Monday.com raises $150M more, now at $1.9B valuation, for workplace collaboration tools | TechCrunch

For comparison, Atlassian's market cap is ~$32.5B

"The closer rivals, they note, are the likes of Airtable (now valued at $1.1 billion) and Notion (which we’ve confirmed with the company was raising and has now officially closed a round of $10 million on an equally outsized valuation of $800 million), as well as the wider field of project management tools like Jira, Wrike and Asana — although as Mann playfully pointed out, all of those could also feasibly be integrated into Monday.com and they would work better…

The market is still so nascent for collaboration tools that even with this crowded field, Mann said he believes there is room for everyone and the differentiations that each platform currently offers: Notion, he noted as an example, feels geared toward more personal workspace management, while Airtable  is more about taking on spreadsheets.

Within that, Monday.com hopes to position itself as the ever-powerful and smart go-to place to get an overview of everything that’s happening, with low chat noise and no need for technical knowledge to gain understanding."

Monday.com raises $150M more, now at $1.9B valuation, for workplace collaboration tools | TechCrunch

Google Chrome 76 arrives, makes it harder to use Flash and easier to dodge paywalls | The Verge

Unsurprisingly, the detailed release overview at New in Chrome 76 | Google Developers neglects to mention the paywall permeability part (which appears to be an "actual results may vary" proposition anyway, e.g., the WSJ and Bloomberg Businessweek paywalls still work in Chrome 76 Incognito mode)

"While Adobe Flash won’t truly die till 2020 and has been blocked by every major browser in one way or another for several years now, Chrome 76 is taking it one step further. Not only are individual Flash items blocked by default, but now the entire browser feature is off by default as well. If you head over to chrome://settings/content/flash, you should see the with the little “Ask First” setting flipped off instead of on, according to 9to5Google.

Another somewhat covert tweak: Google Chrome developer Paul Irish says that websites will no longer be able to detect when your Chrome browser is in Incognito Mode. That one’s going to be pain for publishers like The New York Times which use those detection schemes to keep you from reading an infinite number of free stories — and steer you into paying for a subscription."

Google Chrome 76 arrives, makes it harder to use Flash and easier to dodge paywalls | The Verge

Facebook Closer to Augmented Reality Glasses With Brain Implant That Decodes Dialogue From Neural Activity | IEEE Spectrum

For more details, see Imagining a new interface: Hands-free communication without saying a word | Tech@Facebook; also see Brain-computer interfaces are developing faster than the policy debate around them | The Verge

"Chevillet’s optimism is fueled in large part by a first in the field of brain-computer interfaces that hit the presses this morning: In the journal Nature Communications, a team at the University of California, San Francisco, funded by Facebook Reality Labs, has built a brain-computer interface that accurately decodes dialogue—words and phrases both heard and spoken by the person wearing the device—from brain signals in real time.

The results are an important step toward neural implants could be used to restore natural communication to patients who have lost the ability to speak due to stroke, spinal cord injury, or other conditions, says senior author and UCSF neurosurgeon Edward Chang.

Facebook, however, is more interested in building augmented reality glasses than biomedical devices. This work provides a proof of principle that it is possible to decode imagined speech from brain signals by measuring the activity of large populations of neurons, says Chevillet. “This [result] helps set the specification of what type of a wearable device we need to build.”"

Facebook Closer to Augmented Reality Glasses With Brain Implant That Decodes Dialogue From Neural Activity | IEEE Spectrum

Apple beats Q3 estimates with record Services revenue | TechCrunch

Diversify different

"While Cook stressed improving iPhone trends, revenue from iPhone sales totaled $25.99 billion, down from $29.47 billion in Q3 2018. Apple no longer breaks out product unit sales by device.

Mac sales totaled $5.82 billion, up from $5.26 billion, and iPad sales came to $5.02 billion, up from $4.63 billion. The Wearables, Home and Accessories segment brought in $5.53 billion, up from $3.73 billion. Apple's Wearables business is now bigger than 60 percent of the Fortune 500, Cook boasted on a conference call Tuesday.

Services revenue came to $11.46 billion, up from $10.17 billion. The company expects its momentum in Services to continue, particularly with important launches on the horizon. The Apple Card, the company's upcoming credit card that relies on the iPhone, will launch in August, Cook announced Tuesday. Meanwhile, Apple Arcade and Apple TV Plus will roll out in the fall."

Apple beats Q3 estimates with record Services revenue | TechCrunch

Facebook’s Libra Could Aid Law Enforcement | WSJ [via Apple News+]

Tbd if law enforcement agencies will have to pay for targeting based on Libra user information, following the traditional Facebook business model...

"Lawmakers were up in arms this month about whether Libra, Facebook Inc.’s proposed new cryptocurrency, would be a haven for money launderers and other criminal activities.
Facebook, though, says Libra could be a valuable tool for law enforcement, partly because of the vast amounts of information that will be generated about its users. That was the message Facebook executive David Marcus took to Congress during hearings this month.
The conversation represents how some portions of the crypto world are trying to move beyond the industry’s Wild West heyday and become a viable payments option."

Facebook’s Libra Could Aid Law Enforcement | WSJ [via Apple News+]

Introducing Megapack: Utility-Scale Energy Storage | Tesla blog

Check this Tesla page for details

"Megapack significantly reduces the complexity of large-scale battery storage and provides an easy installation and connection process. Each Megapack comes from the factory fully-assembled with up to 3 megawatt hours (MWhs) of storage and 1.5 MW of inverter capacity, building on Powerpack’s engineering with an AC interface and 60% increase in energy density to achieve significant cost and time savings compared to other battery systems and traditional fossil fuel power plants. Using Megapack, Tesla can deploy an emissions-free 250 MW, 1 GWh power plant in less than three months on a three-acre footprint – four times faster than a traditional fossil fuel power plant of that size. Megapack can also be DC-connected directly to solar, creating seamless renewable energy plants.

For utility-size installations like the upcoming Moss Landing project in California with PG&E, Megapack will act as a sustainable alternative to natural gas “peaker” power plants. Peaker power plants fire up whenever the local utility grid can’t provide enough power to meet peak demand. They cost millions of dollars per day to operate and are some of the least efficient and dirtiest plants on the grid. Instead, a Megapack installation can use stored excess solar or wind energy to support the grid’s peak loads."

Introducing Megapack: Utility-Scale Energy Storage | Tesla blog

Capital One says data breach affected 100 million credit card applications | Washington Post

What's in your wallet? Ask a hacker...

"Capital One, the Virginia-based bank with a popular credit card business, announced Monday that a hacker had accessed about 100 million credit card applications, and investigators say thousands of Social Security and bank account numbers were also taken.

The FBI has arrested a Seattle area woman, Paige A. Thompson, on a charge of computer fraud and abuse, according to court records.

The hack appears to be one of the largest data breaches ever to hit a financial services firm. In 2017, the credit-reporting company Equifax disclosed that hackers had stolen the personal information of 147 million people. Last week, it reached a $700 million settlement with U.S. regulators over that breach."

Capital One says data breach affected 100 million credit card applications | Washington Post

Pentagon issues forceful rebuke of Oracle as debate over a massive federal contract turns caustic | Washington Post

Not fault tolerant

"The Pentagon issued an unusually strong rebuke of Oracle over the weekend, accusing the company of employing “poorly-informed and often manipulative speculation” in its efforts to undermine the military’s process of awarding a massive 10-year contract for cloud computing technology.

The remarks were the latest flash point in the long-running dispute over the bidding process for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI), a $10 billion contract that would be one of the federal government’s most expensive information technology procurements ever." 

Pentagon issues forceful rebuke of Oracle as debate over a massive federal contract turns caustic | Washington Post

Russia Targeted Elections Systems in All 50 States, Report Finds | NYT

On a related note, see Mitch McConnell is right. Secure, open elections would elect more Democrats. | Washington Post

"The Senate Intelligence Committee concluded Thursday that election systems in all 50 states were targeted by Russia in 2016, an effort more far-reaching than previously acknowledged and one largely undetected by the states and federal officials at the time.

