Amazon Posts Strong Profit, Thanks to Its Cloud - The New York Times

Later in the article: "For the time being, it has clearly chosen to produce profits."

"Amazon delivered a blowout quarter on Thursday, joining Facebook as one of the rare bright spots in a technology sector that has recently produced a string of disappointing earnings reports.

Helped by its fast-growing Amazon Web Services business, the company swung to a profit that, for Amazon, qualified as hefty.

The company’s shares jumped more than 12 percent in after-hours trading."

Amazon Posts Strong Profit, Thanks to Its Cloud - The New York Times

Amazon, Microsoft invest billions as computing shifts to cloud | The Seattle Times

Don't expect massive profits when Amazon announces its latest quarterly results this afternoon

"But Amazon’s profits are increasingly dictated by cloud computing. So are its investments.

Since 2010, the money it spends in technology and content has expanded sevenfold, to $12.5 billion last year. That’s a category that includes the cost of the equipment and salaries that underpin Amazon Web Services, its 10-year old cloud-computing unit. Amazon acknowledges in its annual report that infrastructure related to AWS has been a primary driver of spending in this segment.

It’s a dramatic rise — the kind of money usually spent by the capital-intensive heavyweights that manufacture cars, start up remote mining facilities or drill oil wells a mile below sea level."

Amazon, Microsoft invest billions as computing shifts to cloud | The Seattle Times

Waze - Official Blog: Privacy and Waze

Waze addresses a dubious report about its privacy controls; check the full post for details and user options

"Today we received questions about a research report and subsequent news article which claimed that Wazer privacy could be compromised and users could be followed if a hacker exploited our network.

The Waze ecosystem is built upon trust and deep respect for all of you - real-time traffic simply doesn’t work without the participation of our community, and we are constantly reviewing and adding safeguards to protect our users. Please read further as we address a few severe misconceptions from related news coverage and explain how Waze thinks about privacy. User accounts were not compromised, there was no server breach and Wazer account data is safe."

Waze - Official Blog: Privacy and Waze

SpaceX says it will fly a spacecraft to Mars as soon as 2018 - The Washington Post

Part of a NASA/SpaceX partnership to send humans to Mars in the 2030s

"Elon Musk’s SpaceX plans to land an unmanned spacecraft on Mars as soon as 2018 with the help of NASA, an extraordinary collaboration between the public and private sectors in an effort to eventually get humans to the Red Planet.

SpaceX made the announcement on Twitter Wednesday, laying out an ambitious timeline for an incredibly difficult mission that only governments have dared try. Landing a spacecraft or a robot that can then operate successfully on the Martian surface is so difficult that the U.S. is the only country to have done it, and many attempts over the years have failed."

SpaceX says it will fly a spacecraft to Mars as soon as 2018 - The Washington Post

Facebook Plans New Stock Class to Solidify Mark Zuckerberg’s Control - The New York Times

Maintaining control while donating shares; also see Zuckerberg Borrows Google Tactic in Splitting Stock for Control (Bloomberg)

"“It’s almost like voting Republican in Massachusetts — you can do it, but it won’t affect the outcome,” said Rick Kline, a partner in the technology and capital markets practice of law firm Goodwin Procter.

Investors getting new C shares will not gain economically because the same proportion of new stock will be given to all holders.

Mr. Zuckerberg might have a more difficult time convincing shareholders to accept the new class of shares were his company not doing so well. Facebook’s financial results on Wednesday were a far cry from the disappointing numbers posted in the past 10 days by peers like Twitter, whose advertising business showed signs of stumbling on Tuesday, or Alphabet, the parent company of Google, which missed analysts’ estimates for revenue last week."

Facebook Plans New Stock Class to Solidify Mark Zuckerberg’s Control - The New York Times

Google Shuts Out Competitors on Android? Hardly - The New York Times

A different perspective on Android and monopoly control

"Yet the European charges miss the messy reality of life on Android, which is clear to anyone who studies the mobile software business: Android phones come teeming with non-Google apps, often to the point of frustration for users. The search company appears powerless to keep many of them off people’s devices, even when doing so might help its business.

There’s no better evidence for this than the meteoric rise of Facebook, Google’s archrival, which announced another blowout earnings report on Wednesday — with much of its revenue coming from ads on Android phones. Facebook’s numbers show the primary weakness in the European Union’s case: If Google’s grand plan really is to keep rivals off Android phones, it sure is doing a poor job of it."

Google Shuts Out Competitors on Android? Hardly - The New York Times

Facebook’s Profit Triples, Outpacing Forecasts and Its Peers - The New York Times

Check Facebook Reports First Quarter 2016 Results and Announces Proposal for New Class of Stock for full details

"For most tech companies this financial earnings season, it has become a game of survival of the fittest. By that score, Facebook may outlast the others.

On Wednesday, the social network said sales in the first quarter rose 52 percent from a year ago to $5.3 billion, while profit increased to $1.5 billion, tripling from $512 million a year ago. Excluding certain items, Facebook’s profit was 77 cents a share, far surpassing Wall Street expectations of 62 cents a share."

Facebook’s Profit Triples, Outpacing Forecasts and Its Peers - The New York Times

Picking apart Apple's Q2 2016 numbers - Six Colors

Check the full post for some bigger-picture Apple perspectives; also see Notes of interest from Apple's Q2 2016 conference call (AppleInsider)

"So in other words, if you like profits and strong sales, Apple has that. They’re not not what they were last year—and that’s not a great sign for Wall Street. But don’t let someone tell you that Apple’s in trouble, or that it lost money, or that iPhone sales are cratering, because none of that is true. What is true is that after many years of growth, some of it staggeringly inflationary growth, Apple didn’t grow this quarter. If you’re an investor, that may be quite painful. If you’re a user of Apple’s products, it probably won’t affect you much at all.

One final little silver lining: If you pretend 2015 didn’t happen at all, this quarterly result looks entirely boring. During the call with analysts, Apple executives pointed out that the iPhone 6S upgrade cycle is actually a little bit better than the one for the iPhone 5S. The iPhone 6, however, was a spectacularly huge upgrade cycle. Perhaps Apple finally embracing a larger phone drove a massive amount of sales all at once? Regardless, if I delete 2015 from my spreadsheets and look at the numbers, nothing crashes to earth—it just shows the continued cooling off of the iPhone’s previously rapid growth."

Picking apart Apple's Q2 2016 numbers - Six Colors

How Google plans to rewrite the rules of the road for self-driving cars | VentureBeat | Business | by Reuters

From an extensive self-driving car reality check; tangentially, see Alphabet’s Next Big Thing: Building a ‘Smart’ City (WSJ)

"Google, though, is “definitely an L4 company,” one executive says. The company maintains that requiring human controls makes driverless cars useless for elderly, blind and disabled people who can’t operate a vehicle, and even makes the cars dangerous.

“Developing a car that can shoulder the entire burden of driving is crucial to safety,” Urmson told the same Senate panel. “Human drivers can’t always be trusted to dip in and out of the task of driving when the car is encouraging them to sit back and relax.”"

How Google plans to rewrite the rules of the road for self-driving cars | VentureBeat | Business | by Reuters

Social Capital’s Mamoon Hamid sees Slack shaking up the workplace | Re/code

Attempting to move beyond group/team chat

"Since 2013, Slack has become a bit of a wunderkind and gets a lot of buzz, but that buzz lies in its popularity with young tech and media companies. (Re/code’s parent Vox Media is a customer.) But to merit the investments it has secured — a combined $540 million at a valuation of nearly $4 billion as of this month — it will have to scale up suitable for use at large companies — something Hamid said is already happening. Of Slack’s Top 20 deals, he said, 10 are with Fortune 100 companies. And while Hamid couldn’t mention their names — Slack hasn’t disclosed some of its largest customers — the names of non-startups using it include the retailer Urban Outfitters, electronics giant Samsung and NASA, as in the U.S. space agency.

That said, there’s still work to do. Even at big companies, Slack tends to be used in individual departments, not across full corporations. That’s the next big step, the one that’s sometimes described by the wonky phrase “enterprise scale.”"

Social Capital’s Mamoon Hamid sees Slack shaking up the workplace | Re/code

Twitter Narrows Loss, Adds Users and Misses Revenue Forecast - The New York Times

This will probably look even worse when Facebook releases its latest quarterly earnings this afternoon

"For all the issues that Twitter has grappled with over the last few years — the slowdown in user growth, a revolving door of executives and confusion over how to use the social media service — it has had one constant pillar of strength: a bulletproof advertising business.

Now add that business to Twitter’s growing list of problems.

