Insights

Communication and Technology news
Facebook to be more transparent over political advertising in the UK
2018-04-26

As the Cambridge Analytica shitshow thunders forwards, Facebook is doubling down on its damage control efforts. The latest announcement from the ubiquitous social network, as it tries to dig itself out of its current predicament, is actually pretty welcome. For starters, it’s being clearer about what’s a political...

Yes, Flickr Has A Future—As “A Safe Place For Photographers”
2018-04-26

The iconic photo-sharing service’s new management isn’t trying to take on Instagram. It just wants Flickr to make the most of its photos and community. Two of the oldest and biggest photography-oriented internet companies are now one. Last week, SmugMug acquired Flickr from Verizon’s Oath after...

Counter extremism advisor: YouTube is “least receptive” to prioritize safety over growth
2018-04-26

Bloomberg has an interesting long-form article about the horrible year YouTube has had when it comes to cleaning up content–including extremist videos and pornography–on its platform. The entire article is worth a read, but perhaps the best gem is a quote from Hany Farid, senior adviser to the Counter...

Google’s new Tasks app gets the job done, but just barely
2018-04-26

Along with its Gmail design overhaul yesterday, Google relaunched its Tasks app. It’s now available within your Gmail inbox when you activate the new interface, as well as on Android and iOS. Sadly, it’s as barebones as any to-do app I’ve ever used. I’m all for apps that keep things simple and don’t...

Despite all your rage, Wall Street still doesn’t give a fuck
2018-04-26

After a string of bad press and the worst crisis in its 14-year history, Facebook today posted gains of 63 percent in profit, and 49 percent in revenue. Or, to put it another way, Wall Street gives zero fucks about your privacy concerns. For a company neither stalled nor slowed by the #DeleteFacebook movement, rapidly...

YouTube Kids hands the reins to parents rather than fixing its own mess
2018-04-26

YouTube is giving parents greater control over its Kids app, presumably in an attempt to curtail the complaints that it’s not doing enough to keep the app clean. Now parents can get a better handle on what their child watches on the Kids app — which would be great, except for the fact that shouldn’t have been a...

Someone made Soulja Boy’s old website point to a bunch of dragon dongs
2018-04-25

Soulja Boy is promoting dragon-themed sex toys on Twitter, whether he knows it or not. In what’s possibly the best combination of dungeons and dragons since Dungeons and Dragons, a sex toy company called Bad Dragon makes marital aids for lovers of all things dirty and dragon related. It turns out the company’s...

Facebook says platform changes are reducing passive video consumption
2018-04-25

Last quarter, Facebook said it was focusing its platform going forward on more meaningful interactions, changes that would reduce the time users spend on the service. Today, during its first-quarter earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said changes that emphasize those kinds of connections have resulted in a decline of...

What scandal? Facebook easily beats earnings estimates with EPS of $1.69
2018-04-25

Facebook may still be mired in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, but if all you were looking at is its bottom line, you might never know anything was wrong. Today, Mark Zuckerberg’s company released its first-quarter earnings report, and it handily beat analysts’ estimates, posting revenues of $11.97...

Facebook easily beats analysts’s predictions of $1.35 per share
2018-04-25

Facebook may still be mired in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, but if all you were looking at is its bottom line, you might never know anything was wrong. Today, Mark Zuckerberg’s company released its first-quarter earnings report, and it handily beat analysts’s estimates, posting revenues of $11.97...

Facebook earnings: 5 things to watch in first post-Cambridge Analytica report
2018-04-25

This afternoon, Facebook will release its first-quarter earnings. Here are five things we’ll be watching for from the social-networking giant: This is Facebook’s first earnings report since the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke last month. It will be interesting to see how the controversy–which...

Google swaps revolver for water gun in its emoji armory
2018-04-25

Today Google became the latest company to replace its gun emoji with a non-lethal alternative — namely, a water pistol. I’ve been an iOS user for as long as I’ve owned a smartphone, but I admit one look at this cute squirt gun had me thinking, “You know, there are perfectly good Android phones that are much...

