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News You Can Use: 5/9/2018

  • With GDPR Restrictions on Using Consumer Data, Marketers Will Need to Start Mining Moments

    The GDPR is likely to classify both cookies and device IDs as personal data, and businesses will need a legal basis in order to process this sort of information. It’s also likely that the penalties for non-compliance will be steep.

    As a company, we took early precautions and have been preparing for these changes since January 2017 in order to be as ready as possible for the regulation coming into effect in May. The compliance process for us has been a four-stage journey that we have conducted with a law firm specializing in privacy. We have also been actively engaged with the IAB U.K. in order to shape a responsible interpretation of GDPR.

    Behind the scenes we have been conducting extensive due diligence to ensure that our products embed “privacy by design” principles; this includes assessing the type of data we’re processing and rationalizing to ourselves why we need it and how it improves the experience of an internet consumer.

    https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/312075

  • Finland will not expand its groundbreaking basic income trial

    Finland’s Social Insurance Institution (Kela) was hoping to expand the trial to see how employed people reacted when they too received a regular monthly UBI payment from the government, but the Finnish government rejected the request for extra funds. The universal basic income trial will now come to an end later this year.

    https://www.fastcompany.com/40563124/finland-will-not-expand-its-groundbreaking-basic-income-trial

  • Can cryptocurrency save Puerto Rico?
  • 160-year-old insurance giant transforms into a digital business

    This also meant changes in how we’re organized. Over time, we rebranded IT from Information Services to the Client and Digital Experience (CDX) function. More recently, we have taken some departments — including mine — out of CDX and put them in other functional areas of the company. This lets us help those non-technology areas build their digital expertise and innovation mindset, and it allows us to benefit from their business perspectives. We now have an effective blend of centralized and distributed IT, with more digital leaders sitting at non-digital tables.

    We are no longer organized by infrastructure, applications, PMO, and security. Instead, we are organized by end-to-end experience. I focus on employee experiences, and my colleagues who are in CDX focus on the client and advisor experiences.

    https://www.cio.com/article/3268753/digital-transformation/160-year-old-insurance-giant-transforms-into-a-digital-business.html

  • Millennials Make Themselves Miserable Fretting About Work but Boomer

    Colleagues Can Teach Them to Chill
    One of the negative stereotypes that’s frequently associated with Generation Y is that its members tend to be cocky about their on-the-job abilities, especially regarding technology and its application, when dealing with peers. Yet, when you look at the research, that doesn’t appear to be true.

    Consulting group Leadership IQ asked 3,000 participants spanning all industries a battery of 100 questions about work. It turns out that millennials are markedly more critical of themselves than older workers regarding their writing abilities, broader communications competencies and skill negotiating compensation. Only 33 percent of the millennials surveyed were confident in the overall quality of their work performance, compared to 44 percent of Gen Xers and 47 percent of baby boomers. This statistic infers a self-limiting inferiority complex among 66 percent of younger workers.

    https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/311815

Photo by Jimmy Musto on Unsplash

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Supplier Report: 5/4/2018

Boston

Amazon announced job expansions in the cities of Boston and Vancouver. This expansion is fueled by the company’s explosive cloud growth (and the riches gained from the ever-increasing Amazon Prime subscription fees). AWS and Prime profits are also covering Amazon’s losses in the retail space, which makes it much harder for their competition.

Fans of WhatsApp should pay attention to the data Facebook is collecting from the app, but alternatives like Signal are running into issues in their attempts to protect user data.

T-Mobile and Sprint finally made the move to merge. Assuming they get government approval, they will be in a better position to claim 5G bandwidth.  Cisco, Oracle, and IBM also made acquisition announcements this week.

Acquisitions

  • T-Mobile and Sprint said to be close to a $26 billion merger

    The two companies have been rumored to merge since 2014, when Sprint attempted to buy T-Mobile. Talks resumed again last year, before ending last November when T-Mobile and Sprint couldn’t find mutual ground. Earlier in April, though, The Wall Street Journal reported that the two companies were once again back at the negotiating table for the third time in four years, and if CNBC’s sources are correct, it seems that this time, the merger might finally be happening.

