How Games Workshop grew to become more profitable than Google

It started in a small flat in west London, with three friends selling board games and a fanzine via mail order; now Games Workshop is worth more than Marks & Spencer and Asos and is more profitable than Google. This week the Nottingham-based company, which produces the Warhammer fantasy role-playing brand, announced all of its workers would get a £5,000 bonus after sales and profits surged during the pandemic.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/jul/31/how-games-workshop-grew-to-become-more-profitable-than-google?source=Snapzu

Jay-Z and Will Smith Back Rent-to-Own Firm in $165 Million Round

A startup that helps renters build credit until they can buy a place is raising $165 million from a group of investors that includes Sequoia Capital, Jay-Z’s Roc Nation and Will Smith’s Dreamers VC.
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-27/jay-z-and-will-smith-back-rent-to-own-firm-in-165-million-round?source=Snapzu

I’m sorry Dave I’m afraid I invented that: Australian court finds AI systems can be recognised under patent law

Federal court judge says allowing artificial intelligence systems, as well as humans, to be inventors is ‘consistent with promoting innovation’. An artificial intelligence system is capable of being an “inventor” under Australian patent law, the federal court has ruled, in a decision that could have wider intellectual property implications.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/jul/30/im-sorry-dave-im-afraid-i-invented-that-australian-court-finds-ai-systems-can-be-recognised-under-patent-law?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other?source=Snapzu

Amazon predicts slower sales growth as Covid boost eases

Amazon has predicted slower sales growth in the third quarter as a boost from the Covid pandemic subsides. Customers turned to Amazon and other online platforms during the Covid crisis, leading to record profits for the US giant. But Amazon's breakneck growth is beginning to level as customers start to return to bricks and mortar shops.
Read more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58020895?source=Snapzu

European economy grows 2%, ending double-dip recession

Europe emerged from a double-dip recession in the second quarter with stronger than expected growth of 2% over the quarter before, according to official figures released Friday, as hard-hit southern European economies Spain, Italy and Portugal delivered surprisingly strong results.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/3f8f17437a6b78376767d484bb6f1395?source=Snapzu

U.S. prosecutors charge Trevor Milton, founder of electric carmaker Nikola, with three counts of fraud

A federal grand jury charged Nikola founder Trevor Milton with three counts of criminal fraud for lying about “nearly all aspects of the business” to bolster stock sales of the electric vehicle start-up, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/29/us-prosecutors-charge-trevor-milton-founder-of-electric-carmaker-nikola-with-three-counts-of-fraud.html?source=Snapzu

We’re Ben and Jerry. Men of Ice Cream, Men of Principle.

We support the company's decision to end the sale of its ice cream in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/28/opinion/ben-and-jerry-israel.html?source=Snapzu

PS5 is the fastest-selling PlayStation as it hits 10m sales milestone

PlayStation 5 is Sony's fastest-selling games console after surpassing 10 million sales worldwide. The new console reached the figure on July 18th, just under a month faster than the PlayStation 4 managed.
Read more: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-07-28-ps5-is-the-fastest-selling-playstation-as-it-hits-10-million-sales-milestone?source=Snapzu

Elon Musk criticizes Apple over ‘walled garden’ App Store, use of cobalt in batteries

Tesla today reported its earnings for the second quarter of 2021, as detailed by our colleagues over at Electrek. During the accompanying earnings call this afternoon, Tesla CEO Elon Musk took a pair of jabs at Apple, criticizing the company over its App Store policy as well as its use of cobalt in iPhone and Mac batteries.
Read more: https://9to5mac.com/2021/07/26/musk-apple-comments-cobalt-app-store/?source=Snapzu

Your Apple laptop is probably repaired at a facility workers say is a 'sweatshop'

Ten former and current workers at CSAT Solutions, a third-party repair service used by Apple, said they work under poor conditions.
Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-repair-workers-sweatshop-csat-solutions-2021-7?source=Snapzu