On Tuesday, Twitter reported revenue of $595 million for the first quarter — which was below Wall Street estimates — and said that marketers were not spending as quickly on ads on the service as it had anticipated. That trend line may not reverse anytime soon; the company, based in San Francisco, is also projecting sales in the second quarter that are below analyst expectations."

Twitter Narrows Loss, Adds Users and Misses Revenue Forecast - The New York Times

Apple’s dark day: What it means - The Boston Globe

Check the full article for a summary of factors leading to Apple's first quarterly revenue drop since 2003; a stock buy-back of $175B will probably help a bit

"For 52 consecutive quarters Apple’s growth went in only one direction: up. Now that impressive streak is over, broken by a second-quarter performance in which the tech titan reported revenues falling 13 percent from the previous period.

Though Apple still raked in nearly $51 billion in sales, the earnings report laid bare several important truths about a company that once seemed invincible:"

Apple’s dark day: What it means - The Boston Globe

Apple by itself earns +40% of the profits of Silicon Valley's top 150 companies (AppleInsider)

A big day ahead for Apple

"While the world waits to see just how many iPhones, iPads and Macs Apple sold in the March quarter, a report on the top 150 firms in California's Silicon Valley shows that Apple earned more than 40 percent of the region's total profits in 2015, and its revenues grew 2.5x as fast as its peers year over year."

Apple by itself earns +40% of the profits of Silicon Valley's top 150 companies

Dropbox wants to stretch desktop file storage to infinity | Computerworld

Timing/availability still tbd, but hopefully this signals the beginning of the end of the need to juggle Explorer/Finder and browser-based views of accessible (personal or shared) files backed by cloud file services; also see A revolutionary new way to access all your files (Dropbox Business Blog)

"The cloud storage company announced a new initiative at its Open conference in London on Tuesday called Project Infinite. It's a push to create a new Dropbox interface that allows users to see all of the files they've stored in the cloud in their computer's file explorer, without requiring them to keep local copies of each document, image, spreadsheet or other file.

With Project Infinite, users will be able to manage their files in the cloud by moving them around inside the Mac OS X Finder or Windows File Explorer, just like they would any local files that are taking up space on their hard drives."

Dropbox wants to stretch desktop file storage to infinity | Computerworld

Madness at Microsoft: Flagship Lumia phones are now FREE | SiliconANGLE

Buy an unlocked Lumia 950 XL, get a free Lumia 950; Microsoft continues to race Blackberry to the smartphone market exit; also see Microsoft launches Lumia BOGO deal to boost fading Windows phone sales (PCWorld)

"So why would Microsoft be doing what seems like a crazy bit of business? The answer is simply because the new Lumia range has not been selling. When the company released its Q3 earnings last week Microsoft revealed that its mobile phone revenue was far from healthy. This comes as little surprise as Microsoft had earlier said at Build 2016 that the company would not be focusing on phones very much for a while. Still, right now the state of Lumia phone seems desperate, or sad."

Madness at Microsoft: Flagship Lumia phones are now FREE | SiliconANGLE

The future of TV is arriving faster than anyone predicted - The Washington Post

Streaming into the future

"The FCC claims its new technical standards are required to encourage more competitors to produce the boxes, which in turn could reduce fees paid by consumers.  TiVo’s new Bolt DVR, for example, starts at $300 plus a $14.99 monthly fee.

But critics from across the political spectrum are wondering why the agency seems determined to unlock a box when standalone devices of any kind are becoming rapidly obsolete. The FCC’s latest proposal, as Comcast’s announcement underscores, puts the agency once again in the wrong place at the wrong time.  

In a report I filed with the agency, I noted that the new regulations would instead unintentionally extend life-support for standalone boxes for years to come, with no benefit to consumers or anyone else.  Instead, I argued, we should simply let them die of natural causes."

The future of TV is arriving faster than anyone predicted - The Washington Post

Google Gets Beaten to the Punch by AT&T on Super-Fast Broadband - Bloomberg

Leading by example; tangentially, see Federal regulators allow Charter to move ahead with its massive takeover of Time Warner Cable (The Washington Post)

"Google Fiber has yet to bring its super-fast broadband service to the city of Atlanta. But Comcast Corp. and AT&T Inc. know it’s coming, and they’re offering the 1 gigabit Internet speed Google promised -- and signing up new customers.
It’s been six years since Google announced it would lay a fiber network to compete with cable providers and telephone companies. Although it’s now in only four markets, competitors are lowering rates and building faster lines to keep customers from defecting to the technology giant. Because Google needs consumers to have robust Internet speed in order to sell more expensive ads on its search engine, that may be what it had in mind all along."

Google Gets Beaten to the Punch by AT&T on Super-Fast Broadband - Bloomberg

You can now download 300TB of data from the Large Hadron Collider | The Verge

Later in the article: "'Once we’ve exhausted our exploration of the data, we see no reason not to make them available publicly,' said CMS physicist Kati Lassila-Perini, who leads the detector's data-preservation efforts."

"If you ever wanted to take a look at raw data produced by the Large Hadron Collider, but are missing the necessary physics PhD, here's your chance: CERN has published more than 300 terabytes of LHC data online for free. The data covers roughly half the experiments run by the LHC's CMS detector during 2011, with a press release from CERN explaining that this includes about 2.5 inverse femtobarns of data — around 250 trillion particle collisions. Best not to download this on a mobile connection then."

You can now download 300TB of data from the Large Hadron Collider | The Verge

What We’re Learning from Smartwatch Adoption | Tech.pinions - Perspective, Insight, Analysis

Some things take time; also see Apple’s Watch Outpaced the iPhone in First Year (WSJ)

"A year ago today, Apple released its long-anticipated Apple Watch. Over the ensuing year, we’ve learned a lot about an entirely new tech category.
The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) estimates 17 million smartwatches were sold in 2015, up from 4 million in 2014. I can name more than a few categories that would love to experience 350 percent growth over a 12 month period. Few ever do.
Forthcoming CTA research suggests roughly eight percent of households own a smartwatch today – almost double the number last year. Of those planning to buy a smartwatch in 2016, 72 percent will be first-time buyers."

What We’re Learning from Smartwatch Adoption | Tech.pinions - Perspective, Insight, Analysis

ISIS Targeted by Cyberattacks in a New U.S. Line of Combat - The New York Times

Attack different

"The fact that the administration is beginning to talk of its use of the new weapons is a dramatic change. As recently as four years ago, it would not publicly admit to developing offensive cyberweapons or confirm its role in any attacks on computer networks.

That is partly because cyberattacks inside another nation raise major questions over invasion of sovereignty. But in the case of the Islamic State, officials say a decision was made that a bit of boasting might degrade the enemy’s trust in its communications, jumbling and even deterring some actions.

“Our cyberoperations are disrupting their command-and-control and communications,” Mr. Obama said this month, emerging from a meeting at the C.I.A. headquarters in Langley, Va., on countering the Islamic State."

ISIS Targeted by Cyberattacks in a New U.S. Line of Combat - The New York Times

This may be the best way to measure gun violence in America - The Washington Post

There's an app for that

"The ShotSpotter system works by triangulating sound picked up by sensors placed on utility poles, light posts and buildings. The widespread use of what amounts to microphones in public has been criticized for privacy concerns. But supporters say the system is focused on reducing gun violence.

Nationwide, the number of gunfire incidents fell in 2015 compared to 2014, according to ShotSpotter data. The median reduction was nearly 13 percent in the 46 cities that used the system for comparable periods. These limitations makes it difficult for comparisons with other statistics, such as the Gun Violence Archive, which relies on media reports of shootings and found that the number of shooting incidents grew by 2.6 percent last year to 53,195."

This may be the best way to measure gun violence in America - The Washington Post

Microsoft and Google Agree to Drop Mutual Complaints - The New York Times

Back to basics; also see Google & Microsoft agree to stop squabbling like kids (SiliconAngle)

"Microsoft and Google agreed on Friday to withdraw complaints against each other with regulators around the world, as the two American tech giants continued recent efforts to settle the once-bitter conflicts between them.

The two companies also said they would try to resolve future squabbles before complaining to regulators, as they have in the past.

“Microsoft has agreed to withdraw its regulatory complaints against Google, reflecting our changing legal priorities,” said Jennifer Crider, a Microsoft spokeswoman. “We will continue to focus on competing vigorously for business and for customers.”"

Microsoft and Google Agree to Drop Mutual Complaints - The New York Times

Facebook Aims to Drive Down Tech Prices to Expand Its Reach - The New York Times

For another Facebook big-picture perspective, see Facebook Isn’t the Social Network Anymore (Slate)

"Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s co-founder and chief executive, is clear about his vision for his company: He wants to triple the size of his social network, which now has 1.6 billion members.

