Author: knjohn

The People Trying to Make Internet Recommendations Less Toxic | WIRED

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THE INTERNET IS an ocean of algorithms trying to tell you what to do. YouTube and Netflix proffer videos they calculate you’ll watch. Facebook and Twitter filter and reorganize posts from your connections, avowedly in your interest—but also in their own.

New York entrepreneur Brian Whitman helped create such a system. He sold a music analytics startup called The Echo Nest to Spotify in 2014, bolstering the streaming music service’s ability to recommend new songs from a person’s past listening. Whitman says he saw clear evidence of algorithms’ value at Spotify. But he founded his current startup, Canopy, after becoming fearful of their downsides.

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Best Promotional Events For Businesses: 4 Marketing Ideas | Getentrepreneurial.com

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A significant proportion of marketing advice for small businesses focuses on digital marketing – using your blog, targeted advertising, or social media – and this approach makes it seem as though digital advertising is the only kind that matters. In doing so, this advice overlooks the power of in-person contact and any exciting and affordable ways to reach your community. Build deeper connections with these classic strategies, standbys from a brick-and-mortar era, that never stopped working.

Join Your Chamber Of Commerce

Your local Chamber of Commerce may seem like a minor organization, especially if you’ve been in business for a few years, but joining forces with your area branch can yield a number of benefits. In particular, the Chamber of Commerce tends to promote new members and can increase the visibility of area businesses through their events, social media activity, and community outreach events. Your Chamber of Commerce also offers valuable networking opportunities, which can create connections and foster cross-promotion with other local businesses.

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Business is ‘staring down the precipice’ over Brexit | CNN

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Companies in the United Kingdom are suffering from a bad case of déjà vu after lawmakers rejected a second version of the Brexit deal negotiated by Prime Minister Theresa May.

“Enough is enough,” said Carolyn Fairbairn, director general of the Confederation of British Industry, a business lobby. “It’s time for parliament to stop this circus,” she added, stressing that “jobs and livelihoods depend on it.”

The stunning defeat increases the chances that Britain will crash out of the European Union without a deal in just 17 days — doing big damage to the economy — or that Brexit will be delayed, prolonging the uncertainty for business.

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New Process Converts Unrecyclable Glass into Saleable Product | New Atlas

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Although glass is recyclable, the recycling process is generally limited to large pieces that can be easily sorted by color. Because it’s not worth the effort to sort smaller fragments, they tend to simply be discarded. A new process, however, can convert them into a useful substance.

The proprietary technique was developed by PhD candidate Rhys Pirie and Prof. Damien Batstone, both of Australia’s University of Queensland. It incorporates what is described as “a chemical that most people would know as drain cleaner,” which is used to dissolve miscellaneous glass fragments into liquid silicate.

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Queensland, Australia is Allowing License Plates With Emojis | Digital Trends

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Typically, the amount of personalization that you squeeze out of your license plate is entirely dependent on how clever you can get with seven or eight characters. That’s about to change for residents of Queensland, Australia. Starting March 1, the state will give people a wealth of new ways to customize their license plate, including the ability to add an emoji.

Personalised Plates Queensland, the official license plate vendor of Queensland, Australia, had decided to give the current license plate options a modern update that makes the plates reflect what you’d find in a person’s text messages. Drivers will be able to choose from five different emojis. The options include the face-with-tears-of-joy (or crying laughing) emoji, sunglasses emoji, winking emoji, smiling emoji, and heart-eyes emoji. If you were hoping to slap an eggplant or other potentially suggestive emoji on your license plate, you’re out of luck for the time being.

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PS4 Remote Play brings mobile PS4 gaming to iOS | Mashable

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People with iPhones and iPads are finally able to use PS4 Remote Play thanks to the latest PlayStation 4 update that dropped on Thursday.

PS4 Remote Play, which first debuted in October 2014, allows PS4 owners to control their consoles with their smartphones and tablets, connect to voice chat, and input text with their device’s keyboard. The free app is now available to download on iTunes for the first time.

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YouTube starts to fact-check search results | Mashable

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YouTube is dealing another blow to conspiracy theorists and disinformation peddlers.

The video platform has started rolling out text prompts, known as “information panels,” that provide fact checks when users search certain terms or phrases. The feature is currently being rolled out to a limited number of users in India, one country in particular where the spread of fake news has fatal consequences.

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