Apple's Tim Cook paid $102m this year including bonuses worth $98m

Apple’s chief executive, Tim Cook, was paid $102m (£76m) this year after collecting a huge share bonus linked to the iPhone maker’s stock market performance. Cook was paid a basic salary of $3.06m, a cash bonus of $9.3m (up from $5.4m last year), and collected share awards worth $89m taking his total 2017 payout to $102m, Apple disclosed in a regulatory filing.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/dec/28/apples-tim-cook-paid-102m-this-year-including-bonuses-worth-98m?source=Snapzu

Digital residency pays off big for Estonia

Estonia is expected to get a 100-to-one-euro return on investment for its e-Residency program, which lets anybody start a business from afar. It is even planning to launch ‘estcoins,’ its own cryptocurrency.
Read more: http://www.dw.com/en/digital-residency-pays-off-big-for-estonia/a-41969304?source=Snapzu

White ‘Nigerian Prince’ Email Scammer Arrested in Louisiana

Following an 18-month investigation, a man said to have served as the go-between for an international team of scammers running an elaborate “Nigerian prince” email scheme has been arrested in Slidell, La.
Read more: https://www.theroot.com/white-nigerian-prince-email-scammer-arrested-in-louis-1821658205?source=Snapzu

Court of Appeals rules a transgender man's discrimination lawsuit against Starbucks can proceed

The Minnesota Court of Appeals reinstated a transgender man's discrimination lawsuit Tuesday alleging that employees at Starbucks coffee shops in Eden Prairie and Edina refused to serve him. Earlier this year, Hennepin County District Court threw out the complaint because the plaintiff, Paul Bray, 43, didn't prove the discrimination was based on his transgender status. The district court also ruled that Bray's right to sue over allegations from July 2013 had expired under the one-year statute of limitations established by the Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA).
Read more: http://www.startribune.com/court-of-appeals-rules-a-transgender-man-s-discrimination-lawsuit-against-starbucks-can-proceed/466659603/?source=Snapzu

14 top Linux and open source conferences for 2018

Learn which Linux and open source events our experts think are most worth attending in the coming year.
Read more: https://www.hpe.com/us/en/insights/articles/14-linux-and-open-source-conferences-worth-attending-in-2018-1712.html?source=Snapzu

New Evidence Emerges, Points to Possible Bitcoin Cash Insider Trading at Coinbase

It was just a few days ago that news broke alleging “insider trading” after a botched Bitcoin Cash launch which saw prices spiking close to $9000. Now, new evidence has emerged appearing to bolster those allegations.
Read more: http://bitcoinist.com/new-evidence-emerges-points-to-possible-insider-trading-at-coinbase/?source=Snapzu

The cops joining the marijuana business

As Canada moves towards legalising recreational cannabis, there's a surprising group of entrepreneurs jumping into the market: cops and politicians. In 2015, former Toronto police chief Julian Fantino was "completely opposed" to marijuana legalisation and supported mandatory jail time for minor cannabis offences. Mr Fantino, who was also a Cabinet minister in the former Conservative government, criticised the now governing-Liberals' plan to legalise the drug, saying it would make smoking marijuana "a normal, everyday activity for Canadians".
Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42285743?source=Snapzu

Vital cancer drug price increased 15-fold by new owners

The cost of a vital cancer drug has gone up 15-fold in four years after its new owner hiked prices on nine separate occasions. Lomustine has been used to treat brain tumours, lung cancer and Hodgkin’s lymphoma for more than 40 years but is now seen by some patients as too expensive. In 2013, production of the drug, which was previously called CeeNU, passed from pharma giant Bristol-Myers Squibb to a Miami-based startup called NextSource Biotechnology.
Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/cancer-drug-price-increase-lomustine-nextsource-biotechnology-nine-times-1400-per-cent-a8130046.html?source=Snapzu

MoviePass Adds a Million Subscribers, Even if Theaters Aren’t Sold on It

As streaming services like Netflix and Hulu surge in popularity, movie theaters have been trying to compete by rethinking the concession counter and installing seats that resemble beds. Yet attendance was flat at North American cinemas in 2016, and analysts are predicting a 4 percent decline in 2017, bringing ticket sales to a 22-year low.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/27/business/media/moviepass-theaters-tickets.html?source=Snapzu

