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Showing posts from June, 2022

How Zoom is refocusing on business software to revive growth after two years of trying to monetize demand from consumers, many of whom stuck with free calls (Brody Ford/Bloomberg)

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Brody Ford / Bloomberg : How Zoom is refocusing on business software to revive growth after two years of trying to monetize demand from consumers, many of whom stuck with free calls   —  Zoom Video Communications Inc. is navigating life after the pandemic by acting like the past two years never happened. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/4ru6y5c

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson could push corporate America into a new age of diversity

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A new day could be dawning for leadership in America with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson taking her post. Kevin Lamarque-Pool/Getty Images Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn into the Supreme Court on Thursday. Jackson is the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court in US history. Corporate diversity consultants said it could prompt CEOs to make similar moves. It's no secret that prestigious and powerful roles like a  Supreme Court justice or a Fortune 500 CEO have historically been occupied by white men. There are few exceptions who've defied the odds and ascended to the highest court — or corner offices — in the land. Former justices Thurgood Marshall and Sandra Day O'Connor broke barriers, as did current justice Sonia Sotomayor. There are high-profile CEOs like Jane Fraser, head of Citi, and Marvin Ellison, who is Black, and runs the hardware chain Lowe's. Thasunda Brown Duckett, a Black woman, heads TIAA, the insurance and investment company. Each of t

Binance taps TikTok’s mostly silent superstar Khaby Lame to explain how crypto works

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Khaby Lame is quite literally on top of the world (if TikTok follower counts are the world). After attending his first VidCon and surpassing Charli D’Amelio as the most followed TikToker, the Italian-Senegalese comedian signed on as an ambassador for Binance , the world’s largest platform for buying and selling cryptocurrencies. Just last week, Binance snagged a partnership with soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, who wants to “ change the NFT game .” These high-profile partnerships come at a troubling time for crypto. In May, the popular cryptocurrency TerraUSD collapsed , meaning that anyone who had invested in the coin lost all of the money they put in . Then, in the face of a macroeconomic downturn, crypto companies like Coinbase, Crypto.com, BlockFi and Gemini have conducted layoffs, and the prices of top cryptocurrencies have dropped as much as 35% week over week. Basically, anyone who has invested in cryptocurrency is feeling a bit nervous right now, unless they’re so bullish that

CFTC charges South Africa-based bitcoin pool operator Mirror Trading International with $1.7B fraud, in its largest ever fraud case involving bitcoin (Danny Nelson/CoinDesk)

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Danny Nelson / CoinDesk : CFTC charges South Africa-based bitcoin pool operator Mirror Trading International with $1.7B fraud, in its largest ever fraud case involving bitcoin   —  MTI's self-described CEO was recently detained in Brazil on an Interpol warrant, the regulator said.  —  The top U.S. commodities watchdog … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/Dz4NBx7

In internal memo, Chief Product Officer Chris Cox says Meta is bracing for a leaner H2 and "teams should not expect vast influxes of new engineers and budgets" (Katie Paul/Reuters)

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Katie Paul / Reuters : In internal memo, Chief Product Officer Chris Cox says Meta is bracing for a leaner H2 and “teams should not expect vast influxes of new engineers and budgets”   —  (Reuters) - Facebook-owner Meta Platforms Inc is bracing for a leaner second half of the year … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/cB6mwUl

Sources: FTX is close to finalizing a term sheet to buy BlockFi for around $25M; BlockFi was last valued at $4.8B, per PitchBook (Kate Rooney/CNBC)

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Kate Rooney / CNBC : Sources: FTX is close to finalizing a term sheet to buy BlockFi for around $25M; BlockFi was last valued at $4.8B, per PitchBook   —  - Crypto exchange FTX is close to finalizing a term sheet to buy BlockFi and a deal is expected to be signed by the end of this week, three sources familiar with the situation told CNBC. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/URI5nGv

Meta says it is rolling out NFT support on Facebook, allowing select US creators to display NFTs on their profiles, after adding the feature to Instagram in May (TechCrunch)