But while the bipartisan report’s warning that the United States remains vulnerable in the next election is clear, its findings were so heavily redacted at the insistence of American intelligence agencies that even some key recommendations for 2020 were blacked out.

The report — the first volume of several to be released from the committee’s investigation into Russia’s 2016 election interference — came 24 hours after the former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III warned that Russia was moving again to interfere “as we sit here.”"

Russia Targeted Elections Systems in All 50 States, Report Finds | NYT

DeepMind is helping Waymo evolve better self-driving AI algorithms | MIT Technology Review

For more details, see How evolutionary selection can train more capable self-driving cars | DeepMind blog

"Engineers at Waymo, owned by Alphabet, teamed up with researchers at DeepMind, another Alphabet division dedicated to AI, to find a more efficient process to train and fine-tune the company’s self-driving algorithms.

They used a technique called population-based training (PBT), previously developed by DeepMind for honing video-game algorithms. PBT, which takes inspiration from biological evolution, speeds up the selection of machine-learning algorithms and parameters for a particular task by having candidate code draw from the “fittest” specimens (the ones that perform a given task most efficiently) in an algorithmic population.

Refining AI algorithms in this way may also help give Waymo an edge. The algorithms that guide self-driving cars need to be retrained and recalibrated as the vehicles collect more data and are deployed in new locations. Dozens of companies are racing to demonstrate the best self-driving technology on real roads. Waymo is exploring various other ways of automating and accelerating the development of its machine-learning algorithms."

DeepMind is helping Waymo evolve better self-driving AI algorithms | MIT Technology Review

Google Cloud is generating $8 billion in revenue a year and plans to triple sales force

Also see Alphabet's revenue rebounds; easing doubts on growth and boosting shares | Reuters

"Amazon Web Services, the leader in cloud infrastructure, reported 37% growth on Thursday to $8.38 billion, which makes it about quadruple the size of Google’s business.

Microsoft, the No. 2 player, said last week that Azure grew 64%. Jay Vleeschhouwer of Griffin Securities estimated in a note last week that Microsoft picked up $4.1 billion in Azure revenue in its second quarter. That suggests Azure is about double the size of Google’s cloud."

Google Cloud is generating $8 billion in revenue a year and plans to triple sales force | CNBC

Facebook reports better than expected second-quarter results | CNBC

Also see Facebook’s latest profits show FTC fine is a blip | Washington Post

"The business continues to grow at a rapid clip. Revenue rose 28% compared to a year prior. The company lowered its capital expenditures forecast for 2019 to between $16 billion and $18 billion, down from its previous estimate of between $17 billion to $19 billion.

Facebook said it counts more than 2.7 billion monthly users across the its family of apps, up slightly compared to the previous quarter. Its user base in Europe remained flat from the prior quarter at 286 million daily active users.In the U.S. and Canada, users rose to 187 million from 186 million a quarter earlier. The company said average revenue per user increased 18% to $7.05 from $5.97 a year ago."

Facebook reports better than expected second-quarter results | CNBC

Tesla loss shows perils of lower-priced Model 3 | Washington Post

Later in the article: "Tesla also announced Wednesday that another member of Musk’s executive team, Chief Technology Officer J.B. Straubel, was stepping down from his role. Straubel, a Tesla co-founder, would continue to serve as a senior advisor, Musk said."

"Tesla reported a second-quarter loss even as it made record deliveries, prompting renewed questions about the company’s future in a year when investor concerns have already sent its stock plummeting.

Although Tesla’s revenue rose nearly 40 percent over the same quarter last year to $6.3 billion, the company still reported a loss of $408 million.

The results suggest Tesla is beginning to face a classic auto industry problem: narrower margins stemming from its mass-market offerings, which are becoming a popular alternative to its more expensive models."

Tesla loss shows perils of lower-priced Model 3 | Washington Post

White House: Google’s work in China is not a security risk | Engadget

"Oh. Never mind..." In other Mnuchin news, see Amazon has ‘destroyed’ retail and should be scrutinized, Treasury chief Mnuchin says | Washington Post

"Thiel used the stage at National Conservatism Conference in Washington DC to call for the FBI and CIA to investigate Google's China ties. Thiel specifically cited Google's work on AI. But the same day Google confirmed that it killed plans for its controversial search engine, Dragonfly. The timing raised suspicion, and Trump tweeted that his administration would "take a look."

"The president and I did diligence on this issue, we're not aware of any areas where Google is working with the Chinese government in any way that raises concerns," Mnuchin said today. He noted that Google continues to work with the US Department of Defense and that its work with China is "very, very limited.""

White House: Google’s work in China is not a security risk | Engadget

Samsung says it has fixed the Galaxy Fold and will release it in September | The Verge

Tbd if reviewers will open it wrong, next time around...

"Whether Samsung can really keep the Fold from clouding the attention it hopes to garner for its other phones is an open question. Today’s announcement was nowhere near as comprehensive or clear as what Samsung provided with the Note 7. That means that consumers who go to buy this device when it goes on sale will be taking a very large leap of faith, trusting in Samsung’s word that it’s solved the Fold’s issues. Even if that’s true, the Galaxy Fold is likely to still be a somewhat delicate device, one that is very unlikely to ever be mainstream.

Earlier today, Sammobile uncovered software evidence that the Galaxy Fold would be released to fewer markets this time around, including “the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and India.”

It was no sure thing that Samsung would really follow through on its promise to fix and re-release the Fold. But now that it has confirmed its plans, the pressure on the company to produce a reliable device is going to be sky high. We’ll find out if Samsung can meet those expectations in September."

Samsung says it has fixed the Galaxy Fold and will release it in September | The Verge

Your Data Were ‘Anonymized’? These Scientists Can Still Identify You | NYT

For details, see Estimating the success of re-identifications in incomplete datasets using generative models | Nature Communications; You’re very easy to track down, even when your data has been anonymized | MIT Technology Review notes "On average, in the US, using those three records [zip code, gender, and date of birth], you could be correctly located in an “anonymized” database 81% of the time."

"Even anonymized data sets often include scores of so-called attributes — characteristics about an individual or household. Anonymized consumer data sold by Experian, the credit bureau, to Alteryx, a marketing firm, included 120 million Americans and 248 attributes per household.

Scientists at Imperial College London and Université Catholique de Louvain, in Belgium, reported in the journal Nature Communications that they had devised a computer algorithm that can identify 99.98 percent of Americans from almost any available data set with as few as 15 attributes, such as gender, ZIP code or marital status.

Even more surprising, the scientists posted their software code online for anyone to use. That decision was difficult, said Yves-Alexandre de Montjoye, a computer scientist at Imperial College London and lead author of the new paper."

Your Data Were ‘Anonymized’? These Scientists Can Still Identify You | NYT

Amazon is edging into real estate, but not how anyone expected | Washington Post

See TurnKey for program details

"“For Amazon this is a free way to experiment with attracting customers," Craig-Hallum analyst Brad Berning wrote in a recent research note. “For Realogy, we believe this is desperation to improve their broker platform which has structural headwinds and a levered balance sheet.”

The company, which includes Coldwell Banker, Century 21 Real Estate and Sotheby’s International Realty among its brands, has seen its stock sink 65 percent this year. Realogy’s market cap has shrunk to around $600 million, after peaking at more than $7 billion in 2013. Realogy’s shares rose 35 percent to $7 after the partnership with Amazon was announced. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

Realogy has much to gain from teaming up with Amazon, and the e-commerce giant has little to lose, regardless of whether TurnKey takes off: it’s Realogy, not Amazon, that foots the bill for customers’ benefits bundles."

Amazon is edging into real estate, but not how anyone expected | Washington Post

Justice Department announces broad antitrust review of Big Tech | The Verge

Also see Big Tech’s US antitrust nightmare just got a whole lot worse | MIT Technology Review

"“Without the discipline of meaningful market-based competition, digital platforms may act in ways that are not responsive to consumer demands,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Antitrust Division. “The Department’s antitrust review will explore these important issues.”