Jack Dorsey: Twitter doesn’t need to sell your data. It’s already public
2018-04-25

Twitter more than exceeded expectations in its Q1 earnings report on Wednesday morning, clocking another profitable quarter and recording an additional six million monthly active users. In a nod to Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal—and, possibly, the pressure he’s already faced since Mark...

Lightning Labs CEO is giving scholarships to female blockchain developers
2018-04-25

Lightning Labs co-founder and CEO Elizabeth Stark has announced a scholarship for female blockchain developers. In a post on Twitter, Stark said that she and Bitcoin developer Jimmy Song have secured several scholarship packages for the upcoming Programming Blockchain seminar, which is scheduled to take place on May...

The Three Smartest Ways To Use LinkedIn Early In Your Career
2018-04-25

Why bother using LinkedIn when you don’t have much job experience to put on your profile page? Here’s why–and how to do it. LinkedIn is a great place to build a network, diversify your knowledge, and find new career opportunities–even when you’re early in your career. Students and...

Why we should collectively worry about Facebook and Google owning our data
2018-04-25

Over the past few weeks, I’ve written extensively about the Cambridge Analytica scandal that rocked Facebook, after it was discovered some 87 million users’ data was scraped by an analytics firm without their knowledge, for the purpose of influencing voters ahead of an election. I feel that, in the heat of the...

Twitter’s Q1 earnings by the numbers
2018-04-25

Twitter has released its Q1 earnings report and the company can now boast that it’s had its second profitable quarter in a row. Here’s how Twitter’s Q1 numbers break down: Revenue totaled $665 million–a 21% year-over-year increase Advertising revenue totaled $575 million, an increase of 21%...

You now need to be at least 16 to use WhatsApp in Europe
2018-04-25

Facebook has announced that it is raising the minimum age for users of its WhatsApp messaging service to 16 in the “European Region,” which includes all EU countries and Switzerland. The move is happening because of the EU’s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) laws, which go into effect...

Google, Facebook are the latest to ditch the gun emoji
2018-04-25

The search giant has replaced the pistol emoji with one of a water gun in its latest emoji update for Android, reports Emojipedia. The move follows the trend started by Apple in 2016 and in subsequent years adopted by Samsung and Twitter. Facebook, too, has confirmed that the pistol emoji is being replaced with a...

Facebook Says Sorry (Sort Of) In Its Biggest Ever Ad Campaign
2018-04-25

The new campaign’s tagline is “Here together,” but it might come across as “Sorry, not sorry.” Facebook is launching the largest brand marketing campaign in company history today, barely two weeks after CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified in front of congressional lawmakers.Read Full...

Opera now lets you beam content from your phone to your desktop
2018-04-25

Off the back of the Opera Touch announcement, the iconic Norwegian/Chinese browser maker is announcing some major changes to its desktop offering. If you read my coverage of Opera Touch (which came out literally two minutes before I published this), these changes will sound pretty familiar. For starters, the way...

Here’s What’s New In Gmail’s Big Productivity-Boosting Update
2018-04-25

In the interest of good first impressions, it doesn’t look much different. But this update brings the most new functionality Gmail has gotten in years. If it seems like it’s been forever since Google last gave Gmail a major makeover, that’s because it has been. Close enough, anyhow: The last one,...

Trello adds a handy news feed and vastly improved notifications
2018-04-25

Trello is easily one of the most popular project management tools around. The Atlassian-owned app lets you break projects up into smaller tasks, assign responsibility and due-dates, and set priorities in a Kanban-style interface. Now, it’s getting perhaps the biggest overhaul since the site was founded in 2011, with...

Report: Google Play Music will be killed off and replaced by YouTube Remix this year
2018-04-25

Since last July, we’ve been hearing about Google’s plans to merge YouTube and Google Play Music to create a new streaming service, and today, a report from Droid Life and a comment from the company has shed more light on the situation. According to the outlet’s source, Google Play Music will be replaced by the...

Need a professional cloud based solution for your email and productivity?

Join Google Workspace