Privacy-killing behavioral ad targeting isn’t worth it for publishers, study says | Fast Company

But revisiting the "A lot of great technologies end up being strategically important without living up to their initial road map" logic in this bitcoin article, consider all of the applications of behavioral targeting for propaganda campaigns and other domains...

"In one of the first empirical studies looking at behavioral ads–that is, online ads that rely on cookies to track users around the web in order to learn more about them–researchers found that the ads are virtually worthless to publishers, reports the Wall Street Journal.

For the study, researchers at the University of Minnesota; University of California, Irvine; and Carnegie Mellon University tracked millions of ad transactions at “a large U.S. media company” over the course of a week. What those researchers found is that cookie-enabled ads only ended up bringing in 4% more revenue for publishers than ads shown to users that didn’t rely on cooking-tracking technologies.

The finding is significant because for years cookie-based ads have been extolled as major revenue drivers for publishers by those in the online ad industry. If the study is correct, then that’s not actually the case at all and it could have major ramifications for online privacy. If publishers aren’t benefitting much more from cookie-based behavioral ads than from non-cookie-based ads, there would be little room for argument that the privacy-killing, intrusive ad technology is a fair trade-off for using a free internet."

Privacy-killing behavioral ad targeting isn’t worth it for publishers, study says | Fast Company

Deceased G.O.P. Strategist’s Hard Drives Reveal New Details on the Census Citizenship Question | NYT

Perhaps not a great idea for political fixers to leave plastic bags of backup hard drives among saved items requested by their estranged children...

"Thomas B. Hofeller achieved near-mythic status in the Republican Party as the Michelangelo of gerrymandering, the architect of partisan political maps that cemented the party’s dominance across the country.

But after he died last summer, his estranged daughter discovered hard drives in her father’s home that revealed something else: Mr. Hofeller had played a crucial role in the Trump administration’s decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.

Files on those drives showed that he wrote a study in 2015 concluding that adding a citizenship question to the census would allow Republicans to draft even more extreme gerrymandered maps to stymie Democrats. And months after urging President Trump’s transition team to tack the question onto the census, he wrote the key portion of a draft Justice Department letter claiming the question was needed to enforce the 1965 Voting Rights Act — the rationale the administration later used to justify its decision."

Deceased G.O.P. Strategist’s Hard Drives Reveal New Details on the Census Citizenship Question | NYT

Bitcoin's Rally Masks Uncomfortable Fact: Almost Nobody Uses It | Bloomberg

Later in the article: "Dark net, or illegal, activity has increased, as have peer-to-peer Bitcoin transactions, Chainalysis found."; also a chief investment officer insight: ""Bitcoin doesn’t have to be money to be a success. A lot of great technologies end up being strategically important without living up to their initial road map.""

"Bitcoin has a lingering problem that few people are talking about amid the renewed exuberance of the recent price surge.

Hardly anyone is using the world’s largest cryptocurrency for anything beyond speculation. Data from New York-based blockchain researcher Chainalysis Inc. show that only 1.3% of economic transactions came from merchants in the first four months of 2019, little changed over the boom and bust cycles of the prior two years.

Even though marque companies such as AT&T Inc. now let customers pay with cryptocurrencies, the problem is that few speculators want to use the digital coins to pay for wireless services when the digital asset’s price might surge another 50% in a matter of weeks. That’s become the main dilemma with the cryptocurrency: Bitcoin needs the hype to attract mass appeal to be considered a viable electronic alternative to money but it has developed a culture of “hodlers” who advocate accumulation rather than spending."

Bitcoin's Rally Masks Uncomfortable Fact: Almost Nobody Uses It | Bloomberg

Uber reports a $1 billion loss in first quarterly earnings after IPO | Washington Post

Later in the article: "“Our story is simple: We’re the global player,” Khosrowshahi said. “We’re the largest player in personal mobility … Our job is to grow fast at scale and more efficiently for a long, long time.”"

"The company’s loss of $1.01 billion in the first three months of the year contrasted with a one-time profit of $3.75 billion in the same quarter a year ago after the sale of overseas investments. The company lost about $478 million on operations in the first quarter of 2018.

Still, Uber reported that bookings and the number of people using its platform climbed by more than 30 percent, both signs of growth.

Uber’s steep loss shows the hurdles the ride-hailing company faces in achieving executives’ goal of eventually becoming a global one-stop shop for transportation and logistics. The company has outlined a vision for itself as a competitor with tech giant Amazon, applying its vast data trove and routing software to rewrite how goods and people move from one place to another and using computer algorithms to remove what tech sees as inefficiencies in the world."

Uber reports a $1 billion loss in first quarterly earnings after IPO | Washington Post

DeepMind Can Now Beat Us at Multiplayer Games, Too | NYT

For details, see Human-level performance in 3D multiplayer games with population-based reinforcement learning | Science

"In other words, capture the flag requires what would seem to be a very human set of skills. But researchers at an artificial intelligence lab in London have shown that machines can master this game, too, at least in the virtual world.

In a paper published on Thursday in Science (and previously available on the website arXiv before peer review), the researchers reported that they had designed automated “agents” that exhibited humanlike behavior when playing the capture the flag “game mode” inside Quake III. These agents were able to team up against human players or play alongside them, tailoring their behavior accordingly.

“They can adapt to teammates with arbitrary skills,” said Wojciech Czarnecki, a researcher with DeepMind, a lab owned by the same parent company as Google."

DeepMind Can Now Beat Us at Multiplayer Games, Too | NYT

Worry About Facebook. Rip Your Hair Out in Screaming Terror About Fox News | NYT

From another timely media reality check:

"I understand the fear about digital fakery. But to focus on Facebook instead of Fox News is to mistake the symptom for the disease.

The disease is an entrenched, well-funded, decades-in-the-making, right-wing propaganda network, one that exists to turn faintly sourced rumors into full-blown, politically convenient narratives. The propaganda network’s tentacles now infiltrate every form of media — magazines, books, talk radio, social networks — but it still finds its most profitable and effective outlet in the Murdochs’ cable empire.

And it is devastatingly effective: Just about every political lie that has dominated American discourse in the past two decades — the Swift Boaters and the birthers, death panels, the idea that undocumented immigrants pose an existential threat but climate change does not — depended, for its mainstream dissemination, on the Fox News machine."

Worry About Facebook. Rip Your Hair Out in Screaming Terror About Fox News | NYT

Forget new research on Nazis — Twitter should just enforce its existing ban | The Verge

Also see Twitter wants help deciding whether to keep white supremacists or not | MIT Technology Review

"This conflict gets to the heart of the trouble with Twitter. In one interview, an executive will low-key brag about the intellectual rigor with which the company is approaching actually-not-that-difficult questions about what to do with users who favor varying degrees of genocide to achieve their political aims. And in another, the CEO will acknowledge that the question has basically already been resolved, but the company lacks the technical competence to find all the bad actors on its platform.

In the Dorsey interview, he goes on to say that Twitter needs to be more proactive about finding white nationalists. It’s a good idea, now five months old, and we’ve heard nothing about any concrete steps that Twitter might take to implement it. Instead, as ever, the company wants some time to think. And while I understand why the academics quoted in Vice’s article are laughing, I can’t say I find it all that funny.

From time to time, Twitter thinks about things. And then it goes on thinking about them for a very long time."

Forget new research on Nazis — Twitter should just enforce its existing ban | The Verge

Pokémon Sleep Wants to Make Snoozing a Game Too | NYT

Later in the article: "Pokémon wants to captivate users again, awake or otherwise."

"Pokémon’s chief executive, Tsunekazu Ishihara, said Wednesday that the Japanese franchise planned to release a new game called Pokémon Sleep in 2020 aimed at nothing less than taking the world of video games into dreamland.

“The concept of this game is for players to look forward to waking up every morning,” Mr. Ishihara announced at a news conference in Tokyo.

Or as another game executive said, Pokémon Sleep would find ways to “reward good sleep habits.”"

Pokémon Sleep Wants to Make Snoozing a Game Too | NYT

Google to restrict modern ad blocking Chrome extensions to enterprise users | 9to5Google

Also see Google still plans to cripple ad-blocking in Chrome, but enterprises will be exempt | ZDNet (and use Safari or Firefox...)

"Google is essentially saying that Chrome will still have the capability to block unwanted content, but this will be restricted to only paid, enterprise users of Chrome. This is likely to allow enterprise customers to develop in-house Chrome extensions, not for ad blocking usage.

For the rest of us, Google hasn’t budged on their changes to content blockers, meaning that ad blockers will need to switch to a less effective, rules-based system. This system is how blockers like AdBlock Plus currently work.

