Disney Wants to Track Park Visitors By Secretly Photographing Their Shoes Like a Creep

With millions of tourists visiting its theme parks around the world each year, it makes sense that Disney would want to track how visitors move about its attractions to help minimize lines and crowds and also to provide a unique experience for each guest. But does it have to sound so incredibly creepy?
Read more: http://gizmodo.com/disney-wants-to-track-theme-park-visitors-by-photograph-1784482398?source=Snapzu

The Selfie-Taking Monkey Who Has No Idea He Has Lawyers Has Appealed His Copyright Lawsuit

In 2011, our focus was on how the photographer whose camera was used, David Slater, had no legitimate claim to the copyright in the image, in large part because the copyright goes to whoever took the photo, and the copyright cannot go to a monkey, because copyright law is limited to "persons.
Read more: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20160729/00583435100/selfie-taking-monkey-who-has-no-idea-he-has-lawyers-has-appealed-his-copyright-lawsuit.shtml?source=Snapzu

The Archdruid Report: Climate Change Activism: A Post-Mortem

"The only commitments any nation was willing to make amounted to slowing, at some undetermined point in the future, the rate at which the production of greenhouse gas pollutants is increasing. In the real world, meanwhile, enough greenhouse gases have already been dumped into the atmosphere to send the world’s climate reeling…" By John Michael Greer.
Read more: http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.in/2016/07/climate-change-activism-post-mortem.html?source=Snapzu

Silicon Is Just Sand

Money, murder, and sadomasochism: A journey into the hidden world of Silicon Beach and the Los Angeles tech world. By Stephen Elliott.
Read more: http://epicmagazine.com/silicon-is-just-sand/?source=Snapzu

From virtual communities to real-life enterprises … How Kickstarter generated more than $5bn

The Fed Ex guy is always delivering intriguing parcels to Mini Museum’s headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia, but he’s never allowed to see what’s inside. On Wednesday, it was something very cool from Norway, co-founder Jamie Grove explains – though he can’t say any more. But Mini Museum has the fascinating, rare and bizarre delivered every day; it’s a unique startup that collects scientific and historic artefacts from around the universe, meticulously divides them and presents them encased in clear acrylic as a “mini museum”.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jul/28/from-virtual-communities-to-real-life-enterprises-how-kickstarter-generated-more-than-5bn?source=Snapzu

Why Cereal Has Such Aggressive Marketing

Breakfast is often lauded as “the most important meal of the day.” What is less commonly mentioned is the origin of this ode to breakfast: a 1944 marketing campaign launched by General Foods, the manufacturer of Grape Nuts, to sell more cereal. During the campaign, which marketers named “Eat a Good Breakfast—Do a Better Job,” grocery stores handed out pamphlets that promoted the importance of breakfast while radio advertisements announced that “Nutrition experts say breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”
Read more: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/06/how-marketers-invented-the-modern-version-of-breakfast/487130/?source=Snapzu

Alphabet's 2Q Earns Soar Despite Rising 'Moonshot' Losses

Business is booming at Google's parent company, Alphabet Inc., even as it loses billions of dollars on kooky-sounding projects that may never produce any revenue. Huge chunks of the losses have been piling up in Alphabet's "X'' lab, a wellspring of far-out ideas that has become known as a "moonshot factory" since Google co-founder Sergey Brin launched it about six years ago. The lab is responsible for some once-zany projects, such as Google's self-driving cars, that matured into potentially revolutionary technology. It also has pursued but ultimately abandoned other outlandish endeavors...
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/07/28/business/ap-us-alphabet-moonshots.html?source=Snapzu

The Babysitters Club

What unites Yelp, Seamless and Venmo is, in part, their desire to monopolize particular spheres of adult life (“spaces,” in Valleyspeak). They also offer services that diminish the user’s autonomy in a way that might — held at certain angles to the light — read as patronizing, when we’re supposed to be the patrons. We cannot find food on our own, or choose a restaurant, or settle a tiny debt. By Jesse Barron.
Read more: http://reallifemag.com/the-babysitters-club/?source=Snapzu

How a Currency Intended to Unite Europe Wound Up Dividing It

It was started in the name of forging a greater sense of union among the disparate nations of Europe.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/28/business/international/how-a-currency-intended-to-unite-europe-wound-up-dividing-it.html?source=Snapzu

Technology killed bookstore chains. Can technology save indie bookstores?