The $1.80 Instagram Strategy To Grow Your Blog, Business or Brand

A lot of you that follow me have been asking for the strategy regarding how to grow your Instagram account. So here it is. This is by far one of the most practical pieces of content I have ever produced. Aside from the macro mindest, I want to make sure that I am giving you equal amounts of clouds and dirt. I want you to understand why this is important, but I also want you to understand how and what to do in order to execute. These are the real world details AKA “the dirt” that is going to make a difference in 2018.
Read more: https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/1-80-instagram-strategy-grow-business-brand/?source=Snapzu

Retail is suffering because the middle classes have lost $1,355 trillion in income since 1970

Nowadays, there are a lot of articles being written about the collapse of retail in the USA. Some people blame Amazon and online shopping, but that is only a trivial part of the problem. $1,355,610,000,000 of consumer spending is missing from the demand side of USA spending, and that should be kept in mind whenever you read an article about retail going through hell. The big boom in retail in the mid-20th century was thanks a strong middle class. Conversely, the collapse of income of the middle quintiles of income must lead to a contraction of retail. Consider these charts:
Read more: http://www.smashcompany.com/business/retail-is-suffering-because-the-middle-classes-have-lost-1-355-trillion-in-income-since-1970?source=Snapzu

Longreads Best of 2017: Science, Technology, and Business Writing

We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here is the best in business, tech, and science writing.
Read more: https://longreads.com/2017/12/27/longreads-best-of-2017-science-technology-and-business-writing/?source=Snapzu

Buy or Sell: Which Tech CEOs Will Bounce Back After a Tumultuous 2017?

Russia infiltrated our News Feed, Uber endured a car crash of a year, and Snap sunk after soaring. Comebacks are inevitable. But whose?
Read more: https://www.theringer.com/tech/2017/12/28/16812776/facebook-mark-zuckerberg-uber-elon-musk-tesla-amazon-bezos-yahoo-disney-snap-hq?source=Snapzu

Macron under fire over plans to slash benefits for unemployed who refuse work in France

French President Emmanuel Macron has come under fire over his policy on jobless benefits after a press leak pointed to plans to tighten monitoring of people on the dole.
Read more: https://www.thelocal.fr/20171228/macron-under-fire-over-plans-to-slash-benefits-for-unemployed?source=Snapzu

Unions Are Gaining a Foothold at Digital Media Companies

After employees at the online media company Vox Media announced plans to form a union last month, German Lopez, a senior reporter at the company’s general news website Vox.com, posted a thread on Twitter that inspired a heated debate more than 1,000 comments in length. In the first tweet, Mr. Lopez said, “I am against #VoxUnion.” He followed that one by arguing that some writers wanted a union “as protection for laziness.” He added that Vox was “a generous company” and “some people want to take advantage of that.”
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/26/business/media/unions-digital-media.html?source=Snapzu

These Are the Loopholes Drug Companies Use to Keep Prices High

The retired firefighter, 53, needs Revlimid to stay healthy. Celgene Corp. has raised the price 88 percent over the past seven years. The drug doesn’t have substantial competition from a less expensive generic version, and probably won’t for another eight years. Celgene has worked hard to make sure of that.
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-12-20/the-loopholes-drug-companies-use-to-keep-prices-high?source=Snapzu

The Best of 2017’s Bad Restaurant Reviews

Those baffling, disappointing, and downright bad meals often make for the most entertaining reads
Read more: https://www.eater.com/2017/12/27/16795084/bad-restaurant-reviews-2017?source=Snapzu

Here's what could happen to America's hundreds of dead malls

More than 6,400 mall-based stores around the US are expected to close by the end of 2017. Here's what the malls may become.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/what-will-happen-to-closed-malls-2017-12/#another-common-mall-evolution-is-a-destination-mall-12?source=Snapzu

The hairy secret behind Indian temples.