Apple wins patent for in-screen Touch ID and Face ID

Early rumors about the iPhone 14 suggest that Apple plans to lose the notch next year, with in-screen Touch ID or Face ID two possible ways to achieve this. A patent granted today describes how both forms of biometric authentication could be embedded into the display.
Read more: https://9to5mac.com/2021/07/27/in-screen-touch-id-2/?source=Snapzu

Coffee prices surge as unusual cold threatens Brazilian production

Arabica coffee prices rose 10% more on Monday, after jumping nearly 20% last week, to their highest in nearly seven years as unusual cold weather threatens coffee crops in the world's largest producer Brazil.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/coffee-prices-surge-unusual-cold-threatens-brazilian-production-2021-07-26/?source=Snapzu

Uber Boosts Trucking Push With $2.25 Billion Deal To Buy Freight Service Transplace

Ridehail giant Uber is making a big push to beef up its trucking business by purchasing logistics service Transplace for about $2.25 billion, intending to turn its Uber Freight unit into a top player in arranging and tracking shipments of goods.
Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2021/07/22/uber-boosts-trucking-push-with-225-billion-deal-to-buy-freight-service-transplace/?source=Snapzu

'People are just walking out in the middle of shifts': What it's like to work in a restaurant right now

Going out to eat might feel a little different these days. Maybe you’re waiting longer for a table, even though the restaurant doesn’t appear full. Or maybe your service is slower, and your server seems anxious.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/23/business/restaurant-workers-experience/index.html?source=Snapzu

Monetary system 2.0 – The Future World of Finance is built by engineers not bankers!

Are crypto and blockchain going to replace traditional systems of banking and finance? And could they pose a serious threat to central banks around the world? Well… yes. Cryptocurrencies are a significant threat to banks and according to our sources, most of the latter have taken an “if you can’t beat them, join them” mindset. Keep reading to find out more about the future of monetary systems.
Read more: https://crypton.study/monetary-system-2-0-the-future-world-of-finance/?source=Snapzu

Opinion: The Steam Deck Queue Showed How Companies Can Fight Against Hardware Scalpers

Yes, it did not stop ALL the scalpers, but it was a lot easier to reserve a Steam Deck preorder compared to the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
Read more: https://www.ign.com/articles/opinion-steam-deck-queue-system-fight-scalpers?source=Snapzu

Switzerland's gravity-defying solution

Switzerland's 15th-Century farmers and vintners had a dangerously creative solution to irrigating their mountainous land that's still in use today.
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20210721-switzerlands-gravity-defying-solution?source=Snapzu

California sued gaming giant Activision Blizzard, alleging widespread harassment of female staff. A male supervisor delegated his work to a female employee so he could play Call of Duty, the suit said.

California's fair employment agency filed a lawsuit against gaming giant Activision Blizzard on Tuesday, accusing the Call of Duty publisher of a "pervasive frat boy" in which female employees were routinely harassed. In one alleged incident, a "newly promoted male supervisor delegated his responsibilities to his now female subordinates in favor of playing Call of Duty," the filing said.
Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/activision-blizzard-delegated-work-to-play-call-of-duty-lawsuit-2021-7?source=Snapzu

AI Is Learning To Understand How Vegetables Taste

This vertical farm in Pittsburgh, PA uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to develop a grow recipe for better tasting greens.
Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferhicks/2021/07/20/ai-is-learning-to-understand-how-vegetables-taste/?sh=30a638316e1b?source=Snapzu

U.S. jobless claims show surprise gain, well above expectations

Weekly jobless claims unexpected moved higher last week despite hopes that the U.S. labor market is poised for a strong recovery heading into the fall. Initial filings for unemployment insurance totaled 419,000 for the week ended July 17, well above the 350,000 Dow Jones estimate and more than the upwardly revised 368,000 from the previous period, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/22/us-weekly-jobless-claims.html?source=Snapzu