It’s great when the received narrative gets disrupted, and Oren Teicher, the CEO of the American Booksellers Association (ABA), has heard more than his share during his long tenure at the independent bookstore trade group, where he’s been the boss since 2009 and in other positions before that. The story that is told, news cycle after news cycle, is that indies were always just about to be wiped off the face of the country because of a new challenge. By Glenn Fleishman
Read more: http://www.seattlereviewofbooks.com/notes/2016/07/26/technology-killed-bookstore-chains-can-technology-save-indie-bookstores/?source=Snapzu

They Promised Us Jet Packs. They Promised the Bosses Profit

Alphabet’s X research lab is still being asked to imagine the impossible. Only now, under pressure from investors, it has to imagine making money, too. By Conor Dougherty. (July 23, 2016)
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/24/technology/they-promised-us-jet-packs-they-promised-the-bosses-profit.html?source=Snapzu

Photographer Files $1 Billion Suit Against Getty for Licensing Her Public Domain Images

In December, documentary photographer Carol Highsmith received a letter from Getty Images accusing her of copyright infringement for featuring one of her own photographs on her own website.
Read more: http://hyperallergic.com/314079/photographer-files-1-billion-suit-against-getty-for-licensing-her-public-domain-images/?source=Snapzu

Why Consumers Use Ad Blockers And What Motivates Them Not To

A new report from Omnicom Media Group (OMG) finds that publishers and advertisers can take steps to curtail usage of ad blockers. Nearly half of those polled in a survey (45%) said they install ad blockers to avoid dealing with pop-up ads, 40% do not want to be "bombarded" with ads, and 30% want to block pre-roll ads that prevent access to content.
Read more: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/281013/why-consumers-use-ad-blockers-and-what-motivates-t.html?source=Snapzu

More than 250 staffers at The Guardian have accepted buyouts

A total of 268 employees are taking buyouts at The Guardian as the paper attempts to stem more than $227 million in losses from the last financial year. The newspaper is losing some of its most prominent leaders and bylines in the exodus: Aron Pilhofer, the The Guardian's executive editor of digital, is joining Temple University as the school's James B. Steele Chair in Journalism Innovation. Politico reported Wednesday that a trio of marquee names are also on their way out: Middle East editor Ian Black, senior digital editor Matt Wells and defense and security specialist Richard Norton-Taylor.
Read more: http://www.poynter.org/2016/more-than-250-journalists-at-the-guardian-have-accepted-buyouts/423461/?source=Snapzu

Here's How Insanely Much Marrisa Mayer Will Actually Make off the Verizon Deal

It’s more than double what has been previously reported and far more than the company is saying. After the Verizon VZ 0.51% deal was announced on Monday, the Internet erupted in outrage that Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer could collect as much as $55 million. That’s the figure Yahoo YHOO -0.15% stated in April that Mayer could collect if the company were sold and more-than enough to get observers who think Mayer has not done a great job to declare her pay unfair, and another sign that corporate compensation is corrupt.
Read more: http://fortune.com/2016/07/26/marissa-mayers-verizon-yahoo-pay/?source=Snapzu

Cockroach milk: The drink you didn't know you've been missing

A little cockroach milk with those cookies? Chock full of protein, the insect milk may someday be transformed into a food supplement worthy of human consumption, new research indicates. Scientists have found that the Pacific Beetle Cockroach feeds its bug babies a formula which is remarkably rich in protein, fat and sugar. Don't expect to find it next to the regular milk in the dairy section, however, at least not for now. "Any liquid harvested from a cockroach is not true milk.
Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/27/health/cockroach-milk/index.html?source=Snapzu

Leading insecticide cuts bee sperm by almost 40%, study shows

Discovery provides possible explanation for increasing deaths of honeybees in recent years, according to scientists. By Damian Carrington.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jul/27/leading-insecticide-cuts-bee-sperm-by-almost-40-per-cent-study-shows?source=Snapzu

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Gains $3.4 Billion In An Hour After Positive Second-Quarter Earnings

