Virtual Skinny: Inter-Webs…

Posted by The Virtual Skinny on August 23, 2016 in Internet & Tech, Newsletter 0 Comment

8.23.2016

Good to Know: Time to celebrate … The Inter-Webs turn 25 years old today! Still waiting on that quarter-life crisis.

THE SKINNY

When You’ve Turned Over a New Leaf (Sort of) …

If you’ve been following U.S. politics, then you’ve probably noticed that Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump is trying to do better. He’s trying to stay on script and talk more policy. Top of the list? Immigration.

When You Still Want to Build That Wall …

Trump unveiled his immigration plan last week, and it went further than just building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. He talked a lot about “extreme vetting” for those wanting to immigrate to the U.S.

When You’re Not Sure What This Means …

‘Many people’ are wondering (see what we did there?) what this meant for H-1B work visas, which is a big deal in the tech world. It’s unclear, but Trump has said in the past that he would want to reform the H-1B program to stop ‘rampant abuse.’ He’s even called out Disney as a major culprit.

When You’re Confused…

Meanwhile, Silicon Valley and the tech world are still not feeling Trump even with his new approach. With the exception of entrepreneur Peter Thiel, even Silicon Valley Republicans are staying clear of the Donald. They’re either backing down-ticket candidates. throwing their money at Hillz, or sitting the election out all together. #InterestingTimes

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

Nope, Not On My Watch …

Google, Facebook, and Twitter are not pleased with a proposal from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The agency thought it would be a good idea to ask foreign U.S. visitors arriving on visa waivers to voluntarily hand over their social media account info. It’s all in the name of id-ing potential terrorists. Internet companies said ‘no way Jose.’ The proposal would spell major trouble for social media and free speech generally in the U.S.of A. Not to mention, it would send the wrong message to other countries that they should do the same. #SorryNotSorry

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’

What to do after retirement? Former Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant retired from the NBA this year. Now, he’s getting into investments. Bryant and his partner Jeff Stibel announced that they’ve launched a US $100 million venture capital fund called Bryant Stibel. They’re looking to invest in tech, media, and data companies. Not really a surprise, Bryant and Stibel have been lowkey investing in companies since 2013.

Tired of your Spotify or Pandora? Amazon’s stepping into music streaming service ring. The service is still in the works, but rumor has it that it’ll cost around US $5/ month. Oh and there’s a catch, the service will only work with Echo hardware aka ‘Alexa.’ Now that Alec Baldwin/Missy Elliott commercial is starting to make sense. #PepRally

Ride-hailing service Lyft wanted out of the biz. It tried to sell to the likes of Uber and for US $9 billion. But, Uber said “too rich for my blood” … It was willing to do $2B and not a penny more. It wasn’t just a money issue … CEO Travis Kalanick didn’t think it’d be a good idea on account of the Feds (i.e., antitrust issues).

While we’re on Uber, ICYMI, it’ll start letting real people into its self-driving cars. To be specific, it’ll start by testing out 100 Volvos in Pittsburgh, PA. But don’t worry, there’ll be a human at the wheel in case things start to go left

Daydream is no longer falling asleep beneath the flowers. It’s the name of Google’s new service for virtual reality films and programs. The company’s throwing millions of dollars at the service and at Inter-web stars for content.

MAKIN’ MOVES

Amazon Web Services former marketing vet Adam Selipsky is going to be the top guy at software company Tableau.

Dropbox CFO Vanessa Wittman is walking away from her post due to health reasons. She’ll be replaced by financial deputy Ajay Vashee in September.

Virtual Skinny: No Judgment Zone

Posted by The Virtual Skinny on August 13, 2016 in Internet & Tech, Newsletter 0 Comment

8.13.2016

Good to Know: Been watching the Rio Olympics? There’s about two weeks left. We hear it’s best to stream.

THE SKINNY

When You’re the Outlier …

Post the Republican and Democratic National conventions, opinion polls are showing that it’ll be Hillary over Trump come this November. But, app maker Ric Militi says otherwise.

When You’re Confused …

Militi, creator of Zip Q&A, says based on what he’s seen on the app, he’s calling the U.S. presidential race for Trump.

