Virtual Skinny: Stand Up for Your Rights

Posted by The Virtual Skinny on August 30, 2016 in Internet & Tech, Newsletter 0 Comment

8.30.2016

Good to Know: Need to manage paper business cards? Mobile apps CamCard and ScanBizCards could help.

THE SKINNY

When You Take People Out GoT Style …

Last Friday, Facebook axed its Trending Topics team of humans with almost no warning. #Savage

When You Need An Explanation …

A little while back, FB was all up in the headlines for its alleged human bias in the type of stories picked up by Trending Topics. Some said the stories leaned more left than right, especially when it came to political news. Naturally, U.S. Republicans stepped in. As far as we knew, it was water under the bridge. But, not quite.

When You’ve Taken A Stand …

You may have noticed that Trending Topics no longer shows short summaries of news article. Instead, you just see the number of people talking about a topic. Well, that’s because FB decided it was better to swap out human editors for algorithms (Algorithms: Rules that tells computers what to do). The justification? FB said it’s listening to its community. And, the move “allows [FB] to scale Trending to cover more topics and make it available to more people globally over time.”

When You Can’t Fact Check …

Within about 48 hours of computers taking over Trending Topics, FB ran into some … issues. What had happened was its algorithms picked up a fake news story about Megyn Kelly being fired. Not true, Megyn Kelly is still gainfully employed by Fox News. Whoops!

When You’re Being Dragged …

FB removed the fake story, but it’s still not immune from being dragged via Twitter because some people can’t stand the change. BTW, the Zuck says it has no plans to transition from tech to media. Journalists are calling B.S. because FB is a master at selling its users’ attention to advertisers. Could a potential #JournalistsFurtherExposesFBParty be brewing on the Twitterverse?

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

**B*tch Better Have My Money …**

The European Union (EU) warned Apple not to call it on its bluff. In today’s ruling, the EU ordered Apple, Inc. to hand over a record US $14.5 billion (13 billion Euros) in back taxes to Ireland. This whole drams comes down to the EU believing that Ireland played faves with Apple with it came to taxes. To be clear, the EU is saying that Ireland gave Apple tax benefits for the past two decades. And, under EU law, this type of special tax treatment is a major no-no. Apple is understandably peeved about the decision. Ireland’s got Apple’s back and plans to appeal. Even, the U.S. government has piped up and is basically saying that the EU’s decision is no bueno and could hurt US-EU biz relations and even turn potential foreign business away from the EU.

Is This Happening Or Nah?

Everyone expected a tech bust about a year ago, but it didn’t happen. HOW, Sway? We get the confusion. This time a year ago, investors were throwing money at on-demand delivery start-ups and Uber like one of Oprah’s giveaways. A crash seemed like a sure thing, but then startups got smart and started saving more and spending less on things like perks. Also, foreign investment money from countries like Saudi Arabia helped. A tech crash could still happen but probably not any time soon.

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’

Amazon’s work schedule (especially for its technical team) is no joke … Soul crushing even. The company may finally be making a change. It’s testing out a 30-hour work week with a portion of its technical team (Monday through Thursday from 10 AM to 2 PM). The experimental group will still get the same benefits as everyone else, but they’ll be getting paid 25% less.

Twitter is trying to do what Instagram just did to Snapchat. The microblogging site is following in YouTube’s footsteps. It wants to reward its most popular users with cash money if they create video content for the site. Twitter’s offering its top users a 70% (content creators) -30% (Twitter) split in revenue – a better deal than YouTube’s 55%-45% split. Not sure if the deal will help bring in creators though since YouTube and other similar platforms are so far ahead in the game.

MAKIN’ MOVES

Uber said “you can’t sit with us” to Alphabet’s Chief Legal Officer David Drummond. Since Uber and Google are actively working on self-driving projects, Drummond decided to step down from the ride-hailing company’s board.

Virtual Skinny: Cheers!

