Technology readings

By Enrique Dans

Relevant technology-related news, curated daily by Enrique Dans (https://enriquedans.com)

Donald Trump
Donald Trump’s 50 Most Unthinkable Moments - The Atlantic
The Atlantic
In an October 2016 editorial, The Atlantic wrote of Donald Trump: “He is a demagogue, a xenophobe, a sexist, a know-nothing, and a liar.” We argued that Trump “expresses admiration for authoritarian rulers,
Opinion
We Should Be Able to Take Facebook to Court
The New York Times - By NEEMA SINGH GULIANI
After The New York Times revealed last month that Facebook continued to share personal information of millions of consumers with companies like Netflix, Yahoo, Spotify and Google — despite contrary assertions
Mastercard
MasterCard will stop free trials from automatically billing you once they’re over
The Verge - Stefan Etienne
Plus, merchants will be required to send you monthly updates MasterCard announced a new policy today for merchants who retain your card information after you sign up for a free trial. Soon, MasterCard
Technology
Xiaomi, once dubbed the 'Apple of China,' has lost 40% of its value since its IPO last year
CNBC - Sara Salinas
China's Xiaomi, once dubbed the "Apple of China," is in the middle of a months-long rout and facing familiar headwinds in the global smartphone …
Facebook
Facebook Users Still Don’t Know How Facebook Works
The Atlantic - Alexis C. Madrigal
Not even its core business practices After all the scandals and hubbub and congressional testimony and mea culpas in Facebook’s nearly 15 years of existence, one would think that its users would have pretty
HoloLens
After four years, Microsoft may unveil HoloLens 2 next month
TNW - Napier Lopez
Mobile World Congress – the world’s biggest expo focused on smartphones and mobile devices – starts February 24, and it seems Microsoft has big plans in store. If the speakers on the invite are any indication,
Airbnb
A man found a camera inside his Airbnb rental. He says Airbnb was fine with it
Fast Company - By Cale Guthrie Weissman
This winter, Jeffrey Bigham, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, rented an Airbnb with his family. During the stay he noticed something weird: two white objects hiding in plain site in the
Social Media
Most Facebook users still in the dark about its creepy ad practices, Pew finds
TechCrunch - Natasha Lomas
A study by the Pew Research Center suggests most Facebook users are still in the dark about how the company tracks and profiles them for ad-targeting purposes. Pew found three-quarters (74%) of Facebook
7 reasons why you’re ruining conference calls for everyone else
Fast Company - By Jeff Lotman
From showing up late to not testing the software properly. Every year, I waste 1,440 minutes. As much as I try to avoid it, come December 31, I’ve sacrificed about 24 hours or three full business days.
Facebook
App Annie: WhatsApp is now Facebook’s most popular app
VentureBeat - Manish Singh
Facebook’s $19 billion bet on WhatsApp in 2014, when the messaging app had 450 million active users, is really beginning to pay off. In recent months, WhatsApp has surpassed Facebook’s own marquee app
Economy
Seven charts that show the world is actually becoming a better place
The Conversation UK - Julius Probst
Swedish academic Hans Rosling has identified a worrying trend: not only do many people across advanced economies have no idea that the world is …
Gear & Gadgets
Amazon adds its new Alexa Voice Remote to its Fire TV Stick
TNW - Callum Booth
Yup, you heard it right – Amazon has updated the remote included with Fire TV Stick. Before you throw your computer out of the window in celebration, this is actually cool. I promise. If you don’t know
Startups
GBatteries let you charge your car as quickly as visiting the pump
TechCrunch - John Biggs
A YC startup called GBatteries has come out of stealth with a bold claim: they can recharge an electric car as quickly as it takes to fill up a tank of gas. Created by aerospace engineer Kostya Khomutov,
Tech Industry
Twitter wants to make it easier to have conversations. And it’s asking for your help.
Recode - Kurt Wagner
Can a new set of product features change the way people communicate online? Twitter is a great service for reading the news. It’s not so great for interacting with other people. The most obvious problem
