Seven years ago today, Samsung beat Nokia to become global #1 OEM

Nokia had enjoyed 14 years as the number one global cell phone maker. The Finnish company’s phones were ubiquitous throughout the late 90s and 2000s, but the rise of the smartphone era would see it stumble. By the end of the first quarter of 2012, Samsung had charged ahead of its rival in global smartphone shipments, and Nokia would continue to nosedive thereafter.
Read more: https://www.androidauthority.com/samsung-overtakes-nokia-971037/?source=Snapzu

More than 1 Million Acres of U.S. Cropland Ravaged by Floods

At least 1 million acres (405,000 hectares) of U.S. farmland were flooded after the “bomb cyclone” storm left wide swaths of nine major grain producing states under water this month, satellite data analyzed by Gro Intelligence for Reuters showed.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-weather-floods-exclusive/exclusive-more-than-1-million-acres-of-u-s-cropland-ravaged-by-floods-idUSKCN1RA2AW?source=Snapzu

Silicon Valley’s Forgotten Unicorn

Right now the tech world is abuzz with rumours, speculation, and anticipation for the graduating class of 2019 unicorns. Airbnb, Lyft, Pinterest, Slack, Uber, and a handful of other tech unicorns are all considering or preparing for 2019 IPOs. But there’s one unicorn that nobody is talking about, and it’s the most profitable one of them all.
Read more: https://thespring.io/investing/silicon-valleys-forgotten-unicorn/?source=Snapzu

Office Depot rigged PC malware scans to sell unneeded $300 tech support

Office Depot and a partner company tricked customers into buying unneeded tech support services by offering PC scans that gave fake results, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Consumers paid up to $300 each for unnecessary services. The FTC yesterday announced that Office Depot and its software supplier, Support.com, have agreed to pay a total of $35 million in settlements with the agency.
Read more: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/03/office-depot-tricked-people-into-buying-pc-support-with-fake-virus-scans/?source=Snapzu

Lyft valued at $24.3 billion in first ride-hailing IPO

Lyft Inc was valued at $24.3 billion in the first initial public offering (IPO) of a ride-hailing startup on Thursday, raising more than it had set off to do as investors overlooked uncertainty over its path to becoming a profitable company.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lyft-ipo/lyft-valued-at-24-3-billion-in-first-ride-hailing-ipo-idUSKCN1R92P4?source=Snapzu

Here's why Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and other investors are pouring billions into clean-tech ventures

As funding for coal- and gas-fired power generation continues to decline, investors long leery of so-called “clean tech” plays are taking a shine to renewable-energy start-ups and other carbon-reducing technologies.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/28/gates-bezos-and-other-investors-are-pouring-billions-into-clean-tech.html?source=Snapzu

5 lessons for IT leaders from baseball execs

Enterprise computing isn't the only field in which digital disruption is changing the game. Baseball is affected by analytics, cross-team collaboration, and the continuing desire to hire superstars—not to mention the need for good old-fashioned management skills.
Read more: https://www.hpe.com/us/en/insights/articles/5-lessons-from-baseball-1903.html?source=Snapzu

Jury says Bayer must pay $80 million to man who alleged Roundup caused his cancer

A U.S. jury on Wednesday awarded $80 million to a man who claimed his use of Bayer's glyphosate-based weed killer Roundup caused his cancer, in the latest legal setback for the company facing thousands of similar lawsuits. The jury in San Francisco federal court said the company was liable for plaintiff Edwin Hardeman's non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/27/jury-says-bayer-must-pay-81-million-to-man-in-roundup-cancer-trial.html?source=Snapzu

After Insisting That EU Copyright Directive Didn't Require Filters, France Immediately Starts Promoting Filters

For months now we've all heard the refrain: Article 13 (now Article 17) of the EU Copyright Directive would not require filters. We all knew it was untrue. We pointed out many times that it was untrue, and that there was literally no way to...
Read more: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190327/17141241885/after-insisting-that-eu-copyright-directive-didnt-require-filters-france-immediately-starts-promoting-filters.shtml?source=Snapzu

Facebook charged over targeted housing ads allegedly discriminating by race, gender, zip code and religion

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Thursday that it was charging Facebook with violating the Fair Housing Act by “encouraging, enabling and causing housing discrimination” through the company’s targeted advertising platform.
Read more: http://www.newsweek.com/facebook-department-housing-and-urban-development-discrimination-advertising-1378099?source=Snapzu

