3 Gadgets You Didn’t Know You Needed, but Are Worth Buying

UncategorisedLeave a comment

3 Gadgets You Didn’t Know You Needed, but Are Worth Buying Photo Credit Manu Fernandez/Associated Press It’s easy to forget how far technology has come within a few years. We went from praying our CD players wouldn’t skip to streaming music wirelessly to AirPods in our ears. But even some recently introduced devices have made the jump from being high-end, enthusiast tech to at-home must haves. Here are a few of them.
Photo Amazon Echo Dot . Credit Elaine Thompson/Associated Press The assistant we didn’t ask for, but can’t live without“Weird.” “Curious.” “Baffling.” “Quite Stupid.” These words all once described Alexa, the voice-activated digital assistant on Amazon’s Echo device. Now, according to Amazon, the Echo Dot, a smaller, less expensive version of the Echo was the “#1 selling Amazon Device” during the holidays last year.
Back in 2014, it was odd to consider even owning an Echo (and you needed an invite from Amazon to actually purchase one). Today, you can pick from five differ..

PRESS RELEASE!!! IPOB LAUNCH OPERATION COW DANCE 2 TO APPREHEND AND SUBMIT BUHARI TO DNA TEST

UncategorisedLeave a comment

IPOB PRESS RELEASE 23/04/2018 IPOB LAUNCH OPERATION COW DANCE 2 TO APPREHEND AND SUBMIT BUHARI TO DNA TEST DURING HIS UPCOMING TRIP TO WASHINGTON Following the successful completion of our Operation Cow Dance, beautifully executed by the United Kingdom IPOB family, that led to the premature and unscheduled exit of the person referred to as…

Google’s Parent Company Spends Like It’s Thinking of a Future Beyond Ads

UncategorisedLeave a comment

Google’s Parent Company Spends Like It’s Thinking of a Future Beyond Ads Photo Alphabet, Google’s parent company, spent big in the first quarter on new data centers and services aimed at businesses. Credit Christie Hemm Klok for The New York Times SAN FRANCISCO — Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is spending like it is beginning to prepare for life after advertising.
Currently, Alphabet makes nearly 90 percent of its money from selling advertising on the internet, and gobbles up heaps of data about its users to help marketers target those ads more effectively.
But a close reading of Alphabet’s financial results for the first quarter of 2018, which were announced on Monday, showed that the Silicon Valley giant is accelerating its efforts to diversify into other businesses.
Alphabet has made investments in areas like self-driving cars and online computer services for businesses for years, but spending in those areas was up dramatically in the first quarter. The company’s capital expendi..

This Start-Up Says It Wants to Fight Poverty. A Food Stamp Giant Is Blocking It.

UncategorisedLeave a comment

This Start-Up Says It Wants to Fight Poverty. A Food Stamp Giant Is Blocking It.
Four years ago, Jimmy Chen left a lucrative perch as a product manager at Facebook to found Propel, what he calls an “anti-poverty software company.”
In 2016, the Brooklyn start-up released a smartphone app that lets food stamp recipients easily look up how much money was left in their accounts, rather than call an 800 number or keep paper receipts. Today, one million food stamp participants use Propel’s app, and the start-up has added features like links to food coupons, healthy recipes, budgeting tools and job opportunities.
But in the last few months, the Propel app has been hobbled or become unavailable in many states, sometimes for weeks. Behind the slowdown is a big government contractor, Conduent, which runs the food stamp networks in 25 states, including New York, California and Pennsylvania. In those states, where 60 percent of Propel’s users live, Conduent maintains the database that Propel’s ap..

How Looming Privacy Regulations May Strengthen Facebook and Google

UncategorisedLeave a comment

How Looming Privacy Regulations May Strengthen Facebook and Google Photo Facebook and Google may emerge stronger after Europe enacts sweeping new regulations that prioritize people’s data privacy. Credit Tomi Setala/Bloomberg SAN FRANCISCO — In Europe and the United States, the conventional wisdom is that regulation is needed to force Silicon Valley’s digital giants to respect people’s online privacy.
But new rules may instead serve to strengthen Facebook’s and Google’s hegemony and extend their lead on the internet.
That could begin playing out next month, when Europe enacts sweeping new regulations that prioritize people’s data privacy. The new laws, which require tech companies to ask for users’ consent for their data, are likely to hand Google and Facebook an advantage. That’s because wary consumers are more prone to trust recognized names with their information than unfamiliar newcomers. And the laws may deter start-ups that do not have the resources to comply with the rules from ..

Apple’s Deal for Shazam Delayed in Europe Over Data Concerns

UncategorisedLeave a comment

Apple’s Deal for Shazam Delayed in Europe Over Data Concerns Photo European regulators announced an investigation into Apple’s proposed acquisition of Shazam, the song-identification app, over concerns that Apple would acquire data on competitors. Credit Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg LONDON — If data is the most valuable currency of the digital economy, at what point does a company have so much that it becomes unfair?
That’s a question antitrust experts are increasingly asking themselves as the world’s biggest technology companies harvest more and more information about people and businesses. On Monday, European regulators pushed the idea forward, announcing an investigation into Apple’s proposed acquisition of the song-identification app Shazam over concerns the iPhone maker would get access to data on competitors like Spotify.
Antitrust cases, particularly in the United States, are typically argued over the impact a deal will have on consumers, such as the price of a product or service. ..

A Former Top Wall Street Regulator Turns to the Blockchain

UncategorisedLeave a comment

A Former Top Wall Street Regulator Turns to the Blockchain Photo Gary Gensler, a senior lecturer at the M.I.T. Sloan School of Management, at the M.I.T. Media Lab. Mr. Gensler, once one of the top financial regulators in the Obama administration, will teach a class on the blockchain in the fall. Credit Kayana Szymczak for The New York Times SAN FRANCISCO — Gary Gensler was one of the top financial regulators in the Obama administration, the finance chief for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and, before both of those jobs, a partner at Goldman Sachs.
Now, like many other big names from business and government, he is plunging into the world of the blockchain, the data-tracking technology introduced by Bitcoin.
Mr. Gensler, 60, has recently gone to work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he will write and teach about the potential he sees for blockchains to change the financial world.
He will also use his position to warn about how many of the current projects..