How soon will computers replace The Economist’s writers? - Artificial intelligence

Check the full article for some robot reporter observations about carbon nanotubes and other topics

"In the spirit of going fast and breaking things, The Economist has therefore trained an AI program on articles from the Science and Technology section, and invited it to come up with a piece of its own. The results, presented unedited below, show both the power and the limitations of pattern-recognition machine learning, which is more or less what AI boils down to. 

The computer has mimicked our style, and spotted topics we cover frequently. But although the sentences are grammatically correct, they lack meaning. To his relief, your correspondent should thus have a job to come back to after Christmas."

How soon will computers replace The Economist’s writers? - Artificial intelligence

Comment: Slowing down older iPhones may be the right thing to do, but it opens a can of worms | 9to5Mac

tl;dr: You're explaining it wrong...

"My guess is that Apple has a whole bunch of code that does this kind of stuff: takes care of things in the background to deliver the best overall product experience. If it tried to communicate all of this to its customers, it would baffle most of them and worry some. Apple’s whole ‘it just works’ philosophy is precisely that users shouldn’t have to care about the stuff that goes on behind the scenes.

With hindsight, I’d say the best thing Apple could have done would have been to release a white paper which explains all of this kind of stuff. It didn’t need to put it in its product pages. It could have been the kind of thing that only techies read. But it would then have been in the clear, and anyone who cares about it could have had all the facts.

It’s too late now. Now that the issue has become mainstream media news, any further explanations of other measures taken will be reported in the same breathless ‘look at all the other bad stuff Apple admits to doing’ manner."

Comment: Slowing down older iPhones may be the right thing to do, but it opens a can of worms | 9to5Mac

Facebook Steps Onto YouTube Turf With Universal Music Deal - Bloomberg

Also see Facebook has taken its first real steps into the music business (Recode)

"The deal sets Facebook up as a more direct competitor to Google’s YouTube, the most popular destination online for listening to music. Both technology giants are battling for a bigger share of people’s time, and music rights could help Facebook give users new ways to engage with its services.

Striking deals with Facebook also gives record labels a way to put pressure on YouTube, which has become a powerful force in the music industry as a marketing tool and a way to introduce new artists. Google’s video site signed its own new long-term agreement with Universal Music, owned by Vivendi SA, and with Sony Music Entertainment this month, promising stronger policing of user uploads of copyrighted songs and paving the way for a new paid service after two years of tumultuous negotiations."

Facebook Steps Onto YouTube Turf With Universal Music Deal - Bloomberg

The Can’t-Lose Way for Your Business to Pop: Add Bitcoin to Its Name - The New York Times

Check the full article for some creative examples; also see Long Island Iced Tea Soars After Changing Its Name to Long Blockchain (Bloomberg); on a related note, also see Bitcoin plunges below $13,000, heads for worst week since 2013 (Reuters)

"As the value of Bitcoin has skyrocketed in recent months, companies previously focused on making fitness apparel, cigars and beverages, among other things, have rebranded themselves as virtual currency or blockchain companies of one sort or another. And investors have cheered them on, pushing their stock prices up.

Here’s a look at some of the rebranded companies and their explanations."

The Can’t-Lose Way for Your Business to Pop: Add Bitcoin to Its Name - The New York Times

Eric Schmidt to Step Down as Alphabet’s Executive Chairman - The New York Times

Also see Eric Schmidt Shows Adult Supervision Lost Its Cool (Bloomberg)

"The shift underlines how Mr. Schmidt’s influence at Alphabet has waned over time and how a new generation of leaders is firmly in charge at the giant company. Mr. Page and Mr. Brin remain at the top of Alphabet and retain voting control, but the executives they now have working for them have evolved. More of them are younger executives who rose through the ranks, such as Mr. Pichai, or are superstar executives hired from the outside, including Ruth Porat, the chief financial officer who was brought in from Morgan Stanley in 2015.

Mr. Schmidt’s stepping back is expected to have little practical effect on the day-to-day operations of the behemoth operation. But it is one of the most significant personnel shifts at the internet giant since Mr. Page took over as chief executive in 2011, and especially because Mr. Schmidt has been such a willing public face of the company for so long."

Eric Schmidt to Step Down as Alphabet’s Executive Chairman - The New York Times

Magic Leap Shows Off Long-Awaited Headset With Few Details - Bloomberg

Perhaps a less virtual product reality for Magic Leap in 2018; see Magic Leap: Founder of Secretive Start-Up Unveils Mixed-Reality Goggles (Rolling Stone) for extensive details

"The Florida-based startup has long promised to develop a headset with technology that would show 3-D virtual objects superimposed on the real world,  by projecting light into the human eye—a simulation of how people perceive actual objects. To achieve that, Magic Leap said it would build its own software and hardware and handle the manufacturing in-house.

The updated website is sparse on details, including the product’s cost and the exact date the “creator edition,” aimed at software developers, will be available, let alone be ready for consumers. In September, Bloomberg reported that the headset will cost $1,500 to $2,000, citing people familiar with company’s plans. Abovitz told Glixel that “pre-order and pricing will come together,” and described the Magic Leap One as a “premium artisan computer.”"

Magic Leap Shows Off Long-Awaited Headset With Few Details - Bloomberg

Apple Plans Combined iPhone, iPad & Mac Apps to Create One User Experience - Bloomberg

The iOS-ification of the Mac continues

"Starting as early as next year, software developers will be able to design a single application that works with a touchscreen or mouse and trackpad depending on whether it’s running on the iPhone and iPad operating system or on Mac hardware, according to people familiar with the matter. 

Developers currently must design two different apps -- one for iOS, the operating system of Apple’s mobile devices, and one for macOS, the system that runs Macs. That’s a lot more work. What’s more, Apple customers have long complained that some Mac apps get short shrift. For example, while the iPhone and iPad Twitter app is regularly updated with the social network’s latest features, the Mac version hasn’t been refreshed recently and is widely considered substandard. With a single app for all machines, Mac, iPad and iPhone users will get new features and updates at the same time."

Apple Plans Combined iPhone, iPad & Mac Apps to Create One User Experience - Bloomberg

Google Narrows Search Gap With Amazon, Retailers Left in Dust - Bloomberg

A discouraging dynamic for retailers

"Amazon.com Inc. remains the top online destination for U.S. shoppers seeking products, but Alphabet Inc.’s Google and other search engines narrowed the gap over the past year.

About 49 percent of online shoppers visit Amazon first when searching for products, down from 55 percent in 2016, according to a consumer survey from San Francisco research firm Survata. Google and other search engines followed at 36 percent, up from 28 percent. Consumers visited individual retailers’ websites first only 15 percent of the time, compared with 16 percent last year."

Google Narrows Search Gap With Amazon, Retailers Left in Dust - Bloomberg

T-Mobile, Amazon, and other companies are accused of using Facebook ads to exclude older Americans from jobs - The Washington Post

Also see Facebook's take on the issue: This Time, ProPublica, We Disagree

"Under U.S. law, companies are prohibited from discriminating based on age in employment advertising, recruiting, and hiring, and it is also unlawful to publish a job ad that indicates a preference related to age.

The lawsuit takes issue with a practice -- the targeting of ads by age and demographics -- that is ubiquitous in online advertising and is not limited to Facebook. Facebook, however, takes additional steps to explain to users why they are seeing an ad. These steps, which appear in a window after a user clicks on an ad, served as the documentation of the demographic categories used by different corporations."

T-Mobile, Amazon, and other companies are accused of using Facebook ads to exclude older Americans from jobs - The Washington Post

SpaceX recovery boat spotted with huge claw-like (Teslarati)

Recycling program, second stage; in other SpaceX news, see Elon Musk shows off SpaceX’s almost fully-assembled Falcon Heavy rocket (The Verge)

"A mysterious and massive piece of equipment was spotted by Redditor vshie early this morning aboard one of SpaceX’s fleet of leased ocean recovery vessels.

Captured aboard the recovery vessel Mr. Steven, the massive claw-like appendages are almost certainly linked to SpaceX’s payload fairing recovery efforts that have been ongoing throughout 2017. Despite SpaceX’s highly successful first stage recovery program, as much as 30% or more of the cost of every Falcon 9 launch can be found in the second stage and its many components that are discarded after every mission. Being able to recover the payload fairing, a major component of the Falcon 9 that costs approximately $5 million on its own or roughly 10% of the cost of a $62 million expendable launch, would lead to further cost reductions in commercial spaceflight."