When You’re A Judgment-Free Zone …

Militi says the discrepancy between opinion polls and his app comes down to anonymity. He says his app allows people to answer questions and express their feelings without anyone knowing their identity. He says people feel free to say what they want without being judged and labeled for their opinions.

When You Need Answers …

What do you think? Is Militi onto something? Tweet us with you think @virtual_skinny. #My6WordOpinion

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

Play Your Cards Right…

Tech companies are going public like they used to, but employees still want to cash in on their company shares. Private tech startups are hearing them loud and clear and are trying to do right by their employees. Pinterest and SpaceX are leading the way. Employees can sell their ‘startup shares’ – with strings, of course.

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’

Message him maybe? President Obama just copped himself a Facebook Messenger account. The goal is to “meet people where they are.”

Snapchat’s filters aren’t always a hit. The app released its “anime-inspired” filter, and it didn’t go well. Asian users took to Twitter to call out the app for its “yellowface” app. A similar reaction happened back in April when Snapchat put out its Bob Marley app in honor of 4/20. People were not ok with it on account of “blackface” and all. Snapchat took the filter down a couple of days later. But, we gotta ask! When will they learn?

Speaking of filters gone bad … BuzzFeed’s saying that Twitter filtered out abusive comments during Q&A sessions with President Obama and celeb Caitlyn Jenner. This all allegedly went down while former CEO Dick Costolo was CEO. Costolo said it never happened. The issue? Twitter may be treating celebs differently than regular folks on its platform. Celebs, maybe they aren’t just like us after all…

Facebook’s on a mission. First, the company kicked off its take down of clickbait. Now, it’s changing up its secret algorithm sauce to show people more content they care about to keep them informed. That’s right… Keep ‘em coming back for more.

Netflix’s ‘Making of a Murder’ was a huge hit. Now, the documentary’s main subject Brendan Dassey just got his conviction overturned.

If you’re a gamer, Spotify’s got something for ya! The music streaming service just launched a new portal dedicated to video game music. Enjoy!

Ride-hailing service company Lyft just told GM, “your money’s no good here.” It’s turned down GM’s advances to buy out the startup.

MAKIN’ MOVES

Co-founder of the Huffington Post, Arianna Huffington, has been trying to get us to sleep and take care of ourselves for a while now. She even wrote a book about it. But, now she’s done talking. Huffington said she’ll no longer be the head EIC of the online media company. She’s now heading up Thrive Global, a “corporate and consumer well-being and productivity platform.” Think wellness type stuff for corporate employees.

Bill Maris, founder and CEO of Google Ventures, thinks he’s done all he can to get the company’s investing arm on the right track. He’s decided to leave the company on a high note to spend time with his fam. Maris will be leaving GV in the hands of David Krane, Google’s former PR guy.

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: Extra, Extra…Read All About It

Posted by The Virtual Skinny on May 10, 2016 in Internet & Tech, Newsletter 0 Comment

5.10.2016

Good to Know: Is Apple being a little extra? Now may be a good time to back your media all the way up. Otherwise, Apple can and will delete files from your internal hard drive. The files are downloaded to Apple’s database and served back to you when you want to take a listen. It’s all in the iTunes Terms of Use.

THE SKINNY

When Shots Have Been Fired …

Gizmodo just went after the Facebook News curating process. Last week, Gizmodo sounded off on Facebook’s trending news team. Think young journalists groomed by Ivy League schools or private East coast universities.

When A Week Makes A Difference …

This week, Gizmodo went all the way in on Facebook News. The news outlet chatted with a former member of the social media’s trending news team, and the person described the curating process in one word – bias. The anonymous source, who happens to be conservative, piped up and said that most team members lean left on the political spectrum. So naturally, conservative news stories were hard to come by on Facebook news.

When It Doesn’t End There …

The source had things to say about management too. Facebook says its trending topics are based on algorithms that pick up on what people care about on the platform. The source says not so much. As FB tries to compete with Twitter, the source says management would often tell the team to “inject” news stories that weren’t trending at all on FB but were covered by major news publications like CNN, New York Times, BBC, etc (e.g., Black Lives Matter, disappearance of Malaysian Airline MH 370, Charlie Hebdo attacks, etc.) . Oh, and if news about FB popped up, the person claims they were told to keep it moving unless they got approval to include it.