One of the original concerns of switching to this system was the fact that Chrome currently imposes a limit of 30,000 rules, while popular ad blocking rules lists like EasyList use upwards of 75,000 rules. In the response, Google claims that they’re looking to increase this number, depending on performance tests, but couldn’t commit to anything specific."

Google to restrict modern ad blocking Chrome extensions to enterprise users | 9to5Google

Facebook is a big obstacle to averting climate catastrophe, scientists say | ThinkProgress

Another rough week for the Facebook PR department; also see ‘Sexist trash’: Hillary Clinton slams Facebook for keeping up Pelosi videos | Politico and Pelosi says altered videos show Facebook leaders were ‘willing enablers’ of Russian election interference | Washington Post

"This new fiasco comes just weeks after Facebook hired an arm of the conservative, anti-science media site The Daily Caller, funded in part by Charles and David Koch, to serve as the company’s newest “fact checkers.” (The Kochs, who made their fortune largely on fossil fuels and petrochemicals, have long funneled money to groups who spread misinformation on climate change.)

So, ThinkProgress asked some experts what Facebook’s latest actions mean for the national conversation on climate change.

“Facebook is complicit in spreading outright falsehoods and misinforming the public about matters of public concern,” environmental sociologist Robert Brulle wrote in an email. The company’s “refusal to take down this blatant distortion of Speaker Pelosi shows that they are an irresponsible actor, and contributing to the decline of public discourse.”

Brulle explained that Facebook’s actions are particularly disastrous since there are so many issues critical to public well-being that require an accurately informed public, such as vaccinations and climate change."

Facebook is a big obstacle to averting climate catastrophe, scientists say | ThinkProgress

Google’s Chrome Becomes Web ‘Gatekeeper’ and Rivals Complain | Bloomberg

Later in the article: "That dominance means Google sets the standard for what the internet is supposed to be. And in that vision, advertising and user data collection are the defaults."

"It’s another example of how the Alphabet Inc. unit’s power has grown to the point where regulators from India to the European Union are looking for ways to keep it in check. The EU has already fined Google for breaking antitrust laws in the markets for online search, display advertising and mobile operating systems. Chrome is an important cog in Google’s digital ad system, distributing its search engine and providing a direct view for the company into what users do on the web.

Few home-grown Google products have been as successful as Chrome. Launched in 2008, it has more than 63% of the market and about 70% on desktop computers, according to StatCounter data. Mozilla’s Firefox is far behind, while Apple’s Safari is the default browser for iPhones. Microsoft Corp.’s Internet Explorer and Edge browsers are punchlines."

 Google’s Chrome Becomes Web ‘Gatekeeper’ and Rivals Complain | Bloomberg

Washington Post finds 5,400 app trackers sending data from an iPhone | 9to5Mac

From the article's final paragraph: "Apple does more than anyone else to protect user privacy, but this is an area where it’s impossible for users to get any kind of steer on what’s really going on under the hood. We either need Apple to do more, or for the law to do so."

"First, while there is much breathless reporting of data being sent to companies like Google and Facebook, the vast majority of it is innocuous. It’s simply developers using app analytics services provided by these companies, and they are learning things like which app features people do and don’t use.

Second, the Privacy Pro app that The Washington Post was using to monitor the tracker traffic was provided by a company that would like to sell you in-app purchases to block this traffic, so the company concerned has a vested interest in making the situation sound scarier than it is."

Washington Post finds 5,400 app trackers sending data from an iPhone | 9to5Mac

Facebook and Twitter disable new disinformation campaign with ties to Iran | Washington Post

For details, see Network of Social Media Accounts Impersonates U.S. Political Candidates, Leverages U.S. and Israeli Media in Support of Iranian Interests | FireEye

"Facebook and Twitter each said on Tuesday they had disabled a sprawling disinformation campaign that appeared to originate in Iran, including two accounts on Twitter that mimicked Republican congressional candidates and may have sought to push pro-Iranian political messages.

Some of the disabled accounts appeared to target their propaganda at specific journalists, policymakers, dissidents and other influential U.S. figures online. Those tactics left experts fearful that it could mark a new escalation in social-media warfare, with malicious actors stealing real-world identities to spread disinformation beyond the web."

Facebook and Twitter disable new disinformation campaign with ties to Iran | Washington Post

Laptop with some of the world’s most destructive malware sold for $1.3 million | Washington Post

Later in the article: "The laptop is “air-gapped,” meaning it’s not directly connected to the Internet and cannot spread the viruses to other networks. Its Internet capabilities will be disabled before it is shipped to the winning bidder."

"An art patron has paid $1.3 million for the tech equivalent of a dormant land mine: a 2008 Samsung laptop containing some of the world’s most destructive malware.

“The Persistence of Chaos,” as the work is known, was created by Chinese Internet artist Guo O Dong and commissioned by Deep Instinct, a New York-based cybersecurity firm. The company supplied the malware and collaborated with Guo to guard against the kind of real-world damage the project was designed to highlight."

Laptop with some of the world’s most destructive malware sold for $1.3 million | Washington Post

Apple is in the top 3 in smartglasses … with no product | VentureBeat

See the full article for speculation about Apple's potential smart glasses advantages

"Despite having no smartglasses product, Apple ranked as the third most important smartglasses platform after Microsoft HoloLens and Magic Leap in a recent survey of AR/VR industry insiders by Digi-Capital and AWE. While this highlights Apple’s natural advantages and industry support, how does a company which hasn’t even hinted at a product rank higher than industry veterans like Google?"

Apple is in the top 3 in smartglasses … with no product | VentureBeat

A look at Apple's secret testing lab where Secure Enclave chips are subjected to extreme tests, and Q&A with Craig Federighi about Apple's commitment to privacy | The Independent

From a timely Apple privacy overview

"Apple's principles on privacy are simple: it doesn't want to know anything about you that it doesn't need to. It has, he says, no desire to gather data to generate an advertising profile about its users.

"We have no interest in learning all about you as a company, we don't want to learn all about you, we think your device should personalise itself to you," [Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of software engineering] says. "But that's in your control that's not about Apple learning about you, we have no incentive to do it.

"And morally, we have no desire to do it. And that's fundamentally a different position than I think many, many other companies are in.""

A look at Apple's secret testing lab where Secure Enclave chips are subjected to extreme tests, and Q&A with Craig Federighi about Apple's commitment to privacy | The Independent

Don’t break up Facebook — replace Mark Zuckerberg, says former security boss Alex Stamos | Recode

From the same podcast episode: Twitter co-founder Ev Williams says social media will get better ... eventually | Recode

"“You cannot solve climate change by breaking up ExxonMobil and making 10 ExxonMobils, you have to address the underlying issues,” Stamos said on the latest episode of Recode Decode with Kara Swisher. “I think there’s a lot of excitement for antitrust because it feels good to be like, ‘I hate this company, so let’s break it up.’ Having three companies that have the same fundamental problems doesn’t make it any better.”

Instead, he told Recode’s Kara Swisher at the Collision conference in Toronto, Facebook should model its future on the “internal revolution” at Microsoft that began in 2002, in the aftermath of the antitrust case United States v. Microsoft. And part of that revolution should be the replacement of CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg (who currently has an untouchable majority of voting shares).
[...]
“My recommendation would be Brad Smith from Microsoft. Some adult who has gone through this before at another company.”"

Don’t break up Facebook — replace Mark Zuckerberg, says former security boss Alex Stamos | Recode

SpaceX Launches 60 Starlink Internet Satellites Into Orbit | NYT

First stage and fairings also recovered (third time, for the first stage)

"On Thursday night, SpaceX launched a batch of 60 internet communications satellites from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

More than one hour later, some 270 miles above Earth, the cluster of satellites — part of a system called Starlink — pushed off from the rocket that carried it to orbit. The individual satellites slowly began to drift toward their singular journeys above the planet. If successful, the devices could be turned on some time on Friday.

By next year, SpaceX hopes that hundreds of the devices could be circling the planet, beaming high-speed internet service everywhere. It could allow SpaceX to enter a new business that might generate revenue to finance the dream of sending people to Mars."

SpaceX Launches 60 Starlink Internet Satellites Into Orbit | NYT

Technology Faked Pelosi videos, slowed to make her appear drunk, spread across social media | Washington Post

A related Tom Nichols tweet: "The President of the United States just sent out a doctored video of the Speaker of the House. With the exception of a lone congressman, not one Republican has, or is going to, lift a finger to stop this madness. There are no patriots left in the leadership of the GOP."