SpaceX recovery boat spotted with huge claw-like

Here’s What Happens to a Startup When Google Gets All Up in Its Business - Bloomberg

On a related note, see Competing with BigCo: 2018 Edition (Steven Sinofsky)

"Docker Inc. helped establish a type of software tool known as containers. Thanks to the startup, containers have become an essential part of many companies’ app development process, and they’ve made the company rich. Venture capitalists have poured about $240 million into the startup, according to research firm CB Insights.

Then along came Google, with its own free container system called Kubernetes. Google has successfully inserted Kubernetes into the coder toolbox. While Docker and Kubernetes serve slightly different purposes, customers who choose Google’s tool can avoid paying Docker. The startup gives away its most popular product while trying to convince developers to pay for extras, notably a program that does the same thing as Google’s."

Here’s What Happens to a Startup When Google Gets All Up in Its Business - Bloomberg

Apple Provides Hedge Against Tech Backlash - The New York Times

Compete different

"Apple is the biggest tech giant, worth nearly $900 billion, yet it stands curiously apart. The company sells lots of expensive phones, but it’s no monopolist. The iPhone’s combined share of the five biggest European markets is under 20 percent, says Kantar Worldpanel. The company also uses privacy as a selling point. It does not gather personal information to sell to advertisers, places similar restrictions on app developers and fights government attempts to unlock suspects’ phones. Apple’s inability to master social media means its business does not affect elections either. 

Apple is not carefree. The company’s attempts to slither out of paying taxes make it a target in its own right. At worst, though, the result is probably a fine. Its rivals are looking at major, forced changes in their business models."

Apple Provides Hedge Against Tech Backlash - The New York Times

How the Winklevoss Twins Found Vindication in a Bitcoin Fortune - The New York Times

Final paragraphs below; for a different approach, see After 7,500% Rally, Cryptocurrency Founder Sells All His Coins (Bloomberg)

"They said they might look at selling when the value of all the Bitcoin in circulation approaches the value of all gold in the world — some $7 trillion or $8 trillion compared with the $310 billion value of all Bitcoin on Tuesday — given that they think Bitcoin is set to replace gold as a rare commodity. But then Tyler Winklevoss questioned even that, pointing out the ways that he believes Bitcoin is better than gold.

“In a funny way, I’m not sure we’d even sell there,” he said. “Bitcoin is more than gold — it’s a programmable store of money. It may continue to innovate.”"

How the Winklevoss Twins Found Vindication in a Bitcoin Fortune - The New York Times

Facebook will use facial recognition to tell you when people upload your picture - Recode

For more details, see these Facebook Newsroom posts: Managing Your Identity on Facebook with Face Recognition Technology and Hard Questions: Should I Be Afraid of Face Recognition Technology?

"The point of all this, according to Facebook, is to offer better privacy settings for people who use the service. It’s nice to know that your cousin just uploaded an embarrassing photo of you, for example, even if you aren’t tagged in it.

But ensuring that users can’t impersonate someone else in their profile photo is also important in Facebook’s fight against so-called fake news. Alerting someone that another person is using their photo could result in better policing of inauthentic accounts."

Facebook will use facial recognition to tell you when people upload your picture - Recode

Silicon Valley Is Turning Into Its Own Worst Fear (BuzzFeed)

Final paragraph from a timely AI and capitalism reality check by Ted Chiang

"We need for the machines to wake up, not in the sense of computers becoming self-aware, but in the sense of corporations recognizing the consequences of their behavior. Just as a superintelligent AI ought to realize that covering the planet in strawberry fields isn’t actually in its or anyone else’s best interests, companies in Silicon Valley need to realize that increasing market share isn’t a good reason to ignore all other considerations. Individuals often reevaluate their priorities after experiencing a personal wake-up call. What we need is for companies to do the same — not to abandon capitalism completely, just to rethink the way they practice it. We need them to behave better than the AIs they fear and demonstrate a capacity for insight."

Silicon Valley Is Turning Into Its Own Worst Fear

U.S. declares North Korea carried out massive WannaCry cyberattack - The Washington Post

Actual results may vary

"The Security Council sanctions on North Korea focus on its activities to develop a nuclear weapon. The administration, however, seems to be linking North Korea’s general pattern of bad behavior, including in cyberspace, to the call to implement all sanctions.

Democratic lawmakers criticized the disparity in the administration’s response to Russian hacking in the 2016 election and its reaction to North Korea’s cyber activities. “President Trump is handling the intelligence assessments regarding North Korea and Russia completely differently, staging an elaborate media roll-out to press on sanctions against North Korea while at the same time discrediting the assessment by these very same intelligence agencies that the Kremlin interfered with our election,” said Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), ranking member on the committee on oversight and government reform."

U.S. declares North Korea carried out massive WannaCry cyberattack - The Washington Post

Twitter Bans Some White Supremacists and Other Extremists - Bloomberg

A policy that will take more than 280 characters to explain

"Among the accounts that disappeared from the site were those linked to Britain First, the far-right fringe group U.S. President Donald Trump retweeted to near universal condemnation, and white supremacist organizations like the League of the South and American Renaissance.

The company’s critics described the action as a wide-ranging "purge," noting that it took place on Joseph Stalin’s birthday. But prominent extremists continue to have live accounts, including Richard Spencer, the head of the white nationalist group the National Policy Institute; Jason Kessler, the main organizer of last summer’s "Unite the Right" rally; and David Duke, the former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan."

Twitter Bans Some White Supremacists and Other Extremists - Bloomberg

Apple PC/Tablets Twists and Turns – Monday Note

From a Jean-Louis Gassée toaster-fridge reality check

"For many, it’s an obvious and welcome evolution…but, “fantasy” might be a better word. Even if Apple were able to perform the same emulation magic as Microsoft — that is, run x86 OS X apps on an ARM Mac — the move would split the Mac line into two parts: A Pro branch that requires high-power multicore Intel processors such as the ones used in the iMac Pro and next year’s rumored Mac Pro, and a MacBook line powered by Apple’s home-grown Ax processors. The payoff would be a slightly less expensive MacBook with an improved battery life, but with the unavoidable penalties — the bugs and degraded performance — of running emulated x86 OS X software.

And how does this weigh against Tim Cook’s proclamation that the iPad Pro is “the clearest expression of Apple’s vision for the future of computing”? An ARM-based Mac would be quite a change of mind. Frustrating as the low-end x86 processors might be, I don’t see Apple copying Microsoft’s move."

Apple PC/Tablets Twists and Turns – Monday Note

Bitcoin hits bigger stage as exchange giant CME launches futures (Reuters)

Bitcoin price on Coindesk this morning: ~$19.2K

"“The launch should increase buy side pressure and potentially be the catalyst that pushes bitcoin above $20,000,” said Shane Chanel, a fund manager at ASR Wealth Advisers in Melbourne.

“The introduction by CME and CBOE has added validity acknowledging bitcoin as a legitimate asset.”

The Cboe futures contract is based on a closing auction price of bitcoin from the Gemini exchange, which is owned and operated by virtual currency entrepreneurs Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss."

Bitcoin hits bigger stage as exchange giant CME launches futures

News Feed FYI: Fighting Engagement Bait on Facebook | Facebook Newsroom

Leveraging a machine learning model for more authentic engagement

"Posts that ask people for help, advice, or recommendations, such as circulating a missing child report, raising money for a cause, or asking for travel tips, will not be adversely impacted by this update.

Instead, we will demote posts that go against one of our key News Feed values — authenticity. Similar to our other recent efforts to demote clickbait headlines and links to low-quality web page experiences, we want to reduce the spread of content that is spammy, sensational, or misleading in order to promote more meaningful and authentic conversations on Facebook."

News Feed FYI: Fighting Engagement Bait on Facebook | Facebook Newsroom

Why is Facebook admitting that social networks can be bad for our health? - Recode

See Hard Questions: Is Spending Time on Social Media Bad for Us? (Facebook) for more details

"But there was a caveat to the claim: Facebook, which cited outside research throughout the report, says that using social media passively — described as “reading but not interacting with people” — makes users feel worse.

Engaging with content on social media — Facebook describes this as “sharing messages, posts and comments with close friends and reminiscing about past interactions” — actually makes people feel better, Facebook claims.

So: Aimlessly scrolling through the news feed is bad. But scrolling through the news feed and clicking Like and leaving comments is good."

Why is Facebook admitting that social networks can be bad for our health? - Recode

Alphabet tries internet lasers instead of balloons for India (Engadget)

Also see Alphabet's X sells new wireless internet tech to Indian state (Reuters)

"Alphabet is adopting laser-beaming boxes in favor of Project Loon's balloons for its latest internet-delivery partnership in Andhra Pradesh, India. The state government is snapping up 2,000 of the hubs, which rely on Free Space Optical Communications (FSOC) tech, from Alphabet's X innovations lab. Next year, the light-beaming links will be placed kilometres apart on roofs and posts to plug network access gaps between cell towers and WiFi hotspots. "Just like fibre optic cable, but without the cable," according to X's Baris Erkman.