But to reach that new audience, he has to find a way to change telecommunications networks to make connecting to the Internet more affordable, since many of those would-be Facebook users live in developing countries.

That could be bad news for the companies that make equipment for those networks, whether they are Silicon Valley giants like Cisco Systems or little widget makers that produce the parts to tie different pieces of the network together."

Facebook Aims to Drive Down Tech Prices to Expand Its Reach - The New York Times

Microsoft is on a quest to move more of its cloud services to Azure | ZDNet

"Cloudoptimally" continuing consolidation

"We already knew that Microsoft's long-term plan, first discussed in 2011, if not before, was to move Office 365 to Azure. But from what I'd been told, there were some Microsoft services like Bing and Xbox Live that would likely never move to Azure, as they were considered "legacy." There was no business case for moving them to Azure, I was told.

It seems that thinking has changed. I recently found a job posting on Microsoft's site that indicates there's an initiative inside the company to bring all these services over to Azure. Microsoft is using the word "cloudoptimal" to mean "all of Microsoft's services run best on Azure, and Azure becomes the world's best cloud.""

Microsoft is on a quest to move more of its cloud services to Azure | ZDNet

Comcast’s bid to kill the cable box is good for consumers — and for Comcast - The Washington Post

Preemptive partial progress; later in the article: "While Comcast's box-less vision of the future gets at that somewhat, the FCC believes it isn't enough, because at the end of the day this ecosystem would still be orchestrated by a cable company seeking to protect its own interests."

"The nation's largest cable company said Wednesday that customers will now be able to get rid of their set-top boxes by switching to an app embedded within new Samsung smart TVs and Roku devices.

The app can display your channel lineup and information about shows and movies. And because it's all software-driven, it will potentially allow Comcast's more than 22 million video customers to return their cable box — equipment that costs the average household more than $230 a year to rent, according to a recent congressional probe."

Comcast’s bid to kill the cable box is good for consumers — and for Comcast - The Washington Post

How GPS Came to Be—and How It May Be Altering Our Brains - Bloomberg

Just following directions

"In Pinpoint: How GPS Is Changing Technology, Culture, and Our Minds, Greg Milner tells two stories. One’s about how the Global Positioning System became one of the 21st century’s most important technologies. The other’s about how it may be stunting the brains of the ingenious species that created it.
We use GPS today to guide airplanes, ships, and tractors. It keeps tabs on sex offenders and helps find oil deposits. “GPS surveys land, and builds bridges and tunnels,” Milner writes. “GPS knows when the earth deforms; it senses the movement of tectonic plates down to less than a millimeter.” GPS can tell you how long until your Uber arrives—and even let you know if someone nearby is interested in a one-night stand."

How GPS Came to Be—and How It May Be Altering Our Brains - Bloomberg

Alphabet’s Earnings Miss Forecasts - The New York Times

Also see Microsoft’s Cloud Business Falls Short of Investors’ Hopes (NYT)

"A question hanging over Google is its ventures in cloud computing. This is the growth market where Amazon is far ahead of everyone. Amazon Web Services is more exciting to investors than the retailer’s core business. Microsoft, meanwhile, is mounting an aggressive challenge.

Google is far behind at No. 3, or perhaps even No. 4 after IBM, said John R. Rymer, an analyst at Forrester Research. Last fall, Google hired Diane Greene, an industry veteran, to run all of its cloud businesses.

“This is their third try to really become a cloud powerhouse,” Mr. Rymer said. “They certainly seem more serious this time, but we’ll have to see if they move beyond digital natives to airlines, utilities, trucking companies, governments — the enterprises where the real money is.”"

Alphabet’s Earnings Miss Forecasts - The New York Times

People Are Turning on Slack - The Atlantic

Excerpt from an insightful #slacklash reality check

"That may be true, culturally speaking, but individual relationships with technology are often more of a reflection of the anxieties and expectations a person brings to the technology—and not the other way around. The widespread obsession with reaching inbox zero, the late email pioneer Raymond Tomlinson once told me, is obviously a “human feature,” not a technological one. “Email does not produce guilt,” he said.

In my mind, Slack’s true cultural downfall won’t come from the way it’s bleeding into the love-hate-but-mostly-hate space that email occupies, but from the first major hacking incident. Most professionals, by now, understand that it isn’t prudent to put anything in an email that you’d be horrified to see splashed across the front page of The New York Times. (People may not always follow this rule, but that’s another story.)"

People Are Turning on Slack - The Atlantic

Official Gmail Blog: Inbox by Gmail: a better way to keep track of events, newsletters and links

Inbox innovation

"Life can get really busy. Inboxes too. Just think about everything inside your own inbox, from personal messages and trip itineraries to promotional offers and yes, even bills. It's all (mostly) important, but it can be overwhelming to stay on top of everything. And sometimes, you might miss something really important amidst all the rest.
Starting today, you'll discover three new experiences in Inbox—streamlined events, glanceable newsletters and saved links—that help you better keep track of things that matter to you and feel more in control."

Official Gmail Blog: Inbox by Gmail: a better way to keep track of events, newsletters and links

Facebook Messenger launches Group Calling to become your phone | TechCrunch

Another tool/service that will come in handy for Facebook at Work as well -- free group calls for up to 50 participants

"Jump on the party line or hear the voices of your whole family with Facebook Messenger’s latest feature. Rolling out globally over the next 24 hours on Android and iOS for free, users can start a group VoIP audio call from any group chat.

Just tap the Phone icon, select which of the group chat members you want included and they’ll all receive a Messenger call simultaneously. If you miss the initial call but it’s still in progress, you can tap the Phone icon in the group chat to join the call. At any time you can see who’s on the call and send another ping to anyone who hasn’t joined."

Facebook Messenger launches Group Calling to become your phone | TechCrunch

Tesla Changed Cars Forever. Now It Must Deliver - Bloomberg

Check the full article for ten charts describing a disrupted industry

"It was the night of the unveiling. Nineteen minutes into his big talk, Elon Musk finally revealed what everyone had come to see. Three of Tesla Motor Inc.’s Model 3 prototypes rolled onto stage. But it was the next revelation that brought the house down: Tesla had already taken in more than 115,000 reservations that day, each with a $1,000 deposit—sight unseen. The crowd swooned. The media roared.
In the weeks that followed, reservations jumped to about 400,000—almost four times the total number of cars Tesla has produced over the last eight years. As the dust settles on this achievement—an affordable, practical, desirable electric car—we’ve been pulling together data to put it in historical context. The 10 charts below show how much Tesla's new metal box with wheels may change our world, but they also show how everything else needs to go exactly right if that's going to happen."

Tesla Changed Cars Forever. Now It Must Deliver - Bloomberg

Uber Overtakes Rental Cars Among Business Travelers - Bloomberg

A tumultuous transportation transition

"Taxis aren’t the only ones that may be stressing out about Uber Technologies Inc. Transactions from the ride-hailing startup have surpassed rental cars among American professionals, according to Certify, the second-largest provider of travel and expense management software in North America.
Uber accounted for 43 percent of ground transportation transactions expensed through Certify last quarter, while rental cars had 40 percent. Ride-hailing services, with Uber at the forefront, overtook rental cars for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2015 and have since widened their lead, according to a study by Certify published on Thursday."

Uber Overtakes Rental Cars Among Business Travelers - Bloomberg

Senate Passes Legislation Tailored to a Modern Energy Landscape - The New York Times

Behold an energy bill with bipartisan support

"The bill would promote renewable energy by requiring operators of electricity lines, transformers, and other elements of the electrical grid to upgrade the system, with a focus on large-scale storage systems for electricity to better accommodate the expanding production of wind and solar power. The bill would create and strengthen several programs devoted to improving energy efficiency in buildings.

It would also deliver a long-sought victory to conservationists by permanently authorizing the national Land and Water Conservation Fund, a program for protecting and maintaining national parks and wilderness sites.

It would give a victory to fossil fuel producers by requiring the Energy Department to accelerate approval of permits to build coastal terminals for shipping American natural gas abroad.

And it includes provisions to address the threat of cyberattacks on the nation’s electrical grid."

Senate Passes Legislation Tailored to a Modern Energy Landscape - The New York Times

Hearing Aid Prices Under Pressure From Consumer Electronics - The New York Times

Another case study in the consequences of "industry concentration and overregulation"

"Hearing is just one realm in which new technology is clashing with traditional medical practice and regulations. There have been debates over genetic tests ordered by consumers rather than doctors, and over medical diagnoses using smartphone apps.
Just this month, the American Optometric Association complained to the F.D.A. about Opternative, a start-up that offers eyeglass prescriptions based on a self-administered online test, without the need to visit an eye doctor.
But the opportunity in hearing aids appears particularly striking. Nearly 30 million Americans, including two-thirds of those over 70, are said to have hearing loss. But only 15 to 30 percent of those who could benefit from hearing aids use them."

