☕ Are your coworkers coffee-badging?

Happy Saturday! It’s October 21 — people are talking about Meta’s new smart glasses, the new trend of “coffee-badging”, and more.

As always, we’ve summarized and organized the different shades of perspective, so you can see the big picture quickly. Here at Shades we believe that seeing multiple points of view is the best way to stay informed.

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🕶️ In the news: Meta’s new smart glasses

Meta released the second iteration of its smart glasses, in collaboration with Ray-Ban. Are they any good?

🕶️ CNET says the new glasses are pretty neat, if you can look past the privacy concerns. They let you record, stream, and use an AI assistant all hands-free.

🕶️ Intrigued? Watch Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg give a quick overview of the new product’s features here.

🕶️ Popular Mechanics is also a fan. The specs are a powerful content creation tool, and the AI assistant and audio capabilities are great too.

🕶️ But Mashable points out some shortcomings: Meta's AI assistant is a little lacking, recording with glasses feels invasive, and the battery life is too short.

🕶️ The Verge thinks these glasses are the best smart glasses created so far. But their success depends on whether consumers actually want smart glasses.

☕ Cultural trend: Coffee-badging

Some hybrid workers are technically abiding by return-to-office orders by clocking in at the office for a short time, just to grab coffee.

☕ CNBC says 58% of hybrid workers have admitted to coffee-badging. And men were more likely to coffee badge than women (62% versus 38%).

☕ The WSJ thinks it's a bad idea. The practice could set you back professionally — you’re going against the wishes of your company, and office face-time matters.

☕ Stylist agrees: Don't do it. The practice is pointless, and it could make you unpopular with your coworkers.

☕ WorkLife had a different take: If employees are coffee-badging, employers should take that as a sign that return-to-office orders don't work. It says more about office policy than it does about employees’ work ethic.

Quick hits

🇺🇸 Hamas released two American hostages: a mother and a daughter. Biden called their release "a sliver of hope". (AP News)

🏀 James Harden skipped all of Philadelphia’s preseason games, having said that he would never play for team president Daryl Morey. (Fox Sports)

🏛️ After Jim Jordan failed to win three rounds of votes, the Republican Party dropped him as their nominee for the next House Speaker. (AP News)

⛑️ The first trucks carrying humanitarian aid arrived in southern Gaza. It's the first aid to arrive since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war. (Reuters)

That’s it for today. Reply to [email protected] with any feedback, or ideas for tomorrow’s topics!

- Jeff (co-founder of Shades)