Where do hairs for fashion wigs and hair extensions come from? The answer is: everywhere, but the majority of them come from China and India, where human hair is a lucrative business. In earlier times, the hair was thrown away into the river. But today they are sold to vendors in western countries through online auctions that fetches the temple between $3 to $6 million every year. Everyday between 500 to 600 barbers working in rotation shave over 20,000 heads. Baskets filled with hair are collected every six hours and stored in a vast warehouse where it is piled knee deep.
Read more: http://www.amusingplanet.com/2017/11/the-hairy-secret-behind-indian-temples.html??source=Snapzu

China Signals Slower Growth Is Acceptable to Tackle Debt, Smog

China can achieve a goal of doubling the size of its economy by 2020 even if annual expansion slows to 6.3 percent, according to a senior Communist Party official, signaling a greater willingness to tackle debt and pollution at the expense of growth. In its blueprint for 2016 to 2020, China set a minimum annual growth target of 6.5 percent for the five-year period to achieve the goal of doubling gross domestic product from 2010 levels. But over the weekend, Yang Weimin, an official from the Communist Party committee overseeing economic policy, said annualized growth of 6.3 percent in 2018-2020 would do.
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-25/china-signals-slower-growth-is-acceptable-to-tackle-debt-smog?source=Snapzu

The Big Business of Prisoner Care Packages

Inside the booming market for food in pouches, clear electronics, pocket-less clothing and other corrections-approved goods.
Read more: https://www.themarshallproject.org/2017/12/21/the-big-business-of-prisoner-care-packages?source=Snapzu

Special Report: A business where human bodies were butchered, packaged

Sam Kazemi stood over the old man’s corpse. Nearby lay pliers, a scalpel and a motorized saw designed to cut drywall and pipe.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-bodies-business-specialreport/special-report-a-business-where-human-bodies-were-butchered-packaged-and-sold-idUSKBN1EL0ZC?source=Snapzu

He’s 79 and working full time at Walmart: A sobering truth for those without pensions

Tom Coomer has retired twice: once when he was 65, and then several years ago. Each time he realized that with just a Social Security check, “You can hardly make it these days.”
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/latest-news/article191519519.html?source=Snapzu

Inside Trump’s Cruel Campaign Against the U.S.D.A.’s Scientists

When Trump’s political appointees arrived at the U.S.D.A., career employees were shocked by their new bosses’ lack of qualifications. Michael Lewis explores why Americans need to care.
Read more: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/11/usda-food-stamps-school-lunch-trump-administration?source=Snapzu

British diplomat raped and murdered in Beirut because 'she was a foreigner'

The man accused of the murder of a British diplomat in Lebanon has reportedly given details of the crime. Tarek Hawchieh (also referred to by the media as Tarek Hesso, Tarek Houchiye), reportedly confessed that he killed 30-year-old Rebecca Dykes after sexually assaulting her.
Read more: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/uber-driver-raped-killed-british-diplomat-because-she-was-foreigner-wearing-short-skirt-1652821?source=Snapzu

China to Overtake U.S. Economy by 2032 as Asian Might Builds

The growing importance of Asia’s major economies will continue in 2018 and beyond, according to a league table that sees the region dominating in terms of size in just over a decade.
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-26/china-to-overtake-u-s-economy-by-2032-as-asian-might-builds?source=Snapzu

Failure Isn’t Really Failure

It’s just a little setback…
Read more: https://medium.com/swlh/failure-isnt-really-failure-a03445edaf0b?source=Snapzu

BitPay Stops Processing Payments Less Than $100, Backpedals Two Days Later

Bitcoin payment service provider BitPay has announced Friday, Dec. 22, that it is updating the minimum payment amount on its platform from $5 to $100, only to retract the change two days later, as reported in a blog post on Sunday. BitPay has shared an update Dec. 22, notifying its users that the platform will no longer process invoices that are less than $100 equivalent in Bitcoin, a vast increase over the previous limit of $5.
Read more: https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitpay-stops-processing-payments-less-than-100-backpedals-two-days-later?source=Snapzu

Goldman Sachs to set up cryptocurrency trading desk

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is setting up a trading desk to make markets in digital currencies like bitcoin, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The Wall Street bank aims to get the business running by the end of June, Bloomberg reported Thursday.
Read more: https://nypost.com/2017/12/22/goldman-sachs-to-set-up-cryptocurrency-trading-desk/?source=Snapzu

