More Than 500 New Vegan Restaurants Opened During The Coronavirus Pandemic

Despite the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, more than 500 new vegan restaurants have opened around the world during this time. Data from online vegetarian and vegan food review service HappyCow has highlighted the boom in meat-free businesses.
Read more: https://raisevegan.com/more-than-500-new-vegan-restaurants-opened-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic/?source=Snapzu

Big Tech's blockbuster earnings undermine their arguments to Congress that they aren't that big

Four of the biggest tech companies in the world – Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook – announced stronger-than-expected second-quarter earnings on Thursday, defying worries about Wednesday's antitrust hearings and an ongoing pandemic. The strong results from the four companies, often categorized as "Big Tech," comes a day after their CEOs testified before Congress, defending the size of their companies
Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-apple-google-and-facebook-smash-q2-earnings-2020-7?source=Snapzu

3 Months Of Hell: U.S. Economy Drops 32.9% In Worst GDP Report Ever

The coronavirus triggered the sharpest economic contraction in modern history in the second quarter as the pandemic hammered the economy, the Commerce Department said Thursday.
Read more: https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/07/30/896714437/3-months-of-hell-u-s-economys-worst-quarter-ever?source=Snapzu

Bye, boomer: the coming cull of workers over 50

Uh-oh. Those of us who remember when ’80s music was new had better start bracing ourselves for those big-box-store greeter jobs earlier than we expected. It doesn’t take a genius to see that the jobs market is probably heading for a massive, rolling shakeout. And that means plenty of employers may be using the cover of COVID-19 to get rid of lots of expensive older workers.
Read more: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/bye-boomer-the-coming-cull-of-workers-over-50-2020-07-29?source=Snapzu

Apple Was Fastest Growing Smartphone Brand in China in Second Quarter, Buoyed By Strong iPhone SE Sales

Apple's iPhone was the fastest-growing smartphone brand in China in the second quarter, according to data published by Counterpoint Research.
Read more: https://www.macrumors.com/2020/07/29/iphone-fastest-growing-smartphone-china-q2/?source=Snapzu

Konami Launches A Line Of Gaming PCs

Besides developing video games, Konami has long making arcade, pachinko, and other amusement hardware. Now, add gaming PCs to that list. The PC gaming brand is called Arespear and features the tagline, “Advanced revolution of esports.” The name is from Greek mythology, combining “Ares” with the word “spear.” Currently there are three entries in the line up: the Arespear C700+ for 338,800 yen ($3,228), Arespear C700 for 316,800 yen ($3,018), and the Arespear C300 for 184,800 yen ($1,760.94).
Read more: https://kotaku.com/konami-launches-a-line-of-gaming-pcs-1844541222?source=Snapzu

Tencent overtakes Facebook as world’s most valuable social media company

Tencent Holdings blasted past Facebook to become the world’s most valuable social media network operator by market capitalisation on Tuesday. It now also ranks as the seventh largest company globally. The Chinese online games and WeChat giant soared 4.5 per cent to HK$543.50, taking its market capitalisation to just under HK$5.2 trillion (US$670 billion), compared to the American rival’s market value of US$657.8 billion.
Read more: https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3094961/tencent-overtakes-facebook-worlds-most-valuable-social-media?source=Snapzu

US Smartphone Sell-Through Volumes Fall 25% in 2Q20; iPhone SE a Bright Spot

During the second quarter of 2020, US smartphone sell-through fell 25% year-over-year.
Read more: https://www.counterpointresearch.com/us-smartphone-sell-through-volumes-fall/?source=Snapzu

The $5.3 Trillion Question Behind America’s COVID-19 Failure

That’s the amount of buybacks U.S. corporations funneled to shareholders during the past decade—rather than invest in technologies for the common good.
Read more: https://prospect.org/coronavirus/americas-covid-19-failure-corporate-stock-buybacks/?source=Snapzu

Congress has a million-plus documents from Big Tech antitrust investigation, and are ready to grill big-name CEOs

