Category: Business

Business Russia Troll Twitter

That moment you learn you’ve been yelling at a Russian troll

sudshr47 November 3, 2017

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A lot of folks have yelled at @Jenn_Abrams on Twitter, and that was the point. 

Twitter users can no longer find @Jenn_Abrams on that social platform, because the account was removed after a congressional investigation revealed — as reported by The Daily Beast — this Abrams person was actually a troll account sent into the world by the Russian propaganda outfit known as the Internet Research Agency. 

Created in 2014, the folks behind the account spent some time sucking up followers with successfully viral tweets before swerving into right-wing politics in the lead-up to the United States presidential election in 2016. From there, the Abrams account incited angry political tweets. Read more…

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Business Election Facebook Social Media Zeynep Tufekci

Zeynep Tufekci tried to warn us about Facebook and politics back in 2012

sudshr47 November 3, 2017

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Zeynep Tufekci tried to tell us. 

She tried to tell us in November 2012, just after Barack Obama beat out Mitt Romney for a second term as president of the United States. Obama’s win was credited in part to a sophisticated online campaign that used heaps of data on millions of Americans to target digital efforts for maximum impact—something that happened out of sight of government regulators and the public eye.

She tried to tell us that this was a bad precedent.

“The scalpels, on the other hand, can be precise and effective in a quiet, un-public way,” Tufekci wrote in a New York Times op-ed. “They take persuasion into a private, invisible realm. Misleading TV ads can be countered and fact-checked. A misleading message sent in just the kind of e-mail you will open or ad you will click on remains hidden from challenge by the other campaign or the media.” Read more…

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Amazon Big Tech Companies Business Walmart

Buying stuff at Walmart and selling it on Amazon nets this guy millions of dollars

sudshr47 November 3, 2017

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There may be untapped millions to be made in the clearance racks of your local Walmart.

That’s according to a 28-year-old former accountant who told CNBC that he makes six figures raiding the big-box store’s discount aisles and flipping the items on Amazon.

Ryan Grant told the site he simply browses the store, smartphone in hand, comparing the price tags to those listed in the Amazon Seller app to gauge potential profits. He then uses Amazon’s fulfillment service to ship items in bulk at cheaper rates afforded by the online shopping giant.

Grant, who lives in Minneapolis, first perfected this system selling textbooks in college. But it wasn’t until he quit his accounting job four years ago that he really ramped up the operation, eventually renting out a 725-square-foot warehouse to store the boxes upon boxes of products. Read more…

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Business Work Life

How to tactfully tell your boss you’re quitting (to start your own business)

sudshr47 November 3, 2017

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Some tech jobs (and bosses) are easy to leave, but in some circumstances breaking away can be more difficult. Sometimes, it’s not dissatisfaction with the employer that drives an employee away; it’s having sights set on something bigger—like starting a business. 

How do you break the news to a boss (whom you respect and have learned a great deal from) that you’re quitting to start your own innovative company? 

In my role helping startups through the business formation process, I often encounter new business owners in tech and other industries who face this question. 

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Apple Business Entertainment Tech Watercooler

Sony’s robot dog is back and better than ever

sudshr47 November 3, 2017

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Sony is releasing a new and improved version of its Aibo robot dog 11 years after its launch. This time, Aibo has some new features, including an app that lets you download tricks and games. But this plastic companion doesn’t come cheap—it costs a whopping $1,700. If you want one, you’ll also need a ticket to Japan, the only country where it’s available.  Read more…

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Business CNN Media Industry Paywall Subscribers

CNN is launching a subscription tier, the era of free stuff on the internet is officially over

sudshr47 November 3, 2017

CNN is getting into the subscription game. 
The news network will launch a paid tier in 2018, marking a significant step for the company’s online efforts. All of CNN’s online content has, up to this point, been offered for free alongside ads.&#1…

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Business Gothamist Journalism Media Media Industry

After Gothamist archives disappear, heroic coders build tool to recover articles

sudshr47 November 3, 2017

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When every one of the articles that had ever been published by Gothamist, DNAinfo, and their many sister sites disappeared on Friday night, many people expected the worst. 

Thousands of articles from writers were suddenly gone. Those journalists, laid off as part of the sudden closing of the publications, also didn’t have the clips integral to getting a new job. 

That sent two coders into action. Hours later, they had built a web-based tool that allowed any journalist to search for their byline and grab their articles based on caches from Google’s AMP web pages. 

🚨🚨🚨🚨 @xn9q8h and i wrote a tool that retrieves Gothamist articles from AMP caches! 🚨🚨🚨🚨 https://t.co/tPMBGMVFSk pic.twitter.com/blzWcSLbvf

— 😈 (@turtlekiosk) November 3, 2017 Read more…

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Big Tech Companies Business Facebook Russia

Facebook admits to nearly as many fake or clone accounts as the U.S. population

sudshr47 November 3, 2017

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Amid the distraction of Facebook’s blockbuster earnings this week, the company quietly admitted to hosting more phony accounts than previously revealed.  

The social network upped its estimate of the portion of fake accounts from 2 to 3 percent and the number of duplicates from 6 to 10 percent, Business Insider first reported.

That means that as many as 270 million of the platform’s 2.1-billion-strong user base could be fraudulent — a population verging on the size of the United States. 

Facebook said the change was due to better tools for tracking illegitimate activity rather than a sudden spike in fishy sign-ups.   Read more…

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Business Music Music Streaming Pandora Spotify

Pandora tried to become more like Spotify and now it’s bleeding users

sudshr47 November 2, 2017

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Pandora is trying to reinvent itself as more than free internet radio. But subscriptions come with a price. 

Pandora has been losing users with each earnings report, at 73.7 million active listeners this quarter compared to 78.1 million this time two years ago. 

Pandora Q3 Users:
2015: 78.1M
2016: 77.9M
2017: 73.7M

— Lucas Shaw (@Lucas_Shaw) November 2, 2017

The 4.4 million dropoff in users comes as Pandora tries to make itself a player in the on-demand music streaming wars, up against Spotify, Apple Music, and the rest. 

This quarter, Pandora touted that its total paid subscribers were up 29 percent year-over-year to 5.19 million. For comparison, Spotify has 60 million subscribers and Apple Music has about 30 million. Pandora’s subscriptions brought in $84.4 million in revenue.  Read more…

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Business Dnainfo Gothamist Media Industry

Ridiculously rich man shuts down DNAinfo and Gothamist after employees unionize

sudshr47 November 2, 2017

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Billionaire Joe Ricketts has thrown a temper tantrum so big he shut his own company down. 

Ricketts—the founder of Ameritrade, whose children own the Chicago Cubs, and whose wealth is estimated at around $2.1 billion—closed down local New York City news sites DNAinfo and Gothamist on Thursday, as well as websites in a variety of other cities including Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. 

After a months-long battle, employees at the recently-merged news outlets voted to become members of Writers Guild of America East about a week ago.

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Alphabet Artificial Intelligence Business Canada Donald Trump Eric Schmidt Google Justin Trudeau Quebec TC toronto

Justin Trudeau explains why Canada really ‘gets’ AI and smart cities

sudshr47 November 2, 2017

 At Google’s Go North event today in Toronto, which features a slate of speakers focused primarily on artificial intelligence, Alphabet chairman Eric Schmidt spoke to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (and actually asked him some tough questions on NAFTA negotiations and his feelings about Trump, surprisingly). Trudeau talked a lot about the Canadian perspective on innovation, and about… Read More

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