Business

South Park, freemium, and pop psychology
South Park set its sights on the freemium gaming industry in its November 5th episode, entitled “Freemium isn’t Free”. The episode — which was funny! — took a satirical jab at free-to-play gaming via a fictional title called “Terrance & Phillip: Give Us Your Money”, developed by the Canadian Department of Mobile Gaming (which, in the […]

Perspective | This is the scariest number for the Redskins
Tom Garrett could count on one hand the number of Redskins games he has missed during his adult life. Garrett, 39, followed a few games electronically when he was out of town with family. He once missed the first three quarters of a game during a flight, but caught the fourth quarter in the airport […]

The Army says remote combat vehicles can pack as much firepower as an Abrams tank
LIVONIA, Mich. — Within five years, the Army would like to start testing remote combat vehicle prototypes, known as RCVs, which are unmanned, as light and as fast as a Stryker, but provide the same level of firepower as an M-1 Abrams tank, said Maj. Alan L. Stephens. Stephens, an Acquisition Corps officer at the […]

Business Bitcoin, cryptocurrency
Fly Charts: Back to the Bitcoin Futures and Amazon’s Grocery Weaknesses
Good morning! This is Fly Charts, the daily charts-only newsletter from Gadfly; sign up here. From London’s housing slip up to European tech opportunism, here are four charts that tell you what you need to know in business today. And don’t miss Nisha Gopalen on an expensive beer auction: “In Asian deals, fundamentals can often matter less than […]

Act lifting restrictions on foreign workers is passed – Taipei Times
By Sean Lin / Staff reporter The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed the new Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法), which allows foreigners interested in working in Taiwan to extend their work visa, lifts the restriction on the minimum duration of their stay and includes faster enrollment in the National Health Insurance system. […]

Business, Recreation Elon Reeve Musk, Los Angeles
This Electric Truck Will Probably Beat Tesla’s to Market
On the evening of Nov. 16, Elon Musk unveiled the latest prop in his Tony Stark cosplay. Tesla Inc.’s all-electric semi rig met all the classic Musk product launch criteria: It looked stunning, had unprecedented performance numbers, included features straight out of science fiction, and would arrive at some unknown date at a too-good-to-be-true price […]

Business, Regional, Science Georgia, Marachel Knight, Roger Entner
AT&T begins testing high-speed internet over power lines
NEW YORK (Reuters) – AT&T Inc has started trials in Georgia state and a non-U.S. location to deliver high-speed internet over power lines, the No. 2 wireless carrier said on Wednesday, marking its latest push to offer faster broadband service to more customers. AT&T aims to eventually deliver speeds faster than the 1 gigabit per […]

Business, Society, World Infrastructure, Wireless
Jio May Be Worth Same as Sprint If Ambani Doesn’t Rush It
Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man, can consistently squeeze more than $10 a barrel in refining margins out of crude. Expect no less from him when it comes to monetizing Reliance Industries Ltd.’s investment in Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd., the fourth-generation mobile network that’s taken the nation’s digital landscape by storm. What kind of an equity market valuation […]

Line adds unsend for recalling missent messages
Messaging platform Line has added the ability for users to retrieve messages they’ve sent in error. The unsend feature, which has been added via an update out today, gives users a 24 hour window for unsending missives — so it’s considerably more generous than the unsend option rival platform WhatsApp added in October (which offers […]

Business, Regional, World Europe, Exclusive, France
Exclusive: After Grenfell fire, same builders rehired to replace dange
LONDON (Reuters) – Some building companies that installed dangerous cladding on social housing blocks across Britain are now winning new contracts following the Grenfell Tower blaze to remove their original work and install panels that can pass safety tests, a Reuters review shows. The safety of high-rise buildings has come under scrutiny since the Grenfell […]

Business, World Industrials, Infrastructure
Glencore Is the Tempting Devil Sat on Mining’s Shoulder
The mining industry these days resembles that old cartoon about a person torn between prudence and temptation. On one shoulder, a white-clad angel is whispering about the virtues of capital discipline, shareholder value and generous dividends. On the other sits Glencore Plc Chief Executive Officer Ivan Glasenberg, clad in red and promising to buy or […]

