Why Amazon is a ‘bully,’ and Facebook and Google are ‘the enemies of independent thought’ | Recode

See the source for a Franklin Foer interview transcript; tangentially, see Retailers Are Testing Facebook-Style Shopper Profiles to Battle Amazon | Bloomberg

"And although Google and Facebook’s core products are free, their concentrated power is still dangerous, he noted.

“Facebook and Google are constantly organizing things in ways in which we’re not really cognizant, and we’re not even taught to be cognizant, and most people aren’t, and done in a way in which they’re leveraging our data,” Foer said. “Our data is this cartography of the inside of our psyche. They know our weaknesses, and they know the things that give us pleasure and the things that cause us anxiety and anger. They use that information in order to keep us addicted. That makes the companies the enemies of independent thought.”"

Why Amazon is a ‘bully,’ and Facebook and Google are ‘the enemies of independent thought’ | Recode

Alphabet's DeepMind AI Algorithm Wins Protein-Folding Contest | Bloomberg

For more details, see AlphaFold: Using AI for scientific discovery | DeepMind blog

"DeepMind has often said it wants to apply its AI techniques to fundamental problems in science. Demis Hassabis, the company’s co-founder and chief executive officer, had specifically mentioned protein-folding and finding new potential targets for drug development, as areas the company was exploring.

DeepMind’s algorithm placed first out of a total field of 98 software programs, the Guardian reported. In one part of the contest, its software accurately predicted the structure of 25 out of 43 proteins, whereas the second-place algorithm only got three of the 43, the newspaper said."

Alphabet's DeepMind AI Algorithm Wins Protein-Folding Contest | Bloomberg

TikTok, a Chinese Video App, Brings Fun Back to Social Media | NYT

May as well have a little fun; the Chinese government almost certainly already has a detailed profile on you...

"Before I go any further, let’s get one thing out of the way: If you’re reading this, you are almost certainly too old to feel at home on TikTok. The company declined to provide information about its users, but judging from what’s on the platform, the median TikTok user seems to hover in the midteens. TikTok is full of acne-studded faces, barely concealed tween angst and impenetrable youth-culture references. As far as I can tell, there is no way for adults to use it without feeling as if they are chaperoning a high school dance.
[...]
Free-speech advocates might bristle at TikTok’s Chinese ownership, and privacy hawks have raised questions about how the company handles users’ personal data. But perhaps because it is more heavily moderated than other networks, TikTok mostly feels safe and wholesome. Julia Alexander, a fellow TikTok convert at The Verge, called it “a rare social app that isn’t infested with hateful rhetoric.”"

TikTok, a Chinese Video App, Brings Fun Back to Social Media | NYT

Kuo: ‘All-new design’ AirPods in 2020, wireless charging model in first quarter 2019 | 9to5Mac

Hopefully not 2020 before the next major feature update

The AirPods truly-wireless earbuds are on track to be Apple’s best growth product for the foreseeable future, according to Ming-Chi Kuo. Kuo said that Apple will release an ‘upgraded model with wireless charging support’ in the first quarter of 2019.

Kuo also said an all-new design AirPods is currently on track to launch in early 2020 …

Kuo forecasts dramatic unit growth for AirPods with units rising from 16 million units in 2017 to over 100 million by 2021. He calls them Apple’s most popular accessory ever.

Kuo: ‘All-new design’ AirPods in 2020, wireless charging model in first quarter 2019 | 9to5Mac

How China’s Bytedance became the world’s most valuable startup | The Verge

Maybe read the EULA carefully, if you're signing up for a Bytedance app (unless you have no qualms about potentially sharing all of your profile and activity data with the Chinese government)... Also see TikTok Is a Short-Form Monetized Musical Meme Machine | Wired

"TikTok is inescapable right now, and it’s not just teens paying attention — it’s rocked the business world as well. Bytedance, the owner of the wildly popular short-form video app, is now valued at more than $75 billion following a new round of investment. This means Uber has unexpectedly lost its long-held title of the world’s most valuable tech startup to a low-profile challenger from China.

You could be forgiven for not having heard the name Bytedance before the recent news. The founder, 35-year-old Zhang Yiming, rarely gives interviews, and the company’s Western-facing media presence is close to nonexistent. But the company’s global ambitions are real and so are its chances. Bytedance is the first Chinese internet company with a significant, genuinely engaged following around the world, which means it’s worthy of serious attention."