"The video of Pelosi’s onstage speech Wednesday at a Center for American Progress event, in which she said President Trump’s refusal to cooperate with congressional investigations was tantamount to a “coverup," was subtly edited to make her voice sound garbled and warped. It was then circulated widely across Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.

One version, posted by the conservative Facebook page Politics WatchDog, had been viewed more than 2 million times by Thursday night, been shared more than 45,000 times, and garnered 23,000 comments with users calling her “drunk” and “a babbling mess.”"

 Technology Faked Pelosi videos, slowed to make her appear drunk, spread across social media | Washington Post

Amazon preparing a wearable that ‘reads human emotions,’ says report | The Verge

Tangentially, see Online ads can be targeted based on your emotions | Vox

"In a week of eyebrow-raising headlines surrounding the US-China trade spat, this latest report from Bloomberg still manages to stand out: Amazon is said to be working on a wrist-worn, voice-activated device that’s supposed to be able to read human emotions. This would be a rather novel health and wellness gadget, of the sort we’re more used to seeing feature in tenuous crowdfunding campaigns instead of from one of the world’s biggest tech companies.

Bloomberg has spoken to a source and reviewed internal Amazon documents, which reportedly show the Alexa voice software team and Amazon’s Lab126 hardware division are collaborating on the wearable in development. The wearable, working in collaboration with a smartphone app, has microphones that can “discern the wearer’s emotional state from the sound of his or her voice,” according to Bloomberg. “Eventually the technology could be able to advise the wearer how to interact more effectively with others.”"

Amazon preparing a wearable that ‘reads human emotions,’ says report | The Verge

Twitter co-founder calls President Trump 'master of the platform' | CNN

In other Evan Williams news, see Medium CEO Ev Williams Goes All-In on Building Subscription Business | Cheddar

""The vast majority of the electorate is not on Twitter reading Trump's tweets and being convinced by that," said Williams. "What they're convinced much more by is the destructive power of Fox News, which is much, much more powerful and much more destructive than Twitter."
A Fox News spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday morning.
It's a view some others in Silicon Valley share: they believe traditional media outlets have devoted extensive coverage to the destructive effects of big tech companies while not examining their own role in creating a more polarized society."

Twitter co-founder calls President Trump 'master of the platform' | CNN

How China Uses High-Tech Surveillance to Subdue Minorities | NYT

Also see China’s Orwellian War on Religion | NYT

"A New York Times investigation drawing on government and company records as well as interviews with industry insiders found that China is in effect hard-wiring Xinjiang for segregated surveillance, using an army of security personnel to compel ethnic minorities to submit to monitoring and data collection while generally ignoring the majority Han Chinese, who make up 36 percent of Xinjiang’s population.

It is a virtual cage that complements the indoctrination camps in Xinjiang where the authorities have detained a million or more Uighurs and other Muslims in a push to transform them into secular citizens who will never challenge the ruling Communist Party. The program helps identify people to be sent to the camps or investigated, and keeps tabs on them when they are released."

How China Uses High-Tech Surveillance to Subdue Minorities | NYT

How Trump Is Outspending Every 2020 Democrat on Facebook | NYT

Also see The Democrats' 100-year flood | Axios

"“For a long time, Trump was running an intensive campaign that no one was paying attention to,” said Mike Schneider, a partner at Bully Pulpit Interactive, a Democratic political and brand communications firm that is tracking Facebook spending by the presidential candidates.

“And while Democrats have picked up their efforts, they’re fighting over the same group of supporters while he’s broadly expanding his base,” Mr. Schneider said.

Much of Mr. Trump’s spending on Facebook advertising in recent weeks has gone toward ads that have been seen by older Americans, particularly women 55 and older, according to an analysis by Bully Pulpit."

How Trump Is Outspending Every 2020 Democrat on Facebook | NYT

‘MissionRacer’: How Amazon turned the tedium of warehouse work into a game | Washington Post

Later in the article: "In at least one warehouse, said an employee, workers have used high achievement on the games to push managers to reward them with extra Swag Bucks, a proprietary currency that can be used to buy Amazon-logo stickers, apparel or other goods."

"Developed by Amazon, the games are displayed on small screens at employees’ workstations. As robots wheel giant shelves up to each workstation, lights or screens indicate which item the worker needs to pluck to put into a bin. The games simultaneously register the completion of the task, which is tracked by scanning devices, and can pit individuals, teams or entire floors against one another to be fastest, simply by picking or stowing real Lego sets, cellphone cases or dish soap. Game-playing employees are rewarded with points, virtual badges and other goodies throughout a shift.

Think Tetris, but with real boxes.

Amazon’s experiment is part of a broader industry push to gamify low-skill work, particularly as historically low unemployment has driven up wages and attrition. Gamification generally refers to software programs that simulate video games by offering rewards, badges or bragging rights among colleagues."

‘MissionRacer’: How Amazon turned the tedium of warehouse work into a game | Washington Post

Hackers have been holding the city of Baltimore’s computers hostage for 2 weeks | Vox

Also see Analysis of ransomware used in Baltimore attack indicates hackers needed 'unfettered access' to city computers | Baltimore Sun

"Here’s what’s happening: On May 7, hackers digitally seized about 10,000 Baltimore government computers and demanded around $100,000 worth in bitcoins to free them back up. It’s a so-called “ransomware” attack, where hackers deploy malicious software to block access to or take over a computer system until the owner of that system pays a ransom.

Baltimore, like several other cities that have been hit by such attacks over the past two years, is refusing to pay up. As a result, for two weeks, city employees have been locked out of their email accounts and citizens have been unable to access essential services, including websites where they pay their water bills, property taxes, and parking tickets. This is Baltimore’s second ransomware attack in about 15 months: Last year, a separate attack shut down the city’s 911 system for about a day. Baltimore has come under scrutiny for its handling of both attacks."

Hackers have been holding the city of Baltimore’s computers hostage for 2 weeks | Vox

Microsoft removes Huawei laptop from store, remains silent on potential Windows ban | The Verge

Tangentially, see Huawei OS reportedly 'far from ready' after Android ban | CNET

"Microsoft looks set to be the latest in a long line of US-based technology companies that are complying with President Trump’s new executive order to crack down on Chinese tech companies. Google cut off Huawei’s Android license over the weekend, but Microsoft has stayed silent on whether it will prevent the Chinese company from obtaining Windows licenses. The Verge has reached out to Microsoft multiple times for comment, but it has refused to offer any statement on the situation.

Huawei’s MateBook X Pro is one of the best Windows laptops available in the US right now, but without a Windows license, it’s no longer a viable alternative to Apple’s MacBook Pro or the HP Spectre x360 and even Microsoft’s own Surface lineup. Microsoft appears to have stopped selling Huawei’s MateBook X Pro at the company’s online store, too."

Microsoft removes Huawei laptop from store, remains silent on potential Windows ban | The Verge

Google reverses decision to cut ties with Huawei after US eases trade restrictions | CNBC

Also see U.S. eases restrictions on Huawei; founder says U.S. underestimates Chinese firm | Reuters

"Alphabet Inc’s Google said Tuesday that it plans to work with China’s Huawei over the next 90 days, shortly after the U.S. temporarily eased some trade restrictions on the world’s second-largest smartphone maker.

The move marks a sudden and dramatic turnabout for the U.S. tech conglomerate. On Sunday, Google said it would cut ties with Huawei in order to comply with Washington’s decision to put China’s telecom giant on the so-called Entity List.

However, shortly thereafter, the U.S. Commerce Department announced it had granted a 90-day license for mobile phone companies and internet broadband providers to work with Huawei to keep existing networks online and protect users from security risks."

Google reverses decision to cut ties with Huawei after US eases trade restrictions | CNBC

Is There a Market for Foldable PCs? | Tech.pinions

So that's a definite maybe?...

"This is the first really new design in laptops since the 2 in 1’s were introduced 10 years ago. One cautionary note is that even today, 2 in 1’s are not big sellers and never became the big hit that Intel and Microsoft hoped they would be in the future.

A foldable PC may hit a nerve with some highly mobile workers who can afford them, but if history is our guide, they these new form factors may be more niche based products than ever gaining mainstream mobile computing status.

That said, the Lenovo foldable PC is so well designed that as the first major brand to bring one to the market, they could have a hit for themselves in two areas. First, they will be able to ride this great design towards securing themselves as one of the most innovative companies in the PC Business.

Second, if they put strong marketing behind it, their foldable PC could help set the tone for other PC makers to follow suit and create innovative designs of their own that might help popularize this new PC form factor."