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg added $3.4 billion to his fortune in just over an hour on Wednesday in after-hours trading, as the market cheered the social media company’s impressive second-quarter results. The gains pushed Zuckerberg’s net worth to a new high of $56.7 billion, according to FORBES estimates. He is currently the world’s fifth-richest person, right behind Jeff Bezos, who has an estimated fortune of $64 billion.
Read more: http://www.forbes.com/sites/katiasavchuk/2016/07/27/facebook-ceo-mark-zuckerberg-gains-3-4-billion-in-an-hour-after-positive-second-quarter-earnings/#3dbd251827b7?source=Snapzu

The DNC Is One Big Corporate Bribe

Drink up—it's on us! Then go protest the TPP to your heart’s content. By David Dayen.
Read more: https://newrepublic.com/article/135564/dnc-one-big-corporate-bribe?source=Snapzu

How care apps for the elderly could disrupt tech's obsession with youth

Conventional wisdom says apps aren’t for old people. But that may change as tech startups takes on a new and sizable market: elderly caregiving.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jul/27/health-care-apps-elderly-silicon-valley-startups?source=Snapzu

How VW Designed the Greatest Scandal in Automotive History

Volkswagen developed six generations of cheating software to beat emissions tests—and even calculated the cost of getting caught was still worth it, according to a new lawsuit by New York and Massachusetts. By Clive Irving.
Read more: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/07/19/revealed-how-vw-designed-the-greatest-scandal-in-automotive-history.html?source=Snapzu

Physical Book Sales Rocket As Digital Dips

Book shops are attracting more and more customers by offering cafes and running events.
Read more: http://news.sky.com/story/physical-book-sales-rocket-as-digital-dips-10510980?platform=hootsuite?source=Snapzu

The backlash against open plan offices: segmented space

An open plan office is not all it's cracked up to be but the alternative, segmented spaces, has its downsides as well.
Read more: https://theconversation.com/the-backlash-against-open-plan-offices-segmented-space-61506?source=Snapzu

But Wait: Copyright Law Is So Screwed Up, Perhaps The Rolling Stones Are Right That Donald Trump Needed Their Permission

So for years and years and years, every time a musician or a group whined about politicians using their music at an event, we'd point out that they have no legal basis to complain. Assuming either the venue or the campaign (or both) had the...
Read more: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20160725/23323335065/wait-copyright-law-is-so-screwed-up-perhaps-rolling-stones-are-right-that-donald-trump-needed-their-permission.shtml?source=Snapzu

Vizio acquired by Chinese tech company LeEco for $2 billion

Chinese electronics firm LeEco is buying American TV manufacturer Vizio for $2 billion. The acquisition was announced during a press event this morning in Los Angeles, giving LeEco an instant foothold in the US television market. Under the deal, Vizio will be operated as an independent subsidiary, with the company's current management team staying in place and working out of its offices in Southern California.
Read more: http://www.theverge.com/2016/7/26/12286756/leeco-buys-vizio-tv-company-2-billion-acquisition?source=Snapzu

The highest-paid CEOs run the worst-performing companies

The highest-paid CEOs tend to run some of the worst-performing companies, according to new research. The study, carried out by corporate research firm MSCI, found that for every $100 (£76) invested in companies with the highest-paid CEOs would have grown to $265 (£202) over 10 years.
Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/highest-paid-ceos-worst-performing-companies-research-a7156486.html?source=Snapzu

On his third birthday, here's one gift Prince George really does need

It’s Prince George’s third birthday today. As his loyal subjects, it’s only right that we celebrate. Only this morning, as I cracked open the Bollinger on my private flight back from the holiday home in Tuscany, I thought to myself, ‘I should probably send him a gift’. By Holly Baxter.
Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/prince-george-third-birthday-gift-royal-family-inequality-poverty-in-britain-a7150631.html?source=Snapzu

The big internet brands of the '90s — where are they now?

