FTC sues Walmart for allegedly allowing money transfer services for fraud

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on Tuesday it sued Walmart, alleging the company had allowed scam artists to use its money transfer services for fraud that cost consumers “hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/28/business/ftc-walmart-lawsuit/index.html?source=Snapzu

Bored Ape NFT maker Yuga Labs sues artist, claiming he copied tokens

The creator of the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club non-fungible tokens has sued an artist in Los Angeles federal court, accusing him of selling copycats that are confusing potential buyers.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/bored-ape-nft-maker-yuga-labs-sues-artist-claiming-he-copied-tokens-2022-06-27/?source=Snapzu

Ohio home up for sale features jail cells that allegedly housed gangster John Dillinger

A home listed last week in the northwest Ohio town of Celina gives new meaning to the phrase "jail house." The property, featured on the Zillow Gone Wild listing of unusual homes, includes two jail cells, complete with beds, that allegedly once housed gangster John Dillinger.
Read more: https://www.dispatch.com/story/business/real-estate/2022/06/28/celina-ohio-house-sale-comes-its-own-prison/7744140001/?source=Snapzu

Could technology and innovation in agriculture feed the world?

By the time you read this sentence, ten more people will have been added to our growing world population. We are a mere 29 harvests away from producing more food than in the past 10,000 years if we are to meet the most basic human requirement – eating – for the expected world population of nearly 10 billion.
Read more: https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/could-technology-and-innovation-in-agriculture-feed-the-world/138198/?source=Snapzu

Tesla is laying off workers who only just started and withdrawing employment offers as Elon Musk's job cuts begin

Tesla workers who started their jobs only months or even weeks ago have been let go while others have had offers withdrawn as the company begins to impose cuts announced by Elon Musk in early June. Insider found a number of posts from Tesla employees who said they'd been laid off as part of the cut, while others had their job offers rescinded.
Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-is-sacking-staff-who-recently-started-withdrawing-job-offers-2022-6?source=Snapzu

Artificial photosynthesis can produce food without sunshine

Artificial photosynthesis has been developed by scientists as a means of producing food without of the necessity for organic photosynthesis. The process turns water, energy, and carbon dioxide into acetate over the course of two electrocatalytic steps. Then, in the dark, organisms that produce food use acetate. The conversion of sunlight into food might be up to 18 times more effective with the hybrid organic-inorganic system.
Read more: https://www.thesciverse.com/2022/06/artificial-photosynthesis-can-produce.html?source=Snapzu

Citi to launch Bitcoin custody services for institutional investors

Today (June 22), Citi made the announcement that it has chosen METACO as the partner to develop and trial digital asset custody capabilities. Through this agreement, METACO’s technology and digital solutions will be combined with Citi’s extensive custody network in order to establish a platform that will allow customers to hold and settle digital assets such as Bitcoin (BTC) in a safe and straightforward manner, according to a Business Wire report.
Read more: https://finbold.com/citi-to-launch-bitcoin-custody-services-for-institutional-investors/?source=Snapzu

A Large-Scale Experiment Used Human Pee to Fertilize Crops. Here's What Happened

These days, peeing on your food plants may be considered a gross and wacky gardening hack, despite the practice having been proven beneficial for thousands of years.
Read more: https://www.sciencealert.com/researchers-tested-large-scale-use-of-human-pee-as-fertilizer-and-here-s-what-happened?source=Snapzu

Retail’s Going Metaverse Crazy, but 85 Percent of Gen Z ‘Indifferent’ About Brands’ Virtual Presence, Study Finds

Retail may be going gaga for gaming and all things metaverse for the moment, but if the incoming consumer target group — and easily the most tech-savvy generation — isn’t quite fazed by the frenzy, what gives?
Read more: https://ca.news.yahoo.com/retail-going-metaverse-crazy-85-160117957.html?source=Snapzu

