Genealogy tracker MyHeritage releases Deep Nostalgia, a Live Photo-like feature for old photos, which uses AI to show subjects prepping for their portrait
It's hard to feel connected to someone who's gone through a static photo. So a company called MyHeritage who provides automatic AI …
Twitter's Super Follows represent a surge of interest in tools that let individuals create real economic value for themselves on social networks
Will Super Follows shake up the media industry? — 16 hr ago — Today let's talk about Twitter's move into subscriptions …Tweets:@caseynewton,@bijanstephen,@ellenhuet,@chrismessina,@ellenhuet,@ellen...
Facebook's NPE division launches BARS, a TikTok-like app for rappers to create and share their raps using professionally created beats, in closed beta
Facebook's internal R&D group, NPE Team, is today launching its next experimental app, called BARS. The app makes it possible for rappers …
Advanced deepfakes of Tom Cruise are going viral on TikTok, with the account deeptomcruise amassing 200K+ followers in a few days
FOR THE LOVE OF XENU — Be afraid. Be very afraid. — Three days ago, a TikTok account going by @deeptomcruise began posting video clips …
Inside Google Stadia's failure as sources say it missed targets for controller sales and MAUs by hundreds of thousands after spending tens of millions on games
from the gaudy reveal event to its implosion in a year when the gaming industry was doing record business—was ridiculous. https://www.bloomberg.com/... Zach Laidlaw / @ztlaidlaw : “All the buildup had...
Twitter announces Super Follow feature to let users charge for tweets, and a Communities feature to let users create and join groups based on specific interests
Sources detail Google's troubles with game development as the company couldn't stomach the complicated creative process amid Stadia's poor streaming numbers
The tech giant hired 150 game developers for Stadia Games and Entertainment, only to lay them all off. Sources say it never gave the studios a chance.
The SEC suspends trading of 15 lesser-known stocks after suspicious social media promotion raised concerns that their stock prices were artificially inflated
- Wall Street watchdog temporarily halts trading in 15 stocks — Regulator says it's actively monitoring online message boards
In a hearing with US lawmakers, ex-SolarWinds CEO blamed an intern for the “solarwinds123” password leak discovered in 2019 that had exposed a SolarWinds server
FireEye CEO on how the SolarWinds hack was discovered — Washington (CNN)Current and former top executives … Tweets: @cnn , @iwillleavenow , @joshelman , @jeffelder , @acdha , @dangillmor , @joeuchil...
FCC approves a $50/month high-speed internet subsidy for low-income households and a one-time discount of up to $100 on a computer or tablet for eligible homes
Cecilia Kang / New York Times :
Analysis finds bots programmatically hyping “meme” stocks across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, but did not measure their influence
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bots on major social media platforms have been hyping up GameStop Corp and other “meme” stocks …
Researchers identify causes for Zoom fatigue: intense close-up eye contact, constantly seeing own reflection, reduced mobility, and increased cognitive load
talks about extra cognitive and emotional demands. Great tips. I like this one: “give yourself an “audio only...not simply you turning off your camera... but also turning your body away from the scree...
Facebook's Andrew Bosworth told staff that Facebook is considering building facial recognition into future smart glasses products, weighing legal implications
Ryan Mac / BuzzFeed News :
Mississippi is using its $1.2B COVID stimulus to roll out high-speed broadband, which could make it one of the most connected states in the US within six years
Mississippi could become a broadband giant. … When Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and lawmakers in the Mississippi legislature got $1.2 billion … Tweets: @rogerwcheng and @maggie_reardon Tweets: Roger Chen...
Best Buy says it laid off 5,000 workers and will close more stores as it expects 40% of sales to come from online purchases this year, up from 19% two years ago
Nathaniel Meyersohn / CNN :
The use of “+” to name on-demand services was fine when streaming was new but has become a cliché and a minus
and was surprised to earn $30,000 for it.” https://www.nytimes.com/... Shira Ovide / @shiraovide : Guys, @tiffkhsu wrote about the PLUS SIGN taking over streaming and it is glorious. “It's not that ‘p...