Verizon's purchase of Yahoo will close the book on one of the oldest Internet companies. What happened to the other famous '90s brands, like GeoCities, Netscape and CompuServe? A nerdy remembrance.
Read more: http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/07/25/487097344/the-big-internet-brands-of-the-90s-where-are-they-now?source=Snapzu

Farming invented twice in Middle East, genomes study reveals

Study of 44 ancient Middle Eastern genomes supports idea of independent farming revolutions in the Fertile Crescent. By Ewen Callaway.
Read more: http://www.nature.com/news/farming-invented-twice-in-middle-east-genomes-study-reveals-1.20119?source=Snapzu

​The rise and fall of Yahoo

There was a time when Yahoo was the internet company that Google is now. What happened?
Read more: http://www.zdnet.com/article/the-rise-and-fall-of-yahoo/?source=Snapzu

Uprising in the Rust Belt

They used to be Democrats. Now they really could hand Donald Trump the White House. By Keith O’Brien. (June 24, 2016)
Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/06/coal-country-democrats-donald-trump-2016-213988?source=Snapzu

Apple lays the groundwork to kill online advertising

Their products help us learn, communicate and navigate the world. The companies behind these innovations are battling for the future of computing. Each one is..
Read more: https://techcrunch.com/2016/07/24/apple-lays-the-groundwork-to-kill-online-advertising/?source=Snapzu

UK: lost, divided and alone

The Brexit vote was a insurrectionary protest against neoliberalism, globalism and cultural contempt. It will break up the UK, and split England forever. By Paul Mason.
Read more: http://mondediplo.com/2016/07/03brexit?source=Snapzu

The Illusion of Choice in Consumer Brands

There are literally hundreds of choices in your supermarket, but this is only the illusion of choice. These products all come from the same 10 corporations.
Read more: http://www.visualcapitalist.com/illusion-of-choice-consumer-brands/?source=Snapzu

Authorities: $1B Medicare fraud nursing home scam, 3 charged

Three people have been charged in an unprecedented $1 billion health care fraud scam, accused of using dozens of Miami nursing homes to bilk the taxpayer-funded Medicare and Medicaid programs, according to an indictment unsealed Friday. "This is the largest single criminal health care fraud case ever brought against individuals by the Department of Justice," Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department's Criminal Division Leslie Caldwell announced in a statement.
Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/authorities-1b-medicare-fraud-nursing-home-scam-3-161625037.html?source=Snapzu

Verizon to Pay $4.8 Billion for Yahoo’s Core Business

It’s the end of the line for Yahoo as an independent company, once valued at $125 billion.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/25/business/yahoo-sale.html?source=Snapzu

Rio, the Olympics, and Broken Promises

Before the games even begin in Brazil’s most famous coastal city, there are winners and losers. By Stephanie Nolen. (July 19, 2016)
Read more: https://www.hakaimagazine.com/article-long/rio-olympics-and-broken-promises?source=Snapzu

How banks are refusing to shoulder responsibility for fraud

It’s 40 years ago and a fraudster goes into your local bank branch. He forges your signature and makes a withdrawal from your account. When you discover the crime and report it to the bank, your account is naturally refunded at once. It’s the bank’s problem. It’s also the bank’s fault, you’d probably say. Today, much has changed. It’s still the bank’s job to safeguard clients’ money. But because we access our cash and accounts in so many different ways, and can transact so much more quickly, the issue of who carries the risk of fraud has become blurred.
Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/personal-banking/current-accounts/how-banks-are-refusing-to-shoulder-responsibility-for-fraud/?source=Snapzu

What Happens to the U.S. Midwest When the Water's Gone?

The Ogallala aquifer turned the region into America's breadbasket. Now it, and a way of life, are being drained away.
Read more: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2016/08/vanishing-midwest-ogallala-aquifer-drought/?source=Snapzu

Benvenuto in Italia! Join the queue as tourist numbers soar

Holidaymakers seek safety in Italy but historic hotspots may struggle to absorb the crowds
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/23/italy-tourism-join-the-queue-overcrowding?source=Snapzu

The DOJ deals a devastating blow to professional songwriters

"Last week, however, under Assistant Attorney General Renata Hesse (a former Wilson Sonsini attorney -- Google’s law firm), the DOJ announced that, going forward, it intends to interpret the Consent Decrees to require ASCAP and BMI to only issue licenses for songs they control 100%, up-ending decades of custom and practice." By Savan Kotecha. (July 20, 2016)
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-budget/288337-the-doj-deals-a-devastating-blow-to-professional?source=Snapzu

