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In an age where we all need to touch grass more than ever, I am deeply saddened to hear that author Annie Dillard has died. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek is one of the most stunningly beautiful books I’ve ever read — I always keep a few copies on hand to gift to strangers because it’s so meaningful. If you need a break from the relentless tech news cycle, please gift yourself this amazing work and revel alongside the author at the majesty, terror, and redemption provided by our natural world.

I am prepping this week’s issue a little early, and I want to know everything you’re into. What are you reading / watching / playing / interested in this week? Tell me so I can tell everyone! (And subscribe to Installer!)

AI data center projects are continuing to pop up across the US, with frequent opposition from locals concerned about their impact. Here are a few recent articles about the projects:

The latest trailer for Laika’s next stop-motion epic provides a better look at the fantasy world at its core, including a very charming and distracted dog. The movie hits theaters on October 23rd, and you can read a little more about how it was created right here.

It has officially dethroned Star Wars: The Force Awakens as the highest-grossing domestic release to date, Variety reports. So far, Brand New Day has pulled in over $936 million domestically and $2.45 billion globally, making it the third highest-grossing film of all time, behind Avatar and Avengers: Endgame.

Haters said it was too woke and would go broke, but Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey crossed the billion-dollar mark and hasn’t looked back. Nonetheless, competitors — including Elon Musk — threatened counterprogramming built with AI. Well, the time has come for one of these projects, which is a 150-minute AI-generated film hosted by Fountain 0, available as of today. If you don’t want to pony up for admission, we’ll let you know our thoughts on the film soon.

Swifties with a Premium subscription can watch all 58 of Taylor’s videos in Spotify’s “Switch to video” mode, from her first-ever video for 2006’s “Tim McGraw” to “Opalite.”

Apparently that’s what Flock cameras are silently telling themselves about every two minutes. 404 Media and Wired collaborated on reporting about hackers who broke inside the surveillance cameras and picked through their custom Android apps, data collection habits, and machine vision methods. Flock doesn’t seem happy, and the hackers are trying to “keep a low profile.”

Following an already busy year of releases, Xteink’s new S4, which is launching in China first, is the company’s first pocketable E Ink device to run Android 11 giving it access to both the Kindle and Kobo mobile apps. The S4 also features a 4.3-inch frontlit touchscreen, 32GB of storage, a proper USB-C port, and a generous 1,400mAh battery, according to Good e-Reader.