Technology

Virtual Skinny: ClickBait…

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

8.8.2016

Good to Know: It’s #InternationalCatDay. BTW, over the weekend, the hashtag #FirstSevenJobs was trending thanks to @mariancall. People shared their first seven jobs. Did you? If not, it’s not too late! Take a min, reflect a little, and tweet at us (@virtual_skinny)!

world cat day

THE SKINNY

When You’re Just Looking Out (For clickbait)… 

Facebook doesn’t want its users to deal with ‘clickbait’ articles in your newsfeed.

When You Need To Use It In A Sentence …

Clickbait aka articles with headlines that leave you feeling misled, tricked, or underwhelmed after clicking the link (e.g., Headline: You won’t believe what XYZ celeb did! The Actual Content: [Insert uninteresting, mundane activity like a grocery story run].

When They’ve Heard You Loud & Clear …

Facebook users aren’t amused and complain about these annoying clickbait articles. So, FB decided to put some brainpower behind solving the problem. FB employees have narrowed down types of click bait into two groups. Category 1: ‘Curiosity gap headlines’ (see example above) and Category 2: Flat out misleading headlines.

When You’ve Found A Solution … 

FB’s changed up its algorithm so that publishers who dabble with the worst type of clickbait just simply won’t reach the number of FB users they’d like. But no need to go to basic, boring, and bulky headlines just yet. FB’s only going after the worst offenders.

When Others Chime in…

Last night, John Oliver dug deep into journalism and even talked ‘clickbait’ and what that means for the future of journalism.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

Didn’t They Tell You That I Was a Savage?

In case you haven’t heard, Instagram hit ‘copy and paste’ on Snapchat’s Stories. That’s right … Insta pulled a boss move and copied Snapchat’s Stories feature. The basic concept is that you can post pics at the top of your newsfeed, but it’ll “disappear” after a day. Insta’s version is called ‘Instagram Stories.’ #ShockerButNotReally Turns out people seem to like it better. And business wise, Snapchat should be worried. Instagram’s got a larger audience (its 350 million daily users v. Snapchat’s 150 million users) and possibly better tools. Uh Oh!

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN

E-commerce site Jet.com tried to take on e-commerce giant Amazon. But, it didn’t work. Walmart stepped in and paid $3 billion in cash money for Jet.com. Now, it’s back to the Wal-Mart v. Amazon matchup. Advantage, Walmart? 

Back on! Online fantasy sports sites FanDuel and DraftKings can now legally operate again in New York. But, there’s a catch. NY Governor Andrew Cuomo says the sites’ contests are now considered a “game of skill,” which basically means NY regulators will be watching. And, the sites will have to pay new fees.  

Google is off to the races in India. The company’s winning the emerging market (ahead of Facebook and Microsoft) with its free Wi-Fi program, and that’s major! #NextBillion  

Yahoo’s going through things right now. But, it’s still got its eye on the prize. It’s launching Yahoo View, a TV watching site, with the help of Hulu. 

In more TV watching news, Comcast, Time Warner, Disney, etc. have all poured money into online companies to reach younger audiences. But not Viacom. The company hasn’t gone down the digital investments road yet. Rumor has it that Viacom has its eye on BuzzFeed. Unlikely, but anything’s possible…

Speaking of not making investments, Chinese Internet giant Alibaba has no plans to get involved with U.S. streaming service Netflix. 

MAKING MOVES

Twitter just lost a member of its Comms team. Jim Prosser is heading over to marketplace lending company SoFi.

Everyone’s trying to be a tech company, including healthcare and consumer goods company Johnson & Johnson. J&J is kicking of its new tech business with the help of former Dropbox exec Marc Leibowitz.

After almost 8 years on Google’s self-driving car projects, Chris Urmson is peacing on account of he’s ‘ready for a fresh new challenge.’ 

And now that Verizon is buying Yahoo, the Internet company’s VP of global PR & Communications Anne Espiritu is ready to dip. She’s going the startup route and is joining health-care company Oscar Insurance Corp.

The Virtual Skinny: It’s Enough Now …

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

12.3.2015

Good to Know: Most of you will likely get new devices as holiday presents this year. Not sure what to do with your old ones? Amazon, Gazelle, and Best Buy have stellar recycling or trade-in programs in the U.S. 