How China’s Bytedance became the world’s most valuable startup | The Verge

Marriott says data breach compromised info of up to 500 million guests | CNBC

Later in the article: "For about 327 million of the guests, it added, the information includes some combination of a name, mailing address, phone number, email address, passport number, Starwood Preferred Guest account information, date of birth, gender, arrival and departure information, reservation date, and communication preferences. There are some customers who may have also had their credit card information taken"

"Marriott International said Friday that up to 500 million guests' information may have been accessed as part of a breach of its Starwood guest reservation database, potentially one of the largest hacking of consumer data ever.

The world's largest hotel chain said it first received an alert in September from an internal security tool that there was an attempt to access the database. As part of an investigation, the company discovered there had been unauthorized access since 2014, and that an "unauthorized party" had copied and encrypted information."

Marriott says data breach compromised info of up to 500 million guests | CNBC

Cambridge Analytica Used Fashion Tastes to Identify Right-Wing Voters | NYT

Political preference is jeanetic...

"Today at a conference in Britain organized by the fashion industry website The Business of Fashion, Mr. Wylie explained that clothing preferences were a key metric for Cambridge Analytica, whose business was constructing and selling voter profiles drawn from Facebook data.

“Fashion data was used to build AI models to help Steve Bannon build his insurgency and build the alt-right,” he said.

Preferences in clothing and music are the leading indicators of political leaning, he said. The narratives of the great American brands, which play on the myths of the West and the (mostly male) frontier are also the narratives of the Republican right. Those who choose to spend on the former are susceptible to the latter. He mentioned Wrangler and L.L. Bean in particular as brands that Cambridge Analytica aligned with conservative traits. (Kenzo, by contrast, which is designed by Humberto Leon and Carol Lim, the avant-garde duo behind the retail store Opening Ceremony, appealed to liberals, he suggested.)"

Cambridge Analytica Used Fashion Tastes to Identify Right-Wing Voters | NYT

Airbnb will test prototype homes next year | Washington Post

For more details, see Introducing Backyard.

"In a statement, Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia cited United Nations projections that global construction will rise at an unprecedented rate over the next 40 years, amounting to a new Paris being built every week.

“The way buildings are made is outdated and generates a tremendous amount of waste,” he said. “In order to meet the demands of the future, whether it be climate displacement or rural-urban migration, the home needs to evolve, to think forward.”

Airbnb’s announcement provides a partial road map of the company’s ambitions. The company touts more than 5 million rental listings on its platform, across nearly 200 countries. Since its founding in 2008, it has upended the hospitality industry and drawn the ire of local governments around the world who say the service aggravates housing shortages and facilitates illegal short-term renting."

Airbnb will test prototype homes next year | Washington Post

The OTT Experience: Understanding Connected Living Room Audiences | Nelsen

So only an average of 2 hours a day of streaming content, for "consumers 13 and older who watch content on connected devices"...

"The evolving media landscape has reshaped how consumers discover content, as more than two-thirds of U.S. homes now have devices that are capable of streaming video content. While traditional linear TV continues to expand with new channels and features, emerging streaming technology and connected devices are also making their mark. Consumers can choose to watch programming anytime, anywhere, and this flexibility is enhancing the viewing experience. In fact, Americans collectively spend nearly 8 billion hours per month consuming content on connected TV devices—such as Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire (1).

Today’s living room is a true multi-platform environment, bringing together both linear and dynamic content. With over-the-top (OTT) video content, buyers and sellers can focus their investments to engage consumers in the midst of this new living room, lean-back experience. According to Nielsen Digital Content Ratings, which provides daily measurement of total-day audiences across digital content types using metrics fully comparable to television, consumers 13 and older who watch content on connected devices spend an average of more than an hour daily, compared to 36 minutes on the computer and 24 minutes on mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets (2)."

The OTT Experience: Understanding Connected Living Room Audiences | Nelsen

Connecting People to Local News and Their Communities | Facebook Newsroom

Also see Facebook must police Today In, its local news digest launching in 400 cities | TechCrunch

"We’re making it easier for people to find news and information from their local towns and cities. Today we’re announcing the expansion of a new local section on Facebook called “Today In” and starting a test for local alerts from relevant government pages.

Today In connects people to local news and information about their community. It is now available in over 400 cities in the US, and we have launched our first international test in Australia. In addition, we have started testing Today In in communities located in news deserts, places that have low supply of local news and community information, by supplementing with relevant content from surrounding areas."