Less than 20 percent of Andhra Pradesh's 53 million populace has access to internet, with the state government pledging to connect 12 million households by 2019 as part of its AP Fiber Grid program. The high-bandwidth FSOC links will form the "backbone of [that] network," said Erkman. For Alphabet, it's all about grabbing more first-time internet users on low-cost smartphones as it looks to tap Google's next billion."

Alphabet tries internet lasers instead of balloons for India

Oracle Shares Drop After Cloud Sales Fall Short for Some - Bloomberg

On a related note, from the recent AWS re:Invent conference: Amazon's cloud chief takes another swipe at Oracle: 'They're a long way away' (CNBC)

"Oracle, a mainstay of traditional corporate computing software, is fighting to catch up in the newer cloud market with established leaders including Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. The company has been hiring engineers to build products that let customers rent software and computing power from Oracle, and adding sales reps to transition businesses to the new offerings. The Redwood City, California-based company has also been making acquisitions like last year’s $9 billion purchase of NetSuite Inc. to add cloud clients and programs.

“They’re late to that whole cloud battle,” said Patrick Walravens, an analyst at JMP Securities. “A lot of people already have a solution they are happy with. The question is what does Oracle bring [to] the table?”"

Oracle Shares Drop After Cloud Sales Fall Short for Some - Bloomberg

Tesla’s NYC Store Sells Solar, Cars and Home Batteries Under One Roof - Bloomberg

One-stop shopping; later in the article: "In the year since Tesla paid $2 billion to buy SolarCity, it’s ditched its door-to-door sales model, and next week, the integration is expected to be complete. With the exception of a website, the SolarCity name will mostly vanish, with all solar products instead sold under the Tesla brand."

"If there’s any doubt Tesla Inc. isn’t just a car company anymore, its brand-new Manhattan showroom should put it to bed. On Friday, Tesla opens a store in New York’s Meatpacking District that, for the first time, will sell cars, solar panels and batteries permanently under one roof.

In a sparse, glass-walled space, the Model X sport utility vehicle and Model S sedan are on display alongside solar offerings and Powerwall storage systems. A Model S sits across from a sign that reads: “Produce Your Own Clean Energy.” In this store and others that Tesla’s enhancing across the U.S. starting Friday, car and energy salesmen will work side-by-side."

Tesla’s NYC Store Sells Solar, Cars and Home Batteries Under One Roof - Bloomberg

Why Ajit Pai is wrong about net neutrality - The Washington Post

Also see Watch FCC’s Ajit Pai dress up as Santa and wield a lightsaber to mock net neutrality rules (The Washington post) and The inability of Ajit Pai and Republican FCC commissioners to make a fact-based case for repeal of popular net neutrality rules will be a problem for GOP (The Verge)

"The Dec. 14 vote told us much about the future of our media. The FCC could have acted in the public interest and delayed the vote, or voted to sustain net neutrality in the public interest. It could have considered alternatives, such as the possibility of regulating Internet service providers as common carriers in the future. The historical examples of the UHF dial and the birth of the ABC network show that the FCC can play a vital role in ensuring competition, entrepreneurship and fair play in American media industries.

But on Dec. 14, the three Republican commissioners showed that they lacked the courage to act as their predecessors once did."

Why Ajit Pai is wrong about net neutrality - The Washington Post

That Net Neutrality Op-ed in the Wall Street Journal Was Written By a Comcast Attorney (The Intercept)

WSJ business as usual under Rupert Murdoch

"On his bio page, Leibowitz discloses that he has “advised Comcast Corporation in connection with a number of regulatory matters and acquisitions.” More broadly, Davis Polk was a key adviser in Comcast’s purchase of NBCUniversal, as well as deals with DreamWorks and Time Warner Cable (which didn’t end up being approved). Comcast “has used the New York-based law firm repeatedly,” according to Reuters. NBCUniversal’s general counsel came from Davis Polk.

So a Comcast lawyer used the Wall Street Journal to give an “unbiased” opinion on why the net neutrality repeal represented no threat to consumers. The opinion meshed seamlessly with Comcast’s own published endorsements of the FCC’s action."

That Net Neutrality Op-ed in the Wall Street Journal Was Written By a Comcast Attorney

iMac Pro, the most powerful Mac ever, available today - Apple

Starting at $4,999; selecting all high-end options (18-core, 128GB memory, 4TB SSD, etc.) on the Customize your iMac Pro page can take it to > $13,000...

"iMac Pro takes Mac performance to a whole new level, even when compared to our fastest quad-core iMac.

• 3D designers can visualize huge 3D models and render scenes up to 3.4 times faster. 

• Developers can run multiple virtual machines and test environments, and compile code up to 2.4 times faster.

• Scientists and researchers can manipulate massive data sets and complex simulations, visualizing data up to 5 times faster.

• Photographers can work with enormous files and perform image processing up to 4.1 times faster.

• Music producers can bounce (export) massive multi-track projects up to 4.6 times faster and use up to 12.4 times as many real-time plug-ins. 

• Video editors can edit up to eight streams of 4K video, or edit 4.5K RED RAW video and 8K ProRes 4444 at full resolution in real time without rendering. The iMac Pro can also export HEVC video 3 times faster."

iMac Pro, the most powerful Mac ever, available today - Apple

As Elon Musk’s SpaceX eyes another historic first, Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin returns to flight - The Washington Post

Check the full article for an update on the commercial space race

"Jeffrey P. Bezos's Blue Origin got a step closer to flying tourists to space Tuesday when it launched a life-size dummy the company named “Mannequin Skywalker” from its remote West Texas facility.

The updated booster and crew capsule, which the company hopes to use to fly its first human tourists to space by as early as next year, hit a peak altitude of nearly 100 kilometers, or what's considered the threshold of space, the company said in a statement. (Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

The New Shepard booster, named for Alan Shepard, the first American in space, then flew back to Earth, successfully touching down on a landing pad so that it can be reused. The capsule, designed with what Blue Origin says are the largest windows ever to fly into space, floated back under parachutes for a landing in a flight that lasted 10 minutes and six seconds."

As Elon Musk’s SpaceX eyes another historic first, Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin returns to flight - The Washington Post

Would You Buy a $400 Smart Speaker from Google? - Bloomberg

I'm guessing "Manhattan" may lack an Amazon Prime Video app -- see Amazon and Google are fighting, and that means consumers lose (Washington Post) for some leading indicators

"Isabelle Olsson, the project’s lead hardware designer, said Google went through “hundreds and hundreds” of prototypes, but declined to describe nixed designs in case they show up in future devices. One key challenge: picking the yarn that covers the front of the speaker. Looking for fabric that looked good and wouldn’t impede the sound, the team rummaged through 300 choices before selecting the material at an Austrian mill.

Google declined to say whether it plans to expand the Home lineup. But two people familiar with the matter said the company is working on a touchscreen version, akin to Amazon’s Echo Show. (TechCrunch previously reported the news.) The device is codenamed “Manhattan” and will go on sale as early as next year. In the meantime, the search giant will have to overcome a history of product flops and take on Amazon, Apple and Sonos."

Would You Buy a $400 Smart Speaker from Google? - Bloomberg

Bitcoin And Its Competitors Are Becoming A Problem For US Sanctions (BuzzFeed)

So apparently bitcoin is not just for speculators; on a related note, see Bitcoin Trading Thrives Wherever Regulators Crack Down Most (Bloomberg)

"As bitcoin sees its value skyrocket, some financial experts and cyber analysts are beginning to worry that the digital cryptocurrency is prime to be exploited by countries like Russia looking to dodge US sanctions.

William Browder, a financier and co-founder of an investment fund that specializes in Russia, will say as much when he testifies on Thursday before the US Helsinki Commission, a government agency that monitors security and human rights policy in Europe.

“These cryptocurrencies are a gift from God to criminals and dictators who want to keep their money safe,” said Browder in a phone interview on Tuesday."

Bitcoin And Its Competitors Are Becoming A Problem For US Sanctions

Box launches new consulting unit to help customers struggling with digital transformation | TechCrunch

Who knew content/collaboration could be so complicated?... See Introducing Box Transform: Accelerate at the speed of business (Box blog) for more details

"Box announced a new consulting organization today called Box Transform. It is designed to help companies understand that transformation requires a new way of working and thinking as an organization, beyond simply adopting new technologies like Box.