THE SKINNY

Something Becoming Routine Isn’t Always A Good Thing…  

In fact, it can be a very bad thing. Yesterday, a horrible mass shooting took place in San Bernadino, California and claimed the lives of 14 innocent people. Per usual, U.S. politicians immediately took to Twitter to send their “thoughts and prayers.” It didn’t go over well with the American public. 

aN uNEXPECTED RESPONSE … 

The hashtag #thoughtsandprayers started trending on Twitter but not in the way you think. Americans tweeted their frustrations with the U.S. Congress’s inaction on gun control. Their message: Simply tweeting about “thoughts and prayer” won’t change anything.  The controversial front page of today’s NY Daily News pretty much sums it up.

Speak Up or DO SOMETHING

This latest tragedy is just another example of the increasing role Internet and tech companies are playing to either help force difficult political debates or help take action against domestic and global terrorists.  For instance, earlier today, five tech companies including Facebook, Twitter, Apple, Google, and Microsoft told France that they would “define and establish an offensive strategy of counter-discourse that will specifically target the online activities” of terrorist group ISIS.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

Break Me Off A Piece of that…

If Yahoo’s board decides to sell the company’s Web business, it looks like almost everyone and their Moms want a piece of the action.  Potential buyers range from private equity firms to media and telecom companies like Verizon Communications (they bought AOL earlier this year), Time Inc., and even News Corp. (owner of Wall Street Journal).  Not everyone’s jumping on the Yahoo bandwagon.  Chinese Internet company Alibaba is not interested.  Decisions should be made by the time the company’s marathon board meeting ends tomorrow.  The suspense!

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’ 

German banking startup Number26 is going after Europeans with aversions to traditional banking. It’s expanding across Europe to service countries like France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Slovakia and Spain.

When a potentially better product is on your heels, you have to act quick! Global bank Goldman Sachs is creating its own version of “bitcoin” or virtual currency called SETLCoin. Trading securities and settling those trades may just get a bit easier and faster.

Spotify is world’s the #1 music streaming service, but Pandora isn’t going out like that. Pandora’s pretty popular in the U.S., but it’s putting in work to compete in a very competitive market. New strategy: Attack the Spotify-types’ “free” music model. Record labels are listening, but that message probably won’t go over well with consumers.

YouTube is forming closer ties with Hollywood. The online platform is wheeling and dealing (in a good way) to get rights for TV shows and movies to stream via its new YouTube Red Service.

Parking your own car is such a waste of time.  Don’t worry! Startup valet-parking company Luxe has got you. Start saving your coins. Depending on the U.S. city, pricing could range from US $5-7 hourly or US$15 – US$30 daily.

The Virtual Skinny: Make Room…

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

11.25.2015

Good to Know:  Tomorrow is American Thanksgiving. Startups want people to stay at home, eat, drink, and be merry. This Thursday, these companies are prepared to deliver last-minute, wine, stuffing, movies, etc. straight to your door within an hour. BTW, like many people in the U.S., we’ll be busy gobbling up turkey. See you back here on Monday, November 30. 

THE SKINNY

When You Can’t Remember Your Password … 

It’s not you … It’s them. E-commerce company Amazon reset passwords for some of its users recently.

Why?

Well, if you got an email from Amazon, then you probably know that the company feared that some users’ passwords may have been inadvertently exposed to third parties. Amazon said it has “no reason” to believe that this actually happened but wanted to take precautionary measures.

Safety First … 

Amazon’s also pushing users to make sure their information is secure via two-factor authentication.  With this system, hackers would need more than just your username and password to get into your accounts. They’d also need another device like your mobile phone.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON? 

Shady “Mr. Grey…”

If you’re up to some shady things, it’s probably best to just keep your mouth shut. Around this time last year, cybersecurity firm Hold Security id-ed a Russian hacker group responsible for stealing 1.2 million credentials and over 500 million email addresses. Shortly thereafter, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) got involved. According to official court documents, the FBI figured out that the hacker, known as “mr. grey,” is linked to a Russian email address. mr. grey hasn’t been shy… The group previously boasted that it could hook people up with user account information for popular sites like Facebook and Twitter. For now, FB, Twitter, the FBI, and the U.S. Department of Justice have nothing to say on the matter.

Going Solo … 

Tor, the place where Internet users go for private and secure messaging, wants your money. The organization’s network is mainly U.S. government backed (about 80-90%), but Tor thinks that it’s time to fly solo. The project thinks that being more independent will allow it the flexibility to offer its communication services to those around the world who need increased privacy.

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’

Do it for the kids. YouTube’s under fire for allegedly pushing junk food ads on the kids’ version of its video platform. Two children advocacy groups have filed complaints with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

Talk about trying to bring someone back down to Earth …  Earlier this week, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos took to Twitter for the first time to brag about his other company, Blue Origin. The aerospace company successfully launched and landed a rocket-ship. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, must’ve been feeling some kind of way. Musk gave the ultimate back-handed compliment:  First, he congratulated Bezos but then quickly implied that SpaceX did it first.