Hearing Aid Prices Under Pressure From Consumer Electronics - The New York Times

EMC Earnings Fall Short as Storage Demand Is Hurt by Cloud (1) - The Boston Globe

Looking at clouds from both sides now

"EMC’s older and pricier storage devices are facing slowing demand, and newer models using flash technology aren’t growing rapidly enough to make up lost ground. As the largest data storage maker, the Hopkinton-based company is also being hurt as more customers opt to rent space from cloud vendors like Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. rather than buy gear from companies like EMC.

“The core storage business is moving to the cloud at an accelerated pace, and that’s a net negative for the company,” said Abhey Lamba, an analyst at Mizuho Securities USA Inc. “Flash is doing well for EMC, but a lot of that is cannibalizing their own legacy systems.”"

EMC Earnings Fall Short as Storage Demand Is Hurt by Cloud (1) - The Boston Globe

The Real Story of How Amazon Built the Echo (Bloomberg)

Article subtitle: "The talking speaker started as part of a secret augmented-reality project and ended up as a surprise hit"

"With the Echo, Amazon has figured out a way to insert itself into customer interactions with other devices and services. Part of this is just good timing. The tech industry has been searching for the next big computing platform after mobile. Investing in some combination of voice control and artificial intelligence was prudent, especially given that no one else has quite figured it out yet. Apple, Google, and Microsoft all have their own virtual assistants, but they’ve designed them as a way to make their smartphones work better. The Echo is a bigger departure from the past.

In a way, its success is a result of the Fire Phone failure. Since Amazon already killed off its smartphone, its voice-control efforts were bound to be focused elsewhere. And while smartphones are touted as the pinnacle of convenience, taking one out and clicking an app to find out the weather while buttoning your shirt actually seems rather work-intensive compared with just yelling the question across the room."

The Real Story of How Amazon Built the Echo

The Untold Story of Magic Leap, the World’s Most Secretive Startup | WIRED

From the latest Wired cover story, a VR deep-dive by Kevin Kelly

"That astounding sum is especially noteworthy because Magic Leap has not released a beta version of its product, not even to developers. Aside from potential investors and advisers, few people have been allowed to see the gear in action, and the combination of funding and mystery has fueled rampant curiosity. But to really understand what’s happening at Magic Leap, you need to also understand the tidal wave surging through the entire tech industry. All the major players—Facebook, Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Sony, Samsung—have whole groups dedicated to artificial reality, and they’re hiring more engineers daily. Facebook alone has over 400 people working on VR. Then there are some 230 other companies, such as Meta, the Void, Atheer, Lytro, and 8i, working furiously on hardware and content for this new platform. To fully appreciate Magic Leap’s gravitational pull, you really must see this emerging industry—every virtual-reality and mixed-reality headset, every VR camera technique, all the novel VR applications, beta-version VR games, every prototype VR social world."

The Untold Story of Magic Leap, the World’s Most Secretive Startup | WIRED

Virtual Reality Lures Media Companies to a New Frontier - The New York Times

Also see Studio 360: The pioneers who are making the first virtual-reality narratives (The New Yorker)

"“Not a single media company isn’t thinking about what happens when the rectangle goes away,” said Jules Urbach, 41, the founder of Otoy, referring to a future when videos are experienced in virtual reality rather than watched on screens. “Everyone needs a strategy.”

Otoy, whose name is short for “online toy,” lets people capture virtual reality video, process it and then distribute it to viewers with its technology. Otoy also makes a virtual reality player that is free to download; the company wants to become the open standard for virtual reality distribution."

Virtual Reality Lures Media Companies to a New Frontier - The New York Times

Google’s Skirmishes With EU’s Antitrust Regulator Since 2010 - Bloomberg

Also see EU charges Google with abusing market dominance of Android (Reuters) and Google Charged With Breaking Europe’s Antitrust Rules (NYT)

"The European Commission’s decision to throw the book at Google over its Android operating system for smartphones and tablets marks a new low point in a six-year clash with antitrust authorities amid mounting concerns the Internet giant may be abusing its dominance.
Wednesday’s move comes a year after Brussels officials accused the Internet giant of abusing its dominance of the search-engine market to favor its own comparison shopping service above rivals.
Here’s a timeline of the cases since 2010:"

Google’s Skirmishes With EU’s Antitrust Regulator Since 2010 - Bloomberg

Yahoo’s Troubles Mount, and Revenue Shrinks, as It Vets Suitors - The New York Times

Net negative; also see Yahoo’s got millions of users, but it’s still in decline. What went wrong? (The Washington Post)

"Yahoo, a leading content portal in the early days of the web, missed the shift to mobile devices and has been struggling to compete against Google, Facebook and specialty apps for advertising dollars and user loyalty.

Ms. Mayer, Yahoo’s chief executive since 2012, has failed to turn around the company. Restive shareholders are pressing the board to sell the Internet businesses and unlock Yahoo’s large stakes in Alibaba, a Chinese e-commerce company, and Yahoo Japan, an independently traded company.

Together, those two investments have a face value of about $40 billion — more than the $35 billion stock market value of all of Yahoo, based on Tuesday’s stock prices."

Yahoo’s Troubles Mount, and Revenue Shrinks, as It Vets Suitors - The New York Times

Intel to Slash 12,000 Jobs as PC Demand Plummets - The New York Times

A painful transition from PC to cloud + mobile

"“Intel has been known as the PC company,” Mr. Krzanich said in an earnings call with Wall Street analysts. “It’s time to make this transition and push the company all the way over” to supplying chips for things like smartphones, cloud computing, sensors and other devices.

Intel’s restructuring is the latest evidence of how onetime tech bellwethers have had to navigate a rapid shift into the more flexible and dispersed tech world created by the combination of mobile computing devices connected to cloud computing systems. On Monday, for example, IBM reported lower profit and revenue, including a 22 percent drop in sales of computing hardware."

Intel to Slash 12,000 Jobs as PC Demand Plummets - The New York Times

New data: Americans are abandoning wired home Internet - The Washington Post

Some big challenges ahead for wired Internet service providers

"But as the chart above shows, even people with higher incomes are ditching their wired Internet access at similar or even faster rates compared with people who don't earn as much. In 2013, 8 percent of households making $50,000 to $75,000 a year were mobile-only. Fast-forward a couple of years, and that figure now stands at 18 percent. Seventeen percent of households making $75,000 to $100,000 are mobile-only now, compared with 8 percent two years ago. And 15 percent of households earning more than $100,000 are mobile-only, vs. 6 percent in 2013. 

Stepping back a bit, as many as 1 in 5 U.S. households are now mobile-only, compared with 1 in 10 in 2013. That's a doubling in just two years."

New data: Americans are abandoning wired home Internet - The Washington Post

Elon Musk Ahead of Pace for $1.6 Billion Tesla Motors Payday - Bloomberg

Big goals and gains

"Elon Musk is ahead of schedule to get a huge payday from Tesla Motors Inc. even though he earns less than $40,000 in annual salary.
In 2012, the electric carmaker awarded its billionaire founder 5.27 million options tied to milestones including developing new vehicles and ramping up production. While he was given until 2022 to meet the goals, he has already achieved 50 percent of them, according to a proxy statement issued April 15. That means he may get $1.6 billion well before then."

Elon Musk Ahead of Pace for $1.6 Billion Tesla Motors Payday - Bloomberg

Challenge to Google Books Is Declined by Supreme Court - The New York Times

Not the final chapter for Google Books

"The Supreme Court on Monday refused to revive a challenge to Google’s digital library of millions of books, turning down an appeal from authors who said the project amounted to copyright infringement on a mass scale.

The Supreme Court’s brief order left in place an appeals court decision that the project was a “fair use” of the authors’ work, ending a legal saga that had lasted more than a decade."

Challenge to Google Books Is Declined by Supreme Court - The New York Times

IBM Results Show Progress in Cloud and Data Analysis - The New York Times

Final paragraphs of an IBM earnings report reality check

"IBM says it made the reporting change to more accurately reflect its recast collection of businesses, like Watson, which is part of its cognitive unit.

But analysts say the new reporting structure complicates the task of tracking some effects of IBM’s strategy. For example, it is not easy to tell if its overall software business — new products and old — is growing or shrinking.

The businesses IBM has targeted for growth and investment, like Watson and cloud, grew by 14 percent in the quarter. Still, these so-called strategic initiatives, while showing encouraging gains, are not yet large enough to turn around the fortunes of the company as a whole."