The investigation will address broad concerns over whether Big Tech is stifling competition, and will be separate from the department’s probes of Google and Apple that were reported earlier this summer and are intended to take a closer look at individual potential violations. The review reported today will look into search engines, social media platforms, and retail, but not focus on any individual company or practice."

Justice Department announces broad antitrust review of Big Tech | The Verge

Facebook’s Libra currency spawns a wave of fakes, including on Facebook itself | Washington Post

Getting a bit deeply nested

"A number of fake Facebook and Instagram accounts were removed Monday after The Washington Post alerted Facebook to their spread.

The spread of fakes — and Facebook’s inability to detect them on its own — could undermine Facebook-backed efforts to inspire confidence and satisfy the regulators now scrutinizing the newly proposed global currency. Many of the fakes included Facebook’s logo, photos of Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg or Libra’s official marketing imagery.

“There is a deep irony here in Facebook being used as the platform that could undermine trust in the currency Facebook is trying to build trust in,” said Eswar Prasad, an economics professor at Cornell University. “Facebook has an enormous worldwide network and enormous financial muscle . . . But the only way Libra will work well as a medium of exchange is if everyone can trust it. And that's the big question right now: whether there is going to be enough trust in Facebook.""

Facebook’s Libra currency spawns a wave of fakes, including on Facebook itself | Washington Post

Facebook will have to pay a record-breaking fine for violating users’ privacy. But the FTC wanted more. | Washington Post

From a timely FTC reality check

"Some of the people interviewed for this story expressed concern that Facebook may not have had to admit guilt as part of the settlement with the FTC, either. In the agency’s 2012 privacy settlement with Google, the search giant similarly managed to deny “any violation” had run afoul of a previous order brokered with the FTC. The agency adopted a similar approach in a settlement announced Monday with Equifax, with the agency not admitting any wrongdoing two years after it left more than 147 million Americans’ personal data exposed.

On Capitol Hill, Democrats and Republicans alike reacted to the Facebook deal with outrage, even though over the roughly 480 days that the FTC investigated Facebook, lawmakers had failed to pass a single privacy bill that might have empowered the FTC to be tougher on tech giants.

“If the FTC is seen as traffic police handing out speeding tickets to companies profiting off breaking the law, then Facebook and others will continue to push the boundaries,” Blumenthal and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), a top tech critic, wrote in a letter to the agency earlier this month."

Facebook will have to pay a record-breaking fine for violating users’ privacy. But the FTC wanted more. | Washington Post

With $1 Billion From Microsoft, an A.I. Lab Wants to Mimic the Brain | NYT

See OpenAI forms exclusive computing partnership with Microsoft to build new Azure AI supercomputing technologies | Microsoft News Center for more details

"Eventually, Mr. Altman and his colleagues believe, they can build A.G.I. in a similar way. If they can gather enough data to describe everything humans deal with on a daily basis — and if they have enough computing power to analyze all that data — they believe they can rebuild human intelligence.

Mr. Altman painted the deal with Microsoft as a step in this direction. As Microsoft invests in OpenAI, the tech giant will also work on building new kinds of computing systems that can help the lab analyze increasingly large amounts of information.

“This is about really having that tight feedback cycle between a high-ambition pursuit of A.G.I. and what is our core business, which is building the world’s computer,” Mr. Nadella said."

With $1 Billion From Microsoft, an A.I. Lab Wants to Mimic the Brain | NYT

Yes, You Actually Should Be Using Emojis at Work | WSJ [Apple News+]

Article summary: "Once viewed as a frivolity, emojis are now key to clear and concise communication, esprit de corps and cultivating a shared corporate culture"

"The utility of emojis is not an excuse to use them willy-nilly. If you don’t know the local emoji parlance, attempting to use one can make you seem unserious and damage your subsequent ability to collaborate with others, says Ella Glikson, a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University. With her collaborators, Dr. Glikson found that using emojis in initial communication with unfamiliar people could even make you appear less competent.
For younger employees, knowing when to strategically deploy an emoji to smooth communication or add context can be natural, says Mr. Belanich of Joyride Coffee. “But I’ve also seen it done not especially well, and it can come across like that ‘How do you do, fellow kids?’ meme.”
A good rule of thumb: If you don’t know what Mr. Belanich is talking about when he references actor Steve Buscemi’s internet-famous turn on “30 Rock” as a skateboard-toting undercover detective, you might not be ready to bust out the “folded hands” emoji, much less the “hundred points.”"

Yes, You Actually Should Be Using Emojis at Work | WSJ [Apple News+]

Facebook Is a New Form of Power | TNR

Final paragraphs:

"Understanding the nature of Facebook’s power is important because only then does it become possible to critique it and overcome its bind. Seeing Facebook as a government doesn’t help with those goals. We can’t vote it out of office, and we can’t stage a revolution to overthrow it. Understanding Facebook as just a monopoly isn’t enough either. Even if the company’s subsidiaries, most notably Instagram and WhatsApp, were broken off the mother ship, Facebook would still be the largest social media company by a long way.

Government could, of course, stop Facebook from acquiring any more power. It could simply not allow Libra to go ahead. Some are beginning to think the government will choose to punish Facebook’s past sins in precisely this way. But it’s also important to conceptualize the type of power that Facebook is already wielding over our lives. Only then will we able to resist it."

Facebook Is a New Form of Power | TNR

Equifax to pay up to $700 million to settle state and federal investigations into 2017 security breach | Washington Post

A good start

"Under an agreement with the attorneys general from 48 states as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, Equifax will set aside up to $425 million to reimburse victims of the breach, including those who experienced identity theft. Equifax also will offer 10 years of credit-monitoring services to consumers who have been harmed, invest more heavily in its own cybersecurity and pay $175 million to the states themselves, officials said. They described the penalty as the most significant they’ve ever levied in response to an organization that broke state data-security laws.

Equifax also has agreed to pay an additional $100 million to settle a federal investigation at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which probed the matter alongside the Federal Trade Commission, the agencies said Monday."

Equifax to pay up to $700 million to settle state and federal investigations into 2017 security breach | Washington Post

Neal Stephenson on Depictions of Reality (Ep. 71) | Conversations with Tyler

Excerpt from a wide-ranging interview:

"COWEN: You saw some of the downsides of social media earlier than most people did in Seveneves. It’s also in your new book, Fall. What’s the worst-case scenario for how social media evolved? And what’s the institutional failure? Why do many people think they’re screwing things up?

STEPHENSON: I think we’re actually living through the worst-case scenario right now, so look about you, and that’s what we’ve got. Our civil institutions were founded upon an assumption that people would be able to agree on what reality is, agree on facts, and that they would then make rational, good-faith decisions based on that. They might disagree as to how to interpret those facts or what their political philosophy was, but it was all founded on a shared understanding of reality.

And that’s now been dissolved out from under us, and we don’t have a mechanism to address that problem."

Neal Stephenson on Depictions of Reality (Ep. 71) | Conversations with Tyler

Facebook is backpedaling from its ambitious vision for Libra | Ars Technica

Final paragraphs:

"But if the Libra Association does have a mechanism for forcing compliance, that inherently raises the bar for entering the market and makes the Libra network look more like conventional financial networks—with all the red tape that entails. This could be particularly harmful for marginalized people in developing countries, since developers in those markets will have the fewest resources to jump through regulatory hoops.

So Facebook's challenge in the coming months is to design a new network architecture that strikes a reasonable balance between these competing objectives—a network that is locked-down enough to satisfy regulators but open enough to attract a healthy developer ecosystem. Facebook, of course, can choose to add a Libra-based payment system to WhatsApp and Messenger, instantly giving the new network millions of users. But Facebook has a lot of work to do if it wants the broader Libra network to become a global standard."