Uber is paying $3.1BN to pick up Middle East rival Careem

After months and months of rumors it’s finally been confirmed that ride-hailing giant Uber is picking up its Middle East rival Careem in an acquisition deal worth $3.1 billion — with $1.7BN to be paid in convertible notes and $1.4BN in cash. Uber writes that it expects the transaction to close in Q1 2020, pending applicable regulatory approvals. It says it will acquire all of Careem’s mobility, delivery, and payments businesses across the greater Middle East region, which it notes ranges from Morocco to Pakistan.
Read more: https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/26/uber-is-paying-3-1bn-to-pick-up-middle-east-rival-careem/?source=Snapzu

Apple apologizes for ‘small number’ of MacBook customers experiencing issues with new keyboard

Complaints about the durability of Apple’s recent MacBook keyboards are nothing new, but Apple’s third-generation butterfly keyboard was expected to remedy lingering issues with sticky keys. Joanna Stern’s latest column in the WSJ explores the infamous keyboard problem, however, and suggests we’re not out of the woods yet. Included in the piece is an Apple spokesperson statement acknowledging ongoing issues.
Read more: https://9to5mac.com/2019/03/27/apple-keyboard-sorry/?source=Snapzu

Denver votes to remove taxes from tampons, pads

Feminine hygiene products are going to be a little cheaper in Denver starting in July after the city council voted Tuesday night to get rid of a 'tampon tax.' The Denver City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday night to remove a local sales tax on feminine products sold within the city. The 'tampon tax' bill will get rid of the city’s 4.3 percent tax on products like tampons and pads. Consumers will still be required to pay state taxes on feminine hygiene products.
Read more: https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/local-politics/denver-votes-to-remove-taxes-from-tampons-pads/73-7da3aa23-9c03-4eac-abaf-b6ca13e46484?source=Snapzu

Reddit may cross the $100 million mark in revenue this year, researchers predict

Reddit may make $119 million in ad revenue in 2019. The popular online social platform is also on its way to more than double its ad revenues by 2021, according to market analysis firm eMarketer's forecasts. "As a mix of forum and trending news site with a bit of social network, Reddit has operated on an 'open internet' ethos," Monica Peart, director of eMarketer forecasting, said in a statement. "Reddit's users are tech savvy and highly engaged, making them attractive to advertisers."
Read more: https://www.cnet.com/news/reddit-may-cross-the-100-million-mark-in-revenue-this-year-researchers-predict/?source=Snapzu

The Ford Bronco Will Have a Removable Roof and Doors and Will Go on Sale in Late 2020

We have been eagerly awaiting the Ford Bronco's return since it was first officially announced back at the 2017 Detroit auto show, and now it appears we'll have to wait a little while longer. According to Automotive News, which gleaned info from dealers who attended a Ford event last month where future products were shown, the Bronco will hit dealer lots in late 2020.
Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/ford-bronco-removable-roof-doors-140100586.html?source=Snapzu

Fyre Festival’s lead designer talks about branding a scam

“From the start, the brief wasn’t really a brief. It was just: This is our audience, this is what we’re trying to sell them.”
Read more: https://www.fastcompany.com/90324689/fyre-festivals-lead-designer-on-branding-a-scam?source=Snapzu

U.S. trade deficit narrows sharply as exports rebound

The U.S. trade deficit dropped more than expected in January likely as China boosted purchases of soybeans, leading to a rebound in exports after three straight monthly declines.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy-tradefigures/us-trade-deficit-narrows-sharply-as-exports-rebound-idUSKCN1R81BW?source=Snapzu

IBM purged ‘gray hairs’ and ‘old heads’ as it launched ‘Millennial Corps’: lawsuit

IBM has let go more than 20,000 U.S. workers over age 40 in the past six years, lawsuit claims.
Read more: https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/03/27/ibm-purged-gray-hairs-and-old-heads-as-it-launched-millennial-corps-lawsuit/?source=Snapzu

American consumers spent more on Airbnb than on Hilton last year

Airbnb has long felt like an existential threat to hotel companies. New data shows that it actually is one. US consumers spent more money on Airbnb last year than they did on Hilton and its subsidiary brands like DoubleTree and Embassy Suites, according to new data from Second Measure, a company that analyzes billions of dollars in anonymized debit and credit card purchases. Their Airbnb spending is even catching up to Marriott, the world’s largest hotel company, which added to its revenue by acquiring Starwood hotels in 2016.
Read more: https://www.recode.net/2019/3/25/18276296/airbnb-hotels-hilton-marriott-us-spending?source=Snapzu

Big oil pumps $1 billion into climate change lobbying, execs laugh about Trump access