For more than a year, the federal government has circled Big Tech and its business practices. On Wednesday, members of the House of Representatives will roll out evidence their staffs have found and put pressure directly on some of the most prominent executives in the world.
Read more: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/congress-has-a-million-plus-documents-from-big-tech-antitrust-investigation-and-are-ready-to-grill-big-name-ceos-2020-07-25?source=Snapzu

Pesticides could increase the spread of deadly infections, study finds

Many countries are banning certain pesticides due to health risks associated with the products.
Read more: https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/pesticides-could-increase-the-spread-of-deadly-infections-study-finds-072020.html?source=Snapzu

24 million Americans fear missing next rent payment as benefits dry up

Black and Hispanic households in greatest danger as evictions loom. Days from the end of enhanced unemployment benefits and a federal eviction moratorium, 24 million Americans say they have little to no chance of being able to pay next month’s rent, a U.S. Census Bureau survey shows.
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/graphics/2020/07/24/24-million-americans-say-they-have-little-no-chance-being-able-pay-next-months-rent-eviction/5497764002/?source=Snapzu

More than 40% of Bay Area tech workers would leave the area for somewhere less expensive if they were asked to work from home forever, a new survey found

Faced with a permanent work-from-home situation, more than 40% of San Francisco Bay Area tech workers would leave the region, a new survey found.
Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com.au/tech-workers-would-leave-bay-area-permanently-remote-hired-survey-2020-7?source=Snapzu

Farming in the desert: Are vertical farms the solution to saving water?

With high temperatures and water scarcity, the Emirates might seem an unlikely place for a farm. Yet, as coronavirus and climate change heighten the desire for food security, could vertical farms be the solution?
Read more: https://www.dw.com/en/united-arab-emirates-vertical-farming/a-54252631?source=Snapzu

Bitcoin Is a Form of Money, DC Federal Court Rules

Bitcoin is a form of "money", a Washington, D.C. federal court said on Friday.
Read more: https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-is-a-form-of-money-d-c-federal-court-rules-bloomberg?source=Snapzu

Amazon reportedly invested in startups and gained proprietary information before launching competitors, often crushing the smaller companies in the process

Amazon has been using the startup investment process to help it make its own competing products, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal's Dana Mattioli and Cara Lombardo. The Journal spoke with dozens of startup founders, investors, and advisers, who said Amazon met with or invested in their companies, only to later build its own products that directly competed with the smaller company. The Amazon-made products often went on to crush the competition, the Journal found.
Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-startup-investment-competitors-wsj-report-echo-nucleus-ubi-2020-7?source=Snapzu

Money alone won’t close America’s racial and wealth gaps, we first need to wipe out the value gap — ‘the belief that white people matter more than others’

There’s a ride at Disney World called the Carousel of Progress in which a cast of animatronic Americans on a revolving stage tell of all the technological upgrades to our lives since 1900: indoor plumbing, flight, television. It’s one of Walt’s original attractions, dating back to the 1964 New York World’s Fair — and the name could not be more apt. Carousels, for all their dizzying motion and calliope music, mostly just spin in place. “Progress” is like that, too.
Read more: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/money-alone-wont-close-americas-racial-and-wealth-gaps-we-first-need-to-wipe-out-the-value-gap-the-belief-that-white-people-matter-more-than-others-2020-07-24?source=Snapzu

Amazon Met With Startups About Investing, Then Launched Competing Products

Some companies regret sharing information with the tech giant and its Alexa Fund. ‘We may have been naive in believing they weren’t competitive with us,’ said one executive.
Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-tech-startup-echo-bezos-alexa-investment-fund-11595520249?source=Snapzu

How a few negative online reviews early on can hurt a restaurant

Just a few negative online restaurant reviews can determine early on how many reviews a restaurant receives long-term, a new study has found.
Read more: https://news.osu.edu/how-a-few-negative-online-reviews-early-on-can-hurt-a-restaurant/?source=Snapzu