Experts say lessons marketed by digital education platforms like Byju's and Yuanfudao are more an innovation in test-prep delivery than in learning outcomes
Investors have poured billions of dollars into digital education platforms like Byju's and Yuanfudao. But are students learning anything? Tweets: @cengizyar , @restofworld , @frankcatalano , @telliot...
Security researcher finds seven embedded trackers in the Android app for LastPass password manager; LastPass says users can opt out if they want
Google is sharing data about distortions in light waves passing through its undersea cables with seismologists to help them detect earthquakes
Justine Calma / The Verge :
Sources: Robinhood is planning to confidentially file for an IPO as soon as next month
Robinhood Said to Plan Confidential IPO Filing Within Weeks - Bloomberg https://www.bloomberg.com/... Alex Cutler / @alexcutler247 : Robinhood Said to Plan Confidential IPO Filing as Soon as March... ...
Treasury secretary Janet Yellen told G20 ministers that the US will drop its “safe harbor” provision for tech companies, allowing a global deal on digital tax
the ‘Silicon Six’ — used legal tax avoidance strategies between 2010 & 2019 to pay $155.3 billion < the actual tax rates accrued collectively by the co's across all global territories in which they op...
Profile of Roblox, which outsources game development to its own players and says more than 300 of such developers earned $100K+ in 2020, ahead of its March IPO
The company runs a free social platform with videogames made by its own players. Its stock-market debut will test investor appetite … Tweets: @saraheneedleman and @saraheneedleman Tweets: Sarah E. Ne...
Social media platforms are struggling with how to handle ISIS-related fundraising campaigns, which are often slipping through by disguising as humanitarianism
John Beck / Rest of World : Tweets: @anupkaphle , @anupkaphle , @iethics , @restofworld , @restofworld , @charles_lister , @restofworld , @restofworld , @restofworld , and @restofworld Tweets: Anup K...
How Anduril and other startups are building military ready, self-piloted drones, away from Silicon Valley, where such projects have become politically untenable
While much has been made of tech's unwillingness to work with the Pentagon, start-ups are still plumbing the industry's decades-long ties to the military. Tweets: @comfortablysmug , @jessedamiani , @d...
Interview with co-CEO of Jumia, whose stock is up 3,000%+ in the last year, on African e-commerce, the company's path to profitability, and more
This month, African e-commerce giant Jumia released its second full-year financials for Q4 and its fiscal year 2020.
Some schools and organizations are abandoning exam monitoring software made by Proctorio amid a barrage of complaints from students over privacy
Todd Feathers / VICE : Tweets: @motherboard , @fightfortheftr , @eff , @zenalbatross , and @hypervisible Tweets: @motherboard : Proctorio has cashed in on remote learning since the start of the pande...
Sources: Biden admin plans to allow a Trump-era rule in March enabling Commerce Dept. to ban tech business transactions with China it feels are security threats
John D. McKinnon / Wall Street Journal : Tweets: @michaelxpettis and @niubi Tweets: Michael Pettis / @michaelxpettis : A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy said that “altering economic law with pol...
Microsoft confirms it has fixed a five-hour Xbox Live outage which prevented some users from signing in or making purchases
Sources: SentinelOne, which develops AI-based endpoint security for all devices and services in a network, is preparing for an IPO that could value it at $10B+
Bloomberg :
Fi, whose connected dog collars send users notifications when their dogs travel out of AI-determined geofenced areas, raises $30M Series B at a $200M valuation
Stori, which offers credit cards in Mexico through its app, raises $32.5M Series B led by Lightspeed, bringing its total raised to $50M
Shopify's new AI commerce stack
Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
Email fatigue is real: Here's how smart email tools help you regain control
Picture this: It's Monday morning. You walk into the office feeling energized and ready to take on the week.
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data
Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.