Croatia is ready to adopt euro in January 2023, Bulgaria must wait

Croatia will adopt the euro on January 1, 2023. Bulgaria’s hopes of doing likewise in 2024 look increasingly slim, however. 
Read more: https://emerging-europe.com/news/croatia-is-ready-to-adopt-euro-in-january-2023-bulgaria-must-wait/?source=Snapzu

Too Little, Too Late, WTO Finally Eases Patent Rights On COVID Vaccines

In what definitely feels like a case of way too little, way too late, the WTO last week finally decided to grant the TRIPS waiver on COVID vaccines, allowing others to make more of the vaccine with…
Read more: https://www.techdirt.com/2022/06/22/too-little-too-late-wto-finally-eases-patent-rights-on-covid-vaccines/?source=Snapzu

Tim Cook says "stay tuned" for Apple's AR's headset

Tim Cook teased Apple’s rumored AR/VR headset during an interview with a Chinese state-affiliated media on June 14. He expressed his excitement about AR and the opportunities in this space.
Read more: https://www.cultofmac.com/781445/tim-cook-stay-tuned-apple-ar-headset/?source=Snapzu

The Internet Google Left Behind

It's not what Google helps you find—it’s what it allows to flourish.
Read more: https://newsletters.theatlantic.com/galaxy-brain/62b20256bcbd490021aa3654/google-search-results-monopoly-worse/?source=Snapzu

Alphabet is spending billions to become a force in health care

Rich countries pour heart-stopping amounts of money into health care. Advanced economies typically spend about 10% of gdp on keeping their citizens in good nick, a share that is rising as populations age. America’s labyrinthine health-industrial complex consumes 17% of gdp, equivalent to $3.6trn a year. The American system’s heft and inertia, perpetuated by the drugmakers, pharmacies, insurers, hospitals and others that benefit from it, have long protected it from disruption.
Read more: https://www.economist.com/business/2022/06/20/alphabet-is-spending-billions-to-become-a-force-in-health-care?source=Snapzu

How Naps Can Jump-Start Your Creativity

When you're staring at a blank page, trying to figure out where to start a project, or where to take the next scene of a novel, you may find that the best way to get your creative mojo back is to take a nap.
Read more: https://www.literatureandlatte.com/blog/how-naps-can-jump-start-your-creativity?source=Snapzu

Shifting the Costs of Recycling to Manufacturers, Not Consumers

Recycling in Maine, as in the rest of the country, has taken a double hit in recent years. In 2018, China stopped accepting the enormous quantities of US trash that used to provide raw materials for its factories. Suddenly, once profitable "recycling" (a lot of it was actually just offshoring) became a net cost that many communities could no longer afford. Then the pandemic accelerated the crisis with enormous amounts of packaging waste from online purchases.
Read more: https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2022-2-summer/notes-here-there/shifting-costs-recycling-manufacturers-not-consumers?source=Snapzu

Money is about to enter a new era of competition

Digital technology is poised to change our relationship with money and, for some countries, the ability to manage their economies.
Read more: https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/04/12/1049307/money-is-about-to-enter-a-new-era-of-competition/?source=Snapzu

Better Than Perfect: How to Be Excellent

Exploring the difference between perfectionism and excellencism.
Read more: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/finding-new-home/202206/better-perfect-how-be-excellent?source=Snapzu

SpaceX fires employees involved in letter rebuking Musk

June 17 (Reuters) - Private rocket company SpaceX fired at least five employees after it found they had drafted and circulated a letter criticizing founder Elon Musk and urging executives to make the firm's culture more inclusive, two people familiar with the matter said. SpaceX did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/technology/spacex-fires-employees-involved-letter-rebuking-musk-nyt-2022-06-17/?source=Snapzu

Opening a Restaurant in Boston Takes 92 Steps, 22 Forms, 17 Office Visits, and $5,554 in 12 Fees. Why?