IBM Results Show Progress in Cloud and Data Analysis - The New York Times

Google’s Surprising Role as Privacy Watchdog in Europe - The New York Times

Another European adventure for Google

"Google is a top target for European regulators and privacy watchdogs, who openly fear and distrust its dominance. The American tech giant’s search engine alone gobbles up roughly 90 percent of the European market.

But a landmark court ruling intended to rein in Google has instead put it at the forefront of Europe’s enforcement of Internet privacy. That has upended conventional wisdom about the company and raised questions about the role of commercial interests in protecting people’s privacy, often with little or no transparency."

Google’s Surprising Role as Privacy Watchdog in Europe - The New York Times

Apple’s Penchant for Consumer Security | Tech.pinions - Perspective, Insight, Analysis

Final paragraph from a review of Apple's 4/15 security "deep dive;" tangentially, see Spotty Android encryption is the story behind the story of Apple’s battle with the FBI (PCWorld)

"What I find most interesting about Apple’s story around security is how it goes much deeper than a feature. While security, in this case, could be perceived as a feature, my read on what Apple is doing is going a step beyond simply making security a feature and making it a priority. It is a deep guiding philosophy to which Apple appears to be unwaveringly dedicated. In an age where billions of consumers are now using computers more often than they ever did at any point in history, it is clear we are in a new era of consumer computing being led by smartphones. Looking back historically at the efforts of hackers in the PC era, one can only imagine it would be magnitudes worse in this era with more people online than ever. Some may argue Apple is emphasizing and picking this battle when consumers really don’t care much about security and privacy. The big debate about how much consumers care about security is certainly a valid one. What I appreciate about Apple’s efforts is they are making it so consumers don’t have to care. Apple is simply doing it anyway and going out of their way to ensure consumers have the best security possible at the moment and making secure environments the default while also enhancing the user experience. Which is not only the way it should be, but it is the right thing to do."

Apple’s Penchant for Consumer Security | Tech.pinions - Perspective, Insight, Analysis

Facebook says it won't mess with voters' minds - CNET

Leaving the mess-with-minds activities to campaigns and PACs

"Facebook said Friday it wouldn't use its algorithms to influence voting in the US presidential election this November. "We as a company are neutral," a Facebook spokesman said in a statement. "We have not and will not use our products in a way that attempts to influence how people vote."

That statement comes after a Gizmodo report about a weekly internal poll at Facebook. Employees considered questions they should bring before CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and among them, reportedly, was, "What responsibility does Facebook have to help prevent President Trump in 2017?" Facebook didn't respond to a request to confirm the question was actually in the poll."

Facebook says it won't mess with voters' minds - CNET

Apple says it has the 'most effective security organization in the world' | The Verge

Tangentially, see Dumb, Delusional Senate Encryption Bill. Or Clever. (Monday Note)

"The press briefing with Apple engineers was highly technical, including details that were previously undisclosed and in some cases might require deep knowledge of security protocol to understand. But it doesn't take a degree in CS to understand the timing and relevance of the briefing: Apple is currently at odds with the U.S. government over the issue of encryption. While the government is exerting pressure on Apple to make the iPhone less secure and to cooperate when it comes to obtaining crucial digital information, the company is adamant that doing so would compromise the privacy and security of consumers.

Apple used today's briefing to hammer that point home and to point out that it can build security into every level, because it controls the entire phone."

Apple says it has the 'most effective security organization in the world' | The Verge

Media Websites Battle Faltering Ad Revenue and Traffic - The New York Times

Also see Tremors In The Distributed Content World (Monday Note)

"The trouble, the publishers say, is twofold. The web advertising business, always unpredictable, became more treacherous. And website traffic plateaued at many large sites, in some cases falling — a new and troubling experience after a decade of exuberant growth.

Online publishers have faced numerous financial challenges in recent years, including automated advertising and ad-blocking tools. But now, there is a realization that something more profound has happened: The transition from an Internet of websites to an Internet of mobile apps and social platforms, and Facebook in particular, is no longer coming — it is here.

It is a systemic change that is leaving many publishers unsure of how they will make money."

Media Websites Battle Faltering Ad Revenue and Traffic - The New York Times

Amazon Challenges Netflix by Opening Prime to Monthly Subscribers - The New York Times

Perhaps a handy option for occasional binge-watchers

"Amazon Prime, by most accounts, has been a huge success for the company, but one of the biggest hurdles for anyone thinking about joining the service is that it has required customers to pay $99 up front for an annual membership. The new options do away with the need for an annual commitment to Prime, widening its appeal to people who are more comfortable joining it on a short-term basis.

The new monthly options will not save people money, though. Customers who subscribe month-to-month for the full Prime service will pay $32.88 more a year than if they subscribe on an annual basis, while subscribers to the video service will pay $8.88 more a year while getting substantially fewer benefits, like free two-day shipping, than annual Prime members."

Amazon Challenges Netflix by Opening Prime to Monthly Subscribers - The New York Times

The engineer’s engineer: Computer industry luminaries salute Dave Cutler’s five-decade-long quest for quality | News Center

Check the full post for an outstanding profile of an operating system pioneer

"Cutler, a Microsoft Senior Technical Fellow whose impressive body of work spans five decades and two coasts, will be honored Saturday evening as a Computer History Museum Fellow, along with Lee Felsenstein, the designer of the Osborne 1, the first mass-produced portable computer; and Philip Moorby, one of the inventors of the Verilog hardware description language.  They join other wave makers such as Alan Kay, Vinton Cerf and Tim Berners-Lee in the museum’s Hall of Fellows.

“The Fellow awards recognize people who’ve had a tremendous impact on our lives, on our culture, on the way we work, exchange information and live.  And yet, having had such a profound impact, they’re mostly unknown,” said John Hollar, the museum’s president and CEO. “People like Dave Cutler, who probably influences the computing experiences of more than 2 billion people, yet isn’t known in a way he deserves to be, in proportion to the impact he’s had on the world.”"

The engineer’s engineer: Computer industry luminaries salute Dave Cutler’s five-decade-long quest for quality | News Center

Obama backs effort to give consumers options on cable boxes - seattlepi.com

Something to watch

"FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has said that U.S. consumers typically pay $231 a year to rent their cable boxes. According to one analysis, their costs have nearly tripled since 1994 while the cost of computers, televisions and mobile phones have fallen sharply.

"Like the 1980s with telephones, that's a symptom of a market that is cordoned off from competition. And that's got to change," Furman and fellow economic adviser Jeff Zients wrote.

[...]

Obama plans to issue an executive order on Friday calling on federal agencies to explore areas where they could promote more competition. The agencies will be required to report back with their findings in 60 days. The White House calls the cable box issue a "mascot" for the broader initiative."

Obama backs effort to give consumers options on cable boxes - seattlepi.com

Apple just found a powerful new way to make people care about the planet - The Washington Post

In other App Store news, see Apple Pursues New Search Features for a Crowded App Store (Bloomberg)

"The company is rolling out “Apps for Earth,” in which the App Store will, for 10 days, feature 27 popular apps — including Angry Birds 2, Jurassic World: The Game, and SimCity BuildIt — that have added new environmental content for Earth Day.

Money spent buying one of these 27 apps, or making purchases within them, will then support the  World Wildlife Fund, to help advance its climate and environmental initiatives. And given the size of the App store itself — which has many million users across 155 countries — and the huge reach of some of the apps (Angry Birds II has been downloaded 85 million times, for instance), it just might just be one of the corporate world’s farthest-reaching green initiatives."

Apple just found a powerful new way to make people care about the planet - The Washington Post

The Minecraft Generation - The New York Times

From an extensive Minecraft community profile; also see Minecraft Education Edition, aimed at teachers, arrives in May (TechCrunch)

"This is what computer scientists call computational thinking, and it turns out to be one of Minecraft’s powerful, if subtle, effects. The game encourages kids to regard logic and if-then statements as fun things to mess around with. It teaches them what computer coders know and wrestle with every day, which is that programs rarely function at first: The work isn’t so much in writing a piece of software but in debugging it, figuring out what you did wrong and coming up with a fix.

Minecraft is thus an almost perfect game for our current educational moment, in which policy makers are eager to increase kids’ interest in the “STEM” disciplines — science, technology, engineering and math. Schools and governments have spent millions on “let’s get kids coding” initiatives, yet it may well be that Minecraft’s impact will be greater. This is particularly striking given that the game was not designed with any educational purpose in mind. “We have never done things with that sort of intent,” says Jens Bergensten, the lead Minecraft developer at Mojang and Persson’s first hire. “We always made the game for ourselves.”"

The Minecraft Generation - The New York Times

It’s Probably Cheaper on the Web, Adobe’s Online Price Index Shows - The New York Times

It's probably cheaper on the Web, unless it's Adobe's software products...