Is There a Market for Foldable PCs? | Tech.pinions

Google announces a new $999 Glass augmented reality headset | The Verge

See this Google post for more details

"Google has announced a new version of its business-focused Glass augmented reality headset, which it’s now designating an official Google product instead of an experiment. The Glass Enterprise Edition 2 costs $999, although, like its predecessor, it’s not being sold directly to consumers. It’s got a new processor, an improved camera, a USB-C port for faster charging, and a variety of other updates.

Google still isn’t positioning Glass as a mainstream product. But it seems to be expecting greater sales of the Glass Enterprise Edition 2. The device has been moved out of Google parent company Alphabet’s X “moonshot factory” and into the Google family of products, letting Google “meet the demands of the growing market for wearables in the workplace,” according to a blog post."

Google announces a new $999 Glass augmented reality headset | The Verge

Exclusive: Google suspends some business with Huawei after Trump blacklist | Reuters

Also see Google may just have killed Huawei's bid to become the world's top smartphone brand | CNN

"Alphabet Inc’s Google has suspended business with Huawei that requires the transfer of hardware, software and technical services except those publicly available via open source licensing, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday, in a blow to the Chinese technology company that the U.S. government has sought to blacklist around the world.

Holders of current Huawei smartphones with Google apps, however, will continue to be able to use and download app updates provided by Google, a Google spokesperson said, confirming earlier reporting by Reuters.

“We are complying with the order and reviewing the implications,” the Google spokesperson said."

Exclusive: Google suspends some business with Huawei after Trump blacklist | Reuters

Left for Dead, Bitcoin Goes on a Tear and Sparks a New Mania | Bloomberg

From the article summary: "Advocates don’t seem to mind the price jump is hard to explain"

"Bitcoin true believers will tell you they never lost faith, but a 50% rally earlier this month has awakened the animal spirits that roamed in the halcyon days of 2017, when the digital currency dominated Thanksgiving conversations and sparked one of the biggest asset bubbles since the financial crisis.

Now, the hype machine that fed the frenzy has kicked back into gear. At New York’s Blockchain Week, one of the industry’s biggest gatherings, the Winklevoss twins hawked crypto swag to promote their payment network. Fund manager Mark Yusko dusted off his call for Bitcoin $400,000. A presidential hopeful spoke of digital currency’s inevitable future. Even a recent hack that saw $40 million evaporate was praised as evidence of blockchain’s immutability. On Sunday, the venerable news magazine “60 Minutes” will air a segment to its gray-haired audience reminding them of Pizza Guy."

Left for Dead, Bitcoin Goes on a Tear and Sparks a New Mania | Bloomberg

Microsoft and Sony form cloud gaming and AI partnership | The Verge

I'm guessing Sony is receiving a significantly discounted Azure service fee structure...

"Microsoft and Sony are announcing an unusual partnership today, allowing the two rivals to partner on cloud-based gaming services. “The two companies will explore joint development of future cloud solutions in Microsoft Azure to support their respective game and content-streaming services,” Microsoft said in a statement. Sony’s existing game and content-streaming services will also be powered by Microsoft Azure in the future.

Microsoft says “these efforts will also include building better development platforms for the content creator community,” which sounds like both Sony and Microsoft are planning to partner on future services aimed at creators and the gaming community. Both companies say they will “share additional information when available,” but the partnership means Microsoft and Sony will collaborate on cloud gaming. That’s a pretty big deal, and it’s a big loss for Microsoft’s main cloud rival, Amazon."

Microsoft and Sony form cloud gaming and AI partnership | The Verge

Positive feedback from Twitter is reportedly all Trump needs to push policies | Vox

Also see ‘Get Scavino in here’: Trump’s Twitter guru is the ultimate insider | Politico

"Scavino collaborates with the president on tweets and keeps up with Trump’s order to keep a tally of all of his followers across multiple social media sites — all without trying to constrain him. It is this “let Trump be Trump” attitude that has secured his position in the White House, according to Politico. It also means that he will most likely continue to help Trump use social media as a way to justify his most radical policy ideas.

Twitter, however, isn’t representative of real-life American voters. Even discounting that Trump’s followers may be more in line with his views than most social media users (US Twitter users are younger and more Democratic than the general public, according to an April survey from Pew Research Center), the feedback he’s getting from social media probably still comes from a limited pool. That same Pew survey also found that just 10 percent of users create 80 percent of tweets.

Social media sites are nevertheless, according to Politico, one of Trump’s most important pools of info on American voters."

Positive feedback from Twitter is reportedly all Trump needs to push policies | Vox

Yes, Quora still exists, and it’s now worth $2 billion | Vox

Also see Can somebody explain Quora's valuation? | Quora (last updated in 2017)...

"You wouldn’t be blamed if you had forgotten about Quora, the question-and-answer machine that comes up immediately when Googling for, say, why rich people are so frugal or whether it’s okay to let your cat live outside if you don’t value it.

But Silicon Valley now considers Quora — something of a relic of a quainter era on the internet — a $2 billion company, Recode has learned.
[...]
The company has been very slow to monetize its user base, which Quora says is 300 million unique people a month, and several investors tell Recode that they passed on the deal because of that poor track record of actually making money.

The company told some prospective investors that it did about $20 million in 2018 revenue, which makes a $2 billion valuation a pretty enormous 100x multiple of its prior year’s revenue."

Yes, Quora still exists, and it’s now worth $2 billion | Vox

Regulating Facebook: A Proposal | Platformonomics

From a Charles Fitzgerald Facebook reality check

"Internet God-Emperor and Roman autocrat fanboy Marcus Octavian Zuckerberg says he welcomes regulation of Facebook, albeit the “right” regulation. His regulatory enthusiasm has evolved over the last year from a vague and obligatory platitude to a more earnest and even a little desperate plea for government salvation.

Zuckerberg’s increased comfort probably comes from both a deeper appreciation of how embracing and shaping regulation offers a deep competitive moat for dominant companies (AT&T wrote this playbook) and seemingly a complete lack of viable stratagems to deal with Facebook’s existential emergency."

Regulating Facebook: A Proposal | Platformonomics

White House escalates war against Facebook, Google and Twitter with a campaign asking users to share stories of censorship | Washington Post

On a related note, see White House declines to back Christchurch call to stamp out online extremism amid free speech concerns | Washington Post

"The White House on Wednesday escalated its war against Silicon Valley when it announced an unprecedented campaign asking Internet users to share if they had been censored on Facebook, Google and Twitter, tapping into President Trump’s long-running claim that tech giants are biased against conservatives.

The effort, which the White House said on Twitter was directed at users “no matter your views,” seeks to collect names, contact information and other details from Americans. The survey asks whether they have encountered problems on Facebook, Instagram, Google-owned YouTube, Twitter or other social media sites — companies the president frequently takes aim at for alleged political censorship.
[...]
“It’s consistent with their strategy to use whatever tactic they can to sow more distrust, confusion and division, rather than try to offer up clear information about the president’s agenda and policies,” said Macon Phillips, Obama’s former director of digital strategy."

White House escalates war against Facebook, Google and Twitter with a campaign asking users to share stories of censorship | Washington Post

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is striving to win the race to build the Internet in space | Washington Post

Also see SpaceX Delays Launch of Starlink Orbital Internet Satellites | NYT and SpaceX Is Banking on Satellite Internet. Maybe It Shouldn't | Wired

"On Twitter, Musk recently wrote that the company would need to put up six more batches of 60 satellites for “minor” coverage for what it calls its Starlink program, and an additional 12 batches for “moderate” coverage. But he warned that “much will likely go wrong on 1st mission.”

In a call with reporters, Musk cautioned that “there is a lot of new technology here, and so it’s possible that some of these satellites may not work. In fact there is a small possibility that all of the satellites might not work.”"

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is striving to win the race to build the Internet in space | Washington Post

Meltdown Redux: Intel Flaw Lets Hackers Siphon Secrets from Millions of PCs | Wired

Also see Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Mozilla release patches for ZombieLoad chip flaws | TechCrunch

"Intel had asked all the researchers—who split into two groups working independently—to keep their findings secret, some for more than a year, until it could release fixes for the vulnerabilities. But at the same time, the company has sought to downplay the severity of the bugs, according to the researchers, who warn that the attacks represent a serious flaw in Intel's hardware that may require disabling some of its features, even beyond the company's patch. AMD and ARM chips don't appear to be vulnerable to the attacks, and Intel says that some models of chip it's released in the past month include a fix for the problem. Otherwise, all of Intel's chips that the researchers tested, going back as early as 2008, were affected. You can test if your system is affected with a tool the researchers published here.