A new report by the Institute for Justice highlights the excessive regulatory obstacles in the way of starting new businesses in cities across the United States. The report--titled "Barriers to Business"--is a remarkably detailed study that quantifies the regulations restricting new businesses in 20 U.S. cities. It should be a wake-up call for all of America and spark an essential discussion this year.
Read more: https://www.inc.com/victor-w-hwang/institute-of-justice-regulations.html?source=Snapzu

Facebook is receiving sensitive medical information from hospital websites

Ad-tracking by some hospitals may violate federal law protecting health data.
Read more: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/06/facebook-is-receiving-sensitive-medical-information-from-hospital-websites/?source=Snapzu

“No widespread harassment” at Activision, says Activision

There is “no widespread harassment, or systemic harassment at Activision”, claim the findings of a new investigation, conducted and published by Activision. Over the last 12 months, two major lawsuits have been filed against Activision, claiming that some of its employees are victims of gender and sexual harassment, and that some of the company’s directors – despite being aware of various instances of misconduct – have failed to take appropriate action.
Read more: https://www.pcgamesn.com/activision-harassment-lawsuit?source=Snapzu

Tech companies rocked by layoffs as industry faces biggest downturn in two decades

High-tech startups are reassessing their prospects for the future as interest rates rise and investors get queasy.
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tech-companies-layoffs-stock-market-cryptocurrency/?source=Snapzu

Binance Exchange Halts Bitcoin (BTC) Withdrawals Amid Turbulent Conditions

An official notification from the Binance team states that they are actively working on a solution. Zhao asserts that he expects the issue to be resolved in 30 mins.
Read more: https://thenewscrypto.com/binance-exchange-halts-bitcoin-btc-withdrawals-amid-turbulent-conditions/?source=Snapzu

Coinbase CEO Tweets ‘Quit And Find A Company You Believe In’ To Disgruntled Employees

After cryptocurrency platform Coinbase announced at the beginning of June it would not only extend its hiring pause but “rescind a number of accepted offers,” a public backlash erupted on social media sites as people who had the rug pulled out from under them shared their tales of being jobless after excitedly anticipating a new position with the top-tier crypto platform.
Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2022/06/11/coinbase-ceo-tweets-quit-and-find-a-company-you-believe-in-to-disgruntled-employees/?source=Snapzu

Meta slammed with lawsuits claiming social media hurts kids

Facebook and Instagram's parent biz, Meta, was hit with not one, not two, but eight different lawsuits accusing its social media algorithm of causing real harm to young users across the US. The complaints filed over the last week claim Meta's social media platforms have been designed to be dangerously addictive, driving children and teenagers to view content that increases the risk of eating disorders, suicide, depression, and sleep disorders.
Read more: https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/12/in-brief-ai/?source=Snapzu

Silicon Valley braces for the good times to end

For much of the past two decades, the ethos of Silicon Valley was largely defined by Facebook's former motto: "move fast and break things." But in a sudden and dizzying shift, the current mood in the tech sector could perhaps best be described with a far more restrained mantra: "cut costs and try to survive."
Read more: https://edition.cnn.com/2022/06/09/tech/tech-downturn/index.html?source=Snapzu

Job cuts hit cybersecurity industry despite surging growth from ransomware attacks

Nothing has lowered Cybereason’s expectations for growth. Rather, the continuing rise in ransomware attacks has forced its clients to bolster spending on security systems, putting the security software company ahead of schedule when it comes to revenue. But Cybereason is cutting costs anyway, confirming last week that it’s laying off 10 percent of its workforce, or about 100 employees. The reductions follow the dramatic swing in the economy this year and the beating that software stocks have taken on the public market.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/job-cuts-hit-cybersecurity-industry-surging-growth-ransomware-attacks-rcna32952?source=Snapzu

Meta has reportedly shelved its rumored dual-camera smartwatch

Reports over the last couple of years have suggested that not only was Meta working on a smartwatch, it was developing one with two cameras. However, that project is on hold, according to Bloomberg, as Meta is focusing on other wearables instead. The long-rumored smartwatch was pegged as a possible Apple Watch competitor and the report suggests it was expected to go on sale next spring for around $349. A prototype was said to have features including activity tracking, a calendar, photo gallery and heart rate monitoring. It's believed to have had an 18-hour battery life.
Read more: https://www.engadget.com/meta-smartwatch-augmented-reality-glasses-205928982.html?source=Snapzu

Giant Tech Firms Plan to Read Your Mind and Control Your Emotions. Can They Be Stopped?