Maverick women writers are upending the book industry and selling millions in the process

Stripped of the cheesy ’80s covers long associated with the genre, today's romance books tell a story of creativity, community, and straight-up cash.
Read more: http://qz.com/711924/maverick-women-are-upending-the-book-industry-and-selling-millions-in-the-process/?source=Snapzu

Verizon close to deal to buy Yahoo, reports suggest

Yahoo Inc is focused on selling its core business to U.S. telecommunications company Verizon Communications Inc after reviewing final bids that it received this week, people familiar with the matter said on Friday. A deal would boost Verizon's AOL internet business, which it acquired last year for $4.4 billion US, by giving it access to Yahoo's advertising technology tools, as well other assets such as search, mail, messenger and real estate.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/yahoo-verizon-takeover-1.3690915?source=Snapzu

Verizon will cut off unlimited data users who use too much unlimited data

Verizon is forcing heavy data users to get off its unlimited plan or get off the carrier's network entirely. Verizon's continuing its ongoing mission to pare down the number of customers on unlimited data plans by migrating them to ones with hard limits. Recently, the company came up with a way to get rid of its biggest data hogs. Verizon is notifying customers using an “extraordinary” amount of data per month that they must move off their unlimited data plan by August 31. If they don’t switch, the carrier will disconnect their accounts, though they’ll have 50 days to reactivate them on a limited plan, as first reported by Droid Life.
Read more: http://www.pcworld.com/article/3099008/mobile/verizon-will-cut-off-unlimited-data-users-who-use-too-much-unlimited-data.html?source=Snapzu

China To Ban Ad Blockers As Part Of New Regulations For Online Advertising

As we noted last week, China continues to find new ways to bring the online world under control. A post on the Adblock Plus blog has spotted yet another sector the Chinese authorities are bringing to heel: Internet advertising. Last week, China's State Administration for Industry and Commerce issued "Interim Measures for Internet advertising" (original in Chinese.) As the Adblock Plus blog post explains, the rules seek to pin down what exactly Internet advertising is, what is allowed, and what isn't:
Read more: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20160721/00150235024/china-to-ban-ad-blockers-as-part-new-regulations-online-advertising.shtml?source=Snapzu

McDonald’s Stops Selling Big Mac in Venezuela due to Bread Shortage

McDonald’s Corp.’s largest franchisee has had to stop selling the Big Mac in Venezuela as it can’t source the bread it needs to make the famous sandwich. Buenos Aires-based Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc., which operates more than 2,000 McDonald’s restaurants throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, said on Thursday that the problem was temporary and that other menu options were available. “McDonald’s Venezuela is working to resolve this temporary situation,” Daniel Schleiniger, a spokesman for Arcos Dorados, said in an e-mailed response to questions.
Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-21/mcdonald-s-venezuela-stops-selling-big-mac-on-bread-shortage?source=Snapzu

America's broken digital copyright law is about to be challenged in court

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is suing the US government over ‘unconstitutional’ use of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jul/21/digital-millennium-copyright-act-eff-supreme-court?source=Snapzu

Brexit Blues

“I don’t think there’s ever been a time in British politics when so many people in public life spent so much time loudly declaring things they knew not to be true.” John Lanchester.
Read more: http://www.lrb.co.uk/v38/n15/john-lanchester/brexit-blues?source=Snapzu

Sex workers have created the perfect method for keeping people honest online

Rita is addressing a problem that all businesses have. By Allison Schrager.
Read more: http://qz.com/621994/trust-and-crime/?source=Snapzu

‘Black Olives Matter’ billboard sparks outrage — and pizza sales

An Italian restaurant in New Mexico has come under fire for a punny billboard playing off the Black Lives Matter slogan amid nationwide outcry over the recent fatal shootings of black men by police officers. Paisano’s in Albuquerque posted “Black Olives Matter, Try Our Tapenade” on a marquee last week advertising one of its specials and reportedly posted a picture of the sign on social media.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/food/wp/2016/07/19/black-olives-matter-billboard-sparks-outrage-and-pizza-sales/?source=Snapzu