Business, Regional Currency, Infrastructure
Cheap Money Is Helping Landlords Hit a Home Run in Japan
Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda likes to moan about how tough it is to end his country’s deflationary mindset. Residential real estate, however, is one area in which he can claim success for almost five years of monetary experimentation to produce that psychological effect. A weak yen and negative interest rates have made it […]
Business Ajit Pai, Broadband, FCC
The FCC Is Blocking a Law Enforcement Investigation Into Net Neutrality Comment Fraud
The FCC is blocking a law enforcement investigation into fraudulent comments designed to provide bogus support for the agency’s looming net neutrality repeal. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman recently announced his office has been conducting an investigation into who submitted millions of fraudulent comments (some using the identities of dead people) during the public […]
David Marcus, Head of Messenger at Facebook, Will Be Joining Coinbase’s Board
David Marcus, Head of Messenger at Facebook, Will Be Joining Coinbase’s Board I’m pleased to announce that David Marcus, Vice President of Messaging Products at Facebook, will be joining Coinbase’s Board of Directors. David brings first hand knowledge of building impactful, trusted mobile-first products at scale. His experience will add breadth and depth to the […]

Business, Regional, World Currency, Infrastructure
Hong Kong Property Doom Doesn’t Begin at 1%
Hong Kong’s one-month interbank rate has reached its highest level since the global financial crisis. But don’t expect the city’s real estate prices to halt their spiral anytime soon, whatever the International Monetary Fund may say. Blame banks and property developers. Around 94 percent of mortgages in the world’s least affordable property market are tied to the Hong Kong […]

Business, Computers, Recreation, Regional Airfare
jetBlue – $205: New York – Portland, Oregon (and vice versa). Roundtrip, including all Taxes
jetBlue – $205: New York – Portland, Oregon (and vice versa). Roundtrip, including all Taxes This site is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial […]
Watch: Kimmel Returns to TV With Son Billy After Heart Surgery, Advocates for Child Healthcare Law
On ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” last night, Jimmy Kimmel had a new sidekick on hand for his monologue. “I was out last week because this guy had heart surgery,” Kimmel said with his son Billy in his arms. “But look, he’s fine, everybody,” Reading the apprehensive look on the boy’s face, he added, “He may […]

The Chivas Venture will give away $1 million in equity-free funding at TNW Conference
At our Flagship Amsterdam event in May 2018, an expert jury selected by the Chivas Venture will divvy out $800,000 to social startups, with another $200,000 being provided to runners-up before the event. Here’s the story of how –and why– this partnership came about, as well as the full benefits available if you run a […]

Business, Society Donald John Trump
Comcast Promises to Behave Without Net-Neutrality Rules
Broadband provider Comcast Corp. spent years fighting regulations that bar it from charging high-volume internet companies more to speed their content along. Yet the cable company is adamant that it won’t do that once those net-neutrality rules are lifted by U.S. regulators later this week. “Any reporting that we are preparing to offer paid prioritization […]

Business, Health Airway, Insulin, Jessica Orwig, Obesity, Osteoarthritis, reversing, Rob Ludacer, Uma Sharma
What gaining weight does to your body
Maintaining a healthy weight can seem difficult at times, but it’s worth the effort. Here’s how gaining weight changes your body and brain, and not necessarily for the better. Following is a transcript of the video. How gaining weight affects your body. You’ll experience some changes, even where you don’t expect. The weight you can see is only […]

Disney and Fox
It’s always a risk writing about a deal before it is official: CNBC reported a month ago that Disney was in talks to acquire many of 21st Century Fox’s assets, including its eponymous movie studio, TV production company, cable channels, and international assets (but not the Fox broadcast network, Fox News, FS1 — Fox’s sports […]

Business FLU, Influenza, Swine Flu, Swine Influenza
Why You Need the Flu Shot Every Year
Unfortunately, the influenza virus is a ruthless master of disguise. “Not only does flu change, but it’s a survival strategy for the virus. Its change is how it makes people so sick,” Dr. Karron explained. That’s because the part of the virus that changes is the very part the immune system targets. Meet the influenza […]

Arts, Business, Society Rachel Corrie, Surveillance
Surveillance firms spied on campaign groups for big companies, leak shows
British Airways, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Porsche are among five large companies that have been identified as having paid corporate intelligence firms to monitor political groups that challenged their businesses, leaked documents reveal. The surveillance included the use of infiltrators to spy on campaigners. The targets included the grieving family of Rachel Corrie, […]