When You’ve Gotta Respond …

FB is denying everything. It put out a statement saying there are rules in place “to ensure consistency and neutrality” with its Trending Topics section. A spokesperson said it also doesn’t suppress political viewpoints. Now, the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee that oversees media and consumer issues is like “Facebook, what’s good?” It’s fired off a letter to FB about its practices.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

Reclaiming “Basic…”

If you’re known to go off in the comments section on Reddit, you may want to reconsider. Researchers at the University of Southern California say that the longer you comment, the more basic you sound. Apparently any more than an hour, and you run the risk of your posts being “shorter” and “less sophisticated.” They study is specific to Reddit so no word yet on how this goes on Facebook or Twitter.

QUICK POLL – BY THE NUMBERS

Take our poll! Let us know what you think!

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’

Ripple.co is a new app that says it’s for local journalists and storytellers.

Content publishers want a piece of that Snapchat action. They’re allegedly ponying up some “Benjamins” to get a spot on the app’s Discover feature. Snapchat’s being mum on this.

Uber and Lyft said “nah nah nah, nah nah nah, hey hey hey, goodbye” to Austin, Texas. Residents voted against Proposition 1, which was intended to do dial back on some regulatory protections the city put in place last December (2015). Turns out Austin residents do want fingerprint-based background checks for Uber and Lyft drivers. Residents also weren’t feeling the $8.6 million marketing campaign the companies pushed to do away with the regulations. Uber and Lyft say they already use legit background check services and fingerprints aren’t reliable. So for now, they’re done with Austin.

If you build it, they will come. Amazon’s created a new service called Video Direct to go head-to-head with YouTube. Amazon wants content creators to upload their works for its Amazon Prime audience.

Virtual Skinny: Consistency Is Key

Posted by The Virtual Skinny on March 16, 2016 in Internet & Tech, Newsletter

3.16.2016

Good to Know: Consistency is the name of the game for the Obama Administration when it comes to nominating someone to fill the current vacancy on the Supreme Court (like previous Administrations). In a slight departure from tradition, the Administration created an account (@SCOTUSnom) just to announce President Obama’s nominee. Congrats, Judge Merrick Garland. Now, good luck getting Senate approval.

THE SKINNY

You Came In Like A Wrecking Ball …

Is the Internet partly responsible for giving the American people Senators Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz … and even Donald J Trump for the 2016 presidential election? It could be the case since they’ve all gained traction despite the fact that the establishment isn’t here for any of them.

What Used to Be …

Historically, Republican presidential nominations came down to media and political powerhouses … But that was then. Now, thanks to online fundraising, presidential candidate no longer need to rely on political and media insiders but can rake in tons of online donor cash to support their campaigns.

Role Reversal …

These days, Internet users are driving content. And, it’s no different when it comes to politics. Case in point? Online media sites like Vox and others picked up on stats that articles about Bernie Sanders generate heavy traffic. So, they do what any savvy biz person would do … Give the people what the want – more articles of Sanders.

Bottom line …

Some of you guys on social media are partly responsible for Sander’s popularity and the unexpected rise of Donald J Trump (to which DJ Khaled would say, “Congratulations, you played yourself.”) Moving forward, the Internet’s shake up of the media’s influence in U.S. politics is just starting.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

When Consistency is Overrated and You Need to Change Strategy …

Apple filed its latest response yesterday in its ongoing beef with the U.S. government. Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed its own documents with the court and fired (more) shots. The DOJ alleges that Apple is only making a thing out of the entire situation for its marketing purposes. In response, Apple took a more measured approach to dispel the government’s characterization of its position. With its filing, Apple’s trying to change the convo from marketing chatter to more serious things like privacy and security.

