Meta wants EU users to apply for permission to opt out of data collection

Meta announced that starting next Wednesday, some Facebook and Instagram users in the European Union will for the first time be able to opt out of sharing first-party data used to serve highly personalized ads, The Wall Street Journal reported. The move marks a big change from Meta's current business model, where every video and piece of content clicked on its platforms provides a data point for its online advertisers.
Read more: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/03/facebook-gets-to-decide-whether-eu-users-can-object-to-invasive-targeted-ads/?source=Snapzu

Apple illegally fired five labor activists, union says

The workers, who were disciplined and fired for attendance-related issues, believe they were let go because of their union organizing.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/03/28/apple-union-firings/?source=Snapzu

Some laid-off staff at Google's Irish office could be given severance packages worth $320,000, report says

Google staffers in Ireland made redundant as part of the company's 12,000 global cuts could be offered severance packages worth more than €300,000 ($320,000), British newspaper the Sunday Times reported this week. The tech giant announced plans to lay off over 12,000 workers globally in January, in a major cost-cutting drive. Some 240 workers at its Irish offices were affected including 85 in sales, 80 in technology, and 75 in support services, according to the Sunday Times.
Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/google-layoffs-irish-workers-320000-severance-report-2023-3?source=Snapzu

A Scammer Tricked Instagram Into Banning Influencers With Millions of Followers. Then He Made Them Pay to Recover Their Accounts.

Just after midnight on Sept. 13, Kristian “Murda” Murphy was watching TV at home in Boca Raton, Florida, when his phone began buzzing. “Murda u always outside we gon see you,” read a message from an account he didn’t recognize.
Read more: https://www.propublica.org/article/instagram-fraudster-ban-influencer-accounts?source=Snapzu

At Apple, Rare Dissent Over a New Product: Interactive Goggles

The company is expected to unveil an augmented reality headset in a few months. Some employees wonder if the device makes sense for Apple.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/26/technology/apple-augmented-reality-dissent.html?source=Snapzu

When Writing for Your Website, F Is the Magic Letter

Some say that the flowery prose for which Charles Dickens is so famous is because they thought he was paid by how much he wrote.
Read more: https://vitalytennant.com/when-writing-for-your-website-f-is-the-magic-letter/?source=Snapzu

Apple 'Tracking Employee Attendance' in Crackdown on Remote Working

Apple is tracking the attendance of its employees at offices using badge records in order to ensure they are coming in at least three times a week, according to Platformer's Zoë Schiffer. Since April 2022, Apple employees have been operating on a hybrid home/office work policy as part of a gradual return strategy following the pandemic, with staff required to work from the office at least three days per week.
Read more: https://www.macrumors.com/2023/03/23/apple-tracking-staff-office-attendance/?source=Snapzu

Bling your text with images – bling your images

If you want people to share your blog post on social media, so that more people can read it, images are vital.
Read more: https://www.dosplash.com/blog/bling-your-text-with-images/?source=Snapzu

A foldable iPhone may be able to shut itself to protect the screen if it's dropped, Apple patent application shows

The patent application for a "self-retracting display device," dated March 16, suggests Apple is still thinking a foldable smartphone.
Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-foldable-iphone-close-itself-save-screen-if-dropped-2023-3?utm_source=reddit.com?source=Snapzu

Peter Drucker and Freelance Writing

A testament to creativity, scholarship, and communication
Read more: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-peter-drucker-files/202303/peter-drucker-and-freelance-writing-0?source=Snapzu

Copenhagen Burger King ditches meat for ENTIRE month and cleans whole store to avoid cross contamination

A Burger King in Denmark is ditching meat from its restaurant for an entire month.The fast-food chain’s store in Rådhuspladsen, Copenhagen, will turn predominantly plant-based* starting tomorrow (March 15).According to reports, staff will ‘thoroughly clean’ the area before the eaterie’s meatless makeover to avoid cross-contamination from any remaining animal products.
Read more: https://www.veganfoodandliving.com/news/copenhagen-burger-king-ditches-meat-trials-new-plant-based-options/?source=Snapzu

The History of Ecommerce: 1979 to 2023

This article goes down the memory lane of ecommerce, uncovering some old-but-gold ecommerce websites, and highlighting the main difference from ecommerce today.
Read more: https://medusajs.com/blog/ecommerce-history?source=Snapzu