Amazon’s e-commerce rival Jet.com just pulled in $350M and is expected to add $150M more. The company says most of it will go to marketing, customer support, and growing its team. Who needs a job?

Three ex-Goldman Sachs bankers are trading in their designer suits for jeans and hoodies. The former bankers recently joined Uber adding to the growing trend of people opting out of Wall Street for tech companies.  In more Uber news, the company’s pulling together a ‘Safety Advisory Board,’ to help the company navigate its consumer safety issue. It’ll focus on the U.S. first before taking the show worldwide.

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.

The Virtual Skinny: Cheers!

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

11.20.2015

Good to Know:  Singer Adele’s much-anticipated album, “25,” drops today. If you want to hear it in full, get ready to either fire up iTunes or physically make your way to a store. She’s keeping the album off of all streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. Some people think this could backfire and make her fans pretty angry. But, we suspect many of you won’t care since Adele’s music is SO good. Cue the tears…  

THE SKINNY

Now That’s What We Call A Rally … 

Things were looking pretty bleak for mobile payments company Square when it set its IPO price at $9/share.  But, after making its New York Stock Exchange debut yesterday, its share shot up by 45%. By day’s end, the company was valued at $4.2 billion ($13.07/share). Hopefully, this performance will be the gift that keeps on giving for CEO Jack Dorsey who turned 39 yesterday.

Onwards and Upwards … 

Moving forward, Dorsey just wants to get back to business as usual. The company’s still focused on making payments easier via its infamous card reader.  But, investors are uncertain of the company’s ability to grow as it goes up against competitors like PayPal and Verifone.  Not to worry, Square’s looking to diversify its business with services that take care of company payroll or that help set up appointments. It’s even acquired a startup called Caviar that’s in the food delivery biz.

What Does This Mean? 

TBH, it’s unclear. There’s been speculation that Square’s low IPO price could mean that unicorns in Silicon Valley, private companies in the billion dollar club, would start to see low market valuations moving forward. It’s hard to say what’s really happening. While there’s certainly a shift towards more conservative valuations, financial experts are saying we shouldn’t expect to see any drastic changes.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON? 

Time’s Supposed to Heal Ya, But You Ain’t Done Much Healing … 

That’s probably because you’re still Facebook friends with your ex whose new fab life is taking over your newsfeed.  So, not cool!  Facebook doesn’t want you feeling down anymore when break ups happen.  The company’s testing out a new tool that’ll help people distance themselves from their exes without de-friending them. This means seeing less of the ex’s name, profile picture, and posts on your newsfeed.  Why didn’t anyone think of this sooner? Just saying …

When The Stakes Are Just Too Damn High … 

Starboard Value, an activist hedge fund, has an idea for Yahoo. It wants the Internet veteran to sell off its core advertising business.  Whaaa? It’s no secret that Yahoo is struggling and has tried almost everything under the sun to get back on track. Nothing has worked. One thing the company has tried to do is sell off its ownership stake in Chinese Internet company Alibaba. But, pursuing this spin-off could take forever and who knows how the U.S. Internal Revenue Service would handle that transaction.  Basically, the spin-off comes with too much uncertainty and too much risk. Starboard wants Yahoo to strip down to just its stake in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan.  That’s a sure thing in the company’s opinion.  No comment from Yahoo on this recommendation.

Keep A Closer Watch, Will Ya?

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton wants social media companies to make more of an effort when it comes to preventing terrorists from recruiting followers and spreading their ideas via companies’ platforms.  Hacker group Anonymous recently waged war against Islamist militant group ISIS and claims that it has personally closed down thousands of “pro-ISIS Twitter accounts.”  Companies like Facebook, YouTube  and Twitter say that they take this type of thing seriously, which is reflected in their policies. They keep a close watch on terrorist-type activity and have no problem taking down content or shutting down accounts when users violate these policies.

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’

Jack Dorsey, CEO of mobile payments company Square, wants to bring Square Wallet back. He thinks the digital wallet could work a second time around.

It’s a good day to be Diane Greene.  Google just brought on Greene, a veteran in the cloud computing industry, to run point on its growing enterprise cloud business. And, it also scooped up bebop, Greene’s enterprise development startup.

Online music streaming service Spotify says employees can take up to six months of parental leave. Did we mention, its six months PAID? The Swedish company wants make sure all of its employees world-wide are on the same page after their bundle of joy(s) arrive.

