Sanction hit Huawei says revenues down 29 percent this year

Chinese telecom giant Huawei said on Friday its annual revenue had fallen by nearly a third from the previous year, as it continued to be weighed down by US sanctions that have hit its smartphone sales. Huawei has been caught in the crossfire of a US-China trade and technology rivalry after the administration of former president Donald Trump moved to cripple the company over concerns it could pose a cybersecurity and espionage threat.
Read more: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20211231-sanction-hit-huawei-says-revenues-down-29-percent-this-year?source=Snapzu

In-depth report details Apple's shift to Chinese suppliers to 'cut costs and curry favor with Beijing'

While Apple has long been linked to Foxconn as its primary partner for product assembly, a new report from The Information goes in-depth on Apple’s newfound relationship with Chinese electronics manufacturers.
Read more: https://9to5mac.com/2021/12/30/in-depth-report-details-apples-shift-to-chinese-suppliers-to-cut-costs-and-curry-favor-with-beijing/?source=Snapzu

The Dirty Little Secret Developers Won't Tell You: Most Tech Is Just a Big Waste

Not too long ago, one of the companies I advise launched a new software product. It was a two-fer product, one that would enhance the capabilities of their current customers while also opening a new line of business to attract new customers. I love those.
Read more: https://www.inc.com/joe-procopio/technology-overkill.html?source=Snapzu

We Encrypted the Web: 2021 Year in Review

In 2010, EFF launched its campaign to encrypt the entire web—that is, move all websites from non-secure HTTP to the more secure HTTPS protocol. Over 10 years later, 2021 has brought us even closer to achieving that goal. With various measurement sources reporting over 90% of web traffic encrypted,...
Read more: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/12/we-encrypted-web-2021-year-review?source=Snapzu

A Deep Dive into the GameStop NFT Marketplace Platform

Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, have attracted much mainstream attention in the past few months. As a result, numerous brands are exploring opportunities in this space, including GameStop. The video game retailer intends to build a new NFT platform to "change the game" with the help of Ethereum technology. In addition, the company seeks to hire an Ethereum specialist to help build and maintain this NFT marketplace.
Read more: https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/a-deep-dive-into-the-gamestop-nft-marketplace-platform?source=Snapzu

McDonald's targets kids in lower-income countries with social media posts, study finds

Fast-food chain McDonald's may be targeting children in lower middle-income countries globally with marketing messages, potentially worsening diet problems in some of the world's most vulnerable populations, an analysis published Tuesday by the journal BMJ Nutrition Prevention and Health found.
Read more: https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2021/12/21/McDonalds-targets-youth-online-overseas-study/4991640120467/?source=Snapzu

More devs earn first $1M in annual revenue from App Store than Google Play

Over 900 app publishers are expected to earn more than $1 million in net revenue from digital app storefronts in 2021, a report claims, with the App Store minting more million-dollar earners than the Google Play Store.
Read more: https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/12/21/more-devs-earn-first-1m-in-annual-revenue-from-app-store-than-google-play?source=Snapzu

Search engines try to rival Google by offering fewer ads, more privacy

The name Google has become so synonymous with online search that it's become a verb. Want to find out something? Google it. But a new crop of search engines is taking a stab at the online search market, promising to provide an engine with more customizable options, fewer ads and more consideration for users' privacy.
Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/spark/search-engines-try-to-rival-google-by-offering-fewer-ads-more-privacy-1.6286925?source=Snapzu

JPMorgan hit with $200 million in fines for letting employees use WhatsApp to evade regulators' reach

JPMorgan Chase is paying $200 million in fines to two U.S. banking regulators to settle charges that its Wall Street division allowed employees to use WhatsApp and other platforms to circumvent federal record-keeping laws. The Securities and Exchange Commission said Friday that JPMorgan Securities agreed to pay $125 million after admitting to “widespread” record-keeping failures in recent years. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission also said Friday that it had fined the bank $75 million for allowing unapproved communications since at least 2015.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/17/jpmorgan-agrees-to-125-million-fine-for-letting-employees-use-whatsapp-to-evade-regulators.html??source=Snapzu

Dungeons & Dragons Is a Case Study in How Capitalism Kills Art

The story of Dungeons & Dragons isn’t just about nerds creating a wildly popular game and then losing control of it. It’s also about how the dictates of the free market inevitably end up stripping even our leisure activities of joy.
Read more: https://www.jacobinmag.com/2021/11/dd-ttrpgs-gygax-arneson-peterson-games-capitalism?source=Snapzu

Reddit files to go public

Reddit on Wednesday announced that it has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to go public.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/15/reddit-files-to-go-public-.html?source=Snapzu

Bitcoin could become ‘worthless’, Bank of England warns

People investing in the cryptocurrency should be aware of risks, central bank says
Read more: https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/bitcoin-could-become-worthless-bank-175236671.html?source=Snapzu

Steve Blank I Can’t See You but I’m Not Blind

If I ask you to think of an elephant do you see an elephant in your head when you close your eyes? I don’t. Regardless of how descriptive the imagery, story or text I can’t create any pictures in m…
Read more: https://steveblank.com/2021/12/14/i-cant-see-you-but-im-not-blind/?source=Snapzu

Dorsey's exit from Twitter reveals shortening 'shelf life' of tech's CEO-founders

As big tech companies amassed more scale and influence, these companies have faced pointed questions from investors and regulators about how they’re being run.
Read more: https://us.yahoo.com/finance/news/twitter-salesforce-amazon-reveal-shelf-life-for-techs-ceo-founder-model-140006574.html?source=Snapzu