‘Not going to beg’: why entrepreneurs of color are increasingly self-funding

Rechelle Balanzat, an Asian-American founder, has led her startup Juliette, a self-funded, app-enabled dry-cleaning startup since 2014. As a double minority in tech, Balanzat said she faced gender bias with investors, and also encountered investors who inflicted racial bias. Investors would often expect Balanzat to speak with an accent and if not they were amazed she could speak English, she said.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/mar/12/venture-capital-funding-racial-bias?source=Snapzu

Elon Musk's Twitter Blue is breaking European rules about unfair business practices by failing to show its full cost to consumers right away, EU agency says

Twitter Blue prices in the EU don't include taxes, which violates consumer-protection laws in the 27-country union, the agency told Insider.
Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-twitter-blue-breaking-rules-unfair-business-practices-eu-2023-3?source=Snapzu

Authors risk losing copyright if AI content is not disclosed, US guidance says

Copyright Office will field public input during listening sessions this spring.
Read more: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/03/us-issues-guidance-on-copyrighting-ai-assisted-artwork/?source=Snapzu

The Cure’s Robert Smith Got Ticketmaster To Promise Partial Refunds Due To “Unduly High” Fees

We apparently now live in a world — OK, a country — where artists have to stay in an active dialogue with Ticketmaster to ensure that their fans don’t get priced out of shows. Today, the Cure’s Robert Smith tweeted that Ticketmaster would promise partial refunds to counteract its “unduly high” fees for the band’s upcoming North American tour.
Read more: https://www.stereogum.com/2217192/the-cures-robert-smith-got-ticketmaster-to-promise-partial-refunds-due-to-unduly-high-fees/news/?source=Snapzu

Microsoft: Sony's Stance on Activision Blizzard Deal Is A Self-Serving Attempt To Protect Its Dominance

Microsoft has responded to the CMA’s preliminary findings, claiming that Sony’s stance on the Activision Blizzard King deal is a self-serving attempt to protect its market dominance.
Read more: https://twistedvoxel.com/microsoft-sonys-stance-activision-blizzard-deal/?source=Snapzu

Argentina inflation soars past 100% mark

Inflation hits triple digits for the first time since the period of hyperinflation in the early 1990s.
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-64960385?source=Snapzu

Peter Schiff Criticizes Bitcoin's 20% Surge, Arguing Gold is Still a Better Inflation Hedge

On March 14, 2023, Euro Pacific Capital CEO Peter Schiff posted a tweet about Bitcoin that sparked a debate within the crypto community. Schiff tweeted that Bitcoin had surged by 20% after a long-awaited change in direction from the Federal Reserve, but he also pointed out that gold had only risen by 2.5%. Schiff went on to suggest that the fact that Bitcoin had experienced a larger increase did not mean that it was a better anti-inflation tool than gold.
Read more: https://azcoinnews.com/peter-schiff-criticizes-bitcoins-20-surge-arguing-gold-is-still-a-better-inflation-hedge.html?source=Snapzu

Generative AI isn't the answer to all your business needs

ChatGPT and the like represent intriguing technology but are far from perfect. And they're definitely not going to solve your business woes.
Read more: https://www.computerworld.com/article/3690273/generative-ai-isnt-the-answer-to-all-your-business-needs.html?source=Snapzu

Tech industry dodges a financial bullet after SVB crash

What might have been the start of a catastrophic bank run after the Silicon Valley Bank failure has been stopped for now. But tech firms and start-ups that had assets at the bank could still feel a squeeze.
Read more: https://www.computerworld.com/article/3690322/tech-industry-dodges-a-financial-bullet-after-svb-crash.html?source=Snapzu

Warner Bros. Discovery Worried That ‘HBO’ Name Turns Off New Subscribers

Warner Bros. Discovery is pushing forward with a plan to drop “HBO” from the name of its flagship streaming service HBO Max. That decision for the long-planned rebranding of the combined HBO Max and Discovery+ services was partially informed by the company’s belief that “the HBO name turns off many potential subscribers,” Bloomberg reported on Thursday and TheWrap independently confirmed.
Read more: https://www.thewrap.com/warner-bros-discovery-hbo-max-streaming-relaunch/?source=Snapzu

AI-powered robots cut out weeds while leaving crops untouched

In farming, weeds can strangle crops and destroy yields. Unfortunately, spraying herbicides to deal with the intrusive plants pollutes the environment and harms human health and there simply aren't enough workers to tackle all the weeds by hand.
Read more: https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/ai-powered-robots-cut-out-weeds-while-leaving-crops-untouched?source=Snapzu