Oops! Their b … Indonesia only meant to cut off access to social and messaging platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, and Viber, but the government inadvertently kicked off a country-wide black out of the entire Internet instead. Could you imagine absolutely no Internet access for an hour? The horror!

 

The Virtual Skinny: Hi There…

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

11.19.2015

Good to Know:  Global investment bank Goldman Sachs is telling people to buy Apple’s stock. Why though? Goldman says Apple is no longer a hardware company but evolving into a services company. This means more growth = more $$$$. Enough said. 

THE SKINNY

When You Give a Helping Hand … 

Many people around the world are trying to do right by Syrian refugees.  Instead of funneling funds through traditional nonprofits like the Red Cross, people are choosing crowdfunding sites like Indiegogo and GoFundMe to make online donations.

WHEN YOU HAVE All The Feels … 

Norwegian web developer and activist Gissur Simonarson saw a pic on Twitter of a Syrian refugee dad holding his daughter while trying to sell pens on the streets of Beirut, Lebanon.  The image touched Simonarson so much that he wanted to do something help. So this past August, he tracked them down and launched a pretty successful Indiegogo campaign.

When Something’s not what you expected …  

The campaign raised about US $190,000, and the family ended up using the money to buy a bakery. But, Simonarson says issues came up that he didn’t anticipate.  First, between Indiegogo and the payment service PayPal, the family lost about US $20,000 of their donations to fees charged by these platforms. Sidenote: Indiegogo’s new charity platform eliminates these fees.  Second, so you’ve raised the money, now where do you keep it? Yes, a bank account would be logical, but there was no way for Simonarson and the family to set one up. Add security and safety to the list of concerns.

WHEN YOU’RE DOWN FOR THE CAUSE …

People pouring money into online platforms to help others is a good thing, right?  Well, yes and no.  There’s concern that increased online giving to individuals may create issues of equitable distribution since crowdfunding platforms may reflect biases of societies that use them. Also, opting for online platforms takes money away from nonprofit institutions capable of addressing crises at a macro-level. In other words, crowdfunding platforms may potentially hurt the larger cause. Perhaps, online platforms will put pressure on traditional organizations to reform their practices, some of which have not been great (e.g., mismanaging funds).

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON? 

Playing the Blame Game … 

In the wake of the Paris attacks, U.S. lawmakers and law enforcement launched a blame game targeted towards today’s technology.  First up? Encrypted devices. CIA director John Brennan said it’s hard to uncover info because of encryption.  Then, some lawmakers blamed the Internet.  One lawmaker thought it would be a great idea to shut down “ISIS websites and social networks.” Now, U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler is saying that it’s time for Congress to look into the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA).  Basically, CALEA would make companies build mandatory pathways or “backdoors” into their technology to decipher encrypted messages. May sound good in theory, but in reality, a backdoor in these technologies would be accessible by anyone and everyone savvy enough.  Privacy issues much?

On High Alert … 

The European Union (EU) is considering ways to cut off terrorist financing. Virtual currencies like Bitcoin and anonymous forms of payment are on the chopping block so to speak.  EU officials met last Friday and concluded that they’ll try to convince the European Commission to tighten up controls of “non-banking payment methods such as electronic/anonymous payments and virtual currencies and transfers of gold, precious metals, by pre-paid cards.”

When people aren’T Feelin’ yOU like they used to … 

Match Group, the parent company of dating apps like Tinder, is now officially ‘MTCH’ on NASDAQ.  The company’s IPO price came in at US $12/share, the low end of the US $12-$14 expected range.  Mobile payments company Square is officially public as of today. Its price came in at an underwhelming US $9/share, way below the expected $11-$13 range we originally thought. Ouch!  Attention companies worth at least a billion dollars or more (aka unicorns): These are probably more signs that investors are cooling off on tech IPOs.

It’s All About Mobile These Days … 

Google is changing up how mobile search works.  The company’s transitioning into the mobile age and will start indexing content from Android apps, even if these apps don’t have a corresponding website. Google is letting mobile users “stream” content from apps (Note:app downloads not necessary).  The company’s testing things out with a few partners including horoscope sites and the New York Subway.

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’

Yesterday, we said that ride-hailing app and Uber rival, Lyft, is looking for $500 million. Now, we know why thanks to some leaked docs.  In the first half of the year, Lyft lost a ton of money and didn’t bring in much revenue.  To be more specific, we’re talking losing $127 million on $46.7 million in revenue.  We’re not financial experts, but …

Dutch file-sharing service WeTransfer is tapping into the online music streaming game alongside Spotify and Apple Music. For the company, it’s not about making money from music (ha!) but simply about getting on the map in the U.S.