Posted by The Virtual Skinny on June 3, 2016 in Internet & Tech, Newsletter 0 Comment

6.3.2016

Good to Know: Cheers to the weekend! If you’re a basketball fan, you’re going to want to know this. The NBA just rolled out a chatbot via Facebook Messenger to keep you current on what’s going on during this year’s finals match up between Lebron and Steph.

THE SKINNY

When You’re The New Target …

First, Pandora. Then Spotify. Now YouTube.

When You’re Not In The Money…

The music industry has zeroed in on YouTube because even though everyone and their moms constantly stream music videos on the platform, artists aren’t seeing those streams translating into dolla dolla bills. In other words, they’re seeing less direct income from YouTube in comparison to the niche vinyl records market.

When You’re Doing The Best You Can …

YouTube says it’s doing what it needs to do to pay artists. In the past decade, the platform has shelled out about US $3 billion to artists across the globe. And, the platform has rolled out new services and features to get people paid (i.e., subscription service YouTube Red and Content ID). And, YouTube is renegotiating music licenses contracts with record labels.

When It’s Just Not Enough …

The music industry wants more to be done so it’s calling on the United States Congress to change the current copyright law, namely the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The DMCA basically protects YouTube and other platforms that host third-party content if they follow certain requirements. Click here to learn more about the DMCA. The music industry says that the current DMCA is no bueno because it allows the YouTubes of the world to host illegal content. Even if the platforms take down unauthorized works, it’ll just pop up again when another user posts it to the site. The industry is pulling out all the stops and got big name artists like Katy Perry, Pharrell Williams, and Billy Joel to sign letters asking for changes to the law.

When You Can’t Take It Too Far …

The DMCA applies to more sites than just the YouTubes of the world. We’re talking blogs, fan sites, etc. So, everyone’s gotta be careful with what they ask for when it comes to changing the law. Also, you should know that the problem isn’t just in the U.S. The European Union is in the middle of changing their copyright laws, and EU reps want YouTube to pay artists more money. Oy!

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

Getting Ready to Rumble Over the Valley …

This week, the chair of Hillary Clinton’s campaign, John Podesta, made it clear that Hillary is working hard to win over the tech community. While gaining the tech community’s support is a work in progress, Podesta says the current list of Hillary’s tech supporters is impressive. He says we’ll find out whose on the list soon enough. Meanwhile, Intel’s CEO Brian Krzanich just backed out of hosting a fundraiser for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Trump will be hosting a rally in San Jose, CA tonight.

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’

Uber and Lyft want to bring your Walmart groceries right to your door. They’re teaming up with the retailer for a grocery delivery service. The partnership is in test mode, and the cities of Denver and Phoenix are up first.

Internet platforms are all about giving users control. Facebook’s taking that mission to heart with the latest experiment with its Safety Check feature. Instead of letting its staff launch the feature during times of crises, FB wants to give users control to let their friends and fam know that they are A-OK.

More people are using Snapchat on a daily basis than Twitter. That’s Snapchat’s 150 million active users in comparison to Twitter’s less than 140 million.

Twitter may be planning a Golden State Warriors-style comeback. Word on the street is that microblogging site has its eyes on Yahoo. Twitter’s instant news platform plus Yahoo’s large audience could be the perfect match to get Twitter back in the social media game. Discussions are still early.

Speaking of perfect matches, Tinder is rolling out its transgender-friendly feature next month. CEO Sean Rad said “[t]here’s a transgender community on Tinder, and we haven’t done enough to give them a good experience.”

Virtual Skinny: Anything Is Possible

Posted by The Virtual Skinny on May 25, 2016 in Internet & Tech, Newsletter 0 Comment

5.25.2016

Good to Know: Anything is possible on the Internet! Stay-at-home mom Candace Payne just wanted to have a little fun and prove that she was the proud owner of an electronic Chewbacca mask. She posted a Facebook Live video wearing the mask, and the rest is history. In no time, her video racked up over 141 million views making it the most watched video via the feature. She’s landed guest spots on late night talk shows and paid a visit to the Zuck at FB HQ.