We'll all be paying a lot more for food next year, says Canada's Food Price Report

Sky high food prices were one of many negative impacts that Canadians felt during the pandemic plagued year of 2021. And a new report suggests that problem is only going to get worse next year.
Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/food-price-report-charlebois-1.6277590?source=Snapzu

British Car Leasing Company Creates 'Apple Car' 3D Render Based on Patents

British vehicle leasing company Vanarama has taken a stab at imagining what the first Apple Car could look like, taking inspiration from iPhones, MacBooks, and other Apple products, and combining them with real Apple patents to come up with a 3D concept render that can be explored inside and out.
Read more: https://www.macrumors.com/2021/12/10/apple-car-3d-render-based-on-patents/?source=Snapzu

A novelist says fake editions of his works were listed on Amazon as centuries old, with one $7 book going for $1,008

John C. Boland found fake editions of his books claiming to be from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, with one listed for $1,008, a lawsuit says.
Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/novelist-sues-amazon-fake-book-listings-john-c-boland-2021-12?source=Snapzu

Apple made secret 5-year $275B deal with Chinese government

Apple's success in China is allegedly down to an agreement with the country's government to help develop its economy, with a report claiming CEO Tim Cook personally lobbied officials to get the best deal for the company.
Read more: https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/12/07/apple-made-secret-5-year-275b-deal-with-chinese-government?utm_medium=rss?source=Snapzu

Apple Invents a new method of detecting user ID and Presence to automatically awaken a Mac from Sleep Mode

Apple has been working on presence detection for Macs and a future TV since 2005 (published in 2009). Our cover graphic is from that patent. Over the years Apple's R&D teams have filed other patents covering user presence systems (01, 02, 03 and 04). On Thursday, the US Patent & Trademark Office published yet another patent application from Apple that relates to improved wake-up and authentication methods..
Read more: https://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2021/12/apple-invents-a-new-method-of-detecting-user-id-and-presence-to-automatically-awaken-a-mac-from-sleep-mode.html?source=Snapzu

Amazon is making its own containers and bypassing supply chain chaos with chartered ships and long-haul planes

For years, Amazon has been quietly chartering private cargo ships, making its own containers, and leasing planes to better control the complicated shipping journey of an online order. Now, as many retailers panic over supply chain chaos, Amazon’s costly early moves are helping it avoid the long wait times for available dock space and workers at the country’s busiest ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/04/how-amazon-beats-supply-chain-chaos-with-ships-and-long-haul-planes.html?source=Snapzu

CEO Feels Terrible About Laying Off 900 Employees Over Video Chat, Does It Anyway

"If you’re on this call, you are part of the unlucky group that is being laid off," mortgage lender Better.com CEO Vishal Garg said.
Read more: https://www.vice.com/en/article/88ggy3/ceo-feels-terrible-about-laying-off-900-employees-over-video-chat-does-it-anyway?source=Snapzu

Real estate has gone meta

The metaverse is getting hotter. Not hot, like a delicious meal or a Finnish sauna. This mostly fictional, virtual world is getting hot like a real estate market. Because lately, it is one.
Read more: https://www.vox.com/recode/2021/12/2/22812608/metaverse-real-estate-meta?source=Snapzu

Did HBO Max Win the Year?

We talked to Casey Bloys about the hot streaming service’s ups and downs.
Read more: https://www.vulture.com/2021/12/did-hbo-max-win-the-year.html?source=Snapzu

What Will Enter the Public Domain in 2022?

At the start of each year, on January 1st, a new crop of works enter the public domain. Find our highlights of what lies in store for 2022 here.
Read more: https://publicdomainreview.org/features/entering-the-public-domain/2022/?source=Snapzu

Members of hacking group sentenced for stealing millions in cryptocurrency

The Justice Department on Tuesday announced the sentencing of the last member of an international hacking group indicted for allegedly stealing millions in cryptocurrency as part of a “SIM hijacking” effort. Missouri-based Garrett Endicott, the sixth and final member of a hacking group known as “The Community,” was sentenced Monday to 10 months in prison and ordered to pay a fine of more than $120,000 for his part in the cryptocurrency scheme.
Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/583647-members-of-hacking-group-sentenced-for-stealing-millions-in?source=Snapzu

New rule will allow debt collectors to track you down on social media

Federal regulators have given debt collectors the okay to pursue debtors via email, text messages and social media sites.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/11/30/cfpb-debt-collector-rules-facebook-instagram/?source=Snapzu

Google has been ordered to unseal dozens of documents related to its secret anti-union campaign 'Project Vivian'

A National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) judge has ordered Google to produce dozens of documents related to its secret internal anti-union drive "Project Vivian." The order was made as part of an ongoing NLRB hearing related to the "Thanksgiving Four", a group of Google employees who claimed the company fired them illegally over their internal organizing activities.
Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/google-anti-union-nlrb-project-vivian-2021-12?source=Snapzu

Elon Musk Frantically Warns Employees of Potential SpaceX Bankruptcy

SpaceX employees received a nightmare email over the holiday weekend from CEO Elon Musk, warning them of a brewing crisis with its Raptor engine production that, if unsolved, could result in the company’s bankruptcy. The email, obtained by SpaceExplored, CNBC, and The Verge, urged employees to work over the weekend in a desperate attempt to increase production of the engine meant to power its next-generation Starship launch vehicle.
Read more: https://gizmodo.com/elon-musk-frantically-warns-employees-of-potential-spac-1848139856?source=Snapzu