Apple device management firm Jamf prices IPO at $26, seeks to raise $468M

Software development and services company Jamf, known for specialized tools that help businesses deploy Apple devices, on Tuesday updated the size and price of its forthcoming initial public offering.
Read more: https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/07/22/apple-device-management-firm-jamf-prices-ipo-at-26-seeks-to-raise-468m?source=Snapzu

Ghost of Tsushima Sales Exceed Expectations In Japan

Ghost of Tsushima has been a sales success for SIE Japan and the stock is facing a shortage, as per an official statement from SIE Japan. Ghost of Tsushima pre-sales data in Japan had suggested that the game could be on the verge of becoming the best-selling first-party game in Japan and this is turning out to be the case so far. As per an official tweet by PlayStation Japan, Ghost of Tsushima has exceeded sales expectations and the publisher is working to get more copies out in retail stores.
Read more: https://twistedvoxel.com/ghost-of-tsushima-stock-shortage/?source=Snapzu

TikTok could be sold off by Chinese owner to shield it from US ban

The embattled viral video app TikTok could be split off from its Chinese parent company and sold to investors in the United States in order to shield it from regulatory wrath, according to reports. ByteDance, the $110bn (£86bn) Beijing start-up behind TikTok, is said to be discussing the plan with a small group of its US investors, who would buy a majority stake in the app.
Read more: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2020/07/21/tiktok-could-sold-chinese-owner-shield-us-ban/?source=Snapzu

Philly brewers made a craft beer to support Black Lives Matter. It's already sold out.

Local brewers collaborated on the Black is Beautiful beer at Callowhill’s Love City Brewing and all proceeds will be donated to Black Lives Matter Philly. The Black is Beautiful project was started by Weathered Souls Brewing Company, a Black-owned brewery in San Antonio.
Read more: https://www.inquirer.com/food/drink/black-is-beautiful-beer-love-city-brewery-black-lives-matter-20200720.html?source=Snapzu

Economists Think Congress Should Keep Paying Unemployed Workers $600 A Week — Or Even More

Experts say support for jobless workers and local governments will help the economy the most.
Read more: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/economists-think-congress-should-keep-paying-unemployed-workers-600-a-week-or-even-more/?source=Snapzu

Jeff Bezos added $13 billion to his net worth on Monday, his highest one day increase yet

Jeff Bezos, the owner of Amazon, added a record $13 billion to his net worth on Monday, Bloomberg reported. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Bezos' is now worth $189.3 billion. While the US economy has shrunk due to the coronavirus pandemic, the founder of the online shopping giant has gained $74 billion this year.
Read more: https://www.businessinsider.in/international/news/jeff-bezos-added-13-billion-to-his-net-worth-on-monday-his-highest-one-day-increase-yet/articleshow/77078880.cms?source=Snapzu

We are sleepwalking toward economic catastrophe

"The cliff is totally visible in front of us": The future is grim if Congress doesn’t act on the economy. The country is ambling toward a cliff, putting millions of Americans’ lives and livelihoods in danger and all but ensuring prolonged economic distress nationwide. It didn’t have to be this way. Yet here we are, unable to shake out of it.
Read more: https://www.vox.com/21327754/coronavirus-economy-second-stimulus-unemployment-extend-congress?source=Snapzu

Uber has been quietly helping governments with contact tracing for months

Uber has been quietly helping health officials around the world with contact tracing, the company told Reuters. The ride-sharing company has built a special portal for health officials to request access to rider and driver data. Uber has provided user data to officials before, for example with police departments investigating a crime.
Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-contact-tracing-healthcare-official-data-2020-7?source=Snapzu

iTunes gift card scam: Apple sued for refusing to help victims

Apple is being sued for allegedly refusing to help those who have fallen victim to a iTunes gift card scam. An 11-count class action lawsuit has been filed against the company. Apple is accused of lying when it says that there is no way to trace or refund the value of the cards. There are a large number of scams which involve pre-paid gift cards like store cards and iTunes gift cards. Here’s how the FTC describes them.
Read more: https://9to5mac.com/2020/07/20/itunes-gift-card-scam/?source=Snapzu

Integration of Сryptocurrencies into the Largest Payment Systems.