THE SKINNY

When Something Is No Longer A Thing …

Car ownership may likely become a thing of the past. Thanks to tech companies, it’s becoming easier and cheaper to get from Point A to Point B without owning a car. Automakers can’t beat tech companies so they’re joining them.

When You Need to Get On Board …

Toyota and Volkswagen are the latest automakers to say “we want in” when it comes to how tech is disrupting the auto industry. While Toyota is teaming up with U.S. ride hailing service Uber, Volkswagen is partnering with European app Gett. Both automakers have invested heavily in each service and are trying to figure out how they’ll continue to grow in this new world of ride-hailing and self-driving cars.

When You Have A Bit More Time …

The future of auto is all about “mobility services” aka car-sharing and ride-sharing. Industry analysts say we’re not quite there yet. But in the meantime, Toyota wants to be all in on mobility (e.g., Toyota’s planning to create in-cars for Uber drivers). Volkswagen is trailing behind Toyota as it deals with its emission-cheating scandal, but the German automaker plans to release what it’s calling “Strategy 2025,” a plan for its mobility efforts, this summer.

QUICK POLL – BY THE NUMBERS

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

Keeping It As Local as possible…

Ever tried to access content online only to get hit with the “this video is not available in your country” message? The formal term for that message is called “geo-blocking.” And, the European Union (EU) has had enough of it and other barriers to online shopping across its 28 Member States. So, it’s come up with a new proposal for the Netflix, Amazon, and iTunes of the world: Get more European content up on your services. At least 20 percent of each catalog to be exact. This is all according to a proposal put out by the EU this week. Only problem is Netflix and a European tech industry group DigitalEurope say that setting a quota for European content production won’t help protect local content. But instead, could hurt biz models. Meanwhile, European screenwriters and authors want even higher quotas. In a nutshell, no one is happy with the idea.

ICYMI: Peer-To-Peer (Money) Petty

Is peer-to peer money transfer app making its users petty? Check out our post on this from earlier this week, and share your Venmo petty story in the comments!

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’

Is investor Peter Thiel for free press or not? Word on the street is that Thiel (on the low) bankrolled Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against media company Gawker. Hogan beat Gawker and was awarded US $140 million in damages. Thiel has history with Gawker. The company publicly outed Thiel in a piece called “Peter Thiel is Totally Gay, People.” We’ll let you draw your own conclusions.

Twitter is planning to ditch its 140-character word limit. Also, tagging people in replies, adding pics, GIFS, or video won’t count towards the tweet limit. Times are ah-changing …

French investigators paid a visit to Google’s Paris office over tax payments. France is claiming the Google machine owes it 1.6 billion euros (US $1.79 billion) in back taxes.

The level of FitBit’s accuracy depends on who you ask. Studies have shown mixed results in whether the wearable devices are accurate in tracking users’ activity.

Virtual Skinny: Diamonds and Pearls…

Posted by The Virtual Skinny on April 22, 2016 in Internet & Tech, Newsletter 0 Comment

4.22.2016

Good to Know: Let your life shine bright like a diamond by spring cleaning with these organizational apps.

THE SKINNY

When We’ve Lost Another Great One …

STUNNED is what we all were after learning that 57-year old, legendary pop star Prince passed away yesterday. No official word yet on the cause. So far, reports are citing his recent hospitalization for flu-like symptoms Regardless, it was a sad day for not only music lovers but the world. Insanely private, Prince was incredibly humanitarian. #YesWeCode, an initiative to teach people of color how to code, is just one of his many social contributions. #RIP #Prince

When It’s Time to Pay Tribute …

Pretty much everyone, including celebs, took to social media to share their condolences. Hit Broadway shows, namely Hamilton and the Color Purple, paid special tributes. But for us regular folks who wanted to stream his music, you probably had a hard time finding his work online.

