* 2022 ends much like 2021, people thinking it sucked because of the pandemic, and signs for hope in 2023. * Russia has not yet invaded Ukraine but continues

* 2022 ends much like 2021, people thinking it sucked because of the pandemic, and signs for hope in 2023. * Russia has not yet invaded Ukraine but continues to threaten to extract concessions. However now China in parallel amasses troops around Taiwan. * interest rates raised from ~0 to 4%+ over 3 rate hikes. more expected to come in 2023 due to continued inflation concerns. * 2 more covid variants of concern. vaccine immunity escape increases each time but they still do not release a new vaccine different than the original mRNA. * Still see headlines like: "What doe the Tau variant mean and why are experts worried?". * 4th boosters are approved but adoption rates are very low. * Testing is still somehow back-logged and demand for covid tests remains high. * Oculus continues to dominate VR space with record-breaking sales but top selling app is still just the 4-year-old Beat Saber. * Tiktok continues its dominance. Older crowd gets into TT and young kids look for something else, but nothing else gain traction yet. * Apple released iphone 14 which is somehow even more incremental than the iphone 13. * Trump positions for 2024 run. Fox news continually runs story how Trump was not to blame for Jan 6. * Biden reassures that he will run again against him. * JWST releases images. they're only ~50% of what was planned capability due to technical issues but still groundbreaking.