It’s Not As Easy As It Looks …

There’s been a lot said about what’s going on in this very heated debate. Late last week, President Obama even weighed in at tech and music festival South by Southwest. Obama basically said there has to be a middle ground. But, no so fast … John Oliver’s got the illest 18-minute long explanation of the whole issue. Definitely worth a looksy…

Not This Again …

Online streaming services have been going through it. Last year, Taylor Swift piped up to pen an open letter about how she won’t be putting her work on streaming services like Spotify because they don’t properly compensate artists the way they should … U.S. music licensing laws are insanely complicated, and Swift’s argument isn’t exactly accurate. While that’s still an ongoing issue, music streaming services now have a new problem: Click fraud. Turns out it’s pretty easy to defraud streaming services into forking over royalties even if you aren’t a legit artist. You basically need three things to pull it off: (1) fake artists, (2) auto-generated tunes, and (3) “bots” that’ll click all will nilly on songs by real and fake artists. Things that make you go hmmmm…

QUICK POLL – RUN THOSE NUMBERS …

Some of you guys in the U.S. aren’t paying up for Netflix. A recent study found that about 31% of Americans who have access to the service aren’t actually paying for it. On a related, here are tips to sharing your account the right way. You’re welcome …

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’

Instagram’s going rogue … The platform plans to start showing posts not in chronological order but based on what people want to see. While we’re on Insta, Pope Francis is getting ready to make his debut.

AirBnB just announced in Tokyo that neighbors of AirBnB hosts will soon be able to put the hosts and their properties on blast via an online form.

If you’ve got an MBA, e-commerce giant Amazon may just be interested. The company’s got a thing for business school grads. While it’s recruiting MBAs, Amazon is putting its lawyers to work. The company just filed a patent application on the process that would allow people like you and me to pay for things via selfies.

Internet veteran Yahoo is still trying to figure out the best way to move its business forward. But no matter what happens, its current CEO Marissa Mayer wants to stay put for at least three years.

Ride-hailing service Lyft and GM are teaming up to make car rentals easy peasy for Lyft’s drivers.

Waffle , anyone? No, we’re not talking the better alternative to pancakes. It’s Samsung’s new social network.

Btw, Twitter’s trying to make a comeback. Here are someways to make your account work for you.

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

The Virtual Skinny: Back On Track, Yet?

Posted by The Virtual Skinny on January 5, 2016 in Internet & Tech, Newsletter

1.5.2016

Good to Know: This year, expect a lot of chat about driverless cars, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, etc in the world of tech. But, increasing opportunities to buy Girl Scout cookies online is definitely something we are looking forward to in 2016.

THE SKINNY

The Future Is Here …

General Motors (GM) is getting serious about the future of transportation. The company’s pumped US $500 millie into ride-hailing service Lyft.

It’s Not All About the Benjamins …

GM isn’t just ponying up a ton of cash to help out Lyft. It’s also teaming up with the company on developing an “on-demand network of self-driving cars.” GM is betting on driverless cars as other companies like Google, Tesla, and Uber are looking into possibilities.

It Doesn’t End There …

No word yet on when to expect a functional autonomous car rental. But, GM-Lyft short-term car rentals for potential Lyft drivers could be happening in the near future. The way people navigate urban cities are a-changing.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

The Champ is Here …

Or, not! Lyft’s rival Uber has been killing it in the U.S. market. But, that’s not the case in other countries like Germany. Uber has run into some major roadblocks due to Germany’s tough transport rules. And btw, local German taxi lobbies aren’t making things better.

Better Now Than Later…

Yahoo’s stakeholders are worried about their pockets. They are increasingly warming up to the idea of Yahoo selling its core Web business (think Yahoo Mail and other services) to the highest bidder. Why the rush? They’re worried that if they wait to do it later, Yahoo’s stock value may fall below what they’d like to see. They’re even willing to pay almost a billion dollars in taxes for the sale to happen. Oh, we should also mention that word on the street is that U.S. telecom Verizon may be interested if Yahoo’s Internet biz is in fact up for sale.

New Year, New Me…

Netflix wants to bank some serious dolla dolla bills this year. The company and its investors have been ok with small profits as the company’s been working on its original content and expanding its global operations. Speaking of content, programs like the Making of a Murderer have been a hit, and the company’s getting ready to go Bollywood.

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’

Twitter wants a piece of Muzik, a “connected headphone” company. Starting in May, Muzik will be selling its wireless headsets for $299.

Running about a mile a day and researching artificial intelligence to build a robot to help around the house. That’s on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s agenda for 2016. What are your New Year resolutions?

