7.1.2014
FOR FUNSIES: Expending too much energy to take selfies? No worries. Swedish startup Crunchfish’s GoCam apps for Apple devices will take the stress off by allowing you to take a selfies without touching your phone screen.
IMMIGRATION
There’s No “I” in Team, But There’s a “Me” …
President Obama is prepared to take executive action on immigration reform as it is clear that a bill is going nowhere – at least this year. Speaker John Boehner confirmed recently that he would not take up an immigration bill because people simply don’t trust the President to enforce current law. In a speech from the Rose Garden, Obama called out House Republicans for failing to pass a “darn bill” and did not mince words by stating “I take executive action only when we have a serious problem … and Congress chooses to do nothing.”
I Thought We Were Making Progress…
For years, Republicans and Democrats have been sparring over comprehensive immigration reform — though everyone agrees that the system needs a major overhaul (particularly with regards to allowing more high-skilled immigrants). Last year, Democrats led a movement and passed a comprehensive bill out of the Senate, but things stalled in the House.
Wait… Did Something Happen?
In the past few weeks, Dave Brat beat out House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va) in a primary race. And, there has been an unexplained spike in the number of children trying to cross over the Texas border solo.
Taking Steps Forward …
In addition to requiring Homeland Security Jeh Johnson and Attorney General Eric Holder to transfer immigration enforcement resources to the United States border, President Obama is seeking input from administration officials on other actions he can implement on his own. Open dialogue with immigration advocates is also welcome.
PRIVACY & GOVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE
Because I Said So …
Yesterday, the Supreme Court issued an order to decline hearing Google’s appeal of an appellate decision ruling that determined that Google crossed the line with its Wi-Fi system when collecting data for its Street View mapping service. But why? No reason … the Court did not deem an explanation necessary. Google argues that the data sent over its Wi-Fi is a radio communication that is publicly available. The refusal to hear the case maintains the appellate court’s findings that Google’s actions violates federal wiretap laws because information collected include documents, emails, usernames, passwords, etc.
Leaks? What Leaks?
The National Security Agency’s new leader Michael Rogers is striking a different, more moderate tone than his predecessor Michael Hayden. Post-Snowden leaks, Hayden described the situation as “unquestionable, irreparable, irreversible harm.” Rogers, on the other hand, is fully embracing internal changes to prevent future leaks and is supportive of President Obama’s goal to end bulk collection of Americans’ telephone data. He anticipates that the fallout from the leaks will be manageable in the long term.
But, This Isn’t Helping …
Vice President of the European Commission Viviane Reding believes that the United States’ ordering of Microsoft to hand over emails housed in servers based in Ireland is a breach of international law and is concerned about privacy violations against individuals in the European Union. Microsoft argues that this move will continue to hurt the ability for U.S. cloud companies to compete abroad as companies and the U.S. government work to rebuild trust with foreign counterparts when it comes to users’ data. Reding suggests that the U.S. work through the mutual legal assistance treaties (MLATs) — basically agreements between countries to cooperate in sharing with information regarding criminal investigations.
What to Say to the Office Gossip …
Happiness is contagious, and that’s not just because of Pharrell’s hit song. News broke over the weekend about a study Facebook ran back in March 2012. For a one-week period, FB adjusted the newsfeed of almost 700,000 users and randomly showed them either positive or negative posts. The results confirm that positivity breeds positivity and well … negativity does in fact bring others down. Users who saw positive posts on their newsfeed also posted positive responses while those who saw negative posts tended to be more negative. Privacy advocates are not pleased because FB relied on its Data Use Policy to conduct the study rather than seeking explicit permission. Though the lead FB researcher defended the reasons behind the study (determine the emotional impact of FB), he apologized for the anxiety caused by the study and suggested that the study’s findings may not have been worth the strong reactions after all.
COPYRIGHT
You Win Some, You Lose Some …
Following last week’s Supreme Court decision ruling Aereo’s technology illegal, the company announced that it would suspend its services for now and issue refunds to its subscribers. As Aereo puts on the brakes, competitors are ramping up their services to fill the new void. Mark Ely, founder of Simple.TV, is recruiting Aereo subscribers via Twitter. Simple.TV provides a ‘private TV server’ to record programs on a hard drive connected to users’ device. Another potential competitor, Mohu, provides streaming services via over the air antennas.
Reinventing Yourself, Not Just for Madonna …
No stranger to litigation brought on by broadcasters, FilmOn is now billing itself as a cable company post-Aereo. What’s the difference between the old and 2.0 version of the service? FilmOn says simply implementing a paywall and requiring subscribers to pay for its service. Now, the company wants broadcaster to negotiate royalties in exchange for signals. But, that’s not all. FilmOn recently just announced its Teleporter technology.
GOOD TO KNOW
Stacks On Stacks on Stacks …
Rakuten, a Japanese e-commerce company, is establishing a $100 million startup fund to support tech firms in Asia-Pacific, Israel, and the U.S. This move is likely to ensure new revenue streams to facilitate competition against other e-commerce giants like Amazon. So, what type of start-ups is Rakuten looking to fund? Word to the wise — think ‘big’ as in companies that support big data back-end systems.
How Would the Urban Dictionary Refer to Bitcoin …
Last weekend, California Governor Jerry Brown enacted a bill into law that confirms the use of Bitcoin and other alternatives as legitimate forms of payment.
It’s Not JUST a Game, It’s Our Lives …
World Cup fever is still alive and is breaking records — on Twitter. During a critical moment during the Brazil v. Chile game that kept Brazil in the tournament, almost 389,000 tweets were generated. The game broke this year’s Super Bowl record of about 382,000 tweets that ensued following an impressive, Seattle Seahawks’ 87-yard punt return for a touchdown. Today at 4 PM ET, the U.S. takes on Belgium following the Argentina-Switzerland match.