Connecting People to Local News and Their Communities | Facebook Newsroom

Apple says the iPhone XR has been its top-selling iPhone since launch |CNET

Interesting times for AAPL investors (mkt cap(AAPL) is again > mkt cap(MSFT)); also see Microsoft Is Worth as Much as Apple. How Did That Happen? | NYT, which reads like a Microsoft PR case study

"Joswiak declined to comment about the Journal report or iPhone demand in general beyond reiterating that the iPhone XR "has been the most popular and best-selling" iPhone since it hit the market.

Apple's stock has tumbled about 20 percent since the company announced its quarterly earnings. The decline has meant Apple's no longer worth more than a trillion dollars, a level it had reached in August. It's also given Microsoft and its soaring stock the opportunity to become the world's biggest publicly traded company.

Earlier this week, Apple's shares again slid after President Donald Trump said he may place tariffs on iPhones and laptop computers imported from China. Joswiak declined to comment about the impact of tariffs on iPhone prices for consumers."

Apple says the iPhone XR has been its top-selling iPhone since launch |CNET

The Digital Maginot Line | Ribbonfarm

Final paragraphs from a timely reality check; also see The Lawfare Podcast: John Carlin on 'Dawn of the Code War' | Lawfare

"We don’t have time to waste on digital security theater. In the two years since Election 2016, we’ve all come to agree that something is wrong on the internet. There is momentum and energy to do something, but the complexity of the problem and the fact that it intersects with other thorny issues of internet governance (privacy, monopoly, expression, among others) means that we’re stuck in a state of paralysis, unable to address disinformation in a meaningful way. Instead, both regulators and the platforms throw up low-level roadblocks. This is what a digital Maginot line looks like.

Influence operations exploit divisions in our society using vulnerabilities in our information ecosystem. We have to move away from treating this as a problem of giving people better facts, or stopping some Russian bots, and move towards thinking about it as an ongoing battle for the integrity of our information infrastructure – easily as critical as the integrity of our financial markets. When it’s all done and over with, we’ll look back on this era as being as consequential in reshaping the future of the United States and the world as World War II."

The Digital Maginot Line | Ribbonfarm

US Army to use Microsoft’s Hololens for combat missions | Engadget

Later in the article: "Only about 50,000 units have been sold so far, according to a recent Microsoft video. By contrast, the US Army might buy as many as 100,000 headsets, essentially tripling sales."

"Microsoft's Hololens has already been used by a number of armies for training, but it's about to go to another level. The US Army has awarded Microsoft a $480 million contract to supply the headset for live combat missions as well as training, according to Bloomberg. The aim, according to a government description, is to "increase lethality by enhancing the ability to detect, decide and engage before the enemy."

The US Army encouraged non-traditional military suppliers like Microsoft, Magic Leap and others to bid on the contract. It wanted a device that could allow for night vision, the ability to measure breathing and other vital signs, offer hearing protection and monitor for signs of concussion. It's not clear yet how Microsoft will bring those capabilities to Hololens."

US Army to use Microsoft’s Hololens for combat missions | Engadget

Trump’s ‘worldwide network’ is a great idea. But it already exists. | Washington Post

A timely perspective from the director of Voice of America; later in the article: "Yet what is most important isn’t the size of our audience. It’s their trust: Eighty-five percent of our global audience say they trust us. [...] We export the First Amendment."

"“Something has to be done,” President Trump tweeted Monday.

Frustrated by CNN, with which he has an ongoing beef, Trump suggested that the United States create its own “worldwide network to show the World the way we really are — GREAT!”

Despite the proposal’s origin in conflict with the press, it’s a really good idea. So good, in fact, that under another president’s watch — Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1942 — it happened.

Seventy-six years ago, the world was a dark place. The radio broadcast that eventually became Voice of America was created to give people trapped behind Nazi lines accurate, truthful news about the war, in contrast with Nazi propaganda."

Trump’s ‘worldwide network’ is a great idea. But it already exists. | Washington Post

Can Laurene Powell Jobs Save Storytelling? | NYT

Also see Laurene Powell Jobs’s Emerson Collective bought Pop-Up Magazine Productions | Recode

"Emerson — which gets its name from, yes, Ralph Waldo and has focused on education, immigration and the environment since it was formally created in 2011 — would not disclose the price it paid for Pop-Up. But it’s small compared to the many other investments its for-profit and nonprofit arms have made over the last two years.