Facebook is backpedaling from its ambitious vision for Libra | Ars Technica

The age of Azure is upon us: Microsoft’s biggest business segment is now the one that includes its Azure cloud | CNBC

Also see Microsoft Q4 FY19: Why is Azure 'slowing' and Windows growing? | ZDNet

"For the first time in more than three years, Microsoft’s Intelligent Cloud reporting segment, which includes the Azure public cloud that competes with market leader Amazon Web Services, contributed more revenue to Microsoft overall than the other two segments: Productivity and Business Processes, which contains Office, and More Personal Computing, which includes Windows.

To be sure, the Intelligent Cloud segment contains several products other than Azure, including SQL Server, Windows Server, Visual Studio, System Center, consulting services and support.

Nevertheless, Azure benefits from a secular shift to cloud that has also benefited other companies, including Alibaba, Google, IBM and Oracle."

The age of Azure is upon us: Microsoft’s biggest business segment is now the one that includes its Azure cloud | CNBC

Jeff Bezos: I spend my billions on space because we’re destroying Earth | CNBC

Tbd if Amazon Prime shipping will apply...

"“We humans have to go to space if we are going to continue to have a thriving civilization,” Bezos says. “We have become big as a population, as a species, and this planet is relatively small. We see it in things like climate change and pollution and heavy industry. We are in the process of destroying this planet. And we have sent robotic probes to every planet in the solar system — this is the good one. So, we have to preserve this planet.”

To do that will require being able to live and work in space, says Bezos.

“We send things up into space, but they are all made on Earth. Eventually it will be much cheaper and simpler to make really complicated things, like microprocessors and everything, in space and then send those highly complex manufactured objects back down to earth, so that we don’t have the big factories and pollution generating industries that make those things now on Earth,” Bezos says. “And Earth can be zoned residential.”"

Jeff Bezos: I spend my billions on space because we’re destroying Earth | CNBC

Democrats call on Facebook to abandon Libra cryptocurrency | Washington Post

Also see Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's exchange with Facebook's crypto boss exposed a big problem about who actually controls the Libra currency | Business Insider

"At Wednesday’s hearing, Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) compared Facebook to two other companies that have faced scandals, Wells Fargo and Equifax. “It has already harmed vast numbers of people on a scale similar to Wells Fargo and demonstrated a pattern of failing to keep consumer data private on a scale similar to Equifax,” she said. Waters has unveiled draft legislation that would block big tech companies from getting involved with the financial system, potentially preventing Facebook from launching Libra.

Another Democrat, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), said Facebook should drop the idea altogether or at least agree to start with a small pilot program. “I don’t think you should launch Libra at all. The creation of a new currency is a core government function and should be left to democratically accountable institutions,” Maloney said."

Democrats call on Facebook to abandon Libra cryptocurrency | Washington Post

Facebook’s regulation dodge: Let us, or China will | TechCrunch

From a timely Facebook reality check

"Indeed, China does not share the United States’ values on individual freedoms and privacy. And yes, breaking up Facebook could weaken its products like WhatsApp, providing more opportunities for apps like Chinese tech giant Tencent’s WeChat to proliferate.

But letting Facebook off the hook won’t solve the problems China’s influence poses to an open and just internet. Framing the issue as “strong regulation lets China win” creates a false dichotomy. There are more constructive approaches if Zuckerberg seriously wants to work with the government on exporting freedom via the web. And the distrust Facebook has accrued through the mistakes it’s made in the absence of proper regulation arguably do plenty to hurt the perception of how American ideals are spread through its tech companies."

Facebook’s regulation dodge: Let us, or China will | TechCrunch

IBM reports better-than-expected earnings, maintains full-year guidance | CNBC

Zero instances of "Watson" in the IBM Q2 press release [PDF]

"IBM’s revenue fell 4% from a year earlier even as earnings grew 3%, the company said in a statement. Year-over-year revenue has now declined for the fourth quarter in a row.

IBM’s biggest business segment, Global Technology Services — which includes technology support services as well as infrastructure and cloud services — produced $6.84 billion in revenue, down almost 7% and below the $7 billion consensus estimate among analysts surveyed by FactSet.

The GTS business is “declining ~3% as the company repositions this portfolio for higher profitability and growth,” Stifel analysts led by David Grossman wrote in a note on July 9. “Declines are likely to remain at these levels through most of this year as the company exits lower margin capital intensive business and culls low growth/margin relationships from the portfolio.”"

IBM reports better-than-expected earnings, maintains full-year guidance | CNBC

The Empire Strikes Back: Trump discovers $10bn JEDI cloud deal may go to nemesis Jeff Bezos, demands probe | The Register

Perhaps a positive development for Microsoft

"Should the President indeed be looking to intervene, it could spell trouble for the final JEDI hopefuls, particularly AWS, whose overlord Jeff Bezos also owns the Washington Post, which has run afoul of the media-obsessed tweeter-in-chief at various times since taking office.

Oracle, on the other hand, has by all accounts a better relationship with the President. Co-CEO Safra Katz has long been a friend of the administration, at one point even being rumored to be in consideration for a cabinet position.

It is yet to be seen how these vendettas and relationships would impact Trump's thinking on the matter – or if they would even factor in to the President's decision making at all. Still, it probably doesn't hurt to be on Trump's good side."

The Empire Strikes Back: Trump discovers $10bn JEDI cloud deal may go to nemesis Jeff Bezos, demands probe | The Register

Workplace, Facebook’s service for business teams, is raising its prices for the first time since launch | TechCrunch

For more details, see New Workplace Product Plans | Workplace blog

"Up to now, Facebook has taken a very simple approach to how it charges for Workplace, unique not just because of it being a paid service (unlike Facebook itself, which is free), but for how it modeled its pricing on the basic building block of Facebook-the-consumer product: a basic version was free, with an enhanced premium edition costing a flat $3 per active user, per month.

In September, that will change. The standard (basic) tier is getting rebranded as Workplace Essential, and will still be free to use. Meanwhile, the premium tier is being renamed Workplace Advanced and getting charged $4 per person, per month. And Facebook is introducing a new tier, Workplace Enterprise, which will be charged at $8 per person, per month, and will come with a new set of services specifically around guaranteed, quicker support and first-look access at new features. (Those who are already customers have the option of being grandfathered for a year, the company said, before switching to a new plan.)"

Workplace, Facebook’s service for business teams, is raising its prices for the first time since launch | TechCrunch

Tech Policy Trump threatens to ‘take a look’ at Google for China ties | Washington Post

On a related note, see A few questions for Peter Thiel | Axios

"President Trump on Tuesday appeared to threaten that his administration would “take a look” at Google, opening an investigation into the search giant out of concern that it has been breached by the Chinese government.

Trump’s shot at Google came in a tweet that cited recent comments from Peter Thiel, a venture capitalist and one of the president’s top supporters, who this week called for the FBI and the CIA to probe the company on grounds it may have committed treason while conducting operations in China."

 Tech Policy Trump threatens to ‘take a look’ at Google for China ties | Washington Post

Technology Facebook privately pitched its cryptocurrency plan last month to regulators. They were left even more scared. | Washington Post

Also see ‘I like bitcoin,’ says House GOP leader McCarthy while bashing Facebook’s Libra coin plans | CNBC

"“Facebook is dangerous,” Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said Tuesday at the first of two congressional hearings scheduled for this week. “They certainly don’t respect the power of the technologies they are playing with. Like a toddler who has gotten his hands on a book of matches, Facebook has burned down the house over and over, and called every arson a learning experience.”

Facebook vice president David Marcus, who is spearheading the Libra project, tried to mollify lawmakers’ anxiety about the currency, saying the company wouldn’t move forward without complete buy-in from Washington.

“We agree with all of the concerns,” he said."