Box CEO Aaron Levie says that as his company has grown, they see their mission as more than selling software. It’s about helping change the entire way people work and interact with the content they use on a daily basis. Box wants to use its experience working with thousands of customers to help those companies that need an organizational push to get their transformation off the ground."

Box launches new consulting unit to help customers struggling with digital transformation | TechCrunch

Study: More than 8 in 10 Americans -- and 75 percent of Republicans -- oppose the net neutrality plan by the FCC and Ajit Pai - The Washington Post

Ajit Pai may have to accelerate the timing of his career shift to telecommunications lobbyist, if he goes ahead as expected tomorrow; also see Act now to save the internet as we know it (Tim Berners-Lee on Medium)

"The survey by the university's Program for Public Consultation and Voice of the People, a nonpartisan polling organization, concluded that 83 percent of Americans do not approve of the FCC proposal. Just 16 percent said they approved.

Americans in the survey were far less likely to find the FCC's arguments for repeal persuasive, and far more likely to agree with arguments for keeping the regulations. While 48 percent said they found the government's case convincing, 75 percent said they found the contrasting arguments of consumer groups and tech companies convincing.

About one in five Republicans said they were in favor of the FCC's proposal."

Study: More than 8 in 10 Americans -- and 75 percent of Republicans -- oppose the net neutrality plan by the FCC and Ajit Pai - The Washington Post

Twitter makes it easier to rant by making tweetstorms an official feature - The Washington Post

See Nice Threads (Twitter blog) for more details

"Twitter announced Tuesday that it's adding a tool that makes it easy to thread tweets together, giving users more space for thoughtful commentary, unhinged rants and everything in between. The move builds on the company's recent decision to abandon its traditional 140-character count for 280 characters to allow people more room per tweet — even as the social network struggles to clarify its policies on what is appropriate conduct on Twitter.

The company said in a blog post that it was inspired to create the tool based on what users were already doing. “At Twitter, we have a history of studying how people use our service and then creating features to make what they’re doing easier. The Retweet, @reply, and hashtag are examples of this,” product manager Sasank Reddy said."

Twitter makes it easier to rant by making tweetstorms an official feature - The Washington Post

How 2017 Became a Turning Point for Tech Giants - The New York Times

Better late than never

"For years, despite their growing power, tech platforms rarely garnered much scrutiny, and they were often loathe to accept how much their systems affected the real world. Indeed, the online ethos has been that platforms aren’t really responsible for how people use them. It might as well be the slogan of Silicon Valley: We just make the tech, how people use it is another story.

In 2017, that changed. At first grudgingly and then with apparent enthusiasm, platform companies like Facebook began accepting some responsibility for how they are affecting the real world. They did not go as far as some critics would have liked — but in many significant ways they offered a shift in tone and tactics that suggested they were rethinking their positions."

How 2017 Became a Turning Point for Tech Giants - The New York Times

Microsoft Takes Path Less Traveled to Build a Quantum Computer - Bloomberg

For more details, see The future is quantum: Microsoft releases free preview of Quantum Development Kit (Microsoft AI blog)

"In the race to commercialize a new type of powerful computer, Microsoft Corp. has just pulled up to the starting line with a slick-looking set of wheels. There’s just one problem: it doesn't have an engine – at least not yet.

The Redmond, Washington-based tech giant is competing with Alphabet Inc.’s Google, International Business Machines Corp. and a clutch of small, specialized companies to develop quantum computers – machines that, in theory, will be many times more powerful than existing computers by bending the laws of physics.

Microsoft says it has a different approach that will make its technology less error-prone and more suitable for commercial use. If it works. On Monday, the company unveiled a new programming language called Q# – pronounced Q Sharp – and tools that help coders craft software for quantum computers. Microsoft is also releasing simulators that will let programmers test that software on a traditional desktop computer or through its Azure cloud-computing service."

Microsoft Takes Path Less Traveled to Build a Quantum Computer - Bloomberg

Net neutrality: 'father of internet' joins tech leaders in condemning repeal plan | Technology | The Guardian

The full letter: Internet Pioneers and Leaders Tell the FCC: You Don’t Understand How the Internet Works

"More than 20 internet pioneers and leaders including the “father of the internet”, Vint Cerf; the inventor of the world wide web, Tim Berners-Lee; and the Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak have urged the FCC to cancel its vote to repeal net neutrality, describing the plan as “based on a flawed and factually inaccurate” understanding of how the internet works.

“The FCC’s rushed and technically incorrect proposed order to repeal net neutrality protections without any replacement is an imminent threat to the internet we worked so hard to create. It should be stopped,” said the technology luminaries in an open letter to lawmakers with oversight of the Federal Communications Commission on Monday."

Net neutrality: 'father of internet' joins tech leaders in condemning repeal plan | Technology | The Guardian

Apple has bought Shazam, the music recognition app - Recode

For an overview of Shazam's visual recognition capabilities (from 2015), see Shazam Introduces Visual Recognition Capabilities, Opening Up A New World Of Shazamable Content

"Note that Apple references “approval of today’s agreement,” which is also unusual. Normally Apple just buys a company and that’s that. So Apple presumably thinks that it will need some sort of regulatory approval to get the deal done — perhaps that’s because Shazam is based in the U.K. I’ll update if Apple provides any info.

One other thought: While Shazam has played up its ability to do more than just recognize a song that’s playing — it has a “visual Shazam” capability that lets you use your camera to ID objects — my hunch is that Apple is interested, first and foremost, in Shazam’s core utility. I imagine it will eventually be integrated directly into the iPhone’s iOS."

Apple has bought Shazam, the music recognition app - Recode

The ‘Alt-Right’ Created a Parallel Internet. It’s an Unholy Mess. - The New York Times

Final paragraphs from an alt-right + internet reality check

"The good news for the alt-right’s detractors, then, is that the movement’s vision of a flourishing parallel internet seems doomed to fail.

The bad news is that, without a functional alternate ecosystem, it may be harder to quarantine the views of neo-Nazis and other noxious ideologues to little-used corners of the internet, far from the vast majority of users. Facebook, Twitter, and other mainstream services will continue to be the dominant venue for ideological battles, and keeping these platforms free of hate and misinformation will remain those companies’ responsibility. Let’s hope they’re up to the challenge."

The ‘Alt-Right’ Created a Parallel Internet. It’s an Unholy Mess. - The New York Times

Bitcoin Futures Set Scene for More Gambling - The New York Times

In other irrational investor news, see People are taking out mortgages to buy bitcoin, says securities regulator (CNBC) and Is Bitcoin the Most Obvious Bubble Ever? (The Atlantic)

"Proponents reckon that the entry of two big, regulated United States exchanges bolsters the legitimacy of Bitcoin. It certainly broadens the universe of possible investors, and it invites the creation of new exchange-traded funds, which need a liquid benchmark to track. That would bring Bitcoin exposure to retail investors. 

Yet the Futures Industry Association, which represents clearinghouses and big banks, is apprehensive about the light regulatory scrutiny so far. And making the contracts cash-settled means the exchanges — and their customers — can now ride the Bitcoin bandwagon without touching the cryptocurrency at all."

Bitcoin Futures Set Scene for More Gambling - The New York Times

Google leads in the race to dominate artificial intelligence - Battle of the brains (The Economist)

From an AI market dynamics review

"As with past waves of new technology, such as the rise of personal computers and mobile telephony, AI has the potential to shake up the businesses of the tech giants by helping them overhaul existing operations and dream up new enterprises. But it also comes with a sense of menace. “If you’re a tech company and you’re not building AI as a core competence, then you’re setting yourself up for an invention from the outside,” says Jeff Wilke, chief executive of “worldwide consumer” at Amazon, and adjutant to Jeff Bezos.

Fuelled by rivalry, high hopes and hype, the AI boom can feel like the first California gold rush. Although Chinese firms such as Baidu and Alibaba are also investing in AI, and deploying it in their home market, the most visible prospectors are Western tech firms. Alphabet is widely perceived to be in the lead. It has been making sizeable profits from AI for years and has many of the best-known researchers. But it is early days and the race is far from over. Over the next several years, large tech firms are going to go head-to-head in three ways. They will continue to compete for talent to help train their corporate “brains”; they will try to apply machine learning to their existing businesses more effectively than rivals; and they will try to create new profit centres with the help of AI."

Google leads in the race to dominate artificial intelligence - Battle of the brains

Former Facebook exec says social media is ripping apart society - The Verge

Later in the article: "He later adds, though, that he believes the company “overwhelmingly does good in the world.”"