When You Want To Stream “Diamonds and Pearls…”

It’s no secret that Prince was no fan of YouTube and Spotify. In 2015, he pulled most of his work from streaming services and decided to work exclusively with Tidal, a streaming service owned by rapper turned mogul Jay Z aka Beyoncé’s hubby. Tidal’s mission is to be more artist-friendly by giving them more money for each music stream and allowing artists to have more control over their work on the service. Prince, being protective of his image, was on board.

When Not All Hope Is Lost …

Even if you’re not a Tidal subscriber, you can still find ways to stream some of Prince’s music. Check it out here.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

Ugh, Not This Again …

The European Union doesn’t play when it comes to Google and alleged antitrust violations. It has officially charged the company with “abusing its power” with the Android operating system. Apparently, Google requiring phone makers to pre-install some of its apps like Google Search and Google Chrome is no buneo. Kind of a big deal since Android is a monkey maker for the company, bringing in $11 billion in ad sales alone last year.

When You’re Ready to Settle …

A bunch of Uber drivers in Massachusetts and California sued the company over their employment status. The drivers wanted to be considered employees, but Uber was like nah, they’re just independent contractors. The employee v. independent contractor status matters when it comes down to benefits. But, looks like a judge won’t have to decide either way. Uber settled the case for US $100 million, of which $84 million is reserved for the drivers. That amount could increase depending on whether the company’s value continues to grow. Uber agreed to change up some of its practices and help set up a drivers’ association in each state. Copy cats, anyone?

QUICK POLL – RUN THOSE NUMBERS …

The FBI shelled out US $1.3 MILLION to crack that San Bernardino iPhone. That’s more than the FBI Director James Comey’s total compensation for the remaining seven years of his tenure. Yikes!

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’

Feel more like a local on your next trip with AirBnB’s “Guidebook.”

Twitter users came for Snapchat after the company released its Bob Marley filter in honor of 4/20 aka the unofficial weed “holiday.” They weren’t here for virtual blackface. So, Snapchat put out a factual statement claiming that it works with Bob Marley’s estate on the feature. No apology needed.

While we’re talking Snapchat, looks like MTV Cribs is coming back via the app.

The Shade Room thinks Facebook (FB) is being shady. The popular gossip publisher, a place where people can “go in” on the latest pop culture news, had its fair share of drams this week. It was booted off FB for alleged copyright violations. The publisher, which got its start on Instagram and now has over 4 million followers, says it had no warning. #TheShadeOfItAll

In other FB news, the social media platform could soon allow you to cash in on your posts with “tip jar.”

Wedding season is upon us. If you’re getting married (Mazel!), HoneyFund is here to help you get those coins together for your honeymoon.

Virtual Skinny: We Can Be Your Motivation…

Posted by The Virtual Skinny on April 18, 2016 in Internet & Tech, Newsletter

4.18.2016

Good to Know: Does your LinkedIn profile bring all the recruiters to the yard? If not, you’ll need three things: a strong headline, a well-written summary, and keywords. #MondayMotivation

THE SKINNY

When Presidents Are Just Like Us …

It’s his last year in office, and President Obama is telling us how he really feels. This time, he’s talking cable set-top boxes. Obama is not here for providers forcing you to rent old-school cable boxes from them.

When You Want to Know More…

Last Friday, he went on the record and made a public statement about the U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s pending proposal to increase competition in the cable set-top box market. Obama thinks consumers are spending billions of dollars every year to rent those damn boxes and don’t even have a say in what they get. He’d like to see the market open up to innovative players like Internet and tech companies (e.g., Google, Amazon, and Apple).

When People Come For You …

The U.S. cable market is not happy with Obama’s latest revelation. Given Obama’s close ties to the tech industry, companies like AT&T say that Obama is simply giving a little shine to his political squad.