    The difference this time is said to be a change of heart in Masayoshi Son, the CEO of SoftBank (which owns Sprint), with factors like the lower corporate tax rate, costs of 5G deployment, and increased competition from cable providers helping tip the scales toward a merger, although it’s still possible that things could fall apart again.

    https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/27/17293246/tmobile-sprint-merger-26-billion-telecom-deal-cell-carriers

    Sprint and T-Mobile have announced that they will merge

    The combined company will be based in Bellevue Washington and will be called T-Mobile. Current T-Mobile CEO John Legere will run the combined company, while T-Mobile COO Mike Sievert will become the new company’s COO and President. T-Mobile’s majority owner Deutsche Telekom will hold a 42 percent stake in the company, while Sprint majority owner SoftBank will hold 27 percent, with public stakeholders holding the rest. Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son will sit on the combined company’s board.

    The companies say that by combining, they’ll be able to lower prices and take advantage of “greater economies of scale”. The two companies have trailed their larger rivals, AT&T and Verizon, and the merger between Sprint and T-Mobile will help give them a boost as they begin to deploy their next-generation 5G network across the country. The combined company will have nearly 100 million customers.

    https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/29/17298904/sprint-and-t-mobile-merger

  • Cisco is acquiring business intelligence startup Accompany for $270M

    Founder and CEO Amy Chang has compared the product to a digital chief of staff or personal assistant, giving executives the context they need before conversations and meetings. Cisco plans to incorporate Accompany technology into its collaboration products, for example by introducing company and individual profiles into Webex meetings.

    Cisco says it will pay $270 million in cash and stock in the deal.

    The company probably didn’t have to search too hard to find Accompany, since Chang (who previously served as the head of product for Google’s ad measurement and reporting) has been on Cisco’s board of directors since October 2016. As part of the transaction, she’s resigning from the board, effective immediately.

    https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/01/cisco-acquires-accompany/

  • Oracle Acquires Vocado

    Oracle today announced that it has completed the acquisition of Vocado, which provides a leading student-centric, cloud-based financial aid solution for higher education institutions.

    Vocado works with thousands of financial aid sources to optimize funding for any type of higher education learning model. The solution helps students identify eligibility and obtain financing so they can achieve their academic goals. Vocado integrates its financial aid solution with both cloud and on-premise Student Information Systems (SIS).

    https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oracle-buys-vocado-300639496.html

  • IBM acquires New Jersey fintech Armanta

    In a blog post, IBM said, “Over the past two years, Armanta and IBM have worked together to deliver financial risk solutions to clients globally. The combination of IBM’s and Armanta’s technology and expertise has allowed IBM to deliver new offerings that have already been adopted in the market. Armanta’s technology has not only enhanced our existing solutions, but also allowed IBM to rapidly develop new offerings for clients.”

    The acquisition will help IBM clients integrate their risk management practices with other front and back-office funtions, while establishing a common set of data analytics and reports for consistency, according to the blog post.

    https://www.wraltechwire.com/2018/05/03/ibm-acquires-new-jersey-fintech-armanta/

Artificial Intelligence

  • Google’s Sergey Brin warns of the threat from AI in today’s ‘technology renaissance’

    But, he says, AI poses a number of problems too, “from the fears of sci-fi style sentience to the more near-term questions such as validating the performance of self-driving cars.” Brin says Alphabet is giving “serious thought” to a number of these issues, including how AI will affect employment; the challenges of making unbiased and transparent algorithms; and the fears that this technology will be used to “manipulate people.” (This is most likely a reference to recent discussions of AI-generated fake news.)

    Notably, though, Brin does not mention one controversial use of AI that is particularly relevant to Alphabet: military applications. Earlier this year, it was revealed that Google was helping the Pentagon deploy machine learning tools to analyze video surveillance footage from drones. The company has said the tech is for “non-offensive uses only,” but thousands of Google employees have demanded that the company withdraw from the project.

    https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/28/17295064/google-ai-threat-sergey-brin-founders-letter-technology-renaissance

Cloud

  • Amazon’s Profit Swells to $1.6 Billion, Lifted by Its Cloud Business

    The company reported that its net income for the first quarter, which ended March 31, was $1.63 billion, or $3.27 per share, compared with net income of $724 million, or $1.48 per share, in the same period last year. Revenue jumped 43 percent to $51 billion, up from $35.7 billion a year earlier.

    Also:

    Revenue from A.W.S., meanwhile, rose 49 percent to $5.44 billion from the same period a year earlier.