Major oil companies have spent $1 billion on climate lobbying that is “overwhelmingly in conflict” with the Paris Agreement, according to one new report. And another report reveals oil execs laughing about their newfound access within the Trump administration.
Read more: https://electrek.co/2019/03/25/big-oil-climate-lobbying/?source=Snapzu

Europe’s controversial overhaul of online copyright receives final approval

The much-criticized ‘upload filter’ and ‘link tax’ will soon become law in EU nations. By James Vincent.
Read more: https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/26/18280726/europe-copyright-directive?source=Snapzu

More Than 90 Percent of Americans Have Pesticides or Their Byproducts in Their Bodies

The real risks from chemicals in our food—for farmworkers and children, in particular—are being ignored.
Read more: https://www.thenation.com/article/pesticides-farmworkers-agriculture/?source=Snapzu

This Founder Invented the Athena Panic Button to Protect Some of the Most Vulnerable Workers in the U.S.: Undocumented Women Immigrants

On December 21, 1990, I was 8 years old, sitting in a bomb shelter in Kuwait with my family. Two men burst in, yelling my little brother's name. They had been sent by the embassy to collect all American citizens and get them out of the country for their safety. My brother had been born in Philadelphia nine weeks prior, while my family was there for my father's work. They came to get him.
Read more: https://www.inc.com/leigh-buchanan/how-a-former-refugee-protects-housekeepers-from-assault.html?source=Snapzu

How We Made $27,443 From Our Blog Last Month

Well, if you read the title of this article you can probably guess we had a pretty BIG month for our blog. To say we are over-the-moon excited, thrilled, and grateful would be a complete understatement. It’s really hard to put into words what it is like to have a huge month like this.
Read more: https://thesavvycouple.com/blog-income-report-february-2019/?source=Snapzu

How Your Kids Can Ruin Your Retirement — and How to Make Sure They Don’t

Parents are spending $500 billion a year supporting their adult children—more than twice the amount they’re saving for retirement. How to help your kids without imperiling your golden years. By Reshma Kapadia.
Read more: https://www.barrons.com/articles/how-to-protect-your-retirement-from-your-kids-51553285595?source=Snapzu

Five Women on What It's Actually Like to Have Universal Health Care

Women in Canada, Iceland, Taiwan, Australia, and the UK talk about their universal health care systems. By Clio Chang.
Read more: https://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a26883556/single-payer-healthcare-international/?source=Snapzu

Man stole $122m from Facebook and Google by sending them random bills, which the companies dutifully paid

Last week, Evaldas Rimasauskas of Lithuania plead guilty to US wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering charges, admitting that he had stolen $99m from Facebook and $23m from Google between 2013 and 2015.
Read more: https://boingboing.net/2019/03/24/evaldas-rimasauskas.html?source=Snapzu

Apple announces Apple Card credit card

At Apple’s “show time” services event today, it announced a new Apple Card credit card, promising to improve things about the credit card experience with simpler applications, no fees, lowering interest rates, and offering better rewards.
Read more: https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/25/18277417/apple-pay-credit-card-announcement-goldman-sachs-event-2019?source=Snapzu

Underwater Restaurant Has Been Completed In Norway And It Looks Out Of This World

The first, the largest and the most research-friendly. Under is the world's largest underwater restaurant with a total seating capacity for 100 guests, it's the first of its kind in Europe, and it also functions as a research center for marine life. The Snøhetta-designed dining experience started operating just yesterday but people are already adding it to their Norway destination lists.
Read more: https://www.boredpanda.com/europe-first-underwater-restaurant-under-snohetta-norway/?source=Snapzu

A Friendly Reminder That the Lottery is a Regressive Tax

Nobody won last night’s Powerball drawing, sending the jackpot soaring to $750 million for the next drawing on Wednesday. That makes this a good time to remind ourselves that the lottery is a regressive tax disproportionately paid by the poorest Americans. The average adult in the U.S. spends $325 a year on lottery tickets, 63% of which goes to prizes, the rest of which goes to state and local governments.
Read more: https://medium.com/@jackiethornhill/a-friendly-reminder-that-the-lottery-is-a-regressive-tax-951438b98c30?source=Snapzu

Right-to-repair bill appears headed for first time to floor of Minnesota House

For the first time, a bill that would expand the network of independent businesses that could work on everything from consumer electronics to tractors is heading for a vote in April on at least one floor of the Legislature. “Our basic strategy is to show our progress in the House and put pressure on the Senate,” said Rep. Peter Fischer, D-Maplewood, a sponsor who also is still negotiating concerns of some electronics manufacturers.
Read more: http://www.startribune.com/right-to-repair-bill-appears-headed-for-first-time-to-floor-of-minnesota-house/507485152/?source=Snapzu

How does a company like Nokia or OnePlus 'mistakenly' collect user data and ship it off to a server in China?