When You Let Your Haters Be Your Motivator…

While the cable market cries over spilled milk, the Obama Administration has filed its official comments re the FCC’s proposal. The Administration wants a “measured and balanced” plan to get the market competitive again. Based on the president’s 2016 State of the Union address, this is all part of the course.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

**If You Stay Ready, You Never Have to Get Ready …**

Looks like Verizon is prepping for the new cable set-top box market. It’s coming out with “Mallard,” a new device (complete with new interface features) to change-up how it offers cable and Internet services to FIOS users.

The European Union’s Back At It Again …

With an antitrust probe into Google. The company’s coming under fire in a couple of different ways. First, News Corp is the latest to question whether the Google machine’s search and news services are legal. And, EU regulators are gunning for mobile operating system Android. The EU thinks Google should let phone makers and operators do what they want. In other words, EU regulators are not cool with Google requiring phone makers to pre-load Google apps rather than allowing them to choose their own “app” adventure.

QUICK POLL – RUN THOSE NUMBERS …

Amazon v. Netflix v. Hulu: Which Streaming Service Should You Got With? Check It Out …

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’

In 2005, Mark Zuckerberg was just another “bro.” At the time, he described Facebook as “an online directory for colleges.” He’s come a long way …

IRL, Brazil’s government is getting ready to impeach its president Dilma Rousseff for cookin’ the country’s books for her 2014 re-election. The government’s lower chamber had no problem saying yes to Rouseff’s ousting. The Senate is up next. Meanwhile, Netflix is prepping for an original series based on Brazil’s political drams. The new show will be created by Jose Padilha, formerly of another Netflix original, “Narcos.” #MentalNotes #AddtoQue

What’s the Amazon version of “Netflix and Chill?” While you’re thinking about that, Amazon’s becoming more open. It’s going with a $9/month video-only subscription to compete with the ‘Flix.

Home-sharing service AirBnB is already in India, but now it’s taking market domination more seriously. Turns out India’s travel market could be worth a whopping US $40 billion within 5 years. How do we sign up?

When will this whole ordeal come to an end? Verizon may be the likely buyer of Yahoo. #OverIt

Virtual Skinny: Listen Up!

Posted by The Virtual Skinny on February 4, 2016 in Internet & Tech, Newsletter 0 Comment

2.4.2016

Good to Know: The Super Bowl is coming up this weekend. Don’t have cable? No problem. CBS Network is streaming the game for free on more devices this year. There’s still time to get yourself a Roku set-top box, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Amazon Firebox, etc. Even if you’re not into football, band Coldplay is the halftime entertainment; BUT, we hear Beyonce will be stopping by! #YASSSS

THE SKINNY

Are You Ready For This?

And by this, we mean predictive policing. What it boils down to is using different data sources (e.g., past criminal activity, population density; census data; the locations of bars, churches, schools, and transportation hubs; schedules for home games, etc.) to pinpoint patterns for future crimes. Trippy, right?

This Is Happening …

We all saw what happened in Ferguson, Missouri (police officer Darren Wilson shot and killed unarmed black teen Michael Brown). Some people are looking for ways to improve law enforcement’s relationship with local communities. Just so happens that some police officers think that relying on data could help them make better, more objective decisions. One community is working with HunchLab, a startup that offer the latest version of predictive policing. You should know that other companies like Predpol, IBM, Hitachi, and Lexis have been in on predictive policing for some time now.

We Call B.S. …

Activists and academics think that this is a pretty terrible idea. They think it’s pretty simple to conclude that the data being used would only reflect a system that already targets young black men at disproportionate rates. Proponents for cops using predictive technology say that at least with HunchLab’s system it protects against racially disproportionate policing by only focusing on serious felonies and not low-level crimes (i.e., drug possession). Seem like most people think that’s a tough sell.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