Google. Amazon. Facebook. Apple. We live within the digital worlds they have created, and increasingly there’s little chance of escape. They know our personalities. They record whether we are impulsive or prone to anxiety. They understand how we respond to sad stories and violent images. And they use this power, which comes from the relentless mining of our personal data all day, every day, to manipulate and addict us.
Read more: https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/giant-tech-firms-plan-to-read-your-mind-and-control-your-emotions-can-they-be-stopped?source=Snapzu

CEOs are enjoying huge paydays while their workers struggle to pay bills

Despite all the buzz about the “Great Resignation” and a renaissance for the working classes in America, a new report finds the gap between executive and worker pay is only widening. The typical low-wage worker’s pay didn’t keep pace with inflation last year at more than a third of the companies reviewed by the Institute for Policy Studies, a progressive think tank. IPS’ survey included the 300 publicly traded companies with the lowest median pay for workers.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/07/economy/ceo-pay-gap-median-worker-wages/index.html?source=Snapzu

Twitter set to comply with Elon Musk demand for data on fake accounts

Twitter is ready to provide stream of daily data after world’s richest man threatened to pull out of $44bn purchase if Twitter refused.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jun/08/twitter-elon-musk-data-demand-fake-accounts?source=Snapzu

Amazon Sees Dip in Sellers Signing up to Sell Counterfeits, Company Says

E-commerce has made selling knock-offs a breeze. Amazon says it's increased investment and seen positive signs in its fight against fraudsters. Amazon is increasing investments aimed at keeping counterfeit products off its site, according to an annual report, part of its effort to protect consumers from fraudulent products and businesses from knock-offs.
Read more: https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/amazon-sees-dip-in-sellers-signing-up-to-sell-counterfeits-company-says/?source=Snapzu

Breakthrough gene discovery could help prevent disease affecting 10% of world’s crops

A son of Vietnamese farmers who made a breakthrough as a scholarship student in Australia has released a scientific finding which could help protect a tenth of crops worldwide from disease. Dr Hoan Dinh, AusAID scholar and PhD student at the University of Sydney, found and defined the sequence of a gene responsible for leaf rust resistance in barley.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/08/breakthrough-gene-discovery-could-help-prevent-disease-affecting-10-of-worlds-crops?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other?source=Snapzu

Waymo and Uber Partner to Deploy Self-Driving Trucks at Scale

Autonomous freight could shake up the industry, and with this partnership the Waymo Driver is getting scale.
Read more: https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/waymo-and-uber-partner-trucking/?source=Snapzu

A PR Firm Is Paying TikTok Influencers to Promote Liberal Causes and Hype Democrats’ Middling Accomplishments

Vocal Media “recruits, trains, and pays influencers” to promote liberal causes on TikTok. It’s easy to see how less-benign actors could use their model. 
Read more: https://www.vice.com/en/article/akewea/a-pr-firm-is-paying-tiktok-influencers-to-promote-liberal-causes-and-hype-democrats-middling-accomplishments?source=Snapzu

PayPal allows transfer of crypto to external wallets

PayPal Holdings Inc said on Tuesday it will now allow users to transfer cryptocurrencies including bitcoin to external wallets, nearly two years after the fintech giant opened up its platform to digital currencies.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/technology/paypal-support-exchange-crypto-with-external-wallets-2022-06-07/?source=Snapzu