Although cryptocurrencies have been around for more than ten years and Bitcoin was first introduced in 2009, there is still a lot of skepticism around the crypto industry. Despite the market’s annual capitalization growth, many institutions in traditional finance do not recognize the role of digital assets in the global economy.
Read more: https://medium.com/exmo-official/integration-of-%D1%81ryptocurrencies-into-the-largest-payment-systems-71c75b833f2d?source=Snapzu

TikTok considers London and other locations for headquarters

TikTok has been in discussions with the UK government over the past few months to locate its headquarters in London, a source familiar with the matter said, as part of a strategy to distance itself from its Chinese ownership. London is among one of several locations the company is considering, but no decisions have been made, the source said.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tiktok-headquarters/tiktok-considers-london-and-other-locations-for-headquarters-idUSKCN24J0W6?source=Snapzu

Airbnb Was Like a Family, Until the Layoffs Started

What happens when a kumbaya office culture meets the business realities of a pandemic?
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/17/technology/airbnb-coronavirus-layoffs-.html?source=Snapzu

Twitter disables video retweeted by Donald Trump over copyright complaint

Twitter has disabled a campaign-style video retweeted by Donald Trump, citing a copyright complaint. The video, which included music from the group Linkin Park, disappeared from the president’s Twitter feed late Saturday with the notification: “This media has been disabled in response to a report by the copyright owner.”
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/19/twitter-disables-video-retweeted-by-donald-trump-over-copyright-complaint?source=Snapzu

Netflix warns of slowdown after subscriber surge

The company has already added nearly as many subscribers as it did in all of 2019.
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-53435858?source=Snapzu

1.3 million Americans file new unemployment claims

Four months into the COVID-19 pandemic, an additional 1.3 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, according to U.S. Department of Labor data released Thursday. That's down 10,000 from the previous week but still significantly higher than pre-pandemic figures. Continued claims of workers who filed claims at least two weeks in a row were at 17.3 million for the week ending July 4. Continued claims lag a week behind the new weekly claims report.
Read more: https://www.thedailyfodder.com/2020/07/13-million-americans-file-new.html?source=Snapzu

U.S. retail sales pop more-than-expected in June

U.S. retail sales increased more than expected in June, but the budding economic recovery is being threatened by a resurgence in new Covid-19 infections and high unemployment.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/16/retail-sales-june-2020.html?__source=iosappshare%7Ccom.apple.UIKit.activity.CopyToPasteboard?source=Snapzu

The future looks bleak for YouTube TV and other vMVPDs

YouTube TV are fuboTV have raised their prices to help confront the dramatically unprofitable realities of the virtual MVPD market but it will cost them future subscriber growth.
Read more: https://www.fiercevideo.com/video/future-looks-bleak-for-youtube-tv-and-other-vmvpds?source=Snapzu

The Lost Art of Growing Blueberries With Fire

Using all four elements to grow the perfect berry.
Read more: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/why-do-people-burn-blueberry-fields?source=Snapzu

Apple wins appeal against $15 billion EU tax bill

Apple has won its appeal against a European Commission ruling that it owed Ireland €13 billion ($14.9 billion) in taxes. The European Union's second highest court ruled Wednesday that the Commission had not proven that the company had received illegal state aid from Ireland through favorable tax agreements.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/15/tech/apple-ireland-tax-european-commission/index.html?source=Snapzu

Amazon Dash Cart Lets You Skip Cashier Lines at Supermarkets

Amazon has launched a smart shopping cart called the Dash Cart that uses sensors to tell what you're buying and lets you skip the traditional checkout lines.
Read more: https://www.digitaltrends.com/home/amazon-dash-smart-shopping-cart/?source=Snapzu

This Recession Is a Bigger Housing Crisis Than 2008

The wealthiest country in human history has trouble keeping its people housed, even in good times. In 2017, the United States boasted one of the strongest economies in the world, and nearly half of its tenants were rent burdened. A majority of households in the bottom quintile of our nation’s income distribution give more than 40 percent of their disposable income to landlords each month. Only three other developed countries force their poor to shoulder heavier housing costs.
Read more: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/07/coronavirus-recession-evictions-crisis-congress.html?source=Snapzu

Is It Time To Kill The Penny?