Let’s Get Down to Biz …

Mixing the old with the new. That’s pretty much Yahoo’s plan to do better in 2016. It’s a three-step plan. The first is something Yahoo’s already done – many times.Yahoo’s telling 1600 more of its employees that “they don’t gotta home, but they gotta get the heck outta there!” And in what seemed to be a crazy plan when we first heard of it, turns out not so crazy after all. Yahoo is willing to sell its core Internet business and also its stake in Yahoo Japan. Last on the list? They’re even willing to sell the whole shebang to the highest bidder. It’s an aggressive plan. Only problem is … How do you motivate people who may not be around for much longer? Things to think about …

On That Note …

Speaking of selling to the highest bidder, Twitter is struggling and should probably be giving its next steps some serious thought. Otherwise, a hostile takeover may be in its future. Meaning the company could either be bought by or merged with another company whether Twitter’s board of directors likes it or not. The good news here is a hostile takeover probably won’t happen for now mainly because of how the company’s board is structured. But, things could change.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered …

The U.S. and European Union (EU) finally struck a new deal on transferring people’s personal data across borders. In what seems like a Hail Mary-type move, both economies came together and signed off on what they’re calling the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, intended to replace the previous agreement known as the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor. The agreement is likely a huge relief for American companies that do business in Europe. Now, they can somewhat relax and get back to business as usual without having to jump through much legal and regulatory hurdles. Even though the EU and US shook it, an EU watchdog still wants to take a hard look at the new deal to see if it really protects Europeans’ data when it makes its way across the U.S. border.

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’

Sometimes, running your mouth can get you into uncomfortable situations. Just ask CEO of shopping mall operator General Growth Properties Sandeep Mathrani. He said that Amazon plans to open about 400 physical bookstores. Not true!

Action camera maker GoPro has got some news for ya. Are you sitting? The year ahead will be a bumpy ride for the company. And by bumpy, we mean its sales will be taking a dip.

Messaging platform Slack wants to change the way people work. E-mails are a huge time suck, and you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who loves those “reply all” messages. The platform wants to push office convos via channels and figure out how to better manage those discussions.

Let’s get back to the big game … Tech companies are digging deep into their wallets for Super Bowl Sunday. We’re talking US $ 4.3 million for a 30 second spot. Yikes! Expect to see ads from the likes of Amazon, PayPal, Apartments.com, and Squarespace. Ride hailing app company Lyft is taking a different marketing approach. It involves ex-NFL pro Jerry Rice as an undercover driver.

There’s now a text generator emulating unlikely Snapchat star DJ Khaled’s “keys to success” messages. #BlessUp

Looking for new things to watch? YouTube’s out with its very own original content February 10.

Virtual Skinny: Listen Up…

Posted by The Virtual Skinny on February 4, 2016 in Internet & Tech, Newsletter

2.4.2016

https://storify.com/hoo2/virtual-skinny-listen-up

Virtual Skinny FinTech Ed: When It Rains, It Pours …

Posted by The Virtual Skinny on February 3, 2016 in FinTech Edition, Newsletter

2.3.2016

Keep Spreading the Word: We’d appreciate if you’d tell your friends to get in on our FinTech weekly action. They can sign up here!

THE SKINNY

When People Are Coming For You …

The European Union (EU) wants to do more to track how funds are transferred among terrorists. Looking at you, Bitcoin (and prepaid cards).

Please Tell Me More …

After the Paris terrorist attacks in November 2015, the European Commission (being pushed by France) is focused on Bitcoin and prepaid cards for one main reason: identity. Using these services is a good way for bad guys (or anyone really) to hide financial transactions because it’s hard to uncover people’s identities.

When You’ve Already Got Summer Plans …

The Commission plans to pitch some new rules by the end of June 2016 that would make users reveal their true identity. We’ll have to wait and see how that turns out.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

When It’s Your Time …

Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending had a pretty good 2015 and looks like 2016 may be even better. New companies like Lending Club, OnDeck, Prosper, etc. popped up post the 2008 financial crisis to give people the loans they couldn’t get from banks. P2P lending startups will likely be on the rise this year thanks to things like an increase in interest rates, regulation, market size, and competition. Who knows? Internet companies like Facebook, Google, and Amazon have probably got next in the p2p lending game.