Social network Facebook is improving its “Donate” button to help nonprofits raise funds. Organizations like Mercy Corp, National MS Society, and Worldwide Wildlife Fund are the first to get on board.  BTW, #IStillUseFacebook was trending on Twitter. #NoHate #NoShade, but we chuckled at some tweets, especially those poking fun at how FB is late to the party when it comes to breaking news.

The Virtual Skinny: Just One of Them Days…

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

11.18.2015

Good to Know: “Where is the opportunity? The opportunity always lies where people worry.” – Jack Ma, CEO of Chinese Internet company Alibaba, during a sit down with U.S. President Obama on why his company will prop up startups trying to prevent climate change.  Also, just some solid advice for your next venture … 

THE SKINNY

When Will It End?

Last night, a bombing went down in the city of Yola in Nigeria.  It claimed about 31 lives and injured 72 others. No one knows who’s responsible just yet, but Islamist militant group Boko Haram is no stranger to the area.

Making Good on Your Promise …

Earlier this week, we told you that people had a lot to say about how the general media covered the Paris attacks in comparison to the Beirut bombings, which both happened last week. Facebook came under fire for ‘perceived Western bias’ because it launched its “Safety Check” after the Paris attacks but didn’t do the same for Beirut. Facebook promised to change its policy and said it would activate that feature for human disasters moving forward.  The social network delivered. It launched “Safety Check” for Yola residents to show that the company “cares about all people equally.”

Raising More Questions Than Answers … 

FB has come a long way from its debut ten years ago.  These days, it’s taken a massive role in how people interact and keep up with each other.  The company is on a mission to bring Internet access to everyone around the world. With ‘Safety Check,’ it raises questions of FB’s social responsibilities (e.g., Will the feature be applied uniformly across the world? Or, does it require a tailor-made approach for different regions?  And, how will FB define what ‘safe’ means? Lots of questions but no answers.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON? 

Putting Plans Into Action …

There’s just a lot going on at Facebook.  When it’s not dealing with serious human crises, it’s trying to outfit the world with Internet access.  The social network announced that it’s entered a deal with telecom company Airtel Africa to bring basic Internet access aka ‘Free Access’ via its Internet.org initiative. Seventeen African countries will reap the benefits of this deal including countries like Burkina Faso,Chad, Gabon, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone and Uganda.

Don’t Give Up … Don’t Ever Give Up … 

Google tried to get into the social game with its Google Plus service to compete with the likes of Facebook.  It didn’t quite work out.  Rather than throwing in the towel, Google went back to the drawing board and did a complete redesign of the feature. It’s now geared towards a “mobile first” experience and focused on ‘Communities’ (where people with similar interests can virtually gather) and ‘Connections’ (a place for virtual scrapbooking).  It’s sort of a cross between Facebook and Pinterest. Interesting …

If You Can Make It There, You Can Make It Anywhere … 

Hell hath no fury like a NY Attorney General (AG) scorned … The AG is not letting up on fantasy sports sites FanDuel and DraftKings.  The AG’s office filed an injunction (order issued by a judge to prevent someone or an entity from starting or continuing to engage in certain activities) against both sites.  The 35-page report rips into the sites’ arguments on why they should not be considered online gambling sites.  FanDuel ( which has already stopped accepting contest entries from NY residents) and DratKings aren’t the only ones that should be worried. The jig is up for Yahoo. The Internet vet runs its own fantasy sports service and has done so long before FanDuel and DraftKings even existed. Yahoo isn’t officially part of the investigation just yet, but the AG is watching. The relevant parties head to court next week (November 25).

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’ 

Flu shot season is in under way, and ride-hailing app Uber is taking away your excuses. This Thursday, the company’s re-launching its UberHealth to bring those dreaded flu shots to your desired location.

On a side note: NY taxi drivers are still peeved at Uber and plan to sue New York City and its Taxi and Limousine Commission.  The basis of the suit? Violating their right to pick passengers up street-side.

Amazon’s Black Friday kicks off this Friday (November 20). See here for how to properly secure your Amazon.com account information. It’s called two-factor authentication. Don’t worry … It’s pretty straightforward.

Boards of tech companies are including more women (it’s up to 18.3% in 2014 compared to 13.7% in 2010). But, tech still falls behind other industries on gender diversity. If we talk about it enough, then things have to change, right?