Who's outbidding you by tens of thousands of dollars for that home of your dreams? A hedge fund

These buyers often come armed with the kind of financial firepower ordinary Americans can't hope to match, housing experts say.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/business/real-estate/who-s-outbidding-you-tens-thousands-dollars-house-hedge-fund-n1274597?source=Snapzu

Companies claim there’s a labor shortage. Their solution? Prisoners

Worker advocates say prison labor programs exploit workers with few options
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/20/companies-claim-theres-a-labor-shortage-their-solution-prisoners?source=Snapzu

Netflix misses subscriber growth and earnings expectations

Netflix reported earnings after the bell. Here are the results.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/20/netflix-nflx-q2-2021-earnings.html?source=Snapzu

Back to '70s inflation? How Biden's spending spree will hurt your wallet

Last week we learned that, in June, prices throughout the U.S. economy continued to rise at a pace we simply have not observed since the “Great Inflation” period of 1966-1982. Tuesday’s report that consumer prices had risen 0.9 percent (11.4 percent at an annual rate) was followed Wednesday with news that producer prices had surged 1 percent (12.2 percent annualized), both roughly double what economists had been forecasting. Then, on Thursday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that import prices also had continued to surge higher in June.
Read more: https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/563809-back-to-70s-inflation-how-bidens-spending-spree-will-hurt-your-wallet?source=Snapzu

Low Pay, No Benefits, Rude Customers: Restaurant Workers Quit At Record Rate

Average wages for nonmanagers at restaurants and bars hit $15 an hour in May, but many say no amount of pay would get them to return. They are leaving at the highest rate in decades.
Read more: https://www.npr.org/2021/07/20/1016081936/low-pay-no-benefits-rude-customers-restaurant-workers-quit-at-record-rate?source=Snapzu

Virtual characters emerge as new trend in digital marketing

Virtual characters emerge as new trend in digital marketing
Read more: https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/tech/2021/07/133_312402.html?source=Snapzu

Global meat industry ‘using tobacco company tactics’ to downplay role in driving climate crisis, investigation claims

Exclusive: Meat companies are routinely underreporting emissions, undermining climate science and casting doubt on plant-based alternatives, an investigation claims.
Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/meat-dairy-industry-greenwashing-climate-b1884769.html?source=Snapzu

Oil producing nations agree deal to control prices

Oil producing nations have agreed to increase their output, with the aim of reducing prices and easing pressure on the world economy. The Opec cartel and partners such as Russia will boost supply from August after prices climbed to two-and-half-year highs during the pandemic.
Read more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57882449?source=Snapzu

Netflix to court older viewers as flow of young fans slows down

Netflix is set to report the smallest growth in subscribers in a decade next week, as the flow of young fans who have fuelled its meteoric rise slows down, leading it to target tech-wary over-55s. The streaming giant expects to have added just 1 million new subscribers when it reports second quarter results on Tuesday, the lowest number of new signups since 2011, when it was splitting its postal DVD and streaming operations.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/jul/18/netflix-to-court-older-viewers-as-flow-of-young-fans-slows-down?source=Snapzu

Amazon convinces Apple to remove review analyzer Fakespot from the App Store

Fakespot, an app that analyzes Amazon reviews to determine which ones are fake, is no longer available for iOS. Amazon has successfully convinced Apple to remove it from the App Store after the company raised concerns that the application provides misleading information and creates potential security vulnerabilities. The e-commerce giant has confirmed to Engadget that it reported Fakespot for investigation.
Read more: https://www.engadget.com/amazon-apple-fakespot-app-store-033147651.html?source=Snapzu

How to Hire a Ghostwriter: Is It The Right Choice for You?