Donald Trump-owned Scottish golf resort loses tax break

A Scottish golf resort owned by Donald Trump will no longer qualify for a controversial tax break, it has emerged. The Sunday Herald revealed that a change in the Scottish government’s recent budget will remove Trump Turnberry in South Ayrshire from a business rates relief scheme. Scotland’s finance secretary, Derek Mackay, introduced measures in February to help businesses in the hospitality sector.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/dec/24/donald-trump-owned-scottish-golf-resort-loses-tax-break?source=Snapzu

Theranos Somehow Manages to Snag $100 Million Lifeline

Theranos, the beleaguered health care company that has fallen into serious financial trouble since 2016 over allegations its signature blood testing technology didn’t work and it misled investors, has found a lifeline.
Read more: https://gizmodo.com/theranos-somehow-manages-to-snag-100-million-lifeline-1821563374?source=Snapzu

That time I got locked out of my Google account for a month

How much of your digital life would you lose if you lost a single password? Without it, you are locked out and the cold reality of using free cloud services..
Read more: https://techcrunch.com/2017/12/22/that-time-i-got-locked-out-of-my-google-account-for-a-month/?source=Snapzu

Tesco to go 'food waste free' by February

No food fit for human consumption will be wasted by Tesco's UK stores by the end of February, the retail giant says. Chief executive Dave Lewis told the Daily Telegraph food waste had been "talked about for years" as he unveiled the plans for all 2,654 stores. Urging other chains to follow suit, he said edible food should be used for people, not go to waste.
Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42464912?source=Snapzu

Bitcoin rebounds after serious slump

Bitcoin prices climbed back above the $15,000 mark Saturday following a steep decline Friday when the cryptocurrency shed about a third of its value. Bitcoin, which is known to be extremely volatile, sank below $11,000 at one point Friday, according to data from CoinDesk.com. Prices had approached $20,000 as recently as a week ago.
Read more: http://money.cnn.com/2017/12/23/investing/bitcoin-rebound/index.html?source=Snapzu

Bitcoin slump sees trades suspended

Bitcoin plunged on Friday, extending a fall that saw the crypto-currency lose almost a third of its value from a record of nearly $20,000 (£15,000). The crypto-currency's price dipped below $11,000 on Friday, according to the Coindesk exchange website, before recovering to above $13,000. Amid the swings, three Bitcoin-related exchanges suspended certain trades.
Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-42457983?source=Snapzu

Why A Pill That's 4 Cents In Tanzania Costs Up To $400 In The U.S.

The medication fights hookworm. It's one of several drugs for "neglected tropical diseases" that are priced differently in the United States than they are in the developing world.
Read more: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/12/11/567753423/why-a-pill-thats-4-cents-in-tanzania-costs-up-to-400-in-the-u-s?source=Snapzu

Papa John's CEO, pizza titan John Schnatter, steps down

Papa John's CEO John Schnatter, who overcame the odds to build his home-delivery pizza chain into a national powerhouse against entrenched rivals, is stepping down. Schnatter, who founded the pizza chain in 1984, will remain as chairman of the board. No immediate reason was given for his decision, which takes effect Jan. 1. He is being replaced CEO is company President Steve Ritchie.
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/12/21/papa-johns-ceo-john-schnatter-steps-down/974917001/?source=Snapzu

A Letter from the Publisher of Nautilus

My name is John Steele. I am the publisher and editorial director of Nautilus. Yesterday an open letter was posted on the National Writers Union website, signed by 19 freelance writers. It stated some writers and editors are “awaiting payment from Nautilus magazine for a collective debt totaling $50,000. Some of us have been waiting to be paid for more than a year.” It’s true that Nautilus has a large, outstanding debt to our contributors. I want to explain how Nautilus got into this situation, and how we plan to get out of it.
Read more: http://nautil.us/blog/a-letter-from-the-publisher-of-nautilus?source=Snapzu

Gamers Want DMCA Exemption for 'Abandoned' Online Games

Several organizations and gaming fans are asking the Copyright Office to make a DMCA circumvention exemption for abandoned online games, to preserve them for future generations. The exemption would allow museums and libraries to offer copies of abandoned online servers, so these games won't turn to dust.
Read more: https://torrentfreak.com/gamers-want-dmca-exemption-for-abandoned-online-games-171221/?source=Snapzu

