10.13.2019
Good to Know: WHEW – What a weekend! Kenyan runner Eliud Kipchoge did the unthinkable and ran a marathon in under two hours. The next day, Kenyan runner Brigid Kosegi set a world record in the Chicago Marathon. Former U.S. president Barack Obama shouted them out. And, let’s not forget that U.S. gymnast Simone Biles also became the most decorated gymnast – ever! She’s now got 25 world medals. Focus and discipline, folks. Let’s keep raising the bar! Stepping into the week like … Nailed it!
THE SKINNY
When You’re Ready to Play … U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren is playing Facebook’s ad game. Her campaign said “no fact-checking” policy? Fine.
Wait … But, What Did They Do? Her campaign ran Facebook ads saying that CEO Mark Zuckerberg is a Trump supporter for the 2020 presidential race. Warren’s peeved that Facebook continues to act as what she’s calling “a disinformation for profit machine.” She says the social media company is knowingly allowing political ads filled with lies, fairytales, and fallacies!
When You’re In Good Company … Another U.S. Dem presidential candidate Joe Biden agrees. ICYMI, Biden is at the center of the alleged investigation that Trump may or may not have asked Ukraine’s president to help with back in July. Biden says that Facebook is allowing a Trump ad claiming that Biden promised “Ukraine money for firing a prosecutor investigating a company with ties Hunter Biden.”
When You DGAF … Facebook says tough sh*t. It’s not taking the 30-second ad down on account of “free expression” on the platform.
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch … Trump isn’t focused on Facebook. He’s moved onto video streaming platform Twitch to support his re-election campaign.
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
When There Are No Tradesies … Chinese AI startups, including video surveillance firm Hikvision and facial recognition company SenseTime Group Ltd and Megvii Technology Ltd., are on the U.S.’s sh*tlist blacklist. What does this mean? These companies can’t buy parts or components from U.S. companies unless the U.S. gives the go ahead. Why? The U.S. Department of Commerce says China’s messing up with how it’s treating Muslim minorities – which is badly. This is separate from ongoing U.S.-China trade talks.
When You’ve Messed Up … Twitter said, “Whoops, my b.” The social media network had a little personal identifiable information mishap when it used email addresses and phone numbers collected for account security reasons and used it for advertising purposes. Unclear how many people this impacted. Yikes! The good news? Twitter said it was only done internally and not with third party partners.
THE STREETS ARE TALKING …
Another week, another media acquisition. Digital media company Group Nine just bought women’s lifestyle mag PopSugar. Sweet!
UberBoat is now a thing in Nigeria. It’s being piloted in Lagos for a couple of weeks.
First, it was PayPal. Now, eBay, Stripe, Mastercard, and Visa are saying ‘sayonara’ to Facebook’s cryptocurrency association – Libra Association. Meanwhile Mark Zuckerberg plans to show up in front of U.S. Congress early next year to talk about the association. Oh and add Portugal to the list of countries giving this whole thing the side eye. We’ll keep tracking …
U.S. food delivery startup Postmates is taking its time with a much-anticipated IPO in 2019 on account of “market conditions.” Things aren’t looking good though as Uber, Lyft, Slack, etc. haven’t exactly been killing it in these Wall … streets (see what we did there?) Speaking of Wall Street .. Goldman Sachs says newly public companies haven’t performed this badly in the market since 1995 …
Whale and dolphin shows are a form of animal cruelty. India, Canada, Brazil, and the UK are on the same page with that. TripAdvisor is now out of the sea animals performing business. The platform no longer offers tickets to those shows even though it’s technically not illegal in the U.S.
Bagless vacuum cleaner inventor James Dyson started working on an electric car project then said never mind. It wasn’t commercially viable venture. BTW, James Dyson’s interview on podcast How I Built This is A1.
Career Things …
When You’re Just Tryna Be Happy … Remote work is the wave. Remote workers report a better quality of life as well as increased happiness and productivity. A recent LinkedIn survey found that 70% of hiring managers offer work from home opportunity available. You just gotta ask …
What’s Playing?
Movie director Ang Li and multi-hyphenated Will Smith just brought us Gemini Man. The movie stars Smith and … a younger version of Smith. Thanks motion-capture technology.
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