Do you have a great idea ready to be written, but no time to write it? Or are you just a terrible writer? Learn how to hire a ghostwriter at Kindlepreneur!
Read more: https://kindlepreneur.com/how-to-hire-a-ghostwriter/?source=Snapzu

Banks now rely on a few cloud computing giants. That's creating some unexpected new risks

Banks' growing reliance on cloud computing could pose a risk to financial stability and will require stricter oversight, according to top executives from the UK's central bank.
Read more: https://www.zdnet.com/article/banks-now-rely-on-a-few-cloud-computing-giants-thats-creating-some-unexpected-new-risks/?source=Snapzu

U.S. Govt. Should Pay $155m in Piracy Damages, Software Company Argues

At the US Court of Federal Claims, software company Bitmanagement requests $155 million in copyright infringement damages from the US Govt.
Read more: https://torrentfreak.com/u-s-govt-should-pay-155m-in-piracy-damages-software-company-argues-210715/?source=Snapzu

Comment: Apple's inflexibility on flexible working seems likely to backfire

Reactions were mixed when Apple last month revealed its approach to flexible working post-pandemic. CEO Tim Cook announced that staff would be expected to return to the office three days a week, but would, with line management approval, be free to work remotely on Wednesdays and Fridays.
Read more: https://9to5mac.com/2021/07/16/apples-inflexibility-on-flexible-working/?source=Snapzu

Streaming Service Bundling From Roku, Apple and Other Aggregators Worries Media Titans

The best part of this year’s Allen & Co. moguls conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, was the speed dating. That’s how several attendees described the atmosphere at the annual gathering of business
Read more: https://variety.com/2021/biz/columns/media-execs-third-party-bundling-streaming-market-1235020257/?source=Snapzu

World's first underwater farm reopens growing lettuce and strawberries

The world's first underwater farm, dubbed 'Nemo’s Garden', has just started producing fruit and veg again after a particularly long break. A unique structure consisting of six underwater greenhouses off the coast of Noli, Italy, was created by the Ocean Reef Group in 2012. Step by step, the project started to yield various herbs such as basil different types of salad, tomatoes, courgettes, beans, green peas, aloe vera, mushrooms and strawberries.
Read more: https://www.euronews.com/green/2021/07/06/world-s-first-underwater-farm-reopens-growing-lettuce-and-strawberries?source=Snapzu

Apple cautious about proposal for streaming music services to pay artists 50%

Apple has expressed caution about a proposal to increase the share of streaming music revenue paid to artists from the current typical 16% to a far higher 50% rate. The British government has proposed a “complete reset” of the business model for streaming music, so that artists and songwriters are better compensated.
Read more: https://9to5mac.com/2021/07/15/streaming-music-services-should-pay-artists-50/?source=Snapzu

Netflix to expand into video games in earnest in the next year, report says

Netflix has flirted with video games and interactivity before, but now it sees Fortnite and other gaming obsessions as one of its biggest competitors for your finite attention.
Read more: https://www.cnet.com/news/netflix-to-expand-into-video-games-in-earnest-next-year-report-says/?source=Snapzu

29-year-old crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried said in a recent interview that buying Goldman Sachs is 'not out of the question'

Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO of crypto exchange FTX, said in an interview with the Financial Times that acquiring Goldman Sachs or CME Group was "not out of the question" should FTX grow big enough. "If we are the biggest exchange, [buying Goldman or CME] is not out of the question at all," Bankman-Fried told the FT.
Read more: https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/cryptocurrencies/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-goldman-sachs-crypto-exchange-2021-07?source=Snapzu

Inflation climbs higher than expected in June as price index rises 5.4%

Inflation surged in June at its fastest pace in nearly 13 years amid a burst in used vehicle costs and price increases in food and energy, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. The consumer price index increased 5.4% from a year earlier, the largest jump since August 2008, just before the worst of the financial crisis. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting a 5% gain.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/13/consumer-price-index-increases-5point4percent-in-june-vs-5percent-estimate.html?source=Snapzu