New York City is turning its pay phones into wireless hotspots. And, that’s what we call making something old, new again!

The Virtual Skinny: That’s The Spirit!

Posted by The Virtual Skinny on December 21, 2015 in Internet & Tech, Newsletter

12.21.2015

Good to Know: The first website popped up 25 years ago. To say that we’ve come a long way is an understatement. That was then.

THE SKINNY

iS iT toO laTE TO sAY Sorry?

The U.S. Democratic presidential candidates met up Saturday night in New Hampshire for their third debate. Bernie Sanders apologized to fellow candidate Hillary Clinton for a data breach incident that happened days beforehand. Clinton appreciated it. Now, it’s all water under the bridge.

Wait, What Happened?

If you missed the drams late last week, here’s a quick re-cap. People from Sanders’ campaign got their hands on confidential voter information from Clinton’s camp. A software glitch is to blame for the exposure. It’s alleged that somewhere between 1 and 4 staffers from Sanders’ campaign saw the info. It wasn’t a full-on public disclosure so things could’ve been much worse.

When Someone Says You Can’t…

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) stepped in and banned Sander’s campaign from using the voter information until it cleared things up. This didn’t go over well, and Sander’s campaign hit back with a federal law suit against the DNC. The campaign said the committee had no right, and its actions would cost the campaign about $600k/day in donations. Ultimately, the DNC and Sander’s campaign settled the issue. Looks like everyone’s moved on.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

When Something’s Definitely Not A Good Idea …

Apple CEO Tim Cook sat down with 60 Minutes last night. Cook took the time to drive home the point that governments asking tech companies to weaken encryption measures on their devices is a terrible idea. With increasing terrorist attacks, intelligence agencies and law enforcement are asking tech companies to build “backdoors” into their technology just for them. Not possible, says Cook. “Backdoors” work more like general admission tickets than VIP passes. In other words, this type of access to communications wouldn’t just be for law enforcement but for anyone savvy enough. Hillary Clinton seems to agree …

Things Are About to Get Real Serious …

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is taking things to the next level with last year’s Uber data breach. DOJ is launching a criminal investigation into who illegally downloaded names and license numbers of about 50K Uber drivers. Employees from Uber’s U.S. rival Lyft aren’t exempt from DOJ’s investigation. The situation is a bit complicated and has many moving parts. Lyft says it’s looked into the matter, and none of its employees are involved.

Slow and Steady Wins the Race…

While everyone (including venture capitalists) pays attention to Silicon Valley (SV) for the next big startup, Utah aka ‘Silicon Slopes’ has been playing the long game. It’s given us people and companies like Pixar co-founder Ed Catmul, Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell, and even WordPerfect (talk about throwback). Who knew that Utah had a strong tech game? The state likely goes under the radar because its startups are more enterprise-focused than consumer-focused. SV startups seem to have no problem raising money from venture capitalists, but the story’s very different in Utah. Utah-based startups have to prove themselves for years (at times an entire decade) before they ever see a dime from investors. But, those who choose to invest in ‘Silicon Slopes’ startups probably won’t be disappointed in their returns.

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’

If you ordered holiday gifts from e-commerce site Jet.com, it’s likely your package won’t make it in time for Christmas day. Blame it on shipping delays.

Workers in Amazon’s German warehouses are on strike till December 24. They’re not happy with their pay and working conditions.

In more Amazon news, it’s rolling out 5 new original programs. Also, just last week, Netflix debuted a new documentary Making of a Murderer. Critics love it, and it’s being dubbed Netflix’s version of Serial. With online content like these, it’s hard being in the TV biz these days, folks.

The Twitter account of probably the most hated man in pharma, Martin Shkreli, was hacked yesterday.

Jeremy Stoppelman, CEO of local recommendations site Yelp, says Google only cares about its alleged monopoly and not about its users. #Harsh

Speaking of harsh … If you’re having a hard time getting that job offer, don’t worry. Earlier this month, Twitter software engineer Jonathan Kuperman launched rejected.us for computer programmers to share their employment rejection stories. Even if you’re note a programmer, you’ll still be inspired. #NeverGiveUp #DontEverGiveUp

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.