"Austan Goolsbee, a former chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, who has been helping Adobe develop its index, said the Adobe figures suggest that the government’s index could be underestimating deflation, or the overall fall in prices, in the economy.

“Large parts of the economy, a fast-growing part, is now e-commerce-oriented,” Mr. Goolsbee said. “And Amazon’s prices are much cheaper, and if everybody’s doing their shopping on Amazon, then that should properly be taken into account in the inflation rate in a way it isn’t now.”

He said it could help explain why inflation remained low, for example, despite a booming jobs market."

It’s Probably Cheaper on the Web, Adobe’s Online Price Index Shows - The New York Times

Yahoo’s Suitors Uncover Few Financial Details - The New York Times

An enigma to its end; also see Verizon counting on Armstrong as it prepares Yahoo bid (VentureBeat)

"As Yahoo prepares to accept first-round bids for its core Internet business on Monday, potential buyers have found themselves facing one big problem: How do you value a company with a declining business when the company appears reluctant to share vital financial details?

In meetings and phone calls with potential bidders, Yahoo executives have offered gloomy financial projections for the current year, but have refused to discuss the outlook for 2017 or answer questions about crucial aspects of the business. Some of the three dozen or so potential suitors have even questioned what is truly for sale."

Yahoo’s Suitors Uncover Few Financial Details - The New York Times

Tech, Design Experts Talk Apple Car on New “Wide Open Throttle” (Motor Trend)

Check the full article for insightful speculation about what Project Titan may be up to

"Steve Jobs knew it way back in 2008, too, when Apple was at an early iPhone crossroads. What to focus on next? An electric car reportedly shared the short list with the maturing multitouch smartphone. Given Cupertino’s less formidable, 2008-era resources, Jobs’ final pick proved insanely right: Its iPhone-fueled piggybank is now a brain-boggling, $216,000,000,000. That’s BILLLLion dollars, as Carl Sagan used to eccentrically over-pronounce it, stashed all around the world. What’s that mean to paycheck-to-Taco Bell types like us? It’s enough to purchase all the stock of GM, Ford, and Fiat Chrysler. Combined. And then buy Detroit again. Some of Apple’s shareholders have been clamoring for Cook and company to snap up Tesla with its loose change."

Tech, Design Experts Talk Apple Car on New “Wide Open Throttle”

The Limits of Bots | Tech.pinions - Perspective, Insight, Analysis

Check the full post for another timely bot market dynamics reality check

"We’ve now had two major developer events in a row where chat bots were a significant theme, with both Microsoft’s Build and now Facebook’s F8 focusing on this rapidly emerging new form of interaction with companies and brands. With two such big names behind the trend, it’s easy to get caught up in the hype and enthusiasm these companies obviously share for the technology. But it’s important to stay grounded as we evaluate chat bots as a potential successor to today’s app model."

The Limits of Bots | Tech.pinions - Perspective, Insight, Analysis

Google Cloud Status: Google Compute Engine Incident #16007 Connectivity issues in all regions

For more context-setting, see Site Reliability Engineering: How Google Runs Production Systems (Google Books)

"One of our core principles at Google is ‘defense in depth’, and Google’s networking systems have a number of safeguards to prevent them from propagating incorrect or invalid configurations in the event of an upstream failure or bug. These safeguards include a canary step where the configuration is deployed at a single site and that site is verified to still be working correctly, and a progressive rollout which makes changes to only a fraction of sites at a time, so that a novel failure can be caught at an early stage before it becomes widespread. In this event, the canary step correctly identified that the new configuration was unsafe. Crucially however, a second software bug in the management software did not propagate the canary step’s conclusion back to the push process, and thus the push system concluded that the new configuration was valid and began its progressive rollout."

Google Cloud Status

Ethics and Artificial Intelligence: The Moral Compass of a Machine | Re/code

Intro paragraphs from a timely AI reality check

"The question of robotic ethics is making everyone tense. We worry about the machine’s lack of empathy, how calculating machines are going to know how to do the right thing, and even how we are going to judge and punish beings of steel and silicon.

Personally, I do not have such worries.

I am less concerned about robots doing wrong, and far more concerned about the moment they look at us and are appalled at how often we fail to do right. I am convinced that they will not only be smarter than we are, but have truer moral compasses, as well.

Let’s be clear about what is and is not at issue here."

Ethics and Artificial Intelligence: The Moral Compass of a Machine | Re/code

Artificial Intelligence for Everyday Use: Coming Soon - Bloomberg

Later in the article: "The trick is to tackle one squiggle at a time." Tangentially, see Google has given its open-source machine learning software a big upgrade (The Verge)

"While winning a game of Go might be impressive, machine intelligence is also evolving to the point where it can be used by more people to do more things. That's how four engineers with almost zero knowledge of Japanese were able to create software, in just a few months, that can decipher handwriting in the language.
The programmers at Reactive Inc. came up with an application that recognizes scrawled-out Japanese with 98.66 percent accuracy. The 18-month-old startup in Tokyo is part of a growing global community of coders and investors who are harnessing the power of neural networks to put AI to far more practical purposes than answering trivia or winning board games.
"Just a few years ago, you had to be a genius to do this," said David Malkin, who has a Ph.D. in machine learning but can barely string two Japanese sentences together. "Now you can be a reasonably smart guy and make useful stuff. Going forward, it will be more about using imagination to apply this to real business situations.""

Artificial Intelligence for Everyday Use: Coming Soon - Bloomberg

The chatbots are coming — and they want to help you buy stuff - The Washington Post

To TacoBot and beyond; also see Will Millennials Want to Go Shopping With Facebook Messenger Bots? (Bloomberg)

"In retail industry jargon, this is coming to be known as “conversational commerce,” and brands are betting on it because of some distinct advantages it could provide in connecting with shoppers. As Kik spokesman Rod McLeod points out, when shoppers engage with a bot, they are almost by definition in a different frame of mind than someone who simply sees a retailer’s display ad on a website.

“The user has to opt into the conversation. So that’s kind of an interest indicator from the get-go,” McLeod said.

And if companies are able to nail the bot’s language-processing capabilities, it could potentially create new convenience for the shopper."

The chatbots are coming — and they want to help you buy stuff - The Washington Post

Amazon Put Alexa in Millions of Homes: Is Yours Next? - WSJ

From an overview of the Alexa-powered product family's evolution

"Some day, Amazon could be embedded in appliances, listening all over your house.

Why would you want that? Because your own voice is turning into the best input device since the Enter key. And Amazon has found the first genuinely killer use for it: playing music.

This idea is slightly less bonkers than it sounded in late 2014 when Amazon debuted its Echo speaker and Alexa talking tech. It—or should I say she?—is an artificial intelligence, like the “bot” Facebook introduced for its Messenger this week. When you call Alexa’s name around an Echo, she wakes up and responds in a perky voice."

Amazon Put Alexa in Millions of Homes: Is Yours Next? - WSJ

Ex-Darpa Head Regina Dugan Leaves Google for Facebook | WIRED

Quite a week for Facebook so far...

"Facebook announced the news this morning through blog posts from Dugan, CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg, and chief technology officer Mike “Schrep” Mike Schroepfer. “I’m excited to have Regina apply Darpa-style breakthrough development at the intersection of science and products to our mission,” Zuckerberg wrote, referring to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the research and development arm of the Department of Defense. “This method is characterized by aggressive, fixed timelines, extensive use of partnerships with universities, small and large businesses, and clear objectives for shipping products at scale.”

Dugan will lead a new team inside the company dubbed Building 8. At Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, California, each building is tagged with its own number, but there is no Building 8—yet. The name seems to be a play off the aims of the new group: to build all sorts of future technologies for the company. Why 8? There are eight letters in the Facebook name. According to Zuckerberg, the company will put “hundreds of people and hundreds of millions of dollars” in the group, but he did not give a specific time frame for these commitments."

Ex-Darpa Head Regina Dugan Leaves Google for Facebook | WIRED

Mossberg: Slack beats email, but still needs to get better | The Verge

From a Walt Mossberg review of Slack pros and cons

"But users, including me, also have some serious gripes about Slack, primarily around a supreme irony: while it has replaced the tyranny of email for many, it has unleashed a chaotic tyranny of its own. Posts and their responses pour in so fast that, even being away from Slack for a couple of hours can leave you feeling hopelessly behind. You’re constantly tempted to converse on Slack instead of thinking or planning or doing other work. And, for new employees, just untangling the cacophony of voices on Slack can be confusing and disheartening."

