Online Privacy

Virtual Skinny: Extra, Extra!

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

8.16.2016

Good to Know: Extra, Extra! Read all about it … The Virtual Skinny is happy to announce a brand new section called ‘Guide Me!’ We know tech and Internet stuff can be a lot so we want to help you dig a little deeper.  Check out our latest infographic. If there’s something you want to know more about, drop us a line at founders@thevirtualskinny.com or “at” us (@virtual_skinny).

THE SKINNY

When You Need to Have A Difficult Conversation …

Turn to Twitter. According to a Pew Research Center study, A LOT of tough conversations about race have happened on Twitter over the last year.

When Things Are Changing …

Social media (Twitter in particular) has really shifted how people engage in ‘big cultural conversations.’ No more water cooler talk. Social platforms are the new hot spot for intimate chats.

When Everyone Needs to Engage …

The numbers show that black people (1 in 4) are more likely to engage in discussions about race than white people (1 in 12) on social. Subjects where race comes up ranges from the presidential election to major current events. Remember Freddie Gray, Charleston Church Shooting, Sandra Bland, and even this year’s Grammys?

Screen Shot 2016-08-16 at 10.05.10 AM

When You Gotta Sound Off…

To what extent do you think these tough conversations on social media will have an impact on race relations and culture in America? Let us know what you think in the comments!

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

When You’re being extra … 

Internet entrepreneur Peter Thiel isn’t letting up on the whole Gawker scandal. ICYMI, Thiel was pissed at the online media company for outing him before he was ready to publicly come out as a gay man. They say revenge is best served cold … or by later secretly funding Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against Gawker for releasing some explicit footage of the former wrestler. Hogan, bankrolled by Thiel, won the case and forced Gawker’s bankruptcy. Thiel then gave a speech at this year’s U.S. Republican National Convention. And now, he’s put pen to paper for a New York Times op-ed on the importance of maintaining individual privacy in a digital world. He’s even touting a new bill in U.S. Congress called the ‘ Intimate Privacy Protection Act’ aka the ‘Gawker Bill.’ Thiel says the bill, which would make it illegal to share private, illicit images of someone online (aka revenge porn), is supported by both parties. He says it’s all about maintaining ‘individual dignity online.’ But, Recode thinks otherwise. They say Thiel is trying to be the judge and jury of what journalism is and should be. #JournalismWars    

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’

Apple is throwing money at China and wants to do more research and development in the country. 

baby

AirBnB’s got the whole home rental thing down. Now, it’s moving into new territories for your traveling needs; namely – restaurant reservations and city tours. Say hello to ‘AirBnB Trips.’ It’s just in test mode for now. But, expect the new app to be ‘off-isch’ this November. 

Speaking of trying out new things… Snapchat wants to get into Google’s original biz of search. The ‘disappearing chats’ app just bought search and discovery app Vurb that let’s you figure out what’s around you. Vurb relies on things like Yelp reviews to help you make decisions. The purchase price? About US $100 milli. #ChumpChange

The bad news is Google’s finished and done with Hangouts on Air. Other than President Obama and Pope Francis, who knew Google had a live streaming service? #KanyeShrug The good news? It’s hit to ‘restart’ button on its approach to messaging with ‘Google Duo,’ a new video app alternative to FaceTime. Works with both iOS and Droids.

Amazon’s got plans for its original content. Jill Soloway, creator of award-winning Transparent, is working on a musical comedy for Prime. The company’s tapped the Office’s John Krasinski to play Jack Ryan for an upcoming original series. And, Amazon’s giving its original shows away for free via Facebook and YouTube.

While we’re on things to watch, we’re looking forward to the release of Hidden Figures, a film about three black women mathematicians who broke barriers at NASA in the 60s. It stars Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer. #HistoryLessons

The Virtual Skinny: Snap Out of It!

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

11.30.2015

Good to Know:  You may soon be able to access the Internet via light bulbs aka Li-Fi. Btw, Happy Cyber Monday!