Mobile payments Square is set to announce its long-anticipated IPO price today. The thing is, we already know that the price will be discounted from what people originally expected. Unicorns (aka private companies worth a billion dollars or more) are watching this closely. 

You can make a few extra bucks by selling some of your photos via apps like EyeEm and Snapwire. 

German company Jobspotting GmbH, competitor to professional network platform LinkedIn, is looking for funds to get into the U.S. market.

Ride hailing company and Uber rival, Lyft says it needs $500 million.

The Virtual Skinny: Back At It …

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

11.16.2015

Good to Know: In case you were wondering, the Internet has spoken and Justin Beiber > One Direction.  We try to keep you young, folks … 

THE SKINNY

What Is Going On With The World? 

Last Friday, terrorists launched coordinated attacks (involving suicide bombs, shootings, and hostage situations) in and around Paris. Attack sites included Stade de France (a soccer stadium in Paris), a concert hall, and restaurants.  The horrible attacks took the lives of 132 people and injured hundreds more. ISIS, the Islamic State, claimed responsibility, and 23 people have been arrested.  France is still on the hunt for one of the attackers, 26-year-old French national and Belgian born Salah Abdeslam. Authorities believe he’s one of eight gunmen responsible for shootings at the restaurants.  While the search continues, France launched airstrikes against ISIS in Syria.

Rising to the Occasion … 

Internet companies stepped up to help out in their own way. Facebook’s “Safety Check” feature kicked in for those in Paris to mark themselves as safe via their profiles. It’s the first time the feature has been used for an event that’s not a natural disaster. Also, FB users were able to apply filters of the French flag over their profile pics to show solidarity. Soon, the hashtag “#PorteOuverte” (meaning “open door”) started trending on Twitter for people looking for a place to stay. AirBnB pitched in by launching its own disaster response effort by connecting those who needed shelter with hosts for “at little or no cost.”  … Google made international calls to France via Google Hangout free through the weekend so people could connect with loved ones.

What About Us? 

While many expressed their support for Paris, others, particularly those in Beirut, Lebanon, questioned why the same had not been done for the city, which had been the victim of similar attacks just two-days prior.  Those attacks claimed the lives of 40 people. One point of contention – FB didn’t activate “Safety Check” for Beirut nor was there an overlay option for the Lebanese flag available to users to show support.  FB said it chose to activate its “Safety Check” feature due to the high level of activity around the Paris attacks. One company rep said, “[t]here has to be a first time for trying something new, even in complex and sensitive times, and for us that was Paris…”

What Comes Next?

Well, FB has changed up its policy on “Safety Check.”  CEO Mark Zuckerberg says that the feature will be used for more human disasters moving forward.  Hacker group Anonymous is ready to rage against ISIS.  In terms of what governments are doing, it’s hard to say. The G20, an international forum with 20 of the world’s major economies and governments, meet this week in Turkey.  The topic of conversation during these summits are typically around economic policy and other global issues . G-20 leaders have already vowed to step their game up against ISIL aka ISIS aka the Islamic State.

How’s the Recovery? 

In the meantime,  Periscope and Snapchat users are documenting how Paris is getting back on track.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON? 

By Any Means Necessary … 

In the aftermath of the Paris attacks, France is definitely going on the defensive.  The attacks come at an interesting time just shortly after the French Parliament passed sweeping, controversial reforms of its surveillance laws. The legislation passed in May, post attacks on magazine Charlie Hebdo. Basically, the law goes beyond just checking up on suspected terrorists’ calls and emails but also allows for Internet service providers (ISPs) to put in place “black boxes” to scoop up metadata on how millions of everyday folks use the Internet. The French governments says ISPs must hand this info over to intelligence agencies.  If things gets especially bad, then France reserves the right to launch “ISMI catchers” to monitor and track mobile phone communications.

When It’s not quite ‘out with the old, in with the new…” 

Workers love the “gig economy” model – a lot.  Thanks to on-demand companies like Gigwalk, traditional companies are relying on this model to upgrade their old biz processes. To keep things simple, rather than Gigwalk using its technology to compete with traditional companies like Crossmark (a sales and marketing company in consumer goods), it’s choosing to license its technology to would-be traditional competitors instead. As WSJ puts it, “[i[t is as if Uber had decided to sell its technology to taxi companies instead of driving them into oblivion.“ Meaning, traditional companies get to be more efficient with their operations, and workers get more flexible hours. Looks like a win for everyone involved.

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’ 

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook says no chance on consumers seeing an iPad-Macbook hybrid.