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TechCrunch : Meta says it is rolling out NFT support on Facebook, allowing select US creators to display NFTs on their profiles, after adding the feature to Instagram in May   —  After debuting NFT support on Instagram in May, Meta has launched digital collectibles support on Facebook with select creators. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/R7TgC16

Research details sophisticated malware targeting a wide range of routers then taking over Windows, Linux, and Mac devices, in N. America and Europe for ~2 years (Dan Goodin/Ars Technica)

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Dan Goodin / Ars Technica : Research details sophisticated malware targeting a wide range of routers then taking over Windows, Linux, and Mac devices, in N. America and Europe for ~2 years   —  Router-stalking ZuoRAT is likely the work of a sophisticated nation-state, researchers say.  —  An unusually advanced hacking group … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/wJmdvRu

Bernie Sanders urges the Biden administration to fine airlines $27,500 fine per passenger for worsening flight delays

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Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, leaves the White House last July. Susan Walsh/AP Sanders wants airline companies to hold up their end of the bargain or face steep fines. He urged big financial penalties on airlines with persistent flight delays over two hours. Other Democrats are growing concerned about a summer travel meltdown. Many travelers in the US are growing frustrated with worsening flight delays in recent weeks. That's prompting Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont to try and ensure major airliners hold up their end of the bargain going into the busy summer travel season — or face steep fines if they leave passengers and employees stranded on the tarmac. "Taxpayers bailed out the airline industry during their time of need," Sanders said in a letter sent Wednesday to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. "Now, it is the responsibility of the airline industry and the Department of Transportation to ensure, to the maximum extent possib

Firefox now offers a way to strip URLs of certain tracking parameters, like from HubSpot, Marketo, and Meta, following similar functionality in Brave Browser (Lawrence Abrams/BleepingComputer)

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Lawrence Abrams / BleepingComputer : Firefox now offers a way to strip URLs of certain tracking parameters, like from HubSpot, Marketo, and Meta, following similar functionality in Brave Browser   —  Mozilla Firefox 102 was released today with a new privacy feature that strips parameters from URLs that are used to track you around the web. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/bgUZHyS

Crypto exchange CoinFlex says Roger Ver - aka 'bitcoin Jesus' - is behind the underwater account that forced it to halt customer withdrawals

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Roger Ver South China Morning Post / /Getty Images CoinFlex revealed that the investor running a $47 million debt with the exchange is Roger Ver. Ver, aka 'bitcoin Jesus," denied rumors of his debt on social media, saying that CoinFlex actually owed him money. CoinFlex CEO Mark Lamb later revealed Ver's identity as the account holder in a public tweet. CoinFlex said that the high-profile investor running a negative balance with the crypto exchange is Roger Ver, a long-time bitcoin evangelist. Ver, who is also known  as "bitcoin Jesus," has denied owing anything to the exchange, implying in a tweet yesterday that CoinFlex actually owes him money. Coinflex halted customer withdrawals due to liquidity issues stemming from a large account that was running a negative balance.  "Recently some rumors have been spreading that I have defaulted on some debt to a counter-party," Ver wrote , shortly after CoinFlex announced it would issue recovery tokens

Disclose your Scope 3 emissions, you cowards

If you want the inside scoop on which companies are serious about addressing their carbon emissions and which aren’t, take a look at the public comments submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regarding its proposed climate rule. You can tell if a company is serious by its stance on so-called Scope 3 emissions. Depending on the business, Scope 3 emissions might make up a significant majority of a company’s carbon footprint. Such emissions can result from activities and assets a company doesn’t own or control, like leased office space, business travel or end-of-life processing of their products. They also might occur when customers use their products, like when someone drives their gas-powered SUV. In short, if your company is serious about doing something about climate change, it should probably be estimating its Scope 3 emissions. If it’s making noise about being sustainable, at the very least it probably shouldn’t undermine attempts to make Scope 3 disclosures stan

