Category: News and Views

PayPal Will Change User Agreement After Robocall Concerns | Small Biz Trends

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

PayPal recently came under fire for possibly violating the FCC’s robocall policies.

The new User Agreement, which was set to go live on July 1, indicated that the company intends to robocall and text users on any number they have from them, possibly even ones that are not associated with their account.

The purposes of these texts and calls are varied and could include marketing.

Consumer advocacy groups pointed out that the new agreement seemed to say that users must agree to let the company send automated surveys, offers and promotions, without the ability to opt-out. There was not clear wording on whether or not the users who disagreed would have to stop using the company’s services.

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China stocks hammered as market crash continues | CNN Money

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

China stocks plunged again on Wednesday, even as regulators worked to contain a crisis that has wiped trillions of dollars off the country’s stock markets.

The Shanghai Composite plunged 8% at the market open on Wednesday, and spent the entire day in negative territory before closing down 5.9%. The vast majority of stocks listed on the benchmark index shed 10%, the maximum limit shares are allowed to fall before being halted.

The smaller Shenzhen Composite lost 2.5%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 5.8%.

“At the moment there is a mood of panic in the market and a large increase in irrational dumping of shares, causing a strain of liquidity in the stock market,” China Securities Regulatory Commission said in statement.

Since June 12, the Shanghai Composite has lost an unnerving 32%. The Shenzhen market, which has more tech companies and is often compared to America’s Nasdaq index, is down 41% over the same period.

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What’s wrong with the lean startup methodology? | TNW News

~ CBPS ~ Leave a comment

I wholeheartedly agree and believe this to be true whether your product is digital or physical. The drive for immediacy and minimalism can paralyse creativity, this is especially true to products driven by art such as clothing. When a woman buys a £2,000 dress from Mary Katrantzou, she is not just buying a piece of clothing, she is buying into the artistic vision of the designer.

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Macy’s cuts ties with Donald Trump over Mexico comments | BBC News

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US retailer Macy’s has ended its relationship with Donald Trump after the businessman and presidential candidate made controversial remarks about Mexican immigrants.

The retailer has sold Trump-branded clothes since 2004 and Mr Trump has appeared in the company’s commercials.

Macy’s is the latest company to distance itself from the businessman.

TV networks NBC and Univision said they would not air the Miss USA pageant, which is co-owned by Mr Trump.

“We have no tolerance for discrimination in any form,” Macy’s said in a statement. “We welcome all customers, and respect for the dignity of all people is a cornerstone of our culture.”

In response, Mr Trump said his principles were more valuable than the clothing line, which he called a “small business in terms of dollar volume”.

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This Desktop Farm Is Like A 3-D Printer For Fresh, Natural Food | Co.Exist

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

3047980-inline-i-1-this-desktop-farm-is-like-a-3-d-printer-for-foodYou could mistake Caleb Harper’s Personal Food Computer for a 3-D printer. The desktop-sized plastic box is a cut down version of his CityFarm, and designed to grow fresh vegetables anywhere, without soil.

The Personal Food Computer is a tiny aeroponics system, a miniature farm that creates its own weather, and supplies nutrients to the plants’ roots by misting them with water. Coupled with monitors that track things like CO2, light levels and humidity, the box can be dropped anywhere, and grow fresh food, regardless of surrounding conditions.

The water-sipping properties of aeroponics seem especially relevant in these times of drought, but this decentralization also means less long-distance transport, and — in a possible future — less environmental pressure from large farms.

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France Is Right to Mistrust Uber | Bloomberg View

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

At first glance, Uber’s most recent troubles in France look like an especially violent case of a hidebound country’s reaction to technological disruption. I, too, was once tempted to see Uber’s legal problems in Europe in that light.

Now, I think there’s a valid reason for the French government to resist the spread of Uber. The company is not doing enough to convince governments or the European public that it isn’t a scam.

Uber’s troubles have been particularly acute in France. Last week, licensed taxi drivers blocked roads and airports, burned tires and trashed cars. Previously, President Francois Hollande demanded that the company’s UberPop service be “dissolved” and its vehicles seized. On Monday, police detained two of Uber’s top executives in the country for questioning. Thibaud Simphal, the company’s director general for France, and Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, its director for Western Europe, will have to appear in court in September to answer charges of fraud and illegal activity.

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Panel Says It’s Time Fast-Food Employees in New York Receive a Major Pay Increase | Entrepreneur

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Fast-food restaurants in New York may soon be increasing employee pay – even if the statewide minimum wage doesn’t increase.

On Monday, a panel organized by the New York state government to study fast-food wages revealed plans to recommend a substantial increase in worker pay to the state’s Department of Labor.

The three members of the panel said research and public meetings led them to conclude that a change is necessary, though they are not yet prepared to make a full recommendation to the State Labor Department. Possible ideas suggested include raising minimum wage for fast-food workers to $15 an hour and creating a higher minimum wage for part-time workers to incentivize the hiring of full-time employees, reports the New York Daily News.

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Twitter MoPub senior director Janae McDonough interview | Business Insider

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

downloadTwitter acquired MoPub, a mobile app ad network, ad server, and real-time bidding exchange, for $350 million in stock back in 2013.

MoPub has around 5,000 apps on its platform, and it works with publishers and developers to help sell ads within their apps, by plugging into a network of around 150 demand-side platforms (DSPs,) one of which is Twitter. Last year one analyst predicted MoPub will bring in more than $500 million in annual revenue by 2017, up from an estimated $56 million in 2014.

Yet MoPub is still one of Twitter’s best-kept secrets. The company doesn’t break out revenues from MoPub in its earnings report (it sits in the “data licensing and other category,” which generated revenues of $147 million in 2014,) and it rarely releases news from the division, beyond quarterly marketplace reports about trends within the mobile app ecosystem, and a few other updates.

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