Like Meltdown and Spectre, the new MDS attack takes advantage of security flaws in how Intel chips perform speculative execution, a feature in which a processor guesses ahead of time at what operations and data it will be asked to execute, in order to speed up the chip's performance."

Meltdown Redux: Intel Flaw Lets Hackers Siphon Secrets from Millions of PCs | Wired

Disney takes over full control of Hulu | Washington Post

And then there was one... Also see The Hulu/Disney/Comcast divorce, explained | Vox

"The agreement puts Hulu under the control and guidance of a single company for the first time.

The deal, which was expected, will allow for Comcast to retain its 33 percent financial stake in Hulu for the next five years even as Disney has operational carte blanche.

In 2024, either side will be able to force a change: Disney can compel Comcast to sell its stake while Comcast can require Disney to buy it, at a minimum valuation of $27.5 billion for the entire company."

 Disney takes over full control of Hulu | Washington Post

Attention, Amazon Shoppers: Google Wants Some of Your Spending Money | NYT

Final paragraphs from an Amazon/Google competitive assessment; on a related note, see New native Discovery ad campaigns from Google monetize Discover feed for first time | Search Engine Land; tangentially, see Walmart to offer free next-day shipping beginning this week | Washington Post

"Google’s latest move lets the company sell ads and services that are more closely tied to actual transactions, which they can charge more for.

Mr. Kaziukenas said that for now, Google’s plans were “not a risk at all” for Amazon. The reason, he said, is that Amazon has a large advantage over other retailers after more than a decade of building out the infrastructure to ship items quickly and reliably, while Google is depending on merchants to fulfill orders on their own.

“Google historically has tried to not do things in the physical world,” Mr. Kaziukenas said. “Obviously for them that has been very profitable.”"

Attention, Amazon Shoppers: Google Wants Some of Your Spending Money | NYT

Lenovo launches ThinkReality AR and VR headset for enterprises | Engadget

In other Lenovo news, see Lenovo shows off the world’s first ‘foldable PC’ | The Verge

"There are two parts to the new ThinkReality system -- the AR headset and a software platform. The ThinkReality A6 is a comfortable 380-gram headset with two fisheye cameras on the front, as well as depth sensors and a 13-megapixel RGB sensor. There's also microphones onboard for voice control, and the headset can also detect where you're gazing to optimize resolution or navigation. You'll also be able to interact with your virtual environments using an included 3DoF controller. Untethered, the A6 can last up to four hours with its 6,800mAh battery, and you can still use the device while it's plugged in and charging.

The headset connects to an SSD-sized compute box that contains a Snapdragon 845 CPU running an Android-based platform. There's also an Intel Movidius chips powering waveguide optics here, and each eye on the A6 offers a 40-degree diagonal field of view and 1080p resolution. By comparison, the HoloLens 2 uses a Snapdragon 850 CPU and packs two 2K MEMS displays. Microsoft also squeezes all the computing components into the headset rather than in a separate box like Lenovo does. While I'm not a fan of having to carry around an additional accessory to power a headset, this setup does make the ThinkReality A6 lighter, so it's a compromise I'm willing to make."

Lenovo launches ThinkReality AR and VR headset for enterprises | Engadget

An AI Pioneer Explains the Evolution of Neural Networks | Wired

From an extensive Geoffrey Hinton interview

"NT: So there's no emotion that couldn't be created? There's no thought that couldn't be created? There's nothing that a human mind can do that couldn't theoretically be recreated by a fully functioning neural network once we truly understand how the brain works?

GH: There’s something in a John Lennon song that sounds very like what you just said.

NT: And you're 100 percent confident of this?

GH: No, I'm a Bayesian, and so I'm 99.9 percent confident.

NT: Okay, then what is the .1?

GH: Well, we might, for example all be part of a big simulation."

An AI Pioneer Explains the Evolution of Neural Networks | Wired

Comparing Apple's iPhone XR versus Google's Pixel 3a XL | AppleInsider

Also note that the iPhone XR price can be as low as $449, with an iPhone trade-in

"The $479 Pixel 3a XL is not a bad phone for its price, it runs Android 9.0 Pie, and since it's a Pixel device it will receive the first updates first.

It has a great camera that offers amazing low light photos, but given that the performance is charitably the same as a three-year-old iPhone, and worst case a five year old one, and it comes in a polycarbonate shell, there are some compromises.

The $749 iPhone XR is not Apple's highest-end device, nor is it mid-range phone. It doesn't have an OLED display, Force Touch, or a two-lens camera system, but it uses the same fast processor as the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. Its speakers are really loud and clear, it has wireless charging, it's IP67 certified, so if we were to choose between the two phones, we'd spend the extra money on the iPhone XR.

But, considering that the Pixel 3e XL is nearly identical in price to the iPhone 7 Plus, which Apple stills sells, we'll be comparing those two models very soon."

Comparing Apple's iPhone XR versus Google's Pixel 3a XL | AppleInsider

Uber's underwater investors | Axios

Probably lots of "The Uber of..." pitch decks being updated this week

"By the numbers: From 2016 onwards, per PitchBook, Uber raised $15.35 billion at $48.77 per share; it then raised another $8.6 billion in its IPO on Thursday at the slightly lower price of $45 per share. Those numbers dwarf the $5.6 billion that Uber raised before 2016. As of the close of trade on Friday, the market has now spoken: Uber shares are actually worth $41.57.

• The bottom line: A whopping 81% of the $29.55 billion in equity that Uber has raised is underwater. IPO investors have lost $655 million, while investors from 2016 and 2018 have between them lost $2.27 billion.
• Losers: Investors who bought Uber shares 3 years ago have lost 15% of their money, before fees. The opportunity cost is even greater: Investors in the S&P 500 have seen their money grow by 50% over the same period.
• Winners: Lyft shares are also trading well below their IPO price, which didn't help the Uber offering. But so far all of Lyft's pre-IPO investors remain in the money. The most that any of them paid was $47.35 per share."

Uber's underwater investors | Axios

Disney and The New York Times show how the media dinosaurs can stay on top | CNBC

On a related note, see Upfront 2019: TV Advertising Isn’t Dead (Yet) | Variety

"First, nothing has been disrupted about media except the distribution model. Instead of reading newspapers, we read online news. Instead of watching TV, we can get video on demand on our mobile devices. Instead of buying albums, we stream unlimited music with a subscription service.

That’s really it. Consumers want the same content as always. They want engrossing and meticulously reported news articles. They want high quality HBO-level TV shows. They still want to watch live sports. They still want to listen to The Beatles.

This may be tough for a lot of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs to hear, but in the aggregate, not enough people value the original content digital media companies provide. If they did, more people would pay for it, or advertisers would pay more to reach those users, and the companies would be worth more."

Disney and The New York Times show how the media dinosaurs can stay on top | CNBC

Facebook is a capitalism problem, not a Mark Zuckerberg problem | Vox

Final paragraphs from an Ezra Klein reality check

"The question isn’t how to unleash competition in social media. The question is how to control it. Hughes offers a quick and, I think, half-baked idea to form a government agency charged with protecting online privacy and creating “guidelines for acceptable speech on social media.” In an essay that runs for more than 6,000 words, the proposal for regulation comes after a lengthy paean to competition, and receives fewer than 200 words of description.

The lesson of the Facebook experience is that this space is too important to be left to the market. As a society, we need to decide what kind of competition we want to allow and what kind of competition we want to discourage. Perhaps we want sharp limits on how much time children are permitted to spend on these sites. Perhaps we want any site with more than 100 million users to have to open its algorithm to public review. Perhaps we want any site with more than a billion users to take editorial responsibility for speech on its platform.

I don’t have the answers here. I’m not sure anyone does. But that’s why it’s so important to start with the right question. Given how important social media platforms have proven to modern life, we should make sure the competition between them serves society’s needs, not just the market’s."

Facebook is a capitalism problem, not a Mark Zuckerberg problem | Vox

Russia Is Targeting Europe’s Elections. So Are Far-Right Copycats. | NYT

Meanwhile, rather than taking substantive actions to protect future U.S. elections from Russian interference, The GOP’s increasing embrace of Trump’s Russia conspiracy theory | Washington Post

"The activity offers fresh evidence that despite indictments, expulsions and recriminations, Russia remains undeterred in its campaign to widen political divisions and weaken Western institutions. Despite online policing efforts by American technology companies, it remains far easier to spread false information than to stop it.

Russia remains a driving force, but researchers also discovered numerous copycats, particularly on the far right. Those groups often echo Kremlin talking points, making it difficult to discern the lines between Russian propaganda, far-right disinformation and genuine political debate.