Disney extends CEO Bob Chapek’s contract for three more years despite difficult tenure

Disney’s board unanimously voted to extend CEO Bob Chapek’s contract for three more years, the company announced yesterday. His current deal was set to expire in February 2023. Despite a chaotic tenure that began at the height of COVID, the new three-year agreement will begin Friday, July 1. “Disney was dealt a tough hand by the pandemic, yet with Bob at the helm, our businesses—from parks to streaming—not only weathered the storm but emerged in a position of strength. In this important time of growth and transformation, the Board is committed to keeping Disney on the successful path it is on today, and Bob’s leadership is key to achieving that goal. Bob is the right leader at the right time for The Walt Disney Company, and the Board has full confidence in him and his leadership team,” said Susan Arnold, chairman of the board, in a statement . The extension is Chapek’s chance to prove to the board, Wall Street and subscribers that he is capable of running a streaming business in thi

A look at YouTube "media critics", who use humor to dissect the output of more popular YouTubers, discuss the absurdities of influencers, and more (Adlan Jackson/New York Times)

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Adlan Jackson / New York Times : A look at YouTube “media critics”, who use humor to dissect the output of more popular YouTubers, discuss the absurdities of influencers, and more   —  One of the most popular genres of videos online is to comment on other videos online.  Are they comedians or media critics? from Techmeme https://ift.tt/z5kPGcR

Coalition wants to make more women operators and investors at the same damn time

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Image Credits: Coalition In 2020, Thrive Capital asked a cohort of folks — including Glossier VP of Communications Ashley Mayer , Cityblock Health co-founder Toyin Ajayi , Umbrella co-founder Lindsay Ullman and Tribe AI co-founder Jackie Nelson — if they wanted to be scouts, or invest tiny checks on behalf of the firm with a potential for shared upside. Instead, the four-person group had an idea: Why not pool the scout capital they were being offered and formalize it into a micro-fund to be invested out together. Checks wouldn’t just come with one stamp of approval, but four; and instead of playing subtle scouts, the four operators can see and back a broader range of companies. After all, invest for the job you want, right? Twenty checks and two years later, the quartet decided to pitch another idea, this time as a firmer bet on themselves and to a broader group of investors. The vision, launching publicly for the first time today, is Coalition , a fund and operator network d

OK, whose rocket just hit the moon?

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You know you’re living in the space age when a rocket hits the moon, and the industry as a whole points to the sky and, like an angry teacher holding up a paper airplane, asks “Who launched this?!” Truly, that is what occurred this week as an unidentified rocket stage (!) impacted the lunar surface, forming a new and interesting crater and leaving us all wondering how it’s possible not to know what happened. The short version of this story is that skywatchers led by Bill Gray had been tracking an object for months that, based on their calculations, would soon impact the moon. It was obviously a piece of rocket trash (rockets produce a ton of trash), but no one stepped up to say “yes, that’s ours, sorry about that.” Based on their observations and discussions, these amateur (though by no means lacking in expertise) object trackers determined that it was most likely a SpaceX launch from 2015. But SpaceX didn’t cop to it, and after a while Gray and others, including NASA, decided it w

See more coverage of the January 6 Capitol riot and House hearings

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Follow along with our live coverage of the House's January 6 hearings , see the schedule to watch them all , learn who has testified , and read the full transcripts here . The House committee says it has evidence that former President Donald Trump broke three federal laws trying to overturn the 2020 election he lost. Trump lunged at his driver and tried to grab the steering wheel as he demanded to be taken to the Capitol on January 6, an ex-White House aide testified. More than 30 people who lived through the January 6 insurrection describe what it was like in all its heart-pounding detail, and  video footage shows what it was like  in the middle of the pro-Trump mob. This searchable table shows everyone who's been charged in the Capitol riot so far, and this table shows who's pleaded guilty . Read the original article on Business Insider from Business Insider https://ift.tt/REQLb0C