Tech Industry
Lime, a scooter startup that barely existed two years ago, is now going to be worth $2 billion
Recode - Theodore Schleifer
Lime is expected to take in $400 million in a round financed primarily by its existing investors. The two-year-old scooter-sharing company Lime is finalizing a new round of fundraising that values the
Nature Communications
We could still prevent 1.5 ˚C of warming—but we almost certainly won’t
MIT Technology Review - by James Temple
New research finds we’d need to immediately stop building fossil-fuel-burning vehicles, planes, and factories. A new study finds the world could still …
Bike Lanes
Which cities make it easiest to commute without a car?
Fast Company - By Adele Peters
A new study examines 20 American cities and finds most are sorely lacking in non-car ways to get to work every day. Nearly a third of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. come from transportation, but
Tesla
Tesla CEO Elon Musk's influence grows as automakers roll out electric-vehicle plans at Detroit auto show
CNBC - Phil LeBeau
Tesla may not be this year's North American international Auto Show, but it's easy to feel the influence of Elon Musk's company on the automakers …
Social Media
Facebook brings stricter ads rules to countries with big 2019 votes
CNBC
Facebook told Reuters on Tuesday that it would extend some of its political advertising rules and tools for curbing election interference to India, …
On Bounties and Boffins
trailofbits.com - Trent Brunson
Trying to make a living as a programmer participating in bug bounties is the same as convincing yourself that you’re good enough at Texas Hold ‘Em to …
Social Media
Facebook's '10 Year Challenge' Is Just a Harmless Meme—Right?
WIRED - Kate O'Neill
If you use social media, you've probably noticed a trend across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter of people posting their then-and-now profile …
Fossil Fuels
Only Nuclear Energy Can Save the Planet
The Wall Street Journal. - Joshua S. Goldstein and Staffan A. Qvist
Do the math on replacing fossil fuels: To move fast enough, the world needs to build lots of reactors Climate scientists tell us that the world must drastically cut its fossil fuel use in the next 30 to
Portland, OR
Portland riders say they’re skipping cars, thanks to electric scooters
The Verge - Andrew J. Hawkins
The city studied four months of data from Bird and Lime to produce one of the most detailed analyses of the scooter phenomenon yet Electric scooter companies are known to brag about their potential to
Renewable Energy
How Spain’s Iberdrola is using blockchain tech to push renewable energy
TNW - Yessi Bello Perez
Iberdrola, one of Spain’s main energy companies, has completed a blockchain pilot to track renewable energy more accurately than it ever could before – resulting in losses being slashed in half. The trial
Siblings
Turns out the science saying screen time is bad isn’t science
TechCrunch - Devin Coldewey
A new study is making waves in the worlds of tech and psychology by questioning the basis of thousands of papers and analyses with conflicting conclusions on the effect of screen time on well-being. The
Technology
Instagram caught selling ads to follower-buying services it banned
TechCrunch - Josh Constine
Instagram has been earning money from businesses flooding its social network with spam notifications. Instagram hypocritically continues to sell ad space to services that charge clients for fake followers
The 'Oracle of A.I.': These 4 kinds of jobs won't be replaced by robots
CNBC - Catherine Clifford
Kai-Fu Lee has an impressive resume: He has a Ph.D. in computer science from Carnegie Mellon and has been a vice president at Apple, Microsoft and …
Technology
Tesla is ahead of automakers in 3 key categories, tech money manager says
CNBC - Tyler Clifford
Tesla won't have a presence at this year's Detroit Auto Show but the electric-car maker is miles ahead of the competition in three key categories, …
Technology
China's Waymo rival quietly launched an Uber-style app for driverless cars, making it one of the first to do so
CNBC - Arjun Kharpal
Pony.ai, one of China's most valuable driverless car start-ups, has launched an app that allows users to hail an autonomous taxi, making it one of …