Taco Bell introduces two-story, four-lane drive-thru restaurant

The first Taco Bell Defy restaurant opens Tuesday in Minnesota. Getting a tad closer to like in Demolition Man!
Read more: https://www.axios.com/2022/06/06/taco-bell-defy-brooklyn-park-minnesota?source=Snapzu

Why the global soil shortage threatens food, medicine and the climate

Soil can be considered black gold, and we’re running out it. The United Nations declared soil finite and predicted catastrophic loss within 60 years. “There are places that have already lost all of their topsoil,” Jo Handelsman, author of “A World Without Soil,” and a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told CNBC.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/05/why-the-global-soil-shortage-threatens-food-medicine-and-the-climate.html?source=Snapzu

Is social audio already dead?

Clubhouse has had a rough year, and it doesn’t bode well for the future of social audio.
Read more: https://thehustle.co/06062022-social-audio/amp/?source=Snapzu

The workers getting 100% pay for 80% of the hours

Thousands of UK workers are starting a four-day week trial from Monday. About 70 companies are taking part in what is thought to be the world's biggest pilot scheme into the working pattern over the next six months. The experiment has been organised by a group campaigning for a shorter working week, but for no loss in wages.
Read more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61570021?source=Snapzu

Texas AG Ken Paxton launches investigation against Twitter

Paxton issued a Civil Investigative Demand to investigate whether Twitter's reporting on real versus fake users is "false, misleading, or deceptive."
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/dfw/news/texas-ag-ken-paxton-launches-investigation-against-twitter/?source=Snapzu

I only care about the helpful notifications, not the promotional ones

You download an app for a service that has some sort of in-person component, like picking up an order or meeting a driver at the curb. It’s very helpful to have notifications. Some of them.
Read more: https://alexanderell.is/posts/sneaking-notifications/?source=Snapzu

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen says Meta can't recover until Mark Zuckerberg steps down: report

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen said the social media giant won't be able to recover until Mark Zuckerberg steps down as chief executive. In an interview with Bloomberg, she spoke about what compelled her to go public after she left the company in May 2021.
Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/frances-haugen-facebook-unable-to-recover-until-zuckerberg-steps-down-2022-6?source=Snapzu

Mariah Carey Sued For “All I Want For Christmas Is You” By Louisiana Country Songwriter

One of the most popular holiday songs of all time is being legally challenged by a country music songwriter who claims copyright infringement over “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”
Read more: https://deadline.com/2022/06/mariah-carey-sued-for-all-i-want-for-christmas-is-you-1235038277/?source=Snapzu

No more dealer markups: Ford wants to move to online-only sales for EVs

Ford thinks its distribution model costs $2,000 more per car than Tesla's.
Read more: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2022/06/ford-wants-to-sell-evs-online-only-with-no-dealer-markups-says-ceo-farley/?source=Snapzu

1,000 True Fans? Try 100

In 2008, WIRED editor Kevin Kelly wrote that creators only needed to earn "1,000 True Fans"—at $100 per fan, per year—to make a living. I propose an update.
Read more: https://future.com/1000-true-fans-try-100/?source=Snapzu

Startups raise millions for lunar rovers and asteroid mining

Two startups recently raised a combined $25 million in seed rounds to advance plans for lunar and asteroid missions, showing continued interest in space startups despite broader market uncertainty. Lunar Outpost announced May 24 it raised a $12 million seed round from several investors. Explorer 1 Fund led the round with participation from Promus Ventures, Space Capital, Type 1 Ventures and Cathexis Ventures.
Read more: https://spacenews.com/startups-raise-millions-for-lunar-rovers-and-asteroid-mining/?source=Snapzu

Farmer Says Dealer Wouldn’t Repair His Tractor Until He Filed FTC Complaint

Jared Wilson’s struggle to keep his John Deere tractors running highlights the stranglehold the company has on the people who produce America’s food.
Read more: https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3vaqm/farmer-says-dealer-wouldnt-repair-his-tractor-until-he-filed-ftc-complaint?source=Snapzu