THE SKINNY

Lies, Fairytales, & Fallacies …

Or maybe not? The topic of climate change is bringing 45,000 people including about 150 world leaders alongside business people, young people, and celebrities like actor Sean Penn, etc. to Paris.  This is the 21st annual gathering, and some attendees seem a bit more jaded than others (looking at you, scientists). 

Climate Change? What Does That Even Mean?

You know what it is … It’s rocking your summer gear when you should really be bundled up. In other words, it’s comes down to significant, unusual weather changes in a particular location. These changes are said to be due to things like increased carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions.

Is there An End-Game?

At the end of the United Nation’s two-week long pow wow, leaders like U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping etc. are hoping this one goes down in the history books. They want people to know that climate change is the real deal by potentially signing off on climate change agreements.  Things like clean energy investment and fossil fuel reduction are on the check list.  Did you know that more efficient batteries could help steer us away from a fossil fuel “addiction?” Also of note: People are watching India because it’ll be the new China pretty soon.  

squad goals … 

Tech genius turned philanthropist Bill Gates is ready to pony up US $1 billion dollars out of his personal funds to help back a multi-billion dollar clean energy effort. Project Name? The Breakthrough Energy Coalition. The coalition ultimately wants to help fund research that can solve the world’s clean energy problem.  If governments get on board and allocate cash money to this area, Gate says he’ll fork over even more money, and others will likely join him.  Like who? Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Alibaba’s Jack Ma, LinkedIn’s Reid Hoffman, etc. are on board. 

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

Baby, I Swear It’s “Déjà Vu!”

In the U.S. this week (December 4), the free and open Internet is back in court. Well actually, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will once again have to defend its latest net neutrality rules against U.S. telecom companies. Net neutrality is the idea that all Internet traffic should be treated equally, and people should be able to access whatever they want, whenever they want online.  Telecom companies say the latest rules are crap and could harm their investment in broadband. They want these rules thrown out. This has happened twice before, and let’s just say it hasn’t gone well for the FCC each time. Everyone’s looking at federal judge David Tatel, who is one of three judges that will preside over the case.  Tatel presided over the last two cases as well, but people are saying this doesn’t necessarily mean that the FCC will take the “L” on this for the third time. 

When You Want More Responsibility… 

Will negotiations ever end? The U.S. and European Union (EU) are still locked in discussions on what a new data transfer agreement will look like moving forward. Previously, an old agreement called the U.S-EU Safe Harbor guided how American and European companies traded EU citizen’s data across the Atlantic (e.g., company data like human resource info or user data picked up by Internet companies). The EU trashed the old agreement because a court felt that the U.S. government just didn’t care about EU citizen’s privacy. The latest proposal is to increase the role of EU Member States’ privacy regulators when it comes to Europeans complaining about how companies are invading their privacy. This is just one issue of many that both sides need to figure out by the end of January 2016. Tick, tock … 

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’ 

Yesterday, U.S. NBA star Kobe Bryant took us back to 1999 when he attempted to get into the rap game.  He tweeted his retirement from basketball after the current season. Rhymes were involved.  

South African conglomerate Naspers, Ltd. is taking on U.S. video streaming service Netflix’s international expansion. Naspers’ answer to Netflix is called Showmax, which will soon be available across Europe, North America, and Australasia. 

According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), 3.2 billion people across the globe now have access to the Interwebs (most of these people prefer to get online via mobile phones) … If you don’t know, now you know … 

“OMG, I’m literally dying” … “yasssssss” …. “I just can’t!” The New York Times is doing the most (aka trying too hard) by attempting to analyze how Millennials exaggerate online. 

Last week, Americans celebrated Thanksgiving. People ate and shopped online in excess. Who needs to duke it out in a store like these people when you can jump on your phone? Smartphone shopping is becoming a regular thing.  

The Virtual Skinny: Go Time …

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

11.23.2015

Good to Know: ‘Tis the season for giving. Turn to Charity Navigator or the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance to avoid being scammed by an online charity this holiday season. 

THE SKINNY

Re-Thinking Your Approach … 

U.S. company Shotspotter wants to use its technology to help cities around the globe better respond to terrorist attacks like the ones we’ve seen in Paris, Beirut, Mali, Mumbai, Kenya, etc.