Investigators are confident, however, that networks of Facebook profiles, Twitter accounts, WhatsApp groups and websites are spreading false and divisive stories about the European Union, NATO, immigrants and more. Conspiracy theories are peddled freely, including that last month’s Notre-Dame fire was the work of Islamic terrorists, a spy agency, or an elite cabal that secretly runs the world."

Russia Is Targeting Europe’s Elections. So Are Far-Right Copycats. | NYT

Geoffrey Hinton discusses how AI could inform our understanding of the brain | VentureBeat

In other deep-thinking news, see What We’ve Built Is a Computational Language (and That’s Very Important!) | Stephen Wolfram Blog

"To be clear, Hinton thinks that neuroscientists have much to learn from AI researchers. In fact, he believes that AI systems of the future will mostly be of the unsupervised variety. Unsupervised learning — a branch of machine learning that gleans knowledge from unlabeled, unclassified, and uncategorized test data — is almost humanlike in its ability to learn commonalities and react to their presence or absence, he says.

“If you take a system with billions of parameters, and you do scholastic gradient descent in some objective function, it works much better than you’d expect … The bigger you scale things, the better it works,” he said. “That makes it far more plausible that the brain is computing the gradient of some objective function and updating the strength of synapses to follow that gradient. We just have to figure out how it gets the gradient and what the objective function is.”"

Geoffrey Hinton discusses how AI could inform our understanding of the brain | VentureBeat

The Chris Hughes apostasy | The Interface

A socially awkward alumni club... Also see Chris Hughes Essay on Breakup Draws an Objection From Facebook | NYT

"Consider how many early Facebook executives have now come out against Facebook’s existence in its current form:

• Moskovitz is a top donor to Color of Change, which are campaigning to have Zuckerberg fired. (On Twitter, Moskovitz told me (On Twitter, Moskovitz told me I had mischaracterized this donation, saying it was intended solely to aid Democrats. When I asked what his argument against a breakup was, he said: “If the goal is to improve democracy we should break up Fox and Sinclair first.” He later deleted the tweet.)
• Justin Rosenstein, who led development of Facebook’s like button, warned about the negative effects of social networks on individual psychology. (Rosenstein co-founded the business collaboration company Asana with Moskovitz.)
• Sean Parker, Facebook’s first president, called himself a “conscientious objector” to the social network. “It probably interferes with productivity in weird ways,” he said. “God only knows what it’s doing to our children’s brains.”
• Chamath Palihapitiya, who led Facebook’s all-important growth team in its early days, told an audience at the Stanford Graduate School of Business to take "a hard break” from social media. “I think we have created tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works,” he said. He added that he felt “tremendous guilt” over his time at the company, before walking those comments back after getting an angry phone call from Sheryl Sandberg.
• Brian Acton, who co-founded WhatsApp, was not an early executive at Facebook. But he famously told people to delete Facebook upon leaving the campaign."

The Chris Hughes apostasy | The Interface

Uber I.P.O. Values Ride-Hailing Giant at $82.4 Billion | NYT

Also see DealBook Briefing: Uber’s I.P.O. Gets Off to a Modest Start | NYT

"The biggest Silicon Valley initial public offering in years turned out to be less lofty than expected.

Uber priced its public offering on Thursday at $45 a share, near the bottom of its expected price range, valuing the ride-hailing company at about $82.4 billion. It raised $8.1 billion from the I.P.O.

While the event solidifies Uber’s position as the biggest American technology company of its generation to go public, it will be a disappointment to the investors, executives and cheerleaders who had bigger dreams for it. And it raises questions about whether other money-losing Silicon Valley start-ups poised to list their shares should worry about receiving a cool reception."

Uber I.P.O. Values Ride-Hailing Giant at $82.4 Billion | NYT

Trump wants to return to the moon. Jeff Bezos is among those vying to help. | Washington Post

Probably not one-day Amazon Prime deliveries, however...

"Bezos spent the first part of his speech outlining his long-term vision, in which one day, as he’s often said, there will be “millions of people are living and working in space.” The Earth’s resources are limited, while the population and its appetite for energy, continue to grow. The answer, he said is to go out into the cosmos and exploit the limitless resources there.

“There is no Plan B,” he said. “We have to save this planet.”

Bezos is an acolyte of the late futurist and Princeton University physics professor Gerard O’Neill, whose vision was to build massive colonies in space that could house thousands of people at once in conditions similar to those on Earth — but better.

“These are really pleasant places to live,” Bezos said, showing a rendering. “This is Maui on its best day all year long. No rain. No storms. No earthquakes.”"

Trump wants to return to the moon. Jeff Bezos is among those vying to help. | Washington Post

Google’s New Privacy Features Put the Responsibility on Users | Wired

For another Google I/O news perspective, see Google Fights Back | Stratechery; also see What Apple, Facebook and Google each mean by "privacy" | Axios

"Some of these features are new, such as more granular controls around location tracking—a particularly sensitive topic for Google, since it was sued last summer for storing location data even after users had turned off location history settings. Others were previously announced, or are expansions of what Google was already offering in its apps, like passwordless logins in Chrome or “incognito” mode.

But as Google increases the number of privacy features—part of an attempt to scrub its reputation clean of data-tracking dirt—the setup of the settings, toggles, and dashboards within its apps seems to put more responsibility on the individual user rather than the platform. As Pichai himself said, Google aims to give people “choices.” So it's your choice if you want to take the time to adjust, monitor, take out, or toggle something off. Just like it's Google's choice to not change its fundamental approach to gathering data to help better target advertising and thus make heaps of money."

Google’s New Privacy Features Put the Responsibility on Users | Wired

If bitcoin is so safe, why does it keep getting hacked? | Recode

In other crypto news, see Facebook rolls back ban on cryptocurrency ads as it ramps up its own blockchain efforts | CNBC

"According to the Wall Street Journal, more than $1.7 billion in cryptocurrency has been stolen over the years, most of which has come from exchanges and been centered around Asia.

The Binance heist, like the previous exchange hacks, should serve as a warning to cryptocurrency investors: Your money might not be as safe as you think it is.

“It’s like robbing a bank, except you can do it from a thousand miles away, from the comfort of your home, and the money you get is virtually untraceable and you can disguise it by laundering it through multiple wallets in a matter of minutes,” said Robert Long, an attorney at GreenbergTraurig and former federal prosecutor."

If bitcoin is so safe, why does it keep getting hacked? | Recode

Epson’s new augmented reality glasses can plug into your phone | The Verge

For more details, see Epson Announces New Moverio BT-30C Smart Glasses Delivering Immersive USB-C Tethered AR Viewing Experience at Sub $500 Price | Epson

"Epson Moverio product manager Eric Mizufuka doesn’t see AR as a mass-market industry just yet — and Epson isn’t banking on mainstream adoption within the next three to five years. Like many AR manufacturers, it sells a lot of its glasses to businesses, which use them as hands-free computing devices for workers. But it’s pushed to reach a broader audience as well. Its glasses are popular with drone enthusiasts, who use them to see a point-of-view video feed for flying. The National Theatre in London lets patrons with hearing loss reserve a pair of Epson Moverio glasses, projecting subtitles for plays. Even if people don’t personally buy glasses, they might encounter them in a theater or a guided museum tour.

Now, Mizufuka says Epson wants to “get our foot in the door” of consumer markets with the BT-30C glasses. It’s pitching them to people who want a portable, private screen that runs off a familiar phone or PC. And it’s offering them at a cheaper price than existing products like the BT-300, which costs $699. That still doesn’t make the BT-30C glasses a mainstream product, but it could definitely make them a little more appealing to the average person. It could also provide a preview of how other companies will approach consumer AR — a field that Apple, Google, Facebook, and many other tech giants see as the future of computing."

Epson’s new augmented reality glasses can plug into your phone | The Verge

Redfin Aims to Bring E-Commerce to Home Buying | NYT

"It’s 2019. People want to buy things online." -- home edition

"Redfin, the Seattle-based real estate brokerage, is starting a program that lets house hunters bid on properties directly through its website. The move aims to bring online shopping to a business dominated by attending weekend open houses and driving around with agents.

The company recently tested the program in Boston and now plans to extend it in stages across the country. It is the latest sign that technology companies are encroaching on the decidedly low-tech world of real estate sales.
[...]
Real estate agents’ groups will be watching to see whether Redfin’s competitors introduce similar programs. At stake is the roughly $110 billion a year in commissions generated by home sales."