Silicon Valley's Dumbest 'Inventions' of 2017

If 2016 was the year of “Uber for X,” 2017 was the year of Silicon Valley “inventing” things.
Read more: https://gizmodo.com/silicon-valleys-dumbest-inventions-of-2017-1821307689?source=Snapzu

The Ghost of the Mechanical Turk

Digital microwork in the Middle East exploits occupation, war, and neoliberalism to extract the cheapest labor possible. By Miranda Hall.
Read more: https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/12/middle-east-digital-labor-microwork-gaza-refugees-amazon?source=Snapzu

People are taking out mortgages to buy bitcoin, says securities regulator

Bitcoin is in the "mania" phase, with some people even borrowing money to get in on the action, securities regulator Joseph Borg told CNBC on Monday. "We've seen mortgages being taken out to buy bitcoin. … People do credit cards, equity lines," said Borg, president of the North American Securities Administrators Association, a voluntary organization devoted to investor protection. Borg is also director of the Alabama Securities Commission.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/11/people-are-taking-out-mortgages-to-buy-bitcoin-says-joseph-borg.html?source=Snapzu

How to Tell A Story on Social Media

For me, I’m only interested in one thing. The thing that binds us all together. No matter who you are or what your profession is — whether you’re an entrepreneur or in sales or a designer or a developer — no matter what you do, your job is to tell a story. That is never going to change. The way you build your business and the way you make real impact is by great storytelling.
Read more: https://medium.com/@garyvee/how-to-tell-a-story-on-social-media-7baa8ad7fbf6?source=Snapzu

Cable TV’s Password-Sharing Crackdown Is Coming

Using someone else’s credentials to stream for free will soon be a $10 billion problem for pay-TV companies.
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-20/cable-tv-s-password-sharing-crackdown-is-coming?source=Snapzu

Porsche to block work-related emails between 7pm and 6am

Uwe Huck, the head of Porsche works council and deputy chairman of its supervisory board told DPA (a news agency) that any work-related emails between 7pm and 6am should be returned to sender, because they imply a stressful unpaid working time. This opinion has also been confirmed by Kai Bliesener, the spokesman of the car-maker’s works council, who said: “I’m sure this will be part of the new contract negotiated next year with management”.
Read more: http://ponderwall.com/index.php/2017/12/19/1348/?source=Snapzu

How the baby boomers — not millennials — screwed America

"The boomers inherited a rich, dynamic country and have gradually bankrupted it."
Read more: https://www.vox.com//2017/12/20/16772670/baby-boomers-millennials-congress-debt?source=Snapzu

Customer Charged $350 After Leaving Negative Review For Brown County Hotel, Lawsuit Alleges

A customer at a Brown County hotel said she was charged $350 and threatened with legal action after leaving a negative review about her experience. The case has captured the attention of the Indiana Attorney General’s office who filed a lawsuit December 15 alleging the hotel violated Indiana Deceptive Consumer Sales Act.
Read more: https://www.theindychannel.com/news/call-6-investigators/call-6-customer-charged-350-after-leaving-negative-review-for-brown-county-hotel-lawsuit-alleges?source=Snapzu

Uber is officially a cab firm, says court

The ride-hailing firm had argued that it was an information society service.
Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-42423627?source=Snapzu

Google Fined Record $2.7 Billion in E.U. Antitrust Ruling - What Might This Mean For Price Comparison Sites?

One of the biggest online giants, Google, has been slapped with a record fine of $2.7 billion for what the European Union regulator says are illegal and unfair practices. Margrethe Vestager, the antitrust Chief of the EU has slammed the technology company for promoting its own services to the detriment of its rivals, a practice not permitted under EU rules. And in a move separate to the score of complaints allegedly made against Google by other companies...
Read more: https://www.inetventures.co.uk/google-fined-record-2-7-billion-e-u-antitrust-ruling-might-mean-price-comparison-sites/?source=Snapzu

He Stole $100 Million From His Clients. Now He’s Living in Luxury

Victims have grown skeptical they will ever see justice.
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-12-18/he-stole-100-million-from-his-clients-now-he-s-living-in-luxury-on-the-c-te-d-azur?source=Snapzu