 Technology Facebook privately pitched its cryptocurrency plan last month to regulators. They were left even more scared. | Washington Post

Elon Musk’s Neuralink Takes Baby Steps to Wiring Brains to the Internet | NYT

Also see Elon Musk unveils Neuralink’s plans for brain-reading ‘threads’ and a robot to insert them | The Verge

"Elon Musk aspires to make inserting a computer connection into your brain as safe and painless as Lasik eye surgery.

On Tuesday evening, Neuralink, a company in which Mr. Musk has invested $100 million, detailed the baby steps it has taken toward that goal. Neuralink described a “sewing machine-like” robot that can implant ultrathin threads deep into the brain.

The company is hoping to begin working with human subjects as soon as the second quarter of next year."

Elon Musk’s Neuralink Takes Baby Steps to Wiring Brains to the Internet | NYT

Fighting Big Tech Makes for Some Uncomfortable Bedfellows | NYT

Social media brings people together ... against social media

"On one side is the progressive left, whose members have been appalled by Facebook’s handling of pro-Trump Russian disinformation campaigns and Silicon Valley’s consolidated power. On the other side is the Trumpist right, whose members see the power of social media companies to ban content as censorship and worry that the arteries of communication are controlled by young liberals.

The common cause has made for some strange new bedfellows. The left and the right now often have similar anti-tech talking points on cable news and at congressional hearings. Conservatives are showing up at largely liberal conferences, while liberals are going on conservative TV shows."

Fighting Big Tech Makes for Some Uncomfortable Bedfellows | NYT

Twitter says Trump’s tweet didn’t violate its rules against racism but won’t say why | Washington Post

Twitter rule #1: if it generates significant traffic, disregard all other rules...

Malkia Devich-Cyril, executive director of advocacy group MediaJustice, called Trump’s tweets “absolutely racist” for evoking misleading tropes about the heritages of nonwhite people and questioning whether they are authentically American even when they are citizens and, in the cases of the members of Congress, democratically elected representatives of their districts. Suggestions that they “go back” to their countries also echo the racist taunt of “go back to Africa.”

Devich-Cyril said that Twitter’s inaction suggested it was more concerned about provoking Trump’s ire than with protecting its platform and its users from racist attacks, raising questions about whether the company was serious about labeling tweets that violated its policies.

Twitter says Trump’s tweet didn’t violate its rules against racism but won’t say why | Washington Post

Facebook Dodged a Bullet From the F.T.C. It Faces Many More. | NYT

Also see Facebook’s $5 billion FTC fine is an embarrassing joke | The Verge

"After Facebook was hit on Friday with a fine of around $5 billion for privacy violations, critics immediately said it escaped largely unscathed: The settlement neither bruised its bottom line nor severely restricted its ability to collect people’s data.

Yet even if the Silicon Valley company dodged that bullet, its pain was just beginning.

Regulators and lawmakers in Washington, Europe and in countries including Canada have already begun multiple investigations and proposing new restrictions against Facebook that will probably embroil it in policy debates and legal wrangling for years to come. And in some of these places, the authorities are increasingly coordinating to form a more united front against the company."

Facebook Dodged a Bullet From the F.T.C. It Faces Many More. | NYT

Apple: Macintosh Forks | Monday Note

See the full post for more ARM Mac speculation

"If (or, more likely, when) the Mac switches to Axx chips, the change won’t be instantaneous. Some Macs will become powered by Apple’s home-grown CPU chips, others, like the Mac Pro, will remain on x86 processors. And thus we’ll have a fork of macOS. Two forks, actually: A sliding break as the transition progressively moves from low end machines up the product line, and then a permanent “fork ceiling” that separates the extreme-end Mac Pro from its lower-powered siblings.

As for the software transition, Apple has proved many times that it could easily handle processor changes, the latest example being the PowerPC to Intel 2006 move."

Apple: Macintosh Forks | Monday Note

Bitcoin Backers Welcome Trump Attack: At Least He Notices Us | WSJ [Apple News+ link]

Also see Trump's Twitter tantrum in this context

"Cryptocurrency backers found a silver lining in President Trump’s attacks on bitcoin late Thursday.
In three tweets, Mr. Trump said he is “not a fan” of cryptocurrencies, declaring they aren’t money and that their values are “highly volatile and based on thin air.” Unregulated digital assets, he said, could “facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity.”
Still, his remarks were welcomed by some in the industry: While U.S. authorities might remain wary of digital currencies, they say, the attention shows the industry’s growing importance.
“I dreamt about a sitting U.S. president needing to respond to growing cryptocurrency usage years ago,” Brian Armstrong, co-founder and chief executive at Coinbase, a U.S. platform for buying and selling bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, wrote on Twitter. “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. We just made it to step 3 y’all.”"

Bitcoin Backers Welcome Trump Attack: At Least He Notices Us | WSJ [Apple News+ link]

Amazon’s Latest Experiment: Retraining Its Work Force | NYT

Also see Amazon will retrain one-third of its U.S. employees to get ahead of tech changes | Washington Post

"The e-commerce giant said Thursday that it planned to spend $700 million to retrain about a third of its American workers to do more high-tech tasks, an acknowledgment that advances in technology are remaking jobs in nearly every industry — and that workers will need to adapt or risk being left behind.

Amazon said the program amounted to one of the world’s largest employee-retraining efforts. It will apply across the company, from corporate employees to warehouse workers, retraining about 100,000 by 2025. Amazon has about 300,000 employees in the United States.

The investment is a large-scale experiment in whether companies can remake their existing work forces to fit a fast-changing technological world. While government programs have tried to turn factory workers and coal miners into computer coders and data scientists, few of those efforts have succeeded. Corporate attempts have been limited."

Amazon’s Latest Experiment: Retraining Its Work Force | NYT

Trump accuses social media companies of ‘terrible bias’ at White House summit decried by critics | Washington Post

This just in from Minitrue headquarters (with Trump summarizing via Twitter, of course); also see Trump’s Very Big, Very Important White House Social-Media Summit | The New Yorker and Donald Trump’s bogus White House social media summit is basically a big troll | Vox

"President Trump assailed Facebook, Google and Twitter on Thursday — accusing them of exhibiting “terrible bias” and silencing his supporters — at a White House “Social Media Summit” that critics chastised for giving a prominent stage to some of the Internet’s most controversial, incendiary voices.

For Trump, the conference represented his highest-profile broadside against Silicon Valley after months of accusations that tech giants censor conservative users and websites. With it, the president also rallied his widely followed online allies — whom he described as “journalists and influencers” and who together can reach roughly half a billion people — entering the 2020 presidential election.

“Some of you are extraordinary. The crap you think of is unbelievable,” Trump said."

Trump accuses social media companies of ‘terrible bias’ at White House summit decried by critics | Washington Post

Facebook, Carnegie Mellon build first AI that beats pros in 6-player poker | Facebook AI Blog

Summary points below; also see Hold ’Em or Fold ’Em? This A.I. Bluffs With the Best | NYT

• "Pluribus is the first AI bot capable of beating human experts in six-player no-limit Hold’em, the most widely played poker format in the world. This is the first time an AI bot has beaten top human players in a complex game with more than two players or two teams.

• We tested Pluribus against professional poker players, including two winners of the World Series of Poker Main Event. Pluribus won decisively.

• Pluribus succeeds because it can very efficiently handle the challenges of a game with both hidden information and more than two players. It uses self-play to teach itself how to win, with no examples or guidance on strategy. 

• Pluribus uses far fewer computing resources than the bots that have defeated humans in other games. 

• The bot’s success will advance AI research, because many important AI challenges involve many players and hidden information."

Facebook, Carnegie Mellon build first AI that beats pros in 6-player poker | Facebook AI Blog

Even Donald Trump is dumping on Facebook’s digital currency dreams | MIT Technology Review

Also see President Trump takes aim at Facebook’s cryptocurrency, Libra, saying it should be regulated | Washington Post, which concludes: "Trump’s decision to defend the role of the U.S. dollar in his tweet is also striking, as it suggests a level of concern within the White House that the dollar’s role in international financial markets could somehow come under threat from a social media company."