That includes an undisclosed sum to pick up a majority chunk of The Atlantic magazine, along with funding to add 100 employees, including the New Yorker writer George Packer and a former Facebook executive, Alex Hardiman; starting a documentary production company, Concordia Studio, with the Oscar-winning director Davis Guggenheim; buying a large stake in the production, content and talent management powerhouse Anonymous Content, the maker of “Spotlight”; purchasing another in Macro, which finances media focusing on stories of people of color, like “Fences”; and making investments in the online magazine Ozy, the news site Axios and the podcast-making phenom Gimlet Media."

Can Laurene Powell Jobs Save Storytelling? | NYT

Bitcoin Rises After a Terrible Month, But Don't Call It a Bottom | Bloomberg

It's all relative...

"Bitcoin is headed for the biggest gain since July, providing some welcome relief to battered cryptocurrency investors -- but it may be too soon to call a bottom.

That’s the assessment of Kenetic Capital’s Jehan Chu after the largest digital token rallied on Wednesday, climbing 5.8 percent to $3,987 at 11:23 a.m. London time. Gains in Ether and XRP helped propel the Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index to a 6 percent increase, paring this month’s rout to 37 percent.

“What we are seeing is not yet a bottom but a short-term buying opportunity,” said Chu, managing partner at Kenetic Capital, a blockchain investment and advisory company. “Until we have broader adoption of decentralized applications, it will be hard to find a firm floor.”"

Bitcoin Rises After a Terrible Month, But Don't Call It a Bottom | Bloomberg

Countries vowed to cut carbon emissions. They aren’t even close to their goals, U.N. report finds | Washington Post

On a related note, see Trump on climate change: ‘People like myself, we have very high levels of intelligence but we’re not necessarily such believers.’ | Washington Post

"On the eve of the most important global climate meeting in years, a definitive United Nations report has found that the world is well off course on its promises to cut greenhouse gas emissions — and may have even further to go than previously thought.

Seven major countries, including the United States, are well behind achieving the pledges they made in Paris three years ago, the report finds, with little time left to adopt much more ambitious policy measures to curb their emissions."

Countries vowed to cut carbon emissions. They aren’t even close to their goals, U.N. report finds | Washington Post

SpaceX's Next Launch Will Spark a Space Internet Showdown | Wired

64 satellites in a single launch -- from 34 companies; also see SpaceX Is Launching a Piece of Art Into Orbit | Wired; on a related note, see AWS Ground Station – Ingest and Process Data from Orbiting Satellites | AWS blog

"Elon Musk has long promised a constellation of thousands of satellites, called Starlink, which Musk hopes will one day handle half of all internet traffic—and earn him billions in access fees. It's one of the ways he hopes to fund his future Mars adventures. SpaceX says two demonstration satellites it built and launched earlier this year already show that internet from space can be as fast and lag-free as people expect from cables on Earth.

Now a SpaceX rocket is poised to launch a raft of internet satellites from a host of startups—but this time, the target audience is machines."

SpaceX's Next Launch Will Spark a Space Internet Showdown | Wired

IBM CEO Ginni Rometty calls consumer tech companies 'irresponsible,' says they should be liable for misinformation | CNBC

Apparently did not offer magical Watson or blockchain technology to help address related challenges...

"Rometty's call focuses on consumer-facing companies in particular. IBM, by contrast, mainly serves other businesses.

"In regulating tech, government needs to focus on fixing the real problem," Rometty said in her prepared remarks. "And that is the irresponsible handling of personal data by a few dominant consumer-facing platform companies. Addressing the weakest link – should not define the digital economy."

Without naming names, Rometty took aim at companies that provide platforms for public opinion, saying they need to be held accountable for the information they distribute."

IBM CEO Ginni Rometty calls consumer tech companies 'irresponsible,' says they should be liable for misinformation | CNBC

Elon Musk says he will probably move to Mars | Washington Post

Also see Elon Musk: To avoid becoming like monkeys, humans must merge with machines | Washington Post (tbd if he'll be upgraded prior to his Mars relocation)

"Despite a high likelihood of dying even before arriving and daily conditions hostile to human life, Elon Musk said in an interview Sunday that he’ll probably move to Mars.

The SpaceX and chief executive said there’s a “70 percent chance” he’ll get to Mars within his lifetime, with plans to permanently resettle on the Red Planet. Musk said his desire to colonize Mars is driven by the same passion that fuels people to climb mountains — for the challenge.

“We’ve recently made a number of breakthroughs that I am just really just fired up about,” Musk said during an interview with “Axios on HBO.”"

Elon Musk says he will probably move to Mars | Washington Post