As America experiences a coin shortage, Planet Money takes a look at the value of the penny.
Read more: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2020/07/14/890435359/is-it-time-to-kill-the-penny?source=Snapzu

Black wealth must ‘exit to Bitcoin,’ says author Isaiah Jackson

Bitcoin can benefit the black community and help create leverage against the current financial system, author Isaiah Jackson told the Decrypt Daily podcast.
Read more: https://decrypt.co/35437/black-wealth-must-exit-to-bitcoin-says-author-isaiah-jackson?source=Snapzu

In Survey of Nearly 24,000 Restaurants, Yelp Finds That 53 Percent Have Permanently Closed

Plus, goodbye to the Costco sheet cake, and more news to start your day
Read more: https://www.eater.com/2020/6/26/21304219/over-50-percent-of-yelp-restaurants-have-closed-permanently?source=Snapzu

United Isn’t Alone. A Wave of Layoffs Could be Coming.

A wave of layoffs seems to be coming in the airline industry as new domestic quarantine rules slow the travel rebound.
Read more: https://www.barrons.com/articles/united-airlines-stock-layoffs-furloughs-travel-coronavirus-newark-51594235139?source=Snapzu

Super-rich call for higher taxes on wealthy to pay for Covid-19 recovery

A group of 83 of the world’s richest people have called on governments to permanently increase taxes on them and other members of the wealthy elite to help pay for the economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis. The super-rich members, including Ben and Jerry’s ice cream co-founder Jerry Greenfield and Disney heir Abigail Disney, called on “our governments to raise taxes on people like us. Immediately. Substantially. Permanently”.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/jul/13/super-rich-call-for-higher-taxes-on-wealthy-to-pay-for-covid-19-recovery?source=Snapzu

Google is reportedly facing a new antitrust probe from California

California has reportedly opened its own antitrust investigation into Google, Politico reports, which would mean the search giant is now facing antitrust probes from every state in the US bar one. It is not known which aspect of the company California’s attorney general is investigating, but recent scrutiny has focused on its acquisitions, and its dominance and conduct in the ad tech market and search markets.
Read more: https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/13/21322370/google-antitrust-california-attorney-general-advertising-technology-search-acquisitions?source=Snapzu

Apple Supplier Foxconn Said to Plan $1 Billion Investment in India

Foxconn plans to invest up to $1 billion (roughly Rs. 7,516 crores) to expand a factory in southern India where the Taiwanese contract manufacturer assembles Apple iPhones, two sources said.
Read more: https://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/foxconn-india-investment-usd-1-billion-report-2260921?pfrom=home-tech?source=Snapzu

The Oldest Restaurant In (Almost) Every Country

Many of the world’s oldest businesses are restaurants for the simple reason that delicious, familiar food never goes out of fashion.
Read more: https://www.netcredit.com/blog/oldest-restaurant-in-every-country/?source=Snapzu

Meet the company that sells your lost airplane luggage

If you’ve ever permanently lost a checked bag, your stuff probably ended up for sale at a store in Scottsboro, Alabama.
Read more: https://thehustle.co/unclaimed-baggage-store-that-sells-lost-luggage/?source=Snapzu

You Can Make Millions Selling Masks to the Government in Three Easy Steps

The federal government is essentially providing seed money to PPE startups, including some run by people accused of fraud. Mask brokers describe a simple blueprint for buying masks from China to get rich.
Read more: https://www.propublica.org/article/you-can-make-millions-selling-masks-to-the-government-in-three-easy-steps?source=Snapzu