Recently, the Nokia 7 Plus — the best phone from the new HMD-owned Nokia by far — was found to be sending private data from a Norwegian user's phone to a remote server in China. It seems that every time the phone was turned on, unencrypted data containing Henrik Austad's location, the SIM card number, and the phone's serial number went flying through the tubes to a Chinese server. HMD Global says this was an "error in the packing process of software" and that it has been fixed.
Read more: https://www.androidcentral.com/how-does-company-nokia-or-oneplus-mistakenly-collect-user-data-and-ship-it-server-china?source=Snapzu

Flying taxi startup Blade is helping Silicon Valley CEOs bypass traffic

One year after a $38 million Series B valued on-demand aviation startup Blade at $140 million, the company has begun taxiing the Bay Area’s elite. As part of a new pilot program, Blade has given 200 people in San Francisco and Silicon Valley exclusive access to its mobile app, allowing them to book helicopters, private jets and even seaplanes at a moments notice for $200 per seat, at least.
Read more: https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/23/flying-taxi-startup-blade-is-helping-silicon-valley-ceos-bypass-traffic/?source=Snapzu

Meat Giant Kerry Group Planning 'Significant Drive' Into Plant-Based Sector

Major meat company the Kerry Group has revealed it is planning to enter the plant-based market, to capitalize on the growing flexitarian sector. It is the latest in the number of major meat brands which has acknowledged the significant number of people opting for meat-free meals - whether they are vegan or not.
Read more: https://www.plantbasednews.org/post/meat-giant-kerry-group-significant-drive-plant-based-sector?source=Snapzu

The Fear of Losing It All

What happens to your brain when you worry about money. By Charlotte Cowles.
Read more: https://www.thecut.com/2019/03/money-problems-stress-finances-debt-advice.html?source=Snapzu

She Was Given a Deadline, but Married on Her Own Terms

When Melissa Marti saw the email that caused her to sit in her driveway sobbing into her steering wheel, she knew she was going marry Seth Visser. She just didn’t know when. “We had been talking about it for years — we had even started making plans,” said Ms. Marti, who is from New Ulm, Minn.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/20/fashion/weddings/fired-dance-coach-marries-on-her-terms-not-deadline-set-by-minnesota-roman-catholic-school.html?source=Snapzu

I Used to Argue for UBI. Then I gave a talk at Uber

Whether its proponents are cynical or simply naive, UBI is not the patch we need. A weekly handout doesn’t promote economic equality - or empowerment. By Douglas Rushkoff.
Read more: https://blog.p2pfoundation.net/i-used-to-argue-for-ubi-then-i-gave-a-talk-at-uber/2018/11/26?source=Snapzu

More than 130 European businesses tell the European Parliament: Reject the #CopyrightDirective

The EU's Copyright Directive will be voted on in the week of March 25 (our sources suggest the vote will take place on March 27th, but that could change); the Directive has been controversial all along, but it took a turn for the catastrophic during the late stages of the negotiation, which yielded a final text that is alarming in its potential consequences for all internet activity in Europe and around the world.
Read more: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/03/more-130-european-businesses-tell-european-parliament-reject-copyrightdirective?source=Snapzu

Medicare for All Is Not Just Good Politics—It’s Good for Business, Too

We’ve all heard, read and seen the claims that Medicare for All is bad for the the economy, anti-business, and an attack on the free market. In response, advocates for Medicare for All like myself have instead made the case about the moral urgency of ensuring that everyone has health care, no matter their means. But what if Medicare for All is the moral and economically smart course?
Read more: https://www.thenation.com/article/medicare-for-all-universal-healthcare/?source=Snapzu

Finnish authorities to investigate Nokia-branded phones sending data to China

The Finnish data protection watchdog has confirmed it’s investigating HMD Global’s Nokia-branded phones over reports they were found to be sending unencrypted data to a Chinese server. Details first emerged after a user, Henrik Austad, tipped off the Norwegian broadcaster NRK, who investigated the breach, Reuters reports.
Read more: https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/22/18277015/finland-nokia-investigation-data-sharing-china-7-plus?source=Snapzu