Mossberg: Slack beats email, but still needs to get better | The Verge

Kindle Oasis From Amazon Promises ‘Months and Months’ of Battery Life - The New York Times

"Months and months" of battery life -- I might even be able to finish reading a book on a single charge...

"The product, Kindle Oasis, will cost $289, placing it at the very top of Amazon’s family of e-readers. The previous top-of-the-line e-reader, Kindle Voyage, is $200. Kindle Oasis is very light, weighing just 4.6 ounces — about 20 percent less than any other Kindle. For comparison, the latest iPad Mini is more than 10 ounces.

Amazon is charging a premium for Kindle Oasis because it comes with a leather case containing a battery that significantly extends the charge time of the device. Magnets in the battery pack on the cover solidly click together with the Kindle Oasis. With the cover, Kindle Oasis gets “months and months” of battery life, more than any other device in the family. Without it, it lasts weeks, Amazon says."

Kindle Oasis From Amazon Promises ‘Months and Months’ of Battery Life - The New York Times

Facebook Messenger bots are here: How to find them, use them, block sponsored messages | SiliconANGLE

Check the full article for some useful examples and guidance

"Over the past year, Facebook Inc. has been expanding what its 900 million Facebook Messenger users can do in the app, including the ability to hail an Uber (Uber Technologies, Inc.) or Lyft (Lyft, Inc.) ride, share Spotify songs, and send and receive money.
Facebook will now allow companies to create bots for Facebook Messenger, announced on Tuesday at its F8 developer conference. Users can start checking out what these bots can do by interacting with the few bots that are already on Messenger."

Facebook Messenger bots are here: How to find them, use them, block sponsored messages | SiliconANGLE

“Bot” is a hilariously over-simplified buzzword. Let’s fix that. — Medium

A timely taxonomy; summary version: chatbot = (scripted bot | AI bot | agent-assisted bot); see the full post for details

"The bots are coming. And they will be everywhere, like Facebook Messenger where they’ll be deployed to 900mm+ users. Some will deliver you tacos. Some will go on racist tirades. But here’s the thing: not all bots are created equal. While “bot” is a great over-arching term for a collection of happenings all boiling down to a trend, I think there needs to be a bit more clarity on what these things are and what they’re expected to do."

“Bot” is a hilariously over-simplified buzzword. Let’s fix that. — Medium

Facebook Bets on a Bot Resurgence, Chattier Than Ever - The New York Times

Conversational commerce; also see Bots Could Give Facebook a Bigger Slice of the App Economy (Bloomberg)

"Underlying many of these bot efforts is their presence primarily on messaging services, which are increasingly becoming a primary form of communication and computing. More than 1.6 billion people are projected to become regular users of mobile messaging apps by the end of this year, equivalent to 22 percent of the global population, according to eMarketer, an industry research firm. That figure is expected to reach two billion people by 2018.

The bot revival is also taking place at a time when people are growing tired of individual apps. While big brands have long promoted easier access to shopping and customer service through their own proprietary smartphone apps, some consumers are fatigued by having to download a different app for each company. More than a quarter of the time spent on mobile apps by Americans is now focused on just a handful of social networking and communication apps, according to Forrester, an industry research firm.

As a result, brands in search of the best way to talk to consumers are now pairing off with some the world’s dominant messaging platforms — and their chatbots."

Facebook Bets on a Bot Resurgence, Chattier Than Ever - The New York Times

Google’s Calendar Now Finds Spare Time and Fills It Up - The New York Times

I'll need to find some time to look into this...

"On Wednesday, the company is introducing new features to its popular calendar that will enable people to program in their aspirations for times when they don’t have work or meetings scheduled.

Google’s algorithms will then seek appropriate gaps in a schedule in which stuff like exercise or discussing life with one’s spouse might be appropriate. While this means putting more of ourselves inside the machine, Google argues that its method is more efficient.

“It’s a tool to help us against ourselves, and all the short-term things we agree to do in our calendar,” said Dan Ariely, a university professor, best-selling author and Google employee who worked on the new tool. “Empty time where you think you’ll do something loses precedence to things on the calendar that are concrete and specific.”"

Google’s Calendar Now Finds Spare Time and Fills It Up - The New York Times

As Dropbox Jumps Off the Cloud, Box Nestles Into It | WIRED

For other *Box news, see Box goes international with AWS and IBM-powered Zones feature (PCWorld) and Facebook Messenger can now send and preview Dropbox files (The Verge)

"DROPBOX STUNNED THE tech world last month when it revealed it had spent the last two-and-a-half years moving about 90 percent of its operation off of the Amazon cloud. Meanwhile, its biggest rival, Box, is moving the other way.

Through a tool it calls Box Zones, Box is giving businesses in places like Germany, Ireland, Japan, and Singapore the option of storing their files on cloud services within their home region. “It basically enables customers to store their file data in the region of their choice,” says Box founder and CEO Aaron Levie."

As Dropbox Jumps Off the Cloud, Box Nestles Into It | WIRED

After Worst Year Ever, PC Sales Off To Another Bad Start In 2016 | Re/code

Check the full article for more "post-PC" details

"Global shipments of personal computers, once a major backbone of both consumer and corporate IT spending, started the new year with another decline in the first quarter, according to data from the research firm Gartner, out today.

Vendors like Lenovo, HP Inc. and Dell shipped a combined 64.8 million units in the period ended March 31, down from 71.7 million in the same period a year ago. HP saw the worst decline, as its unit sales fell 9 percent; followed by Lenovo, the world’s market leader, whose shipments fell by more than 7 percent. Shipments by privately held Dell fell the least, by only 0.4 percent. Apple and Asus both increased their shipments, by 1.5 percent and 1 percent, respectively."

After Worst Year Ever, PC Sales Off To Another Bad Start In 2016 | Re/code

Bots, explained: What is a bot, who’s making them, and why | Re/code

From a timely bot market dynamics reality check

"Where did the idea for bots come from?
Bots have been around for more than 50 years. With the recent global boom in mobile messaging apps, such as WeChat, Facebook Messenger and Slack, they’re seen as increasingly relevant. They’ve likely been right under your nose. The first bots on Twitter starting rolling out in 2006.

Why are we hearing so much about them now?
One key reason: The technology that powers bots, artificial intelligence software, is improving dramatically, thanks to heightened interest from key Silicon Valley powers like Facebook and Google. That AI enables computers to process language — and actually converse with humans — in ways they never could before. It came about from unprecedented advancements in software (Google’s Go-beating program, for example) and hardware capabilities."

Bots, explained: What is a bot, who’s making them, and why | Re/code

Universities aren’t doing enough to train the cyberdefenders America desperately needs - The Washington Post

A disconcerting disconnect

"None of America's top 10 computer science programs -- as ranked by U.S. News & World Report in 2015 -- requires graduates to take even one cybersecurity course, according to a new analysis from security firm CloudPassage.

Three of the 10 top-ranked programs don't even offer a single elective cybersecurity course, according to the company's findings. And only one of the top 36 programs, the University of Michigan, requires students to take a security course to graduate."

Universities aren’t doing enough to train the cyberdefenders America desperately needs - The Washington Post

Information Overload Is ‘Cognitive Diabetes,’ Says Slack CEO - Bloomberg

Perhaps over-communicating

"Butterfield, the chief executive officer of Slack Technologies Inc., likened the obsession with communication tools to the diabetes epidemic, when "suddenly, as a species, we got infinite, free calories," he said. "Suddenly, we have infinite, free communications." The messaging addiction is a form of "cognitive diabetes," and it's "a problem that's going to take more than a generation to sort out," he said.
For a sense of the hype around messaging tools, just look at Slack's bank account. The San Francisco startup has raised $540 million from investors, and its most recent round valued the company at $3.8 billion. Slack started out as a video game maker called Tiny Speck. When asked about the origins of the name Slack, Butterfield said, "I have no idea." He added: "It's lost to history.""

Information Overload Is ‘Cognitive Diabetes,’ Says Slack CEO - Bloomberg

Medium and Twitter founder: ‘We put junk food in front of them and they eat it’ | Media | The Guardian

Check the full article for a Medium profile that's more thoughtful than the article title suggests

"“It’s understandable why media on the web is like it is today,” Williams tells the Guardian. “That’s not to say there’s not a lot of great stuff out there, but a lot of people are dissatisfied with it. A lot of journalists who want to do great stuff are dissatisfied. Advertisers and brands are dissatisfied. We’re still stuck in some very naive thinking, with the idea that people consuming media means that’s what they want – it’s like, well, we put junk food in front of them and they ate that, so that must be what they want.”

That view may strike many as slightly ironic, given Williams was a co-founder and former chief executive of Twitter, which has just celebrated its 10th birthday. But while he is now dedicated to his own project, Medium, which has become a magnet for pretty much anyone looking to put their writing on the web, he says both services are at their root about democratising and simplifying publishing and access to information."

