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.