Redfin Aims to Bring E-Commerce to Home Buying | NYT

It’s Time to Break Up Facebook | NYT

Also see 5 Takeaways From Chris Hughes’s Call to Break Up Facebook | NYT

"The government must hold Mark accountable. For too long, lawmakers have marveled at Facebook’s explosive growth and overlooked their responsibility to ensure that Americans are protected and markets are competitive. Any day now, the Federal Trade Commission is expected to impose a $5 billion fine on the company, but that is not enough; nor is Facebook’s offer to appoint some kind of privacy czar. After Mark’s congressional testimony last year, there should have been calls for him to truly reckon with his mistakes. Instead the legislators who questioned him were derided as too old and out of touch to understand how tech works. That’s the impression Mark wanted Americans to have, because it means little will change.

We are a nation with a tradition of reining in monopolies, no matter how well intentioned the leaders of these companies may be. Mark’s power is unprecedented and un-American.

It is time to break up Facebook."

It’s Time to Break Up Facebook | NYT

Gartner Predicts 90% of Blockchain-Based Supply Chain Initiatives Will Suffer ‘Blockchain Fatigue’ by 2023 | Gartner Newsroom

A timely blockchain reality check

"Blockchain remains a popular topic, but supply chain leaders are failing to find suitable use cases. By 2023, 90% of blockchain-based supply chain initiatives will suffer ‘blockchain fatigue’ due to a lack of strong use cases, according to Gartner, Inc.

A Gartner supply chain technology survey of user wants and needs* found that only 19% of respondents ranked blockchain as a very important technology for their business, and only 9% have invested in it. This is mainly because supply chain blockchain projects are very limited and do not match the initial enthusiasm for the technology’s application in supply chain management.

“Supply chain blockchain projects have mostly focused on verifying authenticity, improving traceability and visibility, and improving transactional trust,” said Alex Pradhan, senior principal research analyst at Gartner. “However, most have remained pilot projects due to a combination of technology immaturity, lack of standards, overly ambitious scope and a misunderstanding of how blockchain could, or should, actually help the supply chain. Inevitably, this is causing the market to experience blockchain fatigue.”"

Gartner Predicts 90% of Blockchain-Based Supply Chain Initiatives Will Suffer ‘Blockchain Fatigue’ by 2023 | Gartner Newsroom

Google Says It Has Found Religion on Privacy | NYT

Another perspective on Google's latest privacy campaign

"After the keynote speech, Google separately announced it would take steps to limit the use of tracking cookies on Chrome, the world’s most popular browser with about a 60 percent market share.

Cookies allow companies to monitor which websites people visit and what ads they have viewed or clicked on. They also are a way for a website to remember who you are so you don’t have to log in every time you visit. Cookies level the playing field for smaller companies in the digital advertising world — allowing them to collect information that helps refine ad targeting.

The announcement is another example of a privacy measure that will most likely have a bigger impact on Google’s competitors. The internet giant uses cookies but is not dependent on them. It already knows more valuable information such as what users search for, what videos they watch and what apps they’ve loaded on their phones."

Google Says It Has Found Religion on Privacy | NYT

Google’s Sundar Pichai: Privacy Should Not Be a Luxury Good | NYT

Evidently the NYT has opted to publish Google's latest competitive marketing campaign as an op-ed; in the meantime, you might want to use Safari rather than Chrome, if you use Apple devices and value your privacy...

"“For everyone” is a core philosophy for Google; it’s built into our mission to create products that are universally accessible and useful. That’s why Search works the same for everyone, whether you’re a professor at Harvard or a student in rural Indonesia. And it’s why we care just as much about the experience on low-cost phones in countries starting to come online as we do about the experience on high-end phones.

Our mission compels us to take the same approach to privacy. For us, that means privacy cannot be a luxury good offered only to people who can afford to buy premium products and services. Privacy must be equally available to everyone in the world."

Google’s Sundar Pichai: Privacy Should Not Be a Luxury Good | NYT

How Chinese Spies Got the N.S.A.’s Hacking Tools, and Used Them for Attacks | NYT

Oops...

"Chinese intelligence agents acquired National Security Agency hacking tools and repurposed them in 2016 to attack American allies and private companies in Europe and Asia, a leading cybersecurity firm has discovered. The episode is the latest evidence that the United States has lost control of key parts of its cybersecurity arsenal.

Based on the timing of the attacks and clues in the computer code, researchers with the firm Symantec believe the Chinese did not steal the code but captured it from an N.S.A. attack on their own computers — like a gunslinger who grabs an enemy’s rifle and starts blasting away.

The Chinese action shows how proliferating cyberconflict is creating a digital wild West with few rules or certainties, and how difficult it is for the United States to keep track of the malware it uses to break into foreign networks and attack adversaries’ infrastructure."

How Chinese Spies Got the N.S.A.’s Hacking Tools, and Used Them for Attacks | NYT

Silicon Valley Is Coming for Your House | NYT

Later in the article: "“Where you are able to make money is through mortgage origination,” said Svenja Gudell, Zillow’s chief economist. “That’s why we own a mortgage company.”"

"Established companies like Zillow and venture-backed upstarts like Opendoor and Offerpad have raised billions of dollars on the promise that they can use sophisticated algorithms to predict the value of individual homes. They contend that those predictions, combined with old-fashioned economies of scale, will allow them to be far more efficient than traditional home flippers.

The companies and their backers say they are doing what tech is best at: bringing efficiency and convenience to a process not known for either. Silicon Valley has already upended the way we hail a cab and order takeout, they argue. Why not improve a transaction that even well-educated professionals find intimidating?"

Silicon Valley Is Coming for Your House | NYT

Political pressure builds for FTC to punish Facebook with more than a ‘bargain’ fine | Washington Post

Wouldn't it be simpler and more effective to regulate what all companies can do with advertising-focused data collection?...

"Specifically, Blumenthal and Hawley contend that a fine ranging into billions of dollars would be a “bargain” for a company as large as Facebook, which recorded $15 billion in revenue last quarter. The tech giant last month said it expects a fine as high as $5 billion, confirming earlier reports from the Post that the FTC could require Facebook to pay a record-breaking financial penalty to settle the probe.

"Even a fine in the billions is simply a write-down for the company, and large penalties have done little to deter large tech firms," the lawmakers said.

Blumenthal and Hawley instead urged the commission to limit Facebook’s data collection, including requirements that restrict the kind of information it collects for advertising. They further called for accountability targeting individual executives if the commission determines “any Facebook executive knowingly broke the law” or its pledge to improve its privacy practices, a commitment it made to end another FTC probe in 2011."

Political pressure builds for FTC to punish Facebook with more than a ‘bargain’ fine | Washington Post

Trump Is Confused About Social Media. He’s Not Alone. | NYT

Some timely reminders from Kara Swisher

"But let me break it down for those who have gotten used to the chaos: Social media companies are private entities that can moderate any of the content that floods their platforms. They can kick off users who violate whatever policies they have in place, change those policies anytime they like and be wildly inconsistent in how they enforce them.

That’s entirely legal under current law, which was girded by the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United, which said that corporations have free-speech rights, including the right not to speak. That means they cannot be forced to host dreck if they don’t want to.

That, of course, is scary to the slippery-slope crowd, who worry that a small coterie of mostly male, mostly white, mostly obscenely wealthy people are making such enormous publishing decisions for everyone. As Bret Stephens, a Times columnist, asked in the wake of the Facebook purge: “Do you trust Mark Zuckerberg and the other young lords of Silicon Valley to be good stewards of the world’s digital speech?”"

Trump Is Confused About Social Media. He’s Not Alone. | NYT

How the news took over reality | The Guardian

From a timely and disconcerting "news" reality check

"In recent years, there has been enormous concern about the time we spend on our web-connected devices and what that might be doing to our brains. But a related psychological shift has gone largely unremarked: the way that, for a certain segment of the population, the news has come to fill up more and more time – and, more subtly, to occupy centre stage in our subjective sense of reality, so that the world of national politics and international crises can feel more important, even more truly real, than the concrete immediacy of our families, neighbourhoods and workplaces. It’s not simply that we spend too many hours glued to screens. It’s that for some of us, at least, they have altered our way of being in the world such that the news is no longer one aspect of the backdrop to our lives, but the main drama. The way that journalists and television producers have always experienced the news is now the way millions of others experience it, too.

From a British or American standpoint, the overwhelmingly dominant features of this changed mental landscape are Brexit and the presidency of Donald Trump. But the sheer outrageousness of them both risks blinding us to how strange and recent a phenomenon it is for the news – any news – to assume such a central position in people’s daily lives. In a now familiar refrain, the New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof bemoans his social circle’s “addiction to Trump” – “at cocktail parties, on cable television, at the dinner table, at the water cooler, all we talk about these days is Trump.” But Trump’s eclipse of all other news is not the only precondition for this addiction. The other is the eclipse of the rest of life by the dramas of the news."