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’

Stellar, an open-source payment network based in Silicon Valley, wants in on the instant money transfer situation in Nigeria. It’s teaming up with fintech company Oradian that deals with microfinance systems in the name of financial inclusion. Transferring money may just get a lot easier for underbanked rural Nigerians.

While we’re on Nigeria, fintech startup Interswitch is about to make it big! It’s CEO isn’t talking, but we have it on good authority that the digital finance infrastructure (think platforms used for processing payments) may soon make its debut on the London Stock Exchange and become Africa’s first tech unicorn (meaning its worth at least a billion dollars). Kind of a big deal…

Ex-JPMorgan Chase exec Blythe Masters is keeping it in the family. Masters’ startup Digital Assets and the bank are playing on the same team for a blockchain trial run on how to make trading faster and more efficient. Oh, and Goldman Sachs and IBM also want a piece of the company for about $8 million combined.

Bitcoin and blockchain are blowing up in Asia. Here’s the rundown: Japanese VC firm SBI Investment pours money into bitcoin exchange Kraken; Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Tokyo’s largest bank, has got its own digital currency, “MUFG coin.” Add South Korea’s Central Bank to the growing list of entities looking into blockchain technology.

Virtual Skinny: Read Up!

Posted by The Virtual Skinny on February 2, 2016 in Internet & Tech, Newsletter 0 Comment

2.2.2016

Good to Know: Turns out that if you’ve got a case of imposter syndrome (when you feel like you have no idea what you’re doing), it may actually be a good indicator that you’re on the right track.

THE SKINNY

Taking Over For the ’16?

Alphabet, Inc., aka Google, just bumped Apple from the #1 spot. It’s now considered the world’s most valuable company. The company pulled in US $ 21.3 billion in the last quarter of 2015.

Playing by the Rules …

Google was never one for Wall Street, but now Alphabet is following the rules and doing things like letting investors in on just how it’s main advertising business is doing. This is turning out to be a good move seeing as Alphabet’s stock price went up by 43% from just a year ago.

No Growing Pains Here …

Alphabet is still growing thanks to advertising including things like search advertising, YouTube, the Google Play Store, and Google’s mobile app store. While it’s bringing in the cash, it’s still shelling out a bunch of it for projects that are in the works (e.g., self-driving cars). These projects known as moonshots are costing the company about US $3.6 billion per year. But, as long as it let’s people know exactly what’s profitable and what’s not, Wall Street should be pretty forgiving.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON ?

When Things Aren’t Look So Rosy …

While Alphabet is killing it on Wall Street, Yahoo is doing quite the opposite. CEO Marissa Mayer is still struggling to get the company back on track. Rumor has it that she’ll be making even more employee cuts – 15% of employees or 1600 people are ’bout to get pink slips. In addition to cuts, we’re expected to learn Yahoo’s latest plan to get itself on track when the company puts out its earnings report for Q4 2015. Will it sell its main Internet business or not? Looks like we’ll find out sooner rather than later …

Game Over …

The U.S. and European Union (EU) had until the end of January 2016 to reach an agreement on how American companies would transfer European citizens’ personal information in a way that protects people’s privacys. They gave it the good ol’ college try but came up empty. They just couldn’t agree on certain things, namely how the U.S. government would keep its nose out of Europeans’ personal biz. The U.S. said it was willing to do things like appoint a government official to be a contact for Europeans on data misuse issues. But, the EU wasn’t impressed. Not sure whether both sides will meet somewhere in the middle. But, in the meantime, the EU’s making an outline of its proposal public.

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’

Is Uber the Walmart of rides? The ride hailing company just royally ticked off its New York City drivers. The company reduced its UberX rates by 15%. The company says lower rates will increase demands and decrease wait times between trips. Drivers beg to differ. Some want out of the service all together but can’t because they’ve taken on car loans via Uber. Oy!