Venture capitalist and Facebook board member Marc Andreessen is up to things … Over the past two weeks, he’s sold off a bunch of his shares in the company (1.5 million), bringing in about $160 Mill. No word yet on Andreessen’s motivations. #ShadyBoots

Zenefits CEO Parker Conrad is dismissing reports that his company is struggling. Conrad says the company is doing great and is snatching up new employees left and right. In other news, the company’s also coming out with its own payroll platform. 

Snapchat’s trying to offer users more variety.  It’s selling users new Lenses for added special effects to their selfies. The cost? 99 cents. Only problem is that users are not here for it! Translation: No one’s trying to pay for these filters.

 

The Virtual Skinny: Deep Breaths

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

11.11.2015

Good to Know: Remember the floppy disk? Who knew those things along with a few other old school technologies are still around? 

THE SKINNY

An Ongoing Battle … 

Yesterday, New York Attorney General (AG) Eric Schneiderman told fantasy sports sites FanDuel and DraftKings “not in my house.” *Finger wag* Schneiderman fired off cease and desist letters to each company telling them to stop doing business in the state … or else.

Why? 

If you’ll remember, we previously told you about the alleged insider trading scandal involving one of DraftKing’s employees. The issue comes down to whether these sites under federal law are illegal online gambling sites. FanDuel and DraftKings says that the law classifies them as a “game of skill and not chance” making their biz legit. Schneiderman disagrees and had some strong words for the sites. He says they are “evad[ing] the law and “fleec[ing] sports fans. ” He won’t let it go down like that on his watch. 

What’s Next? 

A few weeks back, Nevada banned the sites from operating within the state without official licenses.  Other states like Arizona, Montana, and Iowa flat out rejected the sites all together.  Now that NY is jumping on the bandwagon, this could compromise the sites’ business in a major way.  Both companies have five days to officially respond to Schneiderman’s letters.  In the meantime, they’ve made statements dismissing the NY AG’s actions as just a politician trying to drum up trouble where it doesn’t exist. Even if the companies get over this bump in the road, they’ve still got the attention of the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

Making Good On Your Promise … 

After former venture capitalist Ellen Pao wrapped up her gender discrimination case against ex-employer Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, she vowed to keep talking about the issue and its existence within the tech industry. Pao penned a column for The Lenny Letter, a newsletter run by actress Lena Dunham and Dunham’s business partner Jenni Konner. Pao explains her side of the story and responds to all the haters. She claims that tech talked about gender bias and harassment but didn’t actually do anything to address the issue.  Pao plans to keep talking about gender discrimination and wants you to join her as well.

wHEN sOMETHINGS ARE JUST NOT WORTH IT … 

They say cheaters never win.  U.S. federal prosecutors just explained details of what it says is “the largest hacking case ever.” The case involves a multiyear effort where hackers stole information on 100 million customers from 12 companies and financial institutions including JP Morgan Chase to use and profit off of shady activities like stock manipulation, online gambling, and fraud. Prosecutors charged three men (two Israeli and one American) with 23 counts of fraud and other illegal activities. These hackers definitely did not keep things simple. They laundered money through 75 shell companies and used 30 false passports from 17 different countries to pull the job off for eight years.

All Signs Point To …. 

For what seems like forever, people have been talking about the high valuation trend for tech companies coming to an end.  Now, Fidelity is adding more fuel to the fire. The mutual fund company and investor in Snapchat just marked down its investment in the app company by 25 percent. No word on why though.

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’

U.S. wireless carrier T-Mobile wants its users to get their binge-watching on. The company is now offering “BingeOn,” which means it’ll let customers stream their preferred shows via Netflix, HBOGO, etc. without applying any data caps.

No more worrying about getting lost when you’re sans Internet connection. Google Maps’ new offline feature will be there to help you reach your destination.

Apple Music is now available for Android operating systems.  The service pretty much works the same way it does for iOS. Just one thing – playing music videos isn’t a thing on Droids yet.

Amazon Prime Now’s food delivery service from your local eatery or grocer is heading to Los Angeles then expanding to Portland.  Still waiting on when it plans to go country-wide in the U.S.

San Francisco based hotel booking app, HotelTonight, just let go off  20% of its staff. CEO Sam Shank (what a name!) said it was a hard decision but now the company’s lean and focused.

Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba deemed November 11 as “Singles Day,” originally intended to celebrate all the single people out there.  Six years later, it’s now basically China’s version of Cyber Monday.  The company has brought in sales already exceeding last year’s $9.3 billion total.