Verizon begins blocking spoofed ‘local’ robocalls

Robocalls are out of control—and they’re getting more and more clever in convincing people to answer them. To combat that, Verizon has announced an update to its Call Filter app, which will send suspected spam calls that have your area code and prefix directly to voicemail.
Read more: https://fortune.com/2021/07/12/verizon-robocall-blocking-spoofed-local-numbers/?source=Snapzu

Apple Reportedly Aiming to Manufacture Apple Car Batteries in the United States

Apple aims to manufacture the batteries that will be used in its autonomous vehicle in the United States, rather than sourcing them from suppliers in other countries, according to a new report from DigiTimes.
Read more: https://www.macrumors.com/2021/07/13/apple-car-battery-united-states/?source=Snapzu

This farm relies on birds — not pesticides — to control pests

Dennis Tamura never set out to be a bird-watcher. He’s been a farmer for over 35 years, and he and his wife grow organic vegetables and flowers on Blue Heron Farms outside Watsonville. But birds have become a part of the farm’s ecosystem. About 15 years ago, a bird-loving neighbor put up small wooden bird boxes on the fence posts that line Blue Heron Farms, and Tamura just started noticing the tree swallows and Western bluebirds that came to visit. Today, he points out a fluffy baby tree swallow, its comically large yellow mouth peeking out of a hole in the box.
Read more: https://thefern.org/2021/07/this-farm-relies-on-birds-not-pesticides-to-control-pests/?source=Snapzu

Amazon and Jeff Bezos’s Worst Enemy Is Chris Smalls

It’s been a year since Amazon fired Chris Smalls for organizing a rally to protest COVID-19 conditions. Now, he’s trying to unionize his former warehouse, and he won’t stop until there’s worker justice at Amazon.
Read more: https://jacobinmag.com/2021/07/amazon-staten-island-jfk8-chris-smalls-jeff-bezos-union-organizing-working-class?source=Snapzu

Apple faces $7 billion in patent compensation

Apple’s lawyers warned that if the court ordered the company to pay commercially unacceptable patent licensing fees due to its
Read more: https://www.realmicentral.com/2021/07/12/apple-faces-7-billion-in-patent-compensation/?source=Snapzu

Uber and Lyft Can’t Find Drivers Because Gig Work Sucks

Drivers told Motherboard they're never coming back because of horrific working conditions before and during the pandemic.
Read more: https://www.vice.com/en/article/7kvej4/uber-and-lyft-cant-find-drivers-because-gig-work-sucks?utm_source=reddit.com?source=Snapzu

The FTC has reportedly opened an investigation into Amazon’s MGM acquisition

The deal is going to get some extra scrutiny.
Read more: https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/9/22570797/ftc-amazon-mgm-investigation-probe-lina-khan?source=Snapzu

Estimating the economic impact of climate change from weather

We do not know how much climate change will cost us. Yet that cost is the ‘externality’ missing from fossil fuel prices (Gollier 2021), which needs to be incorporated by either taxing or capping carbon emissions (as in the EU Emission Trading System). Plausible assumptions about that cost could justify carbon prices anywhere from a few dollars to hundreds of dollars per tonne.
Read more: https://voxeu.org/article/estimating-economic-impact-climate-change-weather-variation?source=Snapzu

Microsoft is giving employees a $1,500 pandemic bonus

Microsoft is gifting its employees a $1,500 pandemic bonus. In an internal memo seen by The Verge, the software giant says this one-time bonus “is in recognition of the unique and challenging fiscal year that Microsoft just completed.”
Read more: https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/8/22568582/microsoft-employee-pandemic-bonus-1500-dollars?source=Snapzu

The saving habits of millionaires generate debt for 90% of the population: Study

According to a Harvard University study that came out this year, the fact that millionaires are saving their money creates debt for 90% of the population and lowers the interest rate. People complain of seeing celebrities spending their money on luxuries that the rest of the world could never afford. Many were outraged, for example, by David Geffen's post showing that he was going to spend his quarantine on a yacht.
Read more: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/376520?source=Snapzu