How the news took over reality | The Guardian

Here’s How Facebook Should Really Handle Alex Jones | Politico

Also see, inevitably, Trump rants against Facebook, Twitter and defends full-blown conspiracy theorists as 'conservative thinkers' | Business Insider

"Some of the “problems” posed by firebrands like Jones and Farrakhan are of Facebook’s own making. One reason Jones composes such incendiary posts is that he knows they’ll be widely shared. Facebook loves sharing because the more sharing that goes on the more time users spend on the site and the more money Facebook makes. The downside of all this sharing is that even if you don’t follow Jones you can end up seeing one of his posts if one of your “friends” shares it. I suspect that some of the anger directed against accounts like Jones’ comes from users who recoil at such unwanted content shoved into their feeds. They can blame Jones, but the real perp is Facebook, which could rewrite its code to limit dissemination of posts by “bad actors” to only the users who have explicitly followed him. This would give Jones’ detractors some peace without punishing his followers—and without offending the First Amendment."

Here’s How Facebook Should Really Handle Alex Jones | Politico

Amazon can already ship to 72% of US population within a day, this map shows | CNBC

Perhaps anticipating carbon-related concerns about one-day Prime shipping, Amazon also offers "Amazon Day" for customers concerned about their carbon footprints; see Amazon’s latest program to curb emissions? One delivery day per house, per week | Ars Technica (from February)

"One of the biggest reasons people shop at a physical store is because of the immediate need to get a product. By shortening delivery time to one day, Amazon changes that equation. Brian Olsavsky, Amazon’s CFO, said on the first-quarter earnings call that the company is already starting to see “good order trends” after rolling out one-day default shipping to certain areas.

It’s having an impact on the stock market, too. Rival retailers, like Walmart and Target, saw their shares drop following Amazon’s announcement. Most retailers are just now starting to offer two-day shipping and will be forced to spend more on improving their logistics infrastructure to try and keep pace with Amazon."

Amazon can already ship to 72% of US population within a day, this map shows | CNBC

Israel launched an airstrike in response to a Hamas cyberattack | The Verge

An ominous military milestone; tangentially, see The Cybersecurity 202: A cyberattack just disrupted grid operations in the U.S. But it could have been far worse | Washington Post

"What’s novel about this particular incident is that it appears to be the first time that a military has met a cyberattack with a real-world response during an ongoing battle. As ZDNet’s Catalin Cimpanu points out, the US targeted a member of ISIS back in 2015 after he released US service member records online, but that attack didn’t occur in real-time. “Israel’s response against Hamas marks the first time that a country has reacted with immediate military force to a cyber-attack in an active conflict,” Cimpanu writes.

The attack raises serious questions about the incident, and what it means for similar incidents. A general principle of warfare and international humanitarian laws hold that attacks must be proportional in response. (For example, a country wouldn’t be permitted to launch a nuclear missile against a capitol city if a single soldier is killed in a border skirmish.) Given that the IDF admitted that it had halted the attack prior to the airstrike, the question is now whether or not the response was appropriate. Either way, it opens up a worrying evolution in the state of modern warfare, given the threat that computer hackers can pose to military forces or nations."

Israel launched an airstrike in response to a Hamas cyberattack | The Verge

With Two Tweets, Trump Shatters Historic Calm in Global Markets | Bloomberg

Tbd if it was mostly an attempt to distract people from Robert Mueller's House Judiciary Committee testimony proposed for 5/15...

"In the end, all it took was two tweets from Donald Trump.

After weeks of warnings from many on Wall Street that price swings across global markets were too subdued, the American president’s threat to boost tariffs on China sent volatility soaring Monday. The VIX Index jumped 43 percent, the most since October -- the start of a horrible quarter for U.S. equities. S&P 500 Index futures slid 1.7 percent and the Shanghai Composite fell 5.6 percent, the most since February 2016. European shares also dropped.

Whether they were a negotiating tactic or a sign of something more ominous, Trump’s tweets jolted markets that had been lulled in recent weeks by signs of progress in trade talks, a dovish turn by the Federal Reserve and better-than-expected corporate earnings. Investors who had grown accustomed to cross-asset volatility at or near historically low levels were once again forced to consider that all might not be smooth sailing."

With Two Tweets, Trump Shatters Historic Calm in Global Markets | Bloomberg

The Existential Crisis Plaguing Online Extremism Researchers | Wired

From a stark reality check

"In a way, their angst reflects that of the tech world at large. Many researchers in the field cut their teeth as techno-optimists, studying the positive aspects of the internet—like bringing people together to enhance creativity or further democratic protest, á la the Arab Spring—says Marwick. But it didn’t last.

The past decade has been an exercise in dystopian comeuppance to the utopian discourse of the '90s and ‘00s. Consider Gamergate, the Internet Research Agency, fake news, the internet-fueled rise of the so-called alt-right, Pizzagate, QAnon, Elsagate and the ongoing horrors of kids YouTube, Facebook’s role in fanning the flames of genocide, Cambridge Analytica, and so much more.

“In many ways, I think it [the malaise] is a bit about us being let down by something that many of us really truly believed in,” says Marwick. Even those who were more realistic about tech—and foresaw its misuse—are stunned by the extent of the problem, she says. “You have to come to terms with the fact that not only were you wrong, but even the bad consequences that many of us did foretell were nowhere near as bad as the actual consequences that either happened or are going to happen.”"

The Existential Crisis Plaguing Online Extremism Researchers | Wired

Project Libra: Facebook to launch stablecoin-based payments network | The Block

Recap of a WSJ article (I can't find via my News+ subscription; hmm...); also see Facebook's Secretive Cryptocurrency Payment System Is Apparently Code-Named 'Project Libra' | Gizmodo

"Big takeaways from the report:

1. Facebook is planning to launch a full payments network (rather than just remittances) and in discussions with payment networks Visa and Mastercard, payments processors such as giant First Data as well as large e-commerce merchants to support the launch.
2. Facebook is seeking up to $1 billion in investments collectively from these firms in order to act as collateral to bolster and back a stablecoin that will be associated with the payments network.
3. A stablecoin will exist as the currency of the payments system in order to eliminate credit card fees for merchants as well as to avoid the volatility of other cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether.
4. The company is considering tying the coin to Facebook's core ads engine, rewarding users for viewing ads and then purchasing goods, similar to how loyalty points rewards work."

Project Libra: Facebook to launch stablecoin-based payments network | The Block

Verizon is looking to sell Tumblr and Pornhub is interested | The Verge

Likely to sell for a bit less than the $1.1B Yahoo paid for Tumblr in 2013...

"Verizon is seeking a buyer for Tumblr, the blogging platform it acquired along with other Yahoo assets in 2017. The Wall Street Journal reports that Verizon has approached other companies in recent weeks that could be potential new homes for Tumblr. The platform hosts 465.4 million blogs and 172 billion posts, according to its about page. The Journal notes that the sale process “is ongoing” and might not result in any transaction.

On Thursday evening, Pornhub VP Corey Price claimed in a statement to BuzzFeed News that his company is “extremely interested” in buying Tumblr and “very much looking forward to one day restoring it to its former glory with NSFW content.” The company did not say whether it has actually made any legitimate offer to Verizon, however."

Verizon is looking to sell Tumblr and Pornhub is interested | The Verge

Buffett Finally Embraces Amazon as Berkshire Acquires Stake | Bloomberg

I'm guessing it wasn't the "younger eyes" who took Berkshire Hathaway into IBM a few years ago...

"Warren Buffett has said that he underestimated Amazon.com Inc.’s Jeff Bezos. Now one of Buffett’s deputies is willing to put money behind the tech giant.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has been buying Amazon shares and the purchases will show up in a regulatory filing later this month, Buffett told CNBC in an interview Thursday. Buffett, Berkshire’s chairman and chief executive officer, said “one of the fellows in the office that manage money” made the purchases, a reference to investment managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler.

Combs and Weschler have gained influence at Berkshire in recent years. Buffett credited some of his conglomerate’s purchases of airline stocks and Apple Inc. to the deputies and noted their involvement in helping Berkshire beyond their stock-picking duties. Buffett, 88, and long-time business partner, Charles Munger, 95, have praised the pair, with Munger saying they give Berkshire “younger eyes.”"

Buffett Finally Embraces Amazon as Berkshire Acquires Stake | Bloomberg