An Important Group of European Hunter-Gatherers Taught Themselves To Farm

Some 12,000 years ago, the land was exceptionally fertile curving up from the Nile River basin across Jordan, Syria, and Iraq, down into the Tigris River Valley. The area’s earliest settlers grew wheat, barely and lentils. Some kept pigs and sheep. Farming soon replaced hunting and foraging as a way of life there. The region became known as the Fertile Crescent, the birthplace of agriculture.
Read more: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2019/03/20/anatolian-hunter-gatherers-taught-themselves-to-farm/#.XJJ6CBNKhTY?source=Snapzu

Facebook, Google and other big tech giants are about to face a ‘reckoning,’ state attorneys general warn

Some of the country’s most influential state attorneys general are signaling they’re willing to take action against Facebook, Google and other tech giants, warning that the companies have grown too big and powerful — and that Washington has been too slow to respond. For many of these top law enforcement officials, the fear is that Silicon Valley has amassed too much personal information about Web users and harnessed it in a way that’s jeopardized people’s privacy and undermined competition, often without much oversight.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/03/15/facebook-google-other-big-tech-giants-are-about-face-reckoning-state-attorneys-general-warn/?utm_term=.337c1538bbec?source=Snapzu

Fed holds line on rates, says no more hikes ahead this year

The Federal Reserve decided Wednesday to hold interest rates steady and indicated that no more hikes will be coming this year. In a unanimous move that coincides with market expectations and demands, the central bank's policymaking Federal Open Market Committee took a sharp dovish turn from policy projections just three months earlier.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/20/fed-leaves-rates-unchanged.html?source=Snapzu

Content Distribution: The Missing Piece in Your Marketing Strategy

As it becomes harder to market a business through blogging, content distribution becomes increasingly important.
Read more: https://www.groovehq.com/blog/content-distribution?source=Snapzu

When the U.S. falls into a recession, a credit bubble will explode

The European Central Bank this month said it would keep record-low interest rates for longer. The news comes shortly after the U.S. Federal Reserve gave in to the stock market and held off on further interest-rate increases. While investors celebrate the policy reversal, they might soon regret it. This stimulus may indeed buy the market an additional year or two. But postponing the inevitable downturn with artificially low rates will come at a cost. The cost is a massive credit bubble that is already of biblical proportions. Its implications chill me to the bone.
Read more: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/when-the-us-falls-into-a-recession-a-credit-bubble-will-explode-2019-03-20?source=Snapzu

Swiss Bank Allowing Crypto Access is a Win for Bitcoin

The well known Swiss Bank, the Julius Baer Group AG, announced to allow its users to access cryptos by partnering with SEBA. SEBA is building a progressive technological bridge between the traditional and the digital asset world, raised quite a handsome amount of $103 million back in September, 2018. The raised funds are to be poured into the project to allow the users the liberty to transact cryptos through the banking system.
Read more: https://blockpublishers.com/swiss-bank-allowing-crypto-access-is-a-win-for-bitcoin/?source=Snapzu

Amazon HQ: Texas Experience Proves New Yorkers Were Right

New York offered Amazon close to US$3 billion to build a “second” headquarters in Long Island City on the promise of 25,000 jobs. Since the deal was joyfully announced in November, however, many local residents and some politicians in the area have been questioning whether it’s worth it, both in terms of the price tag and the impact on housing and traffic congestion.
Read more: https://ponderwall.com/index.php/2019/03/20/amazon-headquarters-texas-experience-newyork/?source=Snapzu

Most Amazon Brands Are Duds, Not Disrupters, Study Finds

The explosion of Amazon.com Inc.’s private-label products -- batteries, baby wipes, jeans, tortilla chips, sofas -- has prompted concern that the world’s biggest online retailer could use its clout to promote these house brands at the expense of merchants selling similar products on the web store.
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-18/most-amazon-brands-are-duds-not-disrupters-study-finds?srnd=technology-vp?source=Snapzu

Crashed jets reportedly lacked key safety features because Boeing charged extra for them

Boeing jets in Ethiopia and Indonesia lacked two safety features in their cockpits because the company charged extra to install them.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/21/crashed-boeing-jets-lacked-key-safety-features-that-were-add-ons.html?source=Snapzu

EU regulators hit Google with $1.7 billion fine for blocking ad rivals

The European Union on Wednesday ordered Google to pay 1.49 billion euros ($1.69 billion) for stifling competition in the online advertisement sector. The European Commission said Google had placed exclusivity contracts on website owners, stopping them from including search results from Google’s rivals. It said these clauses were replaced in 2009 by premium payments and in the same year, Google had asked publishers to seek permission on how rival ads were displayed.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/20/eu-vestager-hits-google-with-fine-for.html?source=Snapzu