    That increase is larger that what the A.W.S. business was seeing just a few quarters ago. It is unusual to see revenue growth increase significantly at Amazon’s size and in a hypercompetitive market, and it seems to have prompted Mr. Bezos to single out the business in his statement.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/26/technology/amazon-prime-profit.html

  • Cramer: Don’t let the bears fool you—Microsoft and Intel just proved the cloud is here to stay

    https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/04/27/cramer-microsoft-and-intel-proved-the-cloud-is-here-to-stay.html
    Did anyone say that the cloud wasn’t the technology of the future? I have to admit that I have a hard time watching Jim Cramer after this public beat down:

Security

  • Google accused of using GDPR to impose unfair terms on publishers

    One objection they have is that Google is apparently intending to switch its status from that of a data processor of publishers’ data — i.e. the data Google receives from publishers and collects from their sites — to a data controller which they claim will enable it to “make unilateral decisions about how a publisher’s data is used”.

    Though for other Google services, such as its web analytics product, the company has faced the opposite accusation: i.e. that it’s claiming it’s merely a data processor — yet giving itself expansive rights to use the data that’s gathered, rather like a data controller…

    The publishers also say Google wants them to obtain valid legal consent from users to the processing of their data on its behalf — yet isn’t providing them with information about its intended uses of people’s data, which they would need to know in order to obtain valid consent under GDPR.

    https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/01/google-accused-of-using-gdpr-to-impose-unfair-terms-on-publishers/

  • Amazon Bends the Knee to Autocrats, Threatens to Cut Off Signal for Using Anti-Censorship Technique

    Amazon officially announced it’s increased focus on stamping out domain fronting on Friday. The statement followed closely behind a similar move by Google. On Monday, Signal founder Moxie Marlinspike posted a communication from Amazon’s team informing the privacy-focused company that it must discontinue any sort of domain fronting practices if it wants to continue using Amazon Web Services. Marlinspike lamented the crackdown, saying that Signal is being censored in Egypt, Oman, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates. The technique has allowed Signal to circumvent those blocks and continue to provide service to citizens of those countries, according to Marlinspike, but for now, it will have to comply with Amazon’s demands.

    https://gizmodo.com/amazon-bends-the-knee-to-autocrats-threatens-to-cut-of-1825697153
    Stop Using WhatsApp If You Care About Your Privacy

    Facebook already harvests some data from WhatsApp. Without Koum at the helm, it’s possible that could increase—a move that wouldn’t be out of character for the social network, considering that the company’s entire business model hinges on targeted advertising around personal data.

    If you care enough about your privacy to delete Facebook (or even change the way you use the social network) you may want to ditch WhatsApp as well. If you need a new, more secure messaging app try Signal, or even iMessage for communicating between Apple devices.

    https://lifehacker.com/stop-using-whatsapp-if-you-care-about-your-privacy-1825719172

Software/SaaS

Datacenter/Hardware

  • Foxconn Just Got Permission to Start Draining Lake Michigan to Make LCD Screens

    Environmental experts have criticized the diversion. Though, as the DNR points out, it amounts to less than a 1 percent increase in the total surface water withdrawals from Lake Michigan, it would result in a loss of 2.7 million gallons per day, mostly due to evaporation (the rest of the water will be treated and then returned to the lake basin). Environmentalists are also concerned that the decision will set a new precedent allowing the fresh water to be used for predominantly commercial purposes, instead of as drinking water.

    https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/wj73x9/foxconn-just-got-permission-to-start-draining-lake-michigan-to-make-lcd-screens

  • Best & Worst Laptop Brands 2018

    Lenovo takes first place again this year, on the strength of the company’s fantastic product lineup. From the beautiful ThinkPad X1 Carbon, which was the only product to get a perfect, 5-star review in the past year, to the versatile Yoga 920, Lenovo’s laptops earned the most Editors’ Choice awards of any brand. And a full 53 percent of the company’s laptops scored 4 or higher. However, Lenovo’s tech support scores declined from last year, and stiff competition from HP and Dell made this a nail-bitingly close race.

    https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/laptop-brand-ratings

Other

  • Amazon Is Losing Billions From Its Retail Business and Rivals Should Be Scared

    The remaining segments are basically Prime, ads, and retail. The company does not separate out the segments from the services income on its 10-Q, but we know the general Prime numbers; 100 million prime members. This next step is an estimate. At that level, Prime brings in $10 billion in sales a year, or roughly $2.5 billion a quarter.

    Using this estimate, the overall business, without AWS and Prime, lost about $2 billion last quarter. Although advertising is included here, too, this loss is almost all from the retail side of the business.

    https://www.thestreet.com/opinion/amazon-is-losing-money-from-retail-operations-14571703

  • Amazon Expands Tech Hub in Boston

    Amazon will create 2,000 jobs in Boston in the fields of machine learning, speech science, cloud computing, and robotics engineering as it gets ready to expand its Tech Hub in the city, one of over a dozen such hubs nationwide.