Business, Computers, Games, Society E-Commerce, LENDINGCLUB CORP
Will 2018 Be the Year of the Bank of Amazon? Experts Weigh In
For the financial technology industry, 2017 will be defined as the year that the threat of tech giants grew stronger, artificial intelligence cemented its importance and some startups applied to become banks. What to look for in 2018? Maybe more mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings and deeper forays by Amazon.com Inc. and Facebook Inc. […]

Business, Regional, Society Costa Rica
What Hedge Funds Will Do After the Hedge Fund Model Dies
This story is part of a series on the future of investing The long and short on hedge funds is that long and short isn’t working so well anymore. That’s the rather simple strategy that built the $3.2 trillion industry — the once-durable buying long when you figure an equity will go up and selling […]

Saigon Beer, an Unacquired Taste
In Asian deals, fundamentals can often matter less than connections. The latest illustration: Thai tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi’s emergence as the sole bidder for a stake in Saigon Beer Alcohol Beverage Corp. Sabeco ranks as the world’s most richly valued major brewer after surging 58 percent on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange this year, including a 6.8 percent jump […]

Hong Kong Regulator Issues Warning on Bitcoin Futures
A Hong Kong finance regulator has published a new circular on bitcoin futures and other cryptocurrency-related investment products. Released by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong on Dec. 11, the circular states that only licensed firms are allowed to offer such products within Hong Kong, specifying that it is a “type 2 regulated activity” under […]

Laptop touchpad driver included extra feature: a keylogger
Flaws in software often offer a potential path for attackers to install malicious software, but you wouldn’t necessarily expect a hardware vendor to include potentially malicious software built right into its device drivers. But that’s exactly what a security researcher found while poking around the internals of a driver for a touchpad commonly used on […]

Business, Games, Society YouTube
Amazon, the Music Prodigy
We know Amazon.com Inc. has become a virtual mega-mall for shopping, a creator of gadgets for our daily commutes and our homes and a mover-and-shaker in entertainment. Less well known is how quickly the online retailer has become a force in digital music. A little over a year after Amazon started to offer people access […]

Arts, Business, Recreation, Science Bitcoin, CBOE
‘More to come’ after bitcoin futures launch: Cboe CEO
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The generally smooth launch of bitcoin futures on Cboe Global Markets (CBOE.O) could pave the way for other cryptocurrency-related products like options and ETFs, the head of the exchange operator said in an interview on Monday. It may take U.S. regulators a bit longer to warm to the idea of a […]

Arts, Business Bitcoin, Coinbase
The Introduction Of Bitcoin Futures Was Surprisingly Calm And Normal
The first day of bitcoin futures on Sunday was calm — relatively speaking — in the volatile world of bitcoin. The only thing that crashed was the website, and while trading stopped twice for a few minutes, it was due to automatic trading halts put in place when the price rose by 10% or more. […]

Hospital Consolidation Is No Panacea
You get big? I’ll get bigger. In the face of increasing consolidation among insurers, hospitals are themselves linking up at ever-greater rates. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that we may see one of the biggest hospital deals yet: a possible merger of non-profit giants Ascension and Providence St. Joseph Health, which would create the […]

Hedge Fund Founder and Amazon Researcher Build a Better AI Stock Picker
A hedge fund manager and a computer scientist have found a promising new way to use artificial intelligence to pick stocks over longer periods than the typical machine-driven approaches favored by Wall Street.In tests, John Alberg, co-founder of hedge fund firm Euclidean Technologies, and Zachary Lipton, a researcher at Amazon.com Inc.’s AI lab, generated 17.1 percent annualized returns from […]

Business Confide, Telegram, Uber, Waymo, Wickr
Secret message apps on the rise at work
The texts are long gone. That is becoming a more common reality in workplaces. More companies are starting to approve the use of ephemeral messaging apps like Wickr, Telegram and Vaporstream for internal communications. The tools are used for security. They can keep sensitive conversations from falling into the wrong hands by automatically deleting messages […]

Business, Society netneutrality, SteveWozniak
Internet’s original gangsters slam FCC’s net neutrality proposal
Ajit Pai’s plan to toss out the FCC’s net neutrality rules has some prominent critics. Pioneers of the internet and other computer technology on Monday called for the Federal Communications Commission to cancel a vote this week at which the agency is expected to repeal net neutrality regulations designed to protect internet traffic from discrimination. […]