 

The Virtual Skinny: The Swing of Things…

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

11.10.2015

Good to Know: ICYMI, yesterday Google featured Hedy Lamarr who is more known for her acting chops back in the day than being the designer of a communication system during World War II that set the groundwork for modern Wi-fi. 

THE SKINNY

When Tragedy Strikes …

Freelance journalist Zak Stone published a seriously tragic and heart-wrenching story about how his dad died while staying at an AirBnB rental during a family trip.  The incident happened about two years ago but now he’s letting everyone know how a major safety hazard on the AirBnB property took his dad’s life.

Now What?

His family’s story adds fuel to the ongoing debate about sharing economy services and their consumers’ safety. In AirBnB’s case, questions are being raised about the company’s responsibilities regarding safety.  The site offers safety pointers to hosts under the “Trust” section of its site.  The company also suggests to hosts that getting renter’s or homeowner’s insurance is probably a good idea.  The insurance issue a huge deal.

Why?

Well, the problem is a lot of home owner’s insurance policies out there don’t include commercial activity like AirBnBs.  So basically, people can get the insurance, but it still wouldn’t cover their AirBnB rental.  To fix that issue, the company began offering Host Protection Insurance for up to $1 million earlier this year.

What to Do?

AirBnB and other sharing economy companies are working to put more safety measures in place.  But, Zak notes that AirBnB is still not held to same standards as hotels (which is a huge point of contention between AirBnB and regular hotels).  Sharing economy companies say that users’ reviews will weed out all the bad folks in their system, but consumer advocates want more than that.  The struggle continues between balancing the benefits of these services with issues like safety.

In the Meantime … 

Here’s Zak’s post in full but please proceed with caution.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

Not Many Things In Life Are Free … 

Google is giving away its machine learning software TensorFlow.  In normal people speak, TensorFlow is software the company uses to make computers “smarter” (e.g., teaching a computer to recognize cats by saturating its computer network with millions of cat images courtesy of YouTube).  No, this doesn’t mean Google is going to kill its own business.  The search company wants people to spend time with the software, come up with new ways to use the thing, and also hopefully improve the software.  If you’ve got what it takes, then by all means, have at it!

When People Are Playing Games … 

Immigration is a major issue in the United States (U.S.) and will continue to rage with upcoming presidential elections next year.  The tech industry has been pretty vocal about the need for more H-1B visas, three-year work permits for foreign-born professionals to legally work in the U.S. With each passing year, the demand for these visas (only 85k available in total) are only going up.  The demand is so high that the U.S. government had to put in place a lottery so regardless of whether people are qualified or not, their chances to legally stay in the U.S. to earn a living comes down to the luck of the draw. French born software engineer Théo Négri thought he had a promising career in San Francisco. But, that dream was cut short after he didn’t make it through the lottery. Négri later found out through data analysis that large global outsourcing companies are “gaming” the system by submitting thousands of applications and clogging up the system, leaving American companies with fewer chances of locking down a visa for their foreign-born applicants. Things definitely need to change.

The Clock Is Ticking …

A Belgian court wants Facebook to stop tracking people who aren’t users of its site.  For the past five years, whenever an Internet user visits FB, a cookie (aka a file that tracks when someone visits a site and also certain online activities) is instantly triggered. This applies to non-FB users, which the court doesn’t think is right.  The court says FB can only track people who directly give their consent; otherwise, the company will be fined 250,000 euros (£180,000) daily.  The court gave FB two days to come into compliance, but the social networking is putting up a fight and plans to appeal the decision.

THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’

U.S. President Barack Obama got a Facebook for the country’s top position.  His first post is about climate change.

Facebook Messenger is relying on facial recognition technology for its new Photo Magic feature.  Photo Magic can i.d. your friends in photos and then asks if you want to send it to them or not.  Photo Magic makes its first debut “Down Under.”

Match Group, Inc., parent company of many dating sites and apps that we know, is looking to get in the money. The company is looking at a $3.4 billion IPO and wants to raise $536.7 million to get there.

Tag Heuer Connected is Android’s answer to Apple Watch. You can get yourself one of these bad boys for $1500.

Indian e-commerce company Flipkart partnered with Google to revamp its new mobile website. One point for Google! It’s a good way to get new Internet users from emerging markets, especially since most of them live in India and will be accessing the web via mobile phones.

Social platform Twitter is looking to diversify its Board of Directors.

Some execs recently peaced out on Yahoo so its CEO Marissa Mayer came up with an idea. Mayer wants the remaining execs to sign a pledge saying they’ll stay on with the company for three to five years.  Interesting.

Apple’s 12-inch iPad Pro hit stores tomorrow.