"Another former Facebook executive has spoken out about the harm the social network is doing to civil society around the world. Chamath Palihapitiya, who joined Facebook in 2007 and became its vice president for user growth, said he feels “tremendous guilt” about the company he helped make. “I think we have created tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works,” he told an audience at Stanford Graduate School of Business, before recommending people take a “hard break” from social media.

Palihapitiya’s criticisms were aimed not only at Facebook, but the wider online ecosystem. “The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops we’ve created are destroying how society works,” he said, referring to online interactions driven by “hearts, likes, thumbs-up.” “No civil discourse, no cooperation; misinformation, mistruth. And it’s not an American problem — this is not about Russians ads. This is a global problem.”"

Former Facebook exec says social media is ripping apart society - The Verge

Can Parents ‘Robot-Proof’ Their Child’s Job Future? - The New York Times

From an employment + automation reality check

"As a matter of professional survival, I would like to assure my children that journalism is immune, but that is clearly a delusion. The Associated Press already has used a software program from a company called Automated Insights to churn out passable copy covering Wall Street earnings and some college sports, and last year awarded the bots the minor league baseball beat.

What about other glamour jobs, like airline pilot? Well, last spring, a robotic co-pilot developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, known as Darpa, flew and landed a simulated 737. I hardly count that as surprising, given that pilots of commercial Boeing 777s, according to one 2015 survey, only spend seven minutes during an average flight actually flying the thing. As we move into the era of driverless cars, can pilotless planes be far behind?"

Can Parents ‘Robot-Proof’ Their Child’s Job Future? - The New York Times

Bitcoin futures rise as virtual currency hits major exchange - The Washington Post

What could possibly go wrong?... Also see Bitcoin Futures Start With a Bang as 26% Rally Triggers Halts (Bloomberg) and A quarter trillion dollars is at risk when bitcoin crashes — and that’s just for starters (Axios)

"The first-ever bitcoin future jumped after it began trading Sunday as the increasingly popular virtual currency made its debut on a major U.S. exchange.

The futures contract that expires in January surged more than $3,000 to $18,580 eight hours after trading launched on the Chicago Board Options Exchange. The contract opened at $15,000, according to data from the CBOE.

The CBOE futures don’t involve actual bitcoin. They’re securities that will track the price of bitcoin on Gemini, one of the larger bitcoin exchanges."

Bitcoin futures rise as virtual currency hits major exchange - The Washington Post

How Duterte Turned Facebook Into a Weapon—With Help From Facebook - Bloomberg

An excerpt from this week's Bloomberg Businessweek cover story

"Even in the U.S., where Facebook has been hauled before Congress to explain its role in a Russian disinformation campaign designed to influence the U.S. presidential election, the company doesn’t have a clear answer for how it will stem abuse. It says it will add 10,000 workers worldwide to handle security issues, increase its use of third-party fact-checkers to identify fake news, and coordinate more closely with governments to find sources of misinformation and abuse. But the most challenging questions—such as what happens when the government itself is a bad actor and where to draw the line between free speech and a credible threat of violence—are beyond the scope of these fixes. What stays and what goes from the site is still decided subjectively, often by third-party contractors—many of them stationed, as it happens, in the Philippines, a long-standing outsourcing hub.
Facebook is inherently conflicted. It promises advertisers it will deliver interested and engaged users—and often what is interesting and engaging is salacious, aggressive, or simply false. “I don’t think you can underestimate how much of a role they play in societal discourse,” says Carly Nyst, a London-based consultant on technology and human rights who has studied patriotic trolling around the world. “This is a real moment that they have to take some responsibility. These tools they’ve promised as tools of communication and connection are being abused.”"

How Duterte Turned Facebook Into a Weapon—With Help From Facebook - Bloomberg

Renewable Energy Is Surging. The G.O.P. Tax Bill Could Curtail That. - The New York Times

On a related note, see How Trump Did the Impossible: Getting Solar and Oil Lobbyists to Unite (Bloomberg)

"The Republican tax bills moving through Congress could significantly hobble the United States’ renewable energy industry because of a series of provisions that scale back incentives for wind and solar power while bolstering older energy sources like oil and gas production.

The possibility highlights the degree to which the nation’s recent surge in renewable electricity generation is still sustained by favorable tax treatment, which has lowered the cost of solar and wind production while provoking the ire of fossil-fuel competitors seeking to weaken those tax preferences."

Renewable Energy Is Surging. The G.O.P. Tax Bill Could Curtail That. - The New York Times

Q&A: Tim Berners-Lee on net neutrality and why he won’t have Alexa in the house – Wikitribune

Check the full article for his views on Alexa and other topics

"Q: How do you think “fake news” can be tackled?

A: I think the label “fake news” covers a really complicated, interesting space of many different dysfunctional mechanisms…I think the power of fake news is the ability of humanity to divide itself into different pools, where you have one group, which are scientific and … the other group, they live off conspiracy theories, they’ll believe anything they hear from an authority or science, and who will have a completely inconsistent view of the world but not consistent with reality. [They are] quite consistent with themselves and where they’re in an echo chamber…

[Berners-Lee said it was important to do more research on how Twitter and Facebook, as examples of social media, might drive the creation of those echo chambers.]: Maybe we shouldn’t really blame those people so much as the people who engineered the software they use, because the software they use is encouraging them. It’s built to feed them more of what they had before, and connect them to more people who like the same stuff. If the software has been deliberately built to make the echo chambers and thought bubbles, then the responsibility is with the people who built them…You as a journalist, I as a member of the web, should be holding these people and these web properties to account and say, “Oh, you need to do better. You need to reprogram these things so we get a less polarised world.”"

Q&A: Tim Berners-Lee on net neutrality and why he won’t have Alexa in the house – Wikitribune

Bitcoin’s Price Surpasses $18,000 Level, Market Cap Now Higher Than Visa’s (The Cointelegraph)

Closer to $14K again as I type this, per Coindesk; also see Why Has Bitcoin’s Price Gone Up So Fast? (NYT), which notes "And on Thursday, less than two weeks later, the price of a single Bitcoin rose above $20,000 on some exchanges" and Wall Street can't wait to short bitcoin (Axios) [Update: back above $15K less than an hour after the original post]

"Bitcoin has sustained its phenomenal rise and already surpassed the $18,000 per token level as of Dec. 7, 2017.

Because of this, the leading virtual currency’s market capitalization (cap) has also swelled to a new record high of $305 bln, surpassing that of payments technology firm Visa, whose market cap is currently pegged at $254.74 bln.

In his tweet, Pension Partners Director of Research Charlie Bilello said that Bitcoin’s cap has already surpassed that of Visa’s. Visa is currently the biggest electronic payment processor in the world with a revenue of $8.9 tln and 141 bln transactions annually."

Bitcoin’s Price Surpasses $18,000 Level, Market Cap Now Higher Than Visa’s

Bitcoin soars above $17,000, boosting worries and a worldwide frenzy - The Washington Post

Not a bad day for bitcoin investors, so far...

"Bitcoin soared past the $17,000 mark on Thursday, a dizzying run for a digital currency that was worth less than $1,000 at the start of the year and was once largely the preoccupation of technologists or those looking to avoid scrutiny to launder money or buy drugs and weapons online.

The fast rise — it has gone up more than 40 percent this week alone — is creating a buying frenzy among eager speculators around the world and helping push bitcoin into the mainstream. But it is also forcing U.S. regulators to grapple with whether to legitimize a product that operates outside the control of any government or financial institution.

The run-up in price comes as bitcoin enthusiasts prepare to reach a new landmark. On Sunday, a bitcoin product will trade for the first time on a U.S. financial market, making it almost as easy to bet on the virtual currency as oil, corn or the euro."

Bitcoin soars above $17,000, boosting worries and a worldwide frenzy - The Washington Post

The Always Connected PC will need more than Connectivity to be a Hit – Tech.pinions

From a timely PC reality check

"If you have seen the latest iPad commercial and can relate to it, you might have already bought into the promise of an always connected computing experience. It is ironic that Apple is helping sell the vision that Microsoft, Qualcomm and their partners want to deliver. Except, of course, Apple is also telling you that your always connected life does not require a PC.

And here is the heart of the matter. For consumers, the desire to be connected has little to do with being productive and a lot to do with getting “stuff” done whenever we want. That stuff can range from streaming music, to upload to social media, to playing online games, to shopping online…. basically being able to do the same things we do on our smartphones but with the advantage of having a larger screen and a keyboard. Forty-three percent of the consumers we interviewed who have a connected iPad said they do a little bit of everything. This does not mean we will carry our smartphones less or rely on them any less. It simply means we will have the option to choose the best tool for the job without having to compromise on connectivity and battery life."