Welcome to the club. WhatsApp, messaging app owned by Facebook, just reached the billion users club. Now, it’s trying to figure out how to make money while staying true to its roots (i.e., no ads, please). Sidenote: the Democratic Republic of Congo and Congo-Brazzaville are not the same country, but WhatsApp seems to think so.

Speaking of the billion users club, Gmail is officially in too.

Popular e-mail app Airmail is now available for iPhones.

The Virtual Skinny: Brace Yourself …

Posted by The Virtual Skinny on December 16, 2015 in Internet & Tech, Newsletter

12.16.2015

Good to Know: In 2015, you all cared a lot about Caitlyn Jenner and Lamar Odom. Don’t try to deny it. Google’s put you on blast.

THE SKINNY

Here We Go Again …

Last night, the U.S. Republican presidential candidates threw down in their fifth round of debates. Everything from terrorism and immigration to the Internet were on the table.

Um, What Now?

Not one to disappoint, Donald Trump had some thoughts on fighting terrorist group ISIS. He says shutting down parts of the Internet and “penetrat[ing] the Internet [to[ find out exactly where ISIS is and everything about ISIS” is the way to go.

When Other People Have Stuff to Say …

When it comes to the Internet, Trump’s fellow Republican candidate Senator Marco Rubio is the one to watch. He recently put his name to a letter basically letting the U.S. Federal Communications Commission know that he doesn’t support its efforts to help local cities and towns set up their very own, publicly run Internet providers. In the past, he’s also said that he’s unimpressed with China’s online censorship.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

Can We Live?

China’s definitely got a bad rap when it comes to allowing people to do as they please online. People are saying China’s launched an “all-out assault on Internet freedoms.” Speaking at the World Internet Conference this week, Chinese President Xi Jinping hit back and his message to the global community is pretty clear: Stay out of how we handle our biz. He thinks countries should have the right to handle the Internet they way they see fit, and no one should have anything to say about it. But, others aren’t buying it. There’s speculation that China is being shady and is on the low trying to extend its views on surveillance and online censorship across the globe.

When Someone Needs their mouth washed out with soap…

Internet companies like Facebook, Google, and Twitter are falling in line with Germany’s anti-hate speech rules. This year, Germany’s opened up its borders to about 1 million refugees. It’s also seen an influx of a lot of hate talk online. So now, Germany wants online platforms to help out in monitoring comments that go a little too far. These platforms already have policies against that type of thing, but they’ll do better in allowing users to easily flag hate speech. In Germany, saying hateful things about someone’s race, ethnicity, religion, sex, or disability could get you five years in the slammer. Companies have 24 hours to make good on their promise.

It’s Officially Off-ish …

Internet companies had their eyes set on Europe yesterday. The European Union’s (EU) been trying to figure out new EU-wide privacy laws and looks like they finally came to an agreement. Things like upping fines on companies’ that violate the law and putting restrictions on how advertising companies’ can use people’s personal information is in. One thing that’s making people’s heads turn is what it says about kids 16 years or younger. The new law would ban these kids from using online services that collect data without parental consent. It’s bad news for the kids and online platforms. Meaning, there goes kids FB-ing, snapchatting, tweeting, instagramming w/o their parents giving the go ahead. And for companies, there goes potential users and ad $$$. #NoBueno

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’

Google’s serious about getting more people in India online. It’s working on partnerships with India’s government and is also looking to the country as a place to test out new products. Getting people online means more dolla dolla bills for the company in terms of ad revenue.

Facebook isn’t one to stay in its lane. The social network is now taking on recommendation sites like Yelp and Angie’s List with its new local-service site. It’s also easing up on its “real name” policy.

It’s the holiday season, which means holiday office parties. Yahoo’s been going through some tough times (it plans to shut down its Dubai office), but that didn’t stop the company from throwing its employees an alleged $7 million party Great-Gatsby themed. Employee morale can go a long way.