"On this, Trump is not alone. Since June 18th, when Facebook first revealed Libra, the new currency, Marcus has been dealing with relentless criticism and scrutiny—emanating from all parts of the globe.

“Design of the Facebook currency has not been fully explained,” India’s economic affairs secretary Subhash Garg told Bloomberg this week. Regardless, India is not “not comfortable” with the idea of a private currency, he said.

China isn’t either. Wang Xin, director of the People’s Bank of China’s research bureau, said that if Libra were to take off, it might help the dollar in ways that would be detrimental to China. Mu Changchun, deputy director of the bank’s payments department, said that Libra “won’t be sustainable without the support and supervision of central banks.”"

Even Donald Trump is dumping on Facebook’s digital currency dreams | MIT Technology Review

Are Tech Companies Africa’s New Colonialists? | FT (via Medium)

Article summary: "Foreign-owned start-ups are driving an African tech revolution — and prompting old fears of exploitation"

"Far from helping Africa, says Enonchong, Jumia and companies like it are throttling Africa’s homegrown tech industry at birth. That is because of what its critics say is the great unspoken advantage of such companies: their access to capital. “I don’t see any African start-up that would be permitted to lose that kind of money,” says Enonchong, referring to the near $1bn that Jumia burnt through in seven years on its way to listing. “That robs Africans of an opportunity to be the first,” she says, arguing that many African start-ups have been steamrollered out of existence because of their inability to match Jumia’s deep pockets.

A 2018 study of start-ups in east Africa confirmed that 90 per cent of funding had gone to foreign founders. Many African entrepreneurs complain that foreign companies use a false African identity as a marketing tool, raising capital on the basis that they are “doing good” through “impact investing”, but in the end cashing out like any savvy capitalist."

Are Tech Companies Africa’s New Colonialists? | FT (via Medium)

Fed Chair Raises ‘Serious Concerns’ About Facebook’s Cryptocurrency Project | NYT

Tbd when Facebook will try the "It's us or CHINA world domination!" move in this context (e.g., see The Technology 202: Facebook leaders say antitrust focus obscures the real tech threat: China | Washington Post); on a related note, see Bitcoin falls sharply as Fed’s Powell flags ‘serious concerns’ about Facebook’s cryptocurrency | CNBC

"On Wednesday, the chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, said Libra raised a host of “serious concerns” around “money laundering, consumer protection and financial stability.”

“I just think it cannot go forward without there being broad satisfaction with the way the company has addressed money laundering” and other issues, Mr. Powell said as he testified before the House Financial Services Committee.

Mr. Powell is the latest central banker to express skepticism about Libra, which Facebook  announced last month. Central bankers from Britain, France, the European Central Bank, Singapore and China have all voiced concerns. Separately, just over a week ago, five top Democrats on the Financial Services Committee wrote a letter to the social network calling on it to “immediately cease implementation plans” for Libra until lawmaker questions were answered."

Fed Chair Raises ‘Serious Concerns’ About Facebook’s Cryptocurrency Project | NYT

Marriott faces $123 million GDPR fine in the UK for last year's data breach | ZDNet

In other Marriott news, see Marriott International facing legal backlash for online reservations | Washington Post

""The GDPR makes it clear that organisations must be accountable for the personal data they hold. This can include carrying out proper due diligence when making a corporate acquisition, and putting in place proper accountability measures to assess not only what personal data has been acquired, but also how it is protected," said Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham.

"Personal data has a real value so organisations have a legal duty to ensure its security, just like they would do with any other asset. If that doesn't happen, we will not hesitate to take strong action when necessary to protect the rights of the public," Denham said."

Marriott faces $123 million GDPR fine in the UK for last year's data breach | ZDNet

Apple is silently removing Zoom’s web server software from Macs | The Verge

Fix different

"After all of the drama over Zoom’s use of a hidden web server on Macs, Apple itself has decided to step in, TechCrunch reports. It is issuing a silent update — meaning your Mac will get it without any interaction on your part — to remove the web server, which was designed to save Safari users an extra click, from any Mac that has Zoom’s software installed.

Although Zoom itself issued an emergency patch yesterday to remove that web server, apparently Apple is concerned that enough users won’t update or are unaware of the controversy in the first place that it’s issuing its own patch. It makes perfect sense not only because many users may not open Zoom for some time, but also because many of them had uninstalled the app. Before Zoom’s emergency update, uninstalling the app left the web server on your computer — so Zoom wouldn’t have a way to uninstall it with an updated app. That means the only reasonable and easy way for those people to get this patch would be for Apple to provide it. Apple reportedly believes this software update shouldn’t affect Zoom’s ability to function on Macs."

Apple is silently removing Zoom’s web server software from Macs | The Verge

Trump looks to rally controversial online allies at White House social media summit | Washington Post

On a related note, see Don’t blame the Seth Rich conspiracy on Russians. Blame Americans. | Washington Post; also see Twitter Backs Off Broad Limits on ‘Dehumanizing’ Speech | NYT

"But Trump hasn’t invited any of the major tech companies, people familiar with the White House plans say, opting instead to grant a powerful stage to people who have a track record of sending inflammatory tweets and videos and posting other troubling content that social media sites increasingly are under pressure to remove.

Among the expected attendees are James O’Keefe, the founder of Project Veritas, which has released secretly recorded videos of subjects, including a Google executive, in an attempt to paint them as politically biased. Another invitee, Ben Garrison, has published cartoons that have drawn sharp rebukes from the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center for including hateful text and imagery. O’Keefe confirmed his attendance and defended his tactics this week. Garrison, who tweeted a copy of his invitation, did not respond to a request for comment."

Trump looks to rally controversial online allies at White House social media summit | Washington Post

Microsoft might crush Slack like Facebook crushed Snapchat | Recode

Check the full post for some stark Slack snapshots

"Slack’s market share among the world’s largest companies is mostly flat, adoption rates are declining, and a bigger portion of these companies indicate they plan on leaving the service, according to a new survey by market research firm ETR, which asks chief information officers and other leaders at the world’s biggest organizations* where they plan to spend their company’s tech budget.

Meanwhile, Teams is seeing increased market share, relatively higher adoption rates, and low rates of defection, according to the data.

Aside from potentially upsetting Slack’s high-flying, newly public stock, the situation points to a larger issue of innovation in the tech industry, which is increasingly dominated by only a few juggernauts. Politicians, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), have criticized the companies for creating what’s known as “kill zones,” where they either acquire or kill all their competitors. The result is that the best ideas and products are concentrated within existing large tech companies, further entrenching their dominance and potentially stifling future innovation." 

Microsoft might crush Slack like Facebook crushed Snapchat | Recode

A Very Cold Take on IBM, Red Hat and Their Hybrid Cloud Hyperbole | Platformonomics

From an IBM reality check by Charles Fitzgerald; also see IBM Bets $34 Billion That Red Hat Can Help It Catch Amazon and Microsoft | NYT

"Beyond the financial outlay, acquisitions are hard. Most fail. Big acquisitions are really hard. Execution and integration risk go up with the size of the deal. This is the biggest acquisition ever in technology. IBM has done 182 acquisitions in the 21st century and have very little to show for their $52 billion. IBM’s CEO crows that her experience buying and integrating PWC for $3.5 billion mitigates the risk (she neglects to mention her experience buying and vaporizing SoftLayer for $2 billion). Conflating an order-of-magnitude smaller professional services acquisition with a product and technology acquisition might be the deepest insight into what IBM has become (not a product company).

But if the strategic logic is to “change everything” thereby “resetting the cloud landscape”, they’re really paying over $34 billion for OpenShift. Which is a vanilla container runtime. That is open source. That IBM already had at least one of (as does everyone else in the industry, including the hyper-scale clouds). And one that isn’t a dominant brand or implementation. IBM could have bought both Docker and Pivotal at a nice premium for a quarter the price of Red Hat and gotten better assets if that is the strategy."

