor City: The Cuban-American Story You Never Learned in School

Ybor City (that’s pronounced “EE-bor”) was founded in the 1880s by cigar manufacturers and quickly became the heart of the American cigar industry.

“At the turn of the 20th century, nowhere in the United States was as famous for its cigars as Tampa’s Ybor City, which was once known as the ‘Cigar Capital of the World,’” the National Park Service (NPS) writes.

Thousands of Cuban immigrants, along with Spanish, Italian, and German workers, flocked there to work in the booming cigar factories. By 1900, it was the spot for high-quality, hand-rolled cigars. The factories were so central to the city’s identity that they operated like mini-civilizations. They had highly educated readers, called lectores, who sat in the factories reading newspapers and novels out loud while the workers rolled cigars, an early version of an audiobook-slash-union meeting.

And Cameron’s family? They were part of it.

“My family were cigar rollers,” she said. “I have all of my great-grandfather’s cigar presses and choppers and everything.”

That’s not a metaphor. She literally owns the tools her ancestors used to make a living and shape a city.

Before Miami’s Mansions, There Was Ybor’s Sweat, Tobacco, and Heritage

While Miami’s Cuban identity largely emerged after the 1959 Castro revolution, Tampa’s Cuban roots stretch back to the days of Teddy Roosevelt and yellow fever. And Diaz’s Cuban-American story is one of labor, tradition, and the grind of daily life in a factory town now preserved by the U.S. government.

“The Ybor City Historic District is a National Historic Landmark located northeast of Tampa’s downtown, NPS writes. “The district contains more than 950 historic buildings and structures built during its peak industrial years. Ybor City’s vibrant character, preserved best in the 7th Avenue Commercial Strip, is defined by the community’s blend of cultures from European, Asian, and Cuban immigrants who settled there to support the region’s once-booming cigar industry brought to Tampa in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.”

The city boomed as a result of a government policy making headlines lately: tariffs.

“It was new American tariffs on imported cigars and political trouble in Cuba that compelled Cuban cigar manufacturers to build factories in the United States in the latter part of the 19th century,” NPS explains.

RELATED POST: How the Cuban Cigar Became Elusive

And Diaz’s family was part of it. “I grew up with the Cuban heritage, the Cuban culture, the food, the language,” Diaz said. “Although I don’t speak Spanish … I can barely speak English, honestly,” she joked.

Classic Cameron Diaz, mixing reverence with self-deprecating charm. But her words shine a light on a broader truth: you don’t need to be fluent in a language to feel the heartbeat of your culture. And now, millions of fans know that her cultural upbringing has roots in the cigar town of Ybor City.

Why Cameron Diaz’s Story Matters

Until the 2011 interview started making the rounds on social media, most people didn’t even know Cameron Diaz was Latina. But that’s not a surprise. The Hollywood landscape, especially that of the 1990s and early 2000s, often erased, or overlooked, multiracial and multiethnic identities. But now, Diaz’s story reminds us of just how diverse Latin American stories in the U.S. really are. There’s so much history lying under the surface. Plus, her newly-revealed story also re-centers Tampa in the Cuban-American narrative.

For decades, Tampa’s Ybor City was the quiet heartbeat of Cuban life in the U.S. There were Cuban newspapers, mutual aid societies, and domino games happening way before they popped up on Miami’s Calle Ocho. Even today, Ybor City still has a few cigar factories where hand-rolling remains an art form.

So next time someone says “Cuban Americans,” and you hear them start to say “Miami,” kindly interrupt with: “Actually, did you know Cameron Diaz’s family helped roll cigars in Tampa at the turn of the century?” Then casually sip your cafecito and pretend you’ve always known this. Because thanks to Cameron, now you do.

Feature images of Cameron Diaz and Ybor City courtesy of Deposit Photos.

The post Wait, Cameron Diaz Is Cuban?! And Her Family Helped Build Tampa’s Ybor City With Cigars? appeared first on Nuestro Stories.

May
25

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Pope Francis Was the ‘Pope of the People’

Category: Nuestro Stories

Millions around the world are mourning today after the passing of Pope Francis, the 88-year-old head of the Catholic Church. The beloved pontiff died Monday following a lengthy battle with double pneumonia.

“Pope Francis’ death has set off a centuries-old orchestrated series of events to honor his life and legacy, though the funeral for the 266th bishop of Rome will likely differ drastically from those of his predecessors,” the New York Post writes.

Often called “The People’s Pope,” Francis was admired globally for his compassion, humility, and unwavering focus on social justice. As tributes pour in, one particular story from his early life is bringing both smiles and tears to those remembering him.

An Instagram post from RocaHistory recently reminded followers of a little-known fact: “Pope Francis (then Jorge Mario Bergoglio) … was once a bouncer at a nightclub and a janitor. Then he became a priest … now he’s the Pope.”

That story is true. Before he wore the white robes of the papacy, he was sweeping floors and checking IDs in Buenos Aires. One Instagram user commented: “Imagine getting kicked out of the club by the future pope.”

Long before he was guiding over a billion Catholics, Pope Francis was guiding the door line at a local nightclub—making tough calls about who got in and who didn’t. Perhaps it was that early life experience, shaped by humility and everyday challenges, that helped him become the “Pope of the People.”

His legacy, marked by mercy, inclusion, and deep humanity, will live on in the hearts of millions.

A Life That Led Pope Francis to the Vatican

Growing up, the “First Pope of the Americas” Jorge Mario Bergoglio worked various jobs to support himself. Born into a large, modest family, in Argentina, he wasn’t wealthy and took whatever work he could find. Among those jobs? A nightclub bouncer.

“What’s funny now is you can imagine Pope Francis being the worst bouncer in the world,” the CNN team joked on air, 12 years ago. “I mean, judging by his nature, he’d let everyone in. ‘Come on in the nightclub!’ He’d probably buy them a drink once they got there. That’s the way he’s been as Pope. It’s a wonderful little tidbit to learn about his life.”

His brief time as a bouncer, however, was just one stop on a winding road to priesthood. At 24, he says he felt a calling from God and applied to a Jesuit seminary in Chile. Accepted into the order, he began his spiritual journey. He earned a Master’s degree in Philosophy and also studied Chemistry, which later allowed him to teach literature and psychology at the university level.

Did His Time as a Bouncer Shape His Papacy?

The public first found out about his many jobs from the Pope himself. During a talk at a church in Rome, in 2013. “… the Pope talked about sweeping floors, working in a chemical lab and teaching in high school,” NPR reported at the time.  “All jobs that would help explain his now famous common touch. But he also revealed that he was once a bouncer.”

Many now wonder if those nights watching over the entrance of a Buenos Aires nightclub shaped the way he leads as Pope. As they pray for a speedy recovery, they find comfort in his past. The Pope worked hard, like so many of his followers.

CNN summed it up the best way, by saying that Pope Francis has “totally earned” his reputation as “Pope of the People.” Now, as the world mourns his passing, that reputation feels even more profound, because he wasn’t just the people’s pope. He was one of them.

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