    Amazon said it has invested over $400 million in the Commonwealth since 2011, from customer fulfillment infrastructure to research facilities. It’s interesting to note that on its Boston job site, Amazon calls it the “Athens of America.”

    https://www.ecommercebytes.com/2018/05/01/amazon-expands-tech-hub-in-boston/

  • Amazon to add 3,000 tech jobs in Vancouver, Canada

    Amazon said the additional jobs will be in e-commerce technology, cloud computing and machine learning. Currently, the company’s Vancouver workers produce new products and services for the company’s international retail business and Amazon Web Services.

    “Amazon’s decision to bring another 3,000 jobs to Vancouver is great news for our city’s booming innovation economy,” Mayor Gregor Robertson said. “We are home to the fastest growing, most resilient and greenest economy in Canada and Amazon’s major expansion in our city means more long-term jobs for people who want to live, work and build a future in Vancouver.”

    https://www.upi.com/Amazon-to-add-3000-tech-jobs-in-Vancouver-Canada/6691525136115/

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

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News You Can Use: 5/2/2018

  • Why You Need To Pay Attention To Gen X Leaders

    These generational signposts left their mark on many gen Xers, says generational expert and humorist Meagan Johnson, coauthor of Generations, Inc.: From Boomers to Linksters–Managing the Friction Between Generations at Work. From an early age, they had freedom to make decisions and were left on their own to organize their time, do their chores, and get their homework done before their parents got home. This has made many gen X managers entrepreneurial and independent in their management style—which can be a challenge for their millennial counterparts and direct reports who often crave more feedback and interaction, Marston says.

    “That gen X manager thinks he or she is doing his or her team a favor by leaving them alone to do their job,” he says. They’re managing others like they would like to be managed—get the work done, avoid the distractions, and go home. Gen X managers often don’t crave the close workplace friendships that their older and younger counterparts do, Johnson adds. At the same time, they do place a high value on mentoring and helping others develop.

    https://www.fastcompany.com/40558008/why-you-need-to-pay-attention-to-gen-x-leaders

  • YouTube CEO addresses demonetization anger: ‘We know the last year has not been easy

    Despite Wojcicki’s claims that YouTube’s demonetization problem is getting better, creators like Philip DeFranco and Casey Neistat are saying otherwise. DeFranco is threatening to invest time in other platforms, and Neistat may be partnering with Patreon CEO Jack Conte for a new revenue avenue for YouTube creators. Wojcicki addressed the frustration creators are having regarding the appeals process. Creators have complained about “flip-flopping” monetization icons on their videos, arguing it’s difficult to understand what is acceptable by YouTube’s standards and what isn’t. Wojcicki touched upon that complaint, adding that the company is working on a new pilot program to try and alleviate some of those problems.

    https://www.engadget.com/2018/04/17/youtube-pilot-helps-creators-keep-income-by-describing-videos/

  • How to spot high-conflict people before it’s too late
  • The Instant Message Generation Gap

    While email is still the leading form of business communication, IM accounts are expected to grow 8% annually for the next four years, to 8.6 billion world-wide, says the Radicati Group, a Palo Alto, Calif., research firm. Employers say they reduce the need for meetings and make it easier to sustain conversations among team members, share updates and get quick tips and answers. Email can seem clumsy, slow and officious by comparison.

    The tempo of IMing changes the way many people organize their days. “It used to be that one of the big time-management tips people would recommend is to not read your email and just work uninterrupted for a few hours,” says Christina Seelye, CEO of Maximum Games, a Walnut Creek, Calif., videogame company. Now, taking a break from instant messaging for even a few hours can mean you’re missing something.

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-instant-message-generation-gap-1523972835

  • How To Write Thank-You Notes That Impress Hiring Managers

    A thorough, detailed thank-you note that’s beautifully written will never make much of an impression if it’s too late. Especially in some fast-paced fields like the tech industry, healthcare or marketing, time is of the essence. When you finish your interview, head home as soon as you can to write your thank-you note. Sending it the day of the interview (if possible) or within 24 hours is ideal, although sending the note 48 hours later can be acceptable if you get really tied up. If you send the note late, you might find that the hiring manager has already assumed you’re not sending it and dinged your candidacy or rejected you for it.

    https://www.fastcompany.com/40559423/how-to-write-thank-you-notes-that-impress-hiring-managers

Photo by Ali Yahya on Unsplash