A Very Cold Take on IBM, Red Hat and Their Hybrid Cloud Hyperbole | Platformonomics

Apple Revamps MacBook Lineup | Daring Fireball

See this Apple page for details

"I’m a little surprised to see the MacBook dropped completely, but the Air, though bigger, is a much more capable machine. Overall, it is a tremendous simplification of the entire MacBook lineup, and that’s a good thing. Retina Air and two sizes of MacBook Pro — hard to see how it could get any simpler. Other than the increase in size of the “smallest” MacBook, the only knock against today’s revamp is that the starting price (for those other than college students) has jumped from $1000 to $1100.

UPDATE: A few other observations:

• Apple isn’t making a point of it, but these new MacBooks both have the new third-generation butterfly keyboards.
• According to Student Monitor, MacBooks have 60 percent market share among college students. That’s impressive period, but downright bananas for those of us who remember where Macs were market-share-wise 20 years ago.
• Apple’s back-to-school promotion saves you up to $200 and includes a pair of Beats Studio 3 wireless headphones, which retail for $300. That’s a great deal."

Apple Revamps MacBook Lineup | Daring Fireball

Virgin Galactic to become the first space tourism company to go public | The Verge

In other space news, see Chasing SpaceX, Amazon seeks permission to launch 3,236 internet satellites | LA Times

"Virgin Galactic will soon become the first publicly traded space tourism company. A public shell company called Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp will acquire 49 percent of Virgin Galactic which was founded by Richard Branson in 2004. The deal involves an investment of roughly $800 million, according to the Wall Street Journal, and should fund its spaceships until operations can begin turning a profit.

The investment comes as the nascent space tourism industry is still trying to work out its business models. Branson’s Virgin Galactic will eventually compete with Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Virgin Galactic claims to have already sold hundreds of tickets at $250,000 per seat, but has yet to actually take any of these ticket holders on the planned 90-minute trip to space. Its passenger spaceplane, the VSS Unity, only made it to space for the first time in December last year with commercial flights still a few years away."

Virgin Galactic to become the first space tourism company to go public | The Verge

British Airways faces record £183m fine for data breach | BBC

Later in the article: "The message is clear - if you don't treat your customers' data with the utmost care expect severe punishment when things go wrong."

"The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force last year and was the biggest shake-up to data privacy in 20 years.
The penalty imposed on BA is the first one to be made public since those rules were introduced, which make it mandatory to report data security breaches to the information commissioner.
It also increased the maximum penalty to 4% of turnover. The BA penalty amounts to 1.5% of its worldwide turnover in 2017, less than the possible maximum.
Until now, the biggest penalty was £500,000, imposed on Facebook for its role in the Cambridge Analytica data scandal. That was the maximum allowed under the old data protection rules that applied before GDPR."

British Airways faces record £183m fine for data breach | BBC

Bill Gates equates Steve Jobs' talent to 'casting spells' | AppleInsider

Maybe it also had something to do with creating products that actually work well...

"According to Bloomberg, Bill Gates was impressed by Steve Jobs' ability to take a firm that was "on a path to die" and turn it into one of the most valuable companies to date. He claimed that this was largely because Steve Jobs possessed an almost magical ability to mesmerize people.

"I was like a minor wizard because he would be casting spells, and I would see people mesmerized, but because I'm a minor wizard, the spells don't work on me," said Gates.

Gates also went on to discuss Jobs' ability to innately understand what made both people and products a worthwhile investment."

Bill Gates equates Steve Jobs' talent to 'casting spells' | AppleInsider

Florida, the Sunshine State, Is Slow to Adopt Rooftop Solar Power | NYT

Later in the article: "“I’ve had electric utility executives say with a straight face that we can’t have solar power in Florida because we have so many cloudy days,” said Representative Kathy Castor, a Democrat from the Tampa area."

"Florida calls itself the Sunshine State. But when it comes to the use of solar power, it trails 19 states, including not-so-sunny Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Maryland.

Solar experts and environmentalists blame the state’s utilities.

The utilities have hindered potential rivals seeking to offer residential solar power. They have spent tens of millions of dollars on lobbying, ad campaigns and political contributions. And when homeowners purchase solar equipment, the utilities have delayed connecting the systems for months."

Florida, the Sunshine State, Is Slow to Adopt Rooftop Solar Power | NYT

FBI, ICE find state driver’s license photos are a gold mine for facial-recognition searches | Washington Post

Get the picture?

"Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have turned state driver’s license databases into a facial-recognition gold mine, scanning through millions of Americans’ photos without their knowledge or consent, newly released documents show.

Thousands of facial-recognition requests, internal documents and emails over the past five years, obtained through public-records requests by Georgetown Law researchers and provided to The Washington Post, reveal that federal investigators have turned state departments of motor vehicles databases into the bedrock of an unprecedented surveillance infrastructure."

FBI, ICE find state driver’s license photos are a gold mine for facial-recognition searches | Washington Post

UK regulator proposes ban on crypto-based derivatives | FT

Crypto-based derivatives -- what could possibly go wrong?...

"The UK financial watchdog has proposed a ban on the sale of crypto-based derivatives amid a resurgence in the price of bitcoin, the most high-profile cryptocurrency.

Under the proposals, trading platforms would be banned from selling, marketing or distributing all derivatives linked to “unregulated transferable cryptoassets” such as bitcoin and ethereum to retail customers, which are still subject to consultation. Contracts for difference (CFDs), options and futures would all be caught up in the regulations."

UK regulator proposes ban on crypto-based derivatives | FT

Inside the conflict at Walmart that’s threatening its high-stakes race with Amazon | Recode

Earlier in the article: "Amazon now accounts for nearly 38 percent of online retail in the US, up from 32 percent in 2016, according to an estimate from eMarketer. Walmart, on the other hand, accounts for just 4.7 percent, up from 2.6 percent three years ago."

"The problem is that building the online version of the Everything Store requires millions more products, and that means two things that Walmart’s current infrastructure does not support: dozens more e-commerce warehouses and a lot more merchants and brands selling through Walmart.com.

The former is mainly a cash problem. As in, you need to spend a lot of cash to build a warehouse network to rival Amazon’s. But Walmart has not secured the same trust — and long leash — from Wall Street investors that Amazon has.

Amazon, on the other hand, has literally been building out its warehouse infrastructure for two whole decades, and it can offset its losses from expensive investments via high-profit businesses like Amazon Web Services and its fast-growing advertising business."

Inside the conflict at Walmart that’s threatening its high-stakes race with Amazon | Recode

Corel, recent buyer of virtualization software firm Parallels, acquired by private equity firm KKR | AppleInsider

I'm guessing the Parallels price is going up sometime soon...

"According to the memo, KKR is "very optimistic" about Corel and will grant the company an "infusion of capital" to expand its current business, the TechCrunch report said. The investment will also go toward new acquisitions like the Parallels buy accomplished in December.

Corel is a storied Canadian software company with a number of well established titles under its belt including CorelDRAW, WordPerfect and WinZip. While its flagship products have largely been usurped by offerings from competitors Microsoft and Adobe, the company continues to market its core line as it branches out with more modern solutions like CorelCAD.

As for Parallels, the acquisition last year was the latest in a long line of industry moves to build out Corel's stable of subsidiaries. The Canadian company has collected a number of notable software standouts since its founding in 1985, from developers like Bibble and JASC Software to products like WordPerfect."

Corel, recent buyer of virtualization software firm Parallels, acquired by private equity firm KKR | AppleInsider

China has been secretly installing spyware on some tourists’ Android phones | The Verge

Probably redundant, if you've installed TikTok or WeChat...

"Chinese border agents have been installing spyware on phones from tourists who enter the country through certain crossings in the Xinjiang region, an area where China is known to be conducting intensive surveillance of the largely Muslim ethnic minority groups who live there. The spyware was reported today by a group of publications, including The Guardian, Motherboard, The New York Times, and more.