GM explores using ChatGPT in vehicles

General Motors Co (GM.N) is exploring uses for ChatGPT as part of its broader collaboration with Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), a company executive told Reuters. "ChatGPT is going to be in everything," GM Vice President Scott Miller said in an interview last week.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/gm-explores-using-chatgpt-vehicles-2023-03-10/?source=Snapzu

Robert Kiyosaki warns 3rd U.S. bank to crash, Peter Schiff says 'bigger collapse' ahead

The United States financial system has been rattled by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SBV) and Silvergate Bank within 48 hours as economic uncertainty prevails. Therefore, some financial sector players project that the situation will likely worsen in the coming days.
Read more: https://finbold.com/robert-kiyosaki-warns-3rd-u-s-bank-to-crash-peter-schiff-says-bigger-collapse-ahead/?source=Snapzu

Silicon Valley Bank is shut down by regulators, FDIC to protect insured deposits

and taken control of its deposits, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced Friday, in what is the largest U.S. bank failure since the global financial crisis more than a decade ago. The collapse of SVB, a key player in the tech and venture capital community, leaves companies and wealthy individuals largely unsure of what will happen to their money.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/10/silicon-valley-bank-is-shut-down-by-regulators-fdic-to-protect-insured-deposits.html?source=Snapzu

California Proposes Bill to Protect Contract Workers from Sudden Layoffs

Assembly Member Matt Haney, D-San Francisco, has proposed a bill that would extend the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) to cover contract workers, increase the required notice period for layoffs to 90 days, and ban companies from requiring terminated workers to sign non-disclosure or non-disparagement agreements as a condition of receiving WARN Act notice or pay.
Read more: https://www.propertyrecordsofcalifornia.com/california-proposes-bill-to-protect-contract-workers-from-sudden-layoffs/?source=Snapzu

The Risks of Using ChatGPT in Your Personal Branding | Entrepreneur

Here's why it's a bad idea to use ChatGPT as your personal branding ghostwriter — and how to leverage it as an aid instead.
Read more: https://www.entrepreneur.com/starting-a-business/the-risks-of-using-chatgpt-in-your-personal-branding/446459?source=Snapzu

CRTC launches review of wholesale network rates, reduces some to boost telecom competition

The regulator says “its current approach is not meeting its objective of encouraging more competition in the Internet services market”.
Read more: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-crtc-launches-review-of-wholesale-network-rates-reduces-some-by-10-per/?source=Snapzu

Oil CEOs Should Be Barred From Global Climate Summits, Not Running Them

The Chief Executive of the twelfth largest oil producer – Sultan Al Jaber of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) – has been appointed as president of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC) COP28, the biggest climate change conference that will take place in November, 2023 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Read more: https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/sultan-ahmed-al-jaber?source=Snapzu

They thought loved ones were calling for help. It was an AI scam.

Scammers are using artificial intelligence to sound more like family members in distress. Loved ones are falling for it and losing thousands of dollars.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/03/05/ai-voice-scam/?source=Snapzu

Europe's plan to rein in Big Tech will require Apple to open up iMessage

European regulators on Thursday revealed their plan to rein in the anti-competitive practices of Big Tech and fundamentally remake how some of the world's most powerful companies do business. The rules, which target tech giants like Apple, Amazon, Meta and Google, are far-reaching and would have huge ramification for those companies' software and services.
Read more: https://www.protocol.com/bulletins/europe-dma-apple-imessage?source=Snapzu

Ford patents car that can repossess itself and drive back to showroom

Ford has been granted a patent for a system that allows a car to repossess itself if its owner fails to keep up with payments. The firm envisions the car driving itself back to the showroom – or to a scrapyard if the value of the car is low. But a security expert warns that the proposed system could instead be used to steal cars remotely.
Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2361657-ford-patents-car-that-can-repossess-itself-and-drive-back-to-showroom/?source=Snapzu

Publishers Lobbied To ‘Axe The Reading Tax’ On Ebooks, Then Paid It To Themselves

One of the (many) villains in “Walled Culture” the book (free ebook versions) is the publishing industry, specifically in the context of the transition from analogue books to ebooks. Wh…
Read more: https://www.techdirt.com/2023/03/02/publishers-lobbied-to-axe-the-reading-tax-on-ebooks-then-paid-it-to-themselves/?source=Snapzu

Dell and partners smash patent troll WSOU in court

The most patent-friendly court in the land just rules against a major patent troll. Miracles--and a really bad case--do happen.
Read more: https://opensourcewatch.beehiiv.com/p/dell-partners-smash-patent-troll-wsou-court?source=Snapzu