The Always Connected PC will need more than Connectivity to be a Hit – Tech.pinions

Pivot to the cloud: intelligent features in Google Sheets help businesses uncover insights (Google blog)

Tbd when AlphaZero will be integrated with Google Sheets, learn the rules of your business domain in a few minutes, and tell you if you should just give up...

"When it comes to data in spreadsheets, deciphering meaningful insights can be a challenge whether you’re a spreadsheet guru or data analytics pro. But thanks to advances in the cloud and artificial intelligence, you can instantly uncover insights and empower everyone in your organization—not just those with technical or analytics backgrounds—to make more informed decisions.
We launched "Explore" in Sheets to help you decipher your data easily using the power of machine intelligence, and since then we’ve added even more ways for you to intelligently visualize and share your company data. Today, we’re announcing additional features to Google Sheets to help businesses make better use of their data, from pivot tables and formula suggestions powered by machine intelligence, to even more flexible ways to help you analyze your data."

Pivot to the cloud: intelligent features in Google Sheets help businesses uncover insights

Entire human chess knowledge learned and surpassed by DeepMind's AlphaZero in four hours (The Telegraph)

Later in the article: "The DeepMind team eventually want to use the algorithm to solve big health problems. They believe that the programme could come up with cures for major illness in a matter of days or weeks, which would have taken humans hundreds of years to find."

"Hundreds of years of chess knowledge was learned and then surpassed by Google DeepMind’s artificial intelligence algorithm in just four hours, it has emerged.

The astonishing programme AlphaZero quickly mastered the ancient game, before coming up with completely new strategies, which are now being analysed by grandmasters.

The algorithm is so extraordinary because it learns from scratch. It has only been programmed with the rules of chess and must work out how to win simply from playing multiple games against itself."

Entire human chess knowledge learned and surpassed by DeepMind's AlphaZero in four hours 

Steam no longer accepting bitcoin due to ‘high fees and volatility’ - The Verge

Bitcoin is losing Steam...

"Steam is no longer accepting bitcoin as a payment method, game company and distributor Valve announced today. The company is attributing its decision to cryptocurrency’s “high fees and volatility.” In a blog post, Valve explained that bitcoin transaction fees have gone up to nearly $20 per transaction last week, “compared to roughly $0.20 when we initially enabled Bitcoin.” Those fees then have to be shouldered by gamers making purchases on Steam, and the total cost to consumers could be even higher if the value of bitcoin dips in the meantime.

Even if the value of bitcoin were to go up while the user completes the transaction, and Steam has to refund the difference to the user, the transaction fee must be paid by the user again for the refund. “This year, we’ve seen increasing number[s] of customers get into this state,” the post states. There’s even the scenario, Valve explains, that as the user or Steam tries to cover the difference in value, the value of bitcoin then changes again, causing more problems."

Steam no longer accepting bitcoin due to ‘high fees and volatility’ - The Verge

Inside Oracle’s cloak-and-dagger political war with Google - Recode

And this is before Google Cloud Spanner gains mainstream momentum and performs a cashectomy on the Oracle Database business...

"For the past year, the software and cloud computing giant has mounted a cloak-and-dagger, take-no-prisoners lobbying campaign against Google, perhaps hoping to cause the company intense political and financial pain at a time when the two tech giants are also warring in federal court over allegations of stolen computer code.

Since 2010, Oracle has accused Google of copying Java and using key portions of it in the making of Android. Google, for its part, has fought those claims vigorously. More recently, though, their standoff has intensified. And as a sign of the worsening rift between them, this summer Oracle tried to sell reporters on a story about the privacy pitfalls of Android, two sources confirmed to Recode."

Inside Oracle’s cloak-and-dagger political war with Google - Recode

Bitcoin Hasn’t Replaced Cash, but Investors Don’t Care - The New York Times

$15,624.50 as I type this (per Google; Coindesk says a mere $14,338.65); for another *coin reality check, see Coinbase: The Heart of the Bitcoin Frenzy (NYT)

"When Bitcoin first entered the public consciousness a few years back, a handful of large companies like Dell and Expedia announced that they would begin accepting the virtual currency. But there weren’t many takers.

This failure hasn’t bothered many of the people buying up Bitcoins in recent months, pushing the price to new highs — above $13,000 for one Bitcoin on Wednesday.

These investors aren’t using their tokens to buy computers or to book trips. Instead, they are hoarding Bitcoins as if it were virtual gold, a new way to store money outside the control of any government or company."

Bitcoin Hasn’t Replaced Cash, but Investors Don’t Care - The New York Times

Microsoft launches ARM-powered Windows 10 PCs with ‘all-day’ battery life - The Verge

For more details, see Always Connected PCs enable a new culture of work (Windows Blog)

"The obvious question is why do these devices even exist? Microsoft has worked with Qualcomm to create these “always-on” PCs so that they’re always connected to LTE connections, and work more like an iPad than a traditional Windows laptop. That means you open the laptop up and it should instantly resume, or you close the lid and never have to worry about the battery draining. These devices should have battery benefits and the type of LTE connectivity that we haven’t seen regularly in Windows laptops. 

HP and Asus’ devices will include Windows 10 S, designed to only run apps from the Windows Store, but users will be able to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro free of charge (for now) to get access to the full desktop apps. Microsoft has natively compiled Windows 10 to run on ARM chipsets, so all Windows processes, Edge, and the shell all run natively without emulation. Microsoft has also looked at the top third-party desktop applications and natively recompiled a set of system DLLs that they rely on to ensure performance is solid."

Microsoft launches ARM-powered Windows 10 PCs with ‘all-day’ battery life - The Verge:

Oath and Mozilla are in a legal battle over a Yahoo search deal - Recode

Broken Oath

"Mozilla switched to Yahoo from Google after Mayer offered a much more lucrative deal that included an unprecedented term to protect Mozilla in a change-of-control scenario. It was a scenario that Mayer never thought would happen, which is why she apparently pushed through the problematic deal point.

According to the change-of-control term, 9.1 in the agreement, Mozilla had the right to leave the partnership if — under its sole discretion and in a certain time period — it did not deem the new partner acceptable. And if it did that, even if it struck another search deal, Yahoo was still obligated to pay out annual revenue guarantees of $375 million."

Oath and Mozilla are in a legal battle over a Yahoo search deal - Recode

Ziff Davis has bought Mashable at a fire sale price and plans to lay off 50 people - Recode

On a related note, see How brands secretly buy their way into Forbes, Fast Company, and HuffPost stories (The Outline; Mashable and Business Insider are also on the list)

"Mashable, once a fast-growing digital publisher with big ambitions, has been sold at a fire sale price.

Ziff Davis, a digital media subsidiary of tech company J2, is buying Mashable for less than $50 million, according to people familiar with the transaction. In the spring of 2016, Time Warner’s Turner led a $15 million investment round that valued the company at $250 million."

Ziff Davis has bought Mashable at a fire sale price and plans to lay off 50 people - Recode

Google Blocks YouTube Access From Amazon's Streaming Devices - Bloomberg

In other competitive confrontation customer consequences, see Where is Amazon’s Prime Video app for Apple TV? (The Verge) [Update: Amazon Prime Video comes to Apple TV, finally (The Verge)]

"Alphabet Inc.’s Google pulled support for its YouTube video service from Amazon.com Inc.’s streaming-media devices, citing the internet retailer’s failure to make Amazon Prime Video available through Google’s gadgets and the recent halt of the sale of some Nest products on its website.

Google blocked YouTube access via the Echo Show, Amazon’s smart speaker with a touchscreen, on Tuesday and will stop supporting YouTube on Amazon’s Fire TV set-top box on Jan. 1. In a statement, a Google representative said it’s taking the action because the YouTube apps on Amazon products aren’t made by Google, like the YouTube app on the iPhone is, and the retail giant doesn’t sell some Google products, such as Chromecast and Google Home."

Google Blocks YouTube Access From Amazon's Streaming Devices - Bloomberg

Google wants more humans to help solve the problem of child exploitation on YouTube - The Washington Post

Following Facebook's announcement in late October: Facebook pledges to double its 10,000-person safety and security staff by end of 2018 (CNBC)

"In announcing plans to hire many more human moderators to flag disturbing and extremist content this week, YouTube has become the latest Silicon Valley giant to acknowledge that software alone won’t solve many of the problems plaguing the industry.

YouTube, which is owned by Google, said in a blog post Monday night that it would significantly increase the number of people monitoring such content across the company next year. By 2018, Google will employ roughly 10,000 content moderators and other professionals tasked with addressing violations of its content policies. The search giant would not disclose the number of employees currently performing such jobs, but a person familiar with the company’s operations said the hiring represents a 25 percent increase from where Google is now."