Border agents in the region have been requiring tourists to hand over their phones and passcodes before entering, according to the reports. The agents will then disappear with the phones in order to snoop through them. For iPhones, that reportedly includes plugging them into a machine that scans through the phone’s contents. For Android phones, it goes further, with border agents installing a spyware app that scans the phone and collects data."

China has been secretly installing spyware on some tourists’ Android phones | The Verge

Most 20th Century Books Unavailable to Internet Users – We Can Fix That | Internet Archive Blogs

Check the full post for links and additional details

"The way to make 20th Century books available to library patrons is to digitize those books and let every library who owns a physical copy lend that book in digital form. This type of service has come to be known as controlled digital lending (CDL).  The Internet Archive has been doing this for years. We lend out-of-copyright and in-copyright volumes that we physically own. We’ve reformatted the physical volume, produced a digital version and lend only that digital version to one user at a time. Our experience shows that this responds to a real demand, fills a genuine need satisfactorily, gives new life to older books, and brings important knowledge to a new audience. Check out this case study for CDL involving the book Wasted which figured prominently in the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination hearings. 

Our experience has been replicated by other early adopters and providers of a CDL service. Here’s a list of some of them. We believe every library can transform itself into a digital library. If you own the physical book, you can choose to circulate a digital version instead.

We urge more libraries to join Open Libraries and lend digitized versions of their print collections, making more copies of books available for loan and getting more books into the hands of digital  readers everywhere."

Most 20th Century Books Unavailable to Internet Users – We Can Fix That | Internet Archive Blogs

Electric cars grab almost half of sales in oil-producing Norway | Reuters

Have you driven a fjord lately?...

"In total, 48.4% of all new cars sold from January to June were electric, surpassing the 31.2% seen for the full year 2018, and making oil-producing Norway the global leader in per-capita electric car sales by a wide margin.

Seeking to end the sale of diesel and petrol engines by the middle of the next decade, Norway exempts battery-driven cars from the heavy taxes imposed on vehicles powered by fossil fuel. It also offers benefits such as discounts on road tolls.

The policy has boosted brands such as Tesla, Nissan (7201.T), Hyundai (005380.KS) and BMW (BMWG.DE), which all offer fully electric vehicles, rather than hybrids that use electric motors to drive the car but also have a combustion engine."

Electric cars grab almost half of sales in oil-producing Norway | Reuters

Tim Cook disputes 'absurd' reports about Jony Ive's departure from Apple | NBC

Rebut different

"Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook on Monday fiercely disputed a report about the departure of design chief Jony Ive and the company's ability to uphold its commitment to innovative design.

In a rare, scathing statement sent exclusively to NBC News, Cook took issue with a report published Sunday night by The Wall Street Journal that said Ive had grown frustrated with Cook’s leadership and alleged lack of interest in the design production process. Cook said the report does not match reality and fails to understand how Apple's design team actually works.

"The story is absurd," Cook said in an email. "A lot of the reporting, and certainly the conclusions, just don’t match with reality.”"

Tim Cook disputes 'absurd' reports about Jony Ive's departure from Apple | NBC

R.J. Scaringe, Founder of Rivian, Quietly Builds a Tesla for Trucks and S.U.V.s | NYT

From an extensive Rivian profile; tangentially, see Amazon, the new king of shipping | Axios

"Mr. Bezos got a preview of Rivian’s electric pickup truck and sport-utility vehicle and liked what he saw. Not long after his visit, Amazon led a $700 million investment in Rivian. Two months later, in April, Ford Motor invested $500 million. All told, Rivian has raised $1.7 billion without selling a single truck or S.U.V.

If you have not heard of Rivian before, well, that was intentional. Until recently, it was in stealth mode, operating out of unmarked buildings and making few public announcements. But no longer. By the end of 2020, Rivian intends to begin producing premium electric vehicles, with a greater range than anything on the road today.

Rivian is promising to do for trucks what Tesla did for luxury cars."

R.J. Scaringe, Founder of Rivian, Quietly Builds a Tesla for Trucks and S.U.V.s | NYT

Microsoft's Ebook Apocalypse Shows the Dark Side of DRM | Wired

Another domain in which Microsoft has avoided antitrust scrutiny by failing: content subscription services

"Microsoft made the announcement in April that it would shutter the Microsoft Store’s books section for good. The company had made its foray into ebooks in 2017, as part of a Windows 10 Creators Update that sought to round out the software available to its Surface line. Relegated to Microsoft’s Edge browser, the digital bookstore never took off. As of April 2, it halted all ebook sales. And starting as soon as this week, it’s going to remove all purchased books from the libraries of those who bought them.

Other companies have pulled a similar trick in smaller doses. Amazon, overcome by a fit of irony in 2009, memorably vanished copies of George Orwell’s 1984 from Kindles. The year before that, Walmart shut down its own ill-fated MP3 store, at first suggesting customers burn their purchases onto CDs to salvage them before offering a download solution. But this is not a tactical strike. There is no backup plan. This is The Langoliers. And because of digital rights management—the mechanism by which platforms retain control over the digital goods they sell—you have no recourse. Microsoft will refund customers in full for what they paid, plus an extra $25 if they made annotations or markups. But that provides only the coldest comfort."

Microsoft's Ebook Apocalypse Shows the Dark Side of DRM | Wired

Trustbusters are bypassing the biggest tech company of them all | Washington Post

Perhaps there should be a "yet" in the final sentence below...

"Trustbusters are targeting the biggest names in tech, bar one: Microsoft.

That’s because the software giant learned some key lessons during its epic battle with regulators two decades ago, notably working with partners rather than using its market power to prevent rivals from emerging. Tech companies rarely complain these days about Microsoft abusing its hegemonic products, such as its flagship Windows, which still dominates the personal computer operating system business, or newly acquired ones such as LinkedIn, which rules the professional social networking market.
[...]
Microsoft, the largest company in the world measured by market capitalization, has its own massive stash of consumer data, everything from information about how consumers use its Outlook email service to the job history and professional contacts of members on LinkedIn. But because online advertising isn’t the engine that drives its revenue, the company hasn’t pushed limits in its use of that data, Gavil said."

Trustbusters are bypassing the biggest tech company of them all | Washington Post

Apple is making changes to its subscription bundle, Apple News Plus, after a slow start, publishing execs say | Business Insider

Based on my News+ experience, if the WSJ goal is to make its News+ channel useless, it's doing a great job so far

"Other publishers said their subscription revenue from Plus was lower than or on a par with what they got on Texture, which was small as a subscription driver to begin with.

Journal execs weren't available for comment for this article but an exec there said in June that Plus had had minimal impact on the Journal's existing subscription business.

"We're very comfortable — it hasn't had much of an impact on the core business," Suzi Watford said at the time. "It is a very different experience reading The Wall Street Journal on Apple News versus reading it on our platform.""

Apple is making changes to its subscription bundle, Apple News Plus, after a slow start, publishing execs say | Business Insider

Microsoft developer reveals Linux is now more used on Azure than Windows Server | ZDNet

From a timely server/service OS reality check

"Three and a half years ago, Mark Russinovich, Azure CTO, Microsoft's cloud, said, "One in four [Azure] instances are Linux." Next, in 2017, Microsoft revealed that 40% of Azure virtual machines (VM) were Linux-based. Then in the fall of 2018, Scott Guthrie, Microsoft's executive VP  of the cloud and enterprise group, told me in an exclusive interview, "About half Azure VMs are Linux". Now, Sasha Levin, Microsoft Linux kernel developer, in a request that Microsoft be allowed to join a Linux security list, revealed that "the Linux usage on our cloud has surpassed Windows".

Shocking you say? Not really.

Linux is largely what runs enterprise computing both on in-house servers and on the cloud. Windows Server has been declining for years. In the most recent IDC Worldwide Operating Systems and Subsystems Market Shares report covering 2017, Linux had 68% of the market. It's share has only increased since then."

Microsoft developer reveals Linux is now more used on Azure than Windows Server | ZDNet