What Does It Do? 

The technology, which is currently deployed in 90 cities around the world, relies on Internet-enabled microphones to hone in on specific areas where there’s gunfire or explosions. In a matter of 30-45 seconds, authorities are alerted of a potential attack. The company wants to expand beyond 90 cities so its teamed up with General Electric.  Both companies think that incorporating the technology into street lamps is the best way to go for full coverage of entire cities. Understandable … GE’s been on its “smart cities” mission for a while and already has “smart” streetlights.

Why Not Cover the Entire Globe? 

David Bray, an executive in residence at Harvard University, wants to see a Shotspotter-style system created worldwide. Bray thinks including Shotspotter-type microphones in devices like cellphones would do the trick. But, for that idea to work, governments need to partner with private companies like Google.  The Internet company declined to comment. We’re thinking this raises all sorts of red flags for people’s privacy. Also, it probably isn’t a good look for government surveillance, which isn’t a fan favorite for Internet and tech companies.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON? 

When You Make Light of a Pretty Serious Situation …

Brussels is on a high terrorist alert and issued a city-wide lockdown over the weekend. After the Paris terrorist attacks, authorities are still on the hunt for suspects in Belgium. Yesterday evening, Belgian police asked citizens to step away from the Twitter-verse to avoid tipping off suspects about their armed operations. Belgian citizens didn’t exactly follow orders. They turned fear into humor by kicking off a tweet-storm about their pet cats with the hashtag #BrusselsLockDown. On a serious note, Belgian police carried out 22 raids and ultimately arrested 16 people.  Police are still unsure of suspected gunman Salah Abdeslam’s whereabouts.

Decisions, Decisions … 

Austrian student Max Schrems will keep going after Facebook (FB).  Schrems is partly responsible for the European Court of Justice recently throwing out the US-EU Safe Harbor, a longstanding data transfer agreement between the U.S. and European Union. Schrems has got major problems with FB’s privacy policy.  An Austrian court has already let him file a personal suit against FB because of it. But now, he’s looking to team up with 25,000+ people for a class action against the social media company.  He just needs the go ahead from the court. Meanwhile, FB says it’s done nothing wrong.

When Someone’s Got Your Back … 

Ever tried watching a video on YouTube but can’t? You’ve probably seen some variation of the following: “This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by [insert media company, network, artist, etc. here].” Under U.S. copyright law (the Digital Millennium Copyright Act specifically), sometimes a video take-down (like what you see on YouTube) is legit; but other times, it’s not. The law isn’t exactly intuitive, and regular folks, who aren’t well-versed in the law, can be intimidated by the process.  They often choose not to fight back against take down requests by rightsholders such as music labels, media companies, networks, etc. Google is sick and tired of YouTube content creators being unfairly targeted under the law so it wants to help out.  The company wants a select few to fight back and is prepared to financially support their legal woes up to US $1 million.

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’ 

Does our pact mean nothing to you? Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer asked her execs to take a pledge to stand by the struggling company for three to five years.  It may not be working. Rob Barrett, Yahoo’s head of media strategy and operations, turned in his walking papers, making him the latest employee to dip out on the company.

What do you do when your daily deals company is on a financial decline? Pen a blog post comparing your company to a drug, of course. Andrew Mason, Co-founder and former CEO of Groupon, says “Groupon is powerful like morphine is powerful … If you use it too much, you’ll overdose and die. But take it in moderation and it can do wonders.” Interesting …

Google backed out of China five years ago after refusing to keep up with the country’s self-censorship policies. But, a lot can change in five years. China’s a pretty big market for Internet companies, and Google wants back in.  The company plans to launch a country-specific version of Google Play in China.

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is placing big bets on Nest – one of its acquisitions worth $3.2 billion.  With devices and products such as “smart” thermometers and smoke detectors, Nest is the company’s way into the smart home market.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan will soon welcome their first child, a daughter.  The Zuck is taking two months of paid paternity leave. We care because gender norms is a hot topic in the tech industry.