Why Maine Banning Indian Mascots Is A Marketing Wake Up Call | Forbes

From a marketing standpoint, why would an organization want a symbol that many Americans deem offensive?

In May of 2019 Maine banned the use of Native American mascots in its public schools and colleges. No more whooping braves, no more grinning chiefs, no more tomahawk yielding warriors in loin clothes. This is part of a national movement that is picking up momentum.

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Fiat Chrysler-Renault tie up: What the maker of Jeep could gain | TechCrunch

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Renault are in talks that could result in merging vast swaths of their businesses, a move that illustrates the growing desire among automakers to consolidate in an environment of increased regulatory pressure, sales declines and rising costs aimed at bringing next-generation technologies like self-driving cars to market.

Update: Fiat Chrysler has sent a non-binding letter to Renault proposing a 50-50 merger. Under the proposal, the combined businesses would be split equally between FCA and Renault shareholders. The board would be a combined entity of 11 members, FCA said. The majority would be independent. FCA and Renault would get equal represent with four members each as well as one nominee from Nissan.

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YouTube’s Change in Subscriber Counts Sparks Its Own Drama | WIRED

YOUTUBE RECENTLY ANNOUNCED plans to change the way subscriber counts are displayed on the site. Beginning in August, instead of showing precise totals (i.e., 14,230,974), the video service will show a rounded number (i.e., 14 million).

Unlike similar redesigns by Twitter and Instagram, which deemphasized follower count by shrinking the type in which it is displayed, YouTube’s change eliminates publicly available precise tallies, meaning that only the YouTube creator will know exactly how many accounts have subscribed to their channel. What’s more, YouTube said the change will also affect the data it feeds outside services like Social Blade, which display real time subscriber counts, view totals, and estimate YouTubers’ potential earnings.

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All the Ways Google Tracks You—And How to Stop It | WIRED

YOU’RE PROBABLY AWARE that Google keeps tabs on what you’re up to on its devices, apps, and services—but you might not realize just how far its tracking reach extends, into the places you go, the purchases you make, and much more. It’s an extensive set of data, but you can take more control over what Google collects about you and how long the company keeps it. Here’s how.

It’s worth emphasizing first that we’re really dealing with two topics: The amount of data Google collects on you, which is a lot, and what Google then does with it. Google would say its data collection policies improve its services—helping you find a restaurant similar ones you’ve liked previously, say—whereas users might disagree.

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‘Consumer Reports’ calls out Tesla’s Navigate on Autopilot update | Mashable

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has proclaimed unfaltering adoration for his electric car company’s Autopilot feature on highways. But after a recent update meant to make it easier to use the semi-autonomous system, not everyone is so keen on the advanced-driving assistance tool.

Review service and publication Consumer Reports blasted Navigate on Autopilot on Wednesday following Tesla’s updates to the assistance tool last month. The automatic lane-changing and speed-suggesting system, which only works on certain highways, had several issues.

“We found that Navigate on Autopilot lagged far behind a human driver’s skill set,” the publication’s Keith Barry wrote.

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Bitcoin could change the game for foreign aid | CNN

Today’s humanitarian aid model is fundamentally broken. Whether you’re a foundation making a donation to a nonprofit abroad, a government distributing aid to another government, or an individual sending emergency funds to family members across borders, your money only gets to where it needs to go after passing through intermediaries. Even in the simplest payment scenario, there’s your bank; a coordination network; and the aid recipient’s bank. But often, there are even more middlemen, with money moving along complex chains of third parties.

Such a system has obvious flaws. One is that each intermediary between you and the person or organization you are trying to help can delay, surveil, censor or steal your funds. In 2012, the UN’s then-secretary general Ban Ki-moon said that “corruption prevented 30% of all development assistance from reaching its final destination.”

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Here’s How Many US Cancer Cases Are Tied to Unhealthy Diets | Live Science

More than 80,000 cancer cases diagnosed each year in the U.S. may be tied to an unhealthy diet, according to a new study.

The study researchers used a mathematical model to estimate the number of U.S. cancer cases tied to suboptimal intake of seven dietary components known to be related to cancer risk. These included diets low in whole grains, dairy, fruits and vegetables; and diets high in processed meats, red meats and sugar-sweetened beverages.

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Survey Finds Mixed Feelings on Location-Based Ads | Business News Daily

Every day, millions of miniature computers ride along in our pockets and purses as we go about our daily tasks. From the grocery store to the office and back home, our smartphones are little beacons that track our movements, whether we like it or not. According to a recent survey conducted by The Manifest, our phones help marketers get their location-based ads to nearly everyone.

More than 720 U.S. residents participated in The Manifest’s survey after admitting they allow various applications on their iOS and Android devices to track their real-time locations. Of those respondents, just 15% said they “rarely or never see ads” that reference their location.

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Walmart sued for sale of “nonsense” homeopathic remedies | Fast Company

Walmart is being sued for selling questionable alternative remedies.

The Center for Inquiry (CFI), a nonprofit dedicated to ensuring that “pseudoscience is prevented from harming society,” filed a complaint Monday on behalf of residents in Washington, D.C., against the giant retailer. The organization claims the superstore deliberately “creates a false and misleading impression in customers regarding homeopathic products, presenting them as an equal alternative to science and evidence-based medication.”

Source: Walmart sued for sale of “nonsense” homeopathic remedies