Google wants more humans to help solve the problem of child exploitation on YouTube - The Washington Post

Bitcoin: What you need to know - The Washington Post

$12,825.24 as I type this; later in the article: "'Individuals should not invest any capital that they cannot afford to lose tomorrow,' Catalini said."

"Bitcoin has been giving the Republican tax plan a run for its money when it comes to who has been dominating the news over the past week.

As of Jan. 1, the cryptocurrency was trading at $960.79 per coin. Around 4 p.m. Monday, it was selling in the $11,500 range, an increase of more than 10 times in less than a year.

The cryptocurrency joined the financial world’s mainstream last week when Chicago-based CME Group and the Chicago Board Options Exchange received approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to begin trading bitcoin."

Bitcoin: What you need to know - The Washington Post

The Hidden Player Spurring a Wave of Cheap Consumer Devices: Amazon - The New York Times

A timely Amazon-and-friends reality check

"That future? We’re going to get better products for ludicrously low prices, and big brands across a range of categories — the Nests and Netgears of the world — are going to find it harder than ever to get us to shell out big money for their wares.

There’s a hidden hero in this story — or, if you’re a major brand, a shadowy villain. It’s Amazon. 

To understand Amazon’s role, let’s take a closer look at how Wyze piggybacked off Amazon. Nest’s and Netgear’s comparable indoor cameras sell for around $200 each, while Wyze’s device goes for $20 plus shipping if you buy directly from the company’s website. The only other place to purchase the WyzeCam is on Amazon, where members of the company’s Prime service can get it for $30 including two-day shipping."

The Hidden Player Spurring a Wave of Cheap Consumer Devices: Amazon - The New York Times

Zeta Global acquires commenting service Disqus | TechCrunch

Another "if you're not paying, you are the product" case study

"“Marketers typically have to make trade-offs between reaching engaged audiences on social platforms with massive reach and using tools that give them control and access to granular targeting capabilities,” said Zeta Global CEO, chairman and co-founder David A. Steinberg. “Disqus strengthens Zeta’s ability to offer the best of both worlds with the scale, visibility and performance marketers have been asking for.”

Disqus gives these marketers the ability to target users based on their interests. You can infer quite a bit about people simply based on which sites they comment on, after all. At the same time, though, most of the online commenting has now moved to social media and the number of comments on most sites is in a steady decline. So while Zeta is acquired a large hoard of data, it remains to be seen how long that data will stay current."

Zeta Global acquires commenting service Disqus | TechCrunch

2017 was the year digital ad spending finally beat TV - Recode

Something to watch

"We’ve been headed here for a while. But this was the year it actually happened: Advertisers spent more on digital than traditional TV.

To be specific: Digital ad spending reached $209 billion worldwide — 41 percent of the market — in 2017, while TV brought in $178 billion — 35 percent of the market — in 2017. That’s according to Magna, the research arm of media buying firm IPG Mediabrands.

Bear in mind that this isn’t because TV ads are cratering — TV ad spending is still flat or slowly growing, depending on the year. And in most cases big TV advertisers have yet to move much of their budget over to digital, even though Facebook and Google are working hard to make that happen."

2017 was the year digital ad spending finally beat TV - Recode

Apple Manufacturer Quanta Reaches Deal to Build AR Displays - Bloomberg

A 2020 vision update

""This means that the most expensive key enabling technology in the AR glasses teardown will now be affordably priced, effectively bringing down the overall cost of consumer AR glasses," Grobman said in an interview. "Quanta has suggested that full AR headsets would be priced for less than the cost of a high-end cell phone. That’s a big deal.”

Apple is developing an AR headset that would integrate with digital assistant Siri, and display maps and text messages to the wearer, Bloomberg News reported last month. The Cupertino, California-based company plans to have its AR technology ready by 2019 for a release as early as 2020. Lumus expects headsets with its technology to reach the market within 12 to 18 months. Grobman wouldn’t say whether Lumus and Quanta are working on Apple’s glasses."

Apple Manufacturer Quanta Reaches Deal to Build AR Displays - Bloomberg

CryptoKitties Mania Overwhelms Ethereum Network's Processing - Bloomberg

Beanie Babies, c2017?

"Since its 2015 debut, digital evangelists have preached how the ethereum network will be perfect for applications such as managing supply chains and securities sales. What it’s actually used for is buying kittens.

CryptoKitties, an online game that debuted on Nov. 28, is now the most popular smart contract -- essentially, an application that runs itself -- on ethereum, accounting for 11 percent of all transactions on the network, according to ETH Gas Station. That’s up from 4 percent on Dec. 2 for the network, which uses the distributed-ledger technology known as blockchain.

The game is actually clogging the ethereum network, leading to slower transaction times for all users of the blockchain, which is a digital ledger for recording transactions."

CryptoKitties Mania Overwhelms Ethereum Network's Processing - Bloomberg

Facebook’s new messaging app deepens debate over kids’ social-media use - The Washington Post

For more details, see the FAQ at https://messengerkids.com/

"Analysts say that messaging apps give Facebook a chance to tap into a younger generation that they have been losing; earlier this year, the company bought the popular teen messaging app tbh.  When Facebook asked parents about launching a kids' app, many told the company that they did not want a full social network, but had more interest in a communications tool, the company said.

Facebook said that Messenger Kids will have no ads. It will also not use data from Messenger Kids for Facebook ads. (Parents shouldn't, for example, see an ad for a toy on Facebook because their child talked about it on Messenger Kids.) The firm said no data from Messenger Kids will be fed to the main social network, nor will their information automatically port to other Facebook products when they turn 13, the company said."

Facebook’s new messaging app deepens debate over kids’ social-media use - The Washington Post

Google Missed Out on China. Can It Flourish in India? - The New York Times

In other "frightful five" global news, see Amazon’s Australian Launch Brings Excitement, Dread and Defiance (NYT)

"Google, which missed out on the rise of the internet in China, is determined not to make the same mistake in India. It has marshaled some of its best developers, designers and researchers to figure out how to adapt or completely rethink products like YouTube to serve the needs of mobile internet users with smaller budgets but big aspirations.

Many of the world’s biggest tech companies — Facebook, Google and Amazon from the United States, and Alibaba and Tencent from China — are competing with local businesses like Reliance, Flipkart and Paytm to win their loyalties. With 1.3 billion people, only one-third of whom are currently online, India has huge moneymaking potential for the services that secure a foothold."

Google Missed Out on China. Can It Flourish in India? - The New York Times

Learning about Silicon Valley in the 1970s is ‘like watching the Big Bang,’ historian Leslie Berlin says - Recode

On a related note, see Review: Two Contrasting Views of Silicon Valley’s Influence (NYT)

"Berlin’s new book, “Troublemakers,” traces the careers of seven tech pioneers who helped turn the Valley into an economic and cultural powerhouse. On the latest episode of Recode Decode, hosted by Kara Swisher, she explained why it focuses on the years 1969 to 1983.

“Silicon Valley was this obscure little place, where it was gearhead engineers selling to gearhead engineers who used chips,” Berlin said. “Within not even a dozen years: The video game industry was born; the personal computer industry was born; biotech — which no one talks about — biotech was born, right here; modern venture capital took root, the first Arpanet transmission comes into SRI. It’s like you're watching the Big Bang.”

“It reminds me of The Beatles,” she added. “In 1963, they’re doing Little Richard covers. By 1970, they’ve completely transformed music and the broader culture.”"

Learning about Silicon Valley in the 1970s is ‘like watching the Big Bang,’ historian Leslie Berlin says - Recode

How Silicon Valley Became the FCC Chair’s Scapegoat - Bloomberg

Final paragraph: "But stoking the fire is an end in itself. Pai has the votes to upend the way the federal government treats competition on the internet. His chosen plan has made many people very angry. So he’s taken the default strategy of anyone involved in American politics circa 2017 – whip up some anger of his own."

"For some reason, restoring the lost power of huge telecom companies hasn’t lit a fire in grassroots circles on the right, a point that Pai’s political allies have been acknowledging privately for months. So the FCC chair came back from Thanksgiving looking to create a spark. In a speech on Tuesday, Pai angrily denounced celebrities and tech companies who have been criticizing his plans to undo the 2015 rules. Hollywood is always a good scapegoat, of course, and Republicans looking to stir up anger in 2017 do well to frame their issues as a response to the unchecked power of Silicon Valley.

According to Pai, the big tech platforms are the true threat to freedom of speech and open competition on the internet, and giving them any additional leverage is a mistake. “They might cloak their advocacy in the public interest, but the real interest of these internet giants is in using the regulatory process to cement their dominance in the internet economy,” he said on Tuesday. The next day he followed up by criticizing Twitter for blocking messages and cancelling conservative accounts. “When it comes to an open internet, Twitter is part of the problem,” he said."