Medium and Twitter founder: ‘We put junk food in front of them and they eat it’ | Media | The Guardian

Introducing Evernote for Outlook - Evernote Blog

Evernote builds on the new Office add-in model, using the programmable task pane to annotate and save Outlook messages to Evernote or attach Evernote notes to Outlook email messages; see the Evernote for Outlook Quick Start Guide for more details. Also note that the Office add-in model is now one-to-many (add-in:app); e.g., adding the new Evernote add-in to the browser Outlook Online app also adds it to the Outlook 2016 (Windows and Mac) apps.

"Save important email conversations from becoming lost in a cluttered inbox and keep them together with related project notes and notebooks. With the Evernote for Outlook add-in, you can save an email (including its attachments) or entire threads directly into a notebook of your choice. You can also add tags and remarks on the spot. Once you’ve clicked Save, a clean version of your email will appear as an editable note in your Evernote account."

Introducing Evernote for Outlook - Evernote Blog

President Donald Trump Boston Globe Fake Front Page | Re/code

Also see, inevitably, Trump calls The Boston Globe ‘stupid,’ ‘worthless’ after scathing editorial (The Boston Globe)

"The editorial board of The Boston Globe doesn’t want you to vote for Donald Trump on Nov. 8, and it has implored the Republican Party to stop his candidacy before you get the chance.

So as a way of generating some additional buzz for its Sunday editorial, entitled “The GOP Must Stop Trump,” the newspaper created a fake front page envisioning a dystopian future that an early Trump U.S. presidency might look like.

“It is an exercise in taking a man at his word,” The Globe writes. “And his vision of America promises to be as appalling in real life as it is in black and white on the page.”"

President Donald Trump Boston Globe Fake Front Page | Re/code

The tremendous ambitions behind New York City’s free WiFi - The Washington Post

Interesting times ahead for AT&T, Verizon, and other Internet service providers

"This public connectivity could someday wind up supplementing — if not replacing — some New Yorkers' existing Internet subscriptions, said Intersection's chief innovation officer, Colin O'Donnell. Instead of browsing the Web through your home WiFi or 4G LTE, just pop onto the nearest Link's WiFi signal.

"You could put 20 bucks back in your pocket" in mobile data savings that way, said O'Donnell. "If you did that for 20 percent of New Yorkers, that's like, a quarter-billion dollars a year you're putting back in people's pockets."

If that sounds ambitious, you should hear O'Donnell sketch out the broader vision for LinkNYC, which New York officially unveiled in February along with Qualcomm and CIVIQ Smartscapes. (An notable investor in the project is Sidewalk Labs, a subsidiary of Alphabet, the company that owns Google.)"

The tremendous ambitions behind New York City’s free WiFi - The Washington Post

Billing by Millionths of Pennies, Cloud Computing’s Giants Take In Billions - The New York Times

Hyperscale computing: and then there were three...

"The per-millionth pricing began last November, in the A.W.S. product Lambda. Lambda runs a customer’s line of code in response to a request, like looking up a ZIP code when given an address. Customers never rent servers, but pay for the moments of computing.

Microsoft last month announced that it would have its own “serverless” product. Google has something similar in early release, which is likely to be a product by the third quarter of this year.

[...]

“The secret to cloud economics is utilization — every minute unsold is money you don’t get back,” said Greg DeMichillie, the head of product for Google’s cloud. “There are very few of us who can work at this scale.”"

Billing by Millionths of Pennies, Cloud Computing’s Giants Take In Billions - The New York Times

Panama Papers Leak Signals a Shift in Mainstream Journalism - The New York Times

A timely journalism reality check

"But the leak signaled something else that was a big deal but went unheralded: The official WikiLeaks-ization of mainstream journalism; the next step in the tentative merger between the Fourth Estate, with its relatively restrained conventional journalists, and the Fifth Estate, with the push-the-limits ethos of its blogger, hacker and journo-activist cohort, in the era of gargantuan data breaches.

Back at the dawn of this new, Big Breach journalism, The Times’s then-executive editor, Bill Keller, wondered aloud in the paper’s Sunday magazine whether “The War Logs,” a huge cache of confidential war records and diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks in conjunction with The Times, Der Spiegel, The Guardian and others, represented “some kind of cosmic triumph of transparency.” He concluded, “I suspect we have not reached a state of information anarchy, at least not yet.” That was in 2011."

Panama Papers Leak Signals a Shift in Mainstream Journalism - The New York Times

Facebook Messenger launches scannable profile codes, just like Snapchat | The Verge

Check this David Marcus Facebook post for a summary (and discussion) of Facebook Messenger news; also see Facebook will announce chatbot and live chat APIs at F8 (TechCrunch)

"If you're wondering why any of this is necessary, since there's a very good chance you're already Facebook friends with the people you'd be interested in chatting with, it's important to look ahead to where Facebook wants Messenger to be by the end of the year. Messenger is no longer just a place where you chat with your friends: it'll soon be a place where you can chat with companies and customer service bots, and have useful information sent to you — like your boarding pass for a flight. When you consider all of that, Messenger Codes make a lot more sense. If you want to start up a chat with a company's customer service account, you just scan their code and get started."

Facebook Messenger launches scannable profile codes, just like Snapchat | The Verge

This Day in History: April 8 | Computer History Museum

Java is a quarter-century old -- or closer to 21 years old, according to the official Oracle perspective

"April 8, 1991
Java Development Begins in Earnest

On this day, Sun's Java team moves from Sun Microsystems to work in secret on its "Oak" development project (later re-named Java)."

This Day in History: April 8 | Computer History Museum

The next hot job in Silicon Valley is for poets - The Washington Post

Fostering trusted relationships with digital assistants and bots

"As tech behemoths and a wave of start-ups double down on virtual assistants that can chat with human beings, writing for AI is becoming a hot job in Silicon Valley. Behind Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa and Microsoft’s Cortana are not just software engineers. Increasingly, there are poets, comedians, fiction writers, and other artistic types charged with engineering the personalities for a fast-growing crop of artificial intelligence tools.

“Maybe this will help pay back all the student loans,” joked Ewing, who has master’s degrees from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop and film school."

The next hot job in Silicon Valley is for poets - The Washington Post

Imperial ambitions | The Economist

Facebook is the cover story of this week's issue of The Economist; see How to win friends and influence people for an extensive profile

"NOT since the era of imperial Rome has the “thumbs-up” sign been such a potent and public symbol of power. A mere 12 years after it was founded, Facebook is a great empire with a vast population, immense wealth, a charismatic leader, and mind-boggling reach and influence. The world’s largest social network has 1.6 billion users, a billion of whom use it every day for an average of over 20 minutes each. In the Western world, Facebook accounts for the largest share of the most popular activity (social networking) on the most widely used computing devices (smartphones); its various apps account for 30% of mobile internet use by Americans. And it is the sixth-most-valuable public company on Earth, worth some $325 billion."

Imperial ambitions | The Economist

Verizon plans bid to buy Yahoo’s Web business, sources say - The Washington Post

The likely outcome: the dwindling remains of Yahoo and AOL united under Verizon for a new generation of consumer data exploitation; also see Why these firms want to buy Yahoo — and the antitrust concerns they could face if they do (The Washington Post)

"Verizon Communications plans to make a first-round bid for Yahoo’s Web business next week and is willing to acquire the company’s Yahoo Japan stake to help sweeten the offer, according to people familiar with the matter.

Google, the main division of Alphabet, is also considering bidding for Yahoo’s core business, a separate person said.

Potential suitors AT&T and Comcast have decided against bidding, some of the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the discussions aren’t public. Microsoft, which failed with a hostile bid for Yahoo in 2008, will not bid this time, another person said."

Verizon plans bid to buy Yahoo’s Web business, sources say - The Washington Post

Tesla’s Model 3 Already Has 325,000 Prospective Owners - The New York Times

Driving change

"“We are not aware of any precedent of this level of order interest for any other car,” Adam Jonas, a Morgan Stanley analyst, wrote in a research note.

By contrast, sales of current electric cars and hybrid models, which are powered by both gasoline engines and batteries, have languished in recent months as American consumers have taken advantage of low gas prices to buy larger vehicles like pickups and sport utility vehicles.

But the introduction of the new Tesla has shattered expectations for the so-called electrified segment of vehicles.

“Despite its many accomplishments, Tesla had not yet truly disrupted the auto industry,” Mr. Jonas wrote. “We are now getting the feeling that this may be starting to change.”"

Tesla’s Model 3 Already Has 325,000 Prospective Owners - The New York Times