How Silicon Valley Became the FCC Chair’s Scapegoat - Bloomberg

Elon Musk, ever the merry prankster, plans to launch a Tesla to Mars on a SpaceX rocket - The Washington Post

Tbd when Blue Origin will launch an Amazon Echo...

"But nothing would quite solidify Musk’s merry-prankster, ringmaster status than his recently announced plan to use the often-delayed launch of his Falcon Heavy rocket into a cross-promotional marketing campaign for Tesla, one of his other companies. In tweets on Friday and Saturday, Musk said that SpaceX plans to pursue putting a Tesla Roadster on to the top of the rocket, launching it into an orbit around Mars, while playing David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.”"

Elon Musk, ever the merry prankster, plans to launch a Tesla to Mars on a SpaceX rocket - The Washington Post

China’s A.I. Advances Help Its Tech Industry, and State Security - The New York Times

Tangentially, see Apple, Google CEOs Bring Star Power as China Promotes Censorship (Bloomberg) and Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai’s surprise remarks at China’s “open internet” conference (Quartz)

"The Chinese company uses sophisticated A.I. to power image and voice recognition systems that can help doctors with their diagnoses, aid teachers in grading tests and let drivers control their cars with their voices. Even some global companies are impressed: Delphi, a major American auto supplier, offers iFlyTek’s technology to carmakers in China, while Volkswagen plans to build the Chinese company’s speech recognition technology into many of its cars in China next year.

At the same time, iFlyTek hosts a laboratory to develop voice surveillance capabilities for China’s domestic security forces. In an October report, a human rights group said the company was helping the authorities compile a biometric voice database of Chinese citizens that could be used to track activists and others."

China’s A.I. Advances Help Its Tech Industry, and State Security - The New York Times

Fake news is ‘journalistic warfare’ says New Yorker’s chief fact checker – Wikitribune

From a cautiously optimistic information warfare/literacy reality check

"“I don’t mean just by the Russians, but the Russians have done very well at exploiting our own somewhat crazy fake news outlets … and there is the degree to which the Russians have been feeding toxic stories into our system, which are then amplified intentionally” says Canby. “It’s journalistic warfare,” he says. “[It’s] a source of conflict between those who see journalism as evidence and logic based, and those who see it as a means of manipulation.”

Even if Facebook or Google do find and implement ways of preventing the dissemination of misinformation, Canby says people will find new ways to get round them. However, he does think that “ultimately, better ideas tend to prevail.”"

Fake news is ‘journalistic warfare’ says New Yorker’s chief fact checker – Wikitribune

Bitcoin’s price surge has made mining lucrative, but it uses an extraordinary amount of energy - Vox

An expensive fantasy

"As the value of Bitcoin reached a new high this week, we also learned that mining the cryptocurrency soaks up more energy than 159 individual countries, according to one controversial estimate.

Over at Digiconomist, a Bitcoin blog and analysis site, owner Alex de Vries reported this week that the Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index, an measure of the energy used to mine the digital currency every year, reached 30.59 terawatt-hours."

Bitcoin’s price surge has made mining lucrative, but it uses an extraordinary amount of energy - Vox

Markets Pass Another Milestone, as Investors Remain Fearless - The New York Times

On a related note, see I’m a Depression historian. The GOP tax bill is straight out of 1929 (Washington Post)

"Stock markets have been going up, more or less without interruption, since March 2009, the end of the acute phase of the global financial crisis. This eight-and-a-half-year bull market is now the second-longest in history, behind only the rally that lasted from 1987 until 2000.

Investors are embracing Mr. Trump’s pro-corporate presidency, marked by the promise of lower taxes, the installation of former industry executives in key government agencies, and the repeal or relaxation of rules and regulations that have made it hard for some big businesses to expand without fear of interference from Washington.

Indeed, the view is taking hold that Mr. Trump, in so aggressively promoting policies aimed to stoke the economy and financial markets, has unleashed animal spirits — largely absent under President Barack Obama — that are now reflected in ever rising consumer confidence indicators and a willingness to embrace risk in the stock market."

Markets Pass Another Milestone, as Investors Remain Fearless - The New York Times

Why Twitter didn't delete Britain First videos Trump retweeted (CNN)

Twitter confirms it's still spineless and opportunistic

"Asked why the original tweets have not been deleted, a Twitter (TWTR, Tech30) spokesperson said:
"To help ensure people have an opportunity to see every side of an issue, there may be the rare occasion when we allow controversial content or behavior which may otherwise violate our rules to remain on our service because we believe there is a legitimate public interest in its availability."
"Each situation is evaluated on a case by case basis and ultimately decided upon by a cross-functional team," the spokesperson added."

Why Twitter didn't delete Britain First videos Trump retweeted - Nov. 30, 2017

Google Cloud brings in former Intel exec Diane Bryant as COO | TechCrunch

Greene field opportunity

"Bryant, who is also on the Board of United Technologies, most recently ran Intel’s Data Center Group, which itself generated a whopping $17 billion in revenue last year. That experience with data center technology and her great success in generating big bucks at Intel could be one of the reasons Google Cloud brought her in.

The company is working to build its cloud business, which is languishing in fourth place behind IBM and Microsoft and well behind market leader AWS. In fact, two years after Greene joined the company to boost its enterprise credentials, it still has just single digit market share, according to data generated by Synergy Research."

Google Cloud brings in former Intel exec Diane Bryant as COO | TechCrunch

Amazon launches AWS Cloud9, a browser-based IDE for cloud developers | TechCrunch

I'm old enough to remember when developers had to pay for IDEs...

"Cloud9 isn’t all that different from similar IDEs and editors like Sublime Text, but as AWS stressed during today’s keynote, it allows for collaborative editing and it’s also deeply integrated into the AWS ecosystem. The tool comes with built-in support for languages like JavaScript, Python, PHP and others. Cloud9 also includes pre-installed debugging tools.

AWS argues that this is the first “cloud native” IDE, though I’m sure some of its competitors will take issue with this description. Either way, though, Cloud9 is deeply integrated with AWS and developers can create cloud environments and start new instances right from the tool. As AWS CTO Werner Vogels stressed, Cloud9 also lets you debug Lambda functions for those developers who have gone all-in on serverless."

Amazon launches AWS Cloud9, a browser-based IDE for cloud developers | TechCrunch

Google is making a computer vision kit for Raspberry Pi - The Verge

Coincidentally, see AWS DeepLens -- "The world’s first deep learning enabled video camera for developers" (AWS)

"Google is offering a new way for Raspberry Pi tinkerers to use its AI tools. It just announced the AIY Vision Kit, which includes a new circuit board and computer vision software that buyers can pair with their own Raspberry Pi computer and camera. (There’s also a cute cardboard box included, along with some supplementary accessories.) The kit costs $44.99 and will ship through Micro Center on December 31st.

The AIY Vision Kit’s software includes three neural network models: one that recognizes a thousand common objects; one that recognizes faces and expressions; and a “a person, cat and dog detector.” Users can train their own models with Google’s TensorFlow machine learning software."

Google is making a computer vision kit for Raspberry Pi - The Verge

Tesla mega-battery in Australia activated - BBC News

Activated with ~40 days to spare; also see Elon Musk's Battery Boast Will Be Short-Lived (Bloomberg)

"When fully charged, the battery can power up to 30,000 homes for an hour. However, it will mostly be used to support and stabilise existing electricity supplies.
The battery is comprised of a grid system that runs on the same technology that powers Tesla's cars.
In a statement, the company said the completion of the battery "shows that a sustainable, effective energy solution is possible"."

Tesla mega-battery in Australia activated - BBC News

Apple wants to know your heart rate. For science. - The Washington Post

On a related note, see FDA clears first EKG reader for Apple Watch (The Verge)

"Health and fitness have been a key focus for Apple, especially since launching the Apple Watch two years ago. That has allowed the company to tap the $3 billion health care market and, analysts say, find new audiences for its products and services. Apple already employs a small staff of medical professionals to develop its health products, and it is reportedly working on a diabetes glucose-monitoring device that won’t pierce the skin. It's also worked with hospitals to include more of its tech in patients' rooms. 

The new study takes all of that a step further: Now Apple itself will be running a study and submitting data to the Food and Drug Administration. The heart-rate researcher will look specifically at atrial fibrillation — or afib — which refers to an irregular heart rate and is a leading cause of stroke and other heart conditions. The condition kills around 130,000 people per year, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

Apple wants to know your heart rate. For science. - The Washington Post