Why IoT Security Is So Critical

smarthomesecurity Twenty years ago, if you told me my phone could be used to steal the password to my email account or to take a copy of my fingerprint data, I would’ve laughed at you and said you watch too much James Bond. But today, if you tell me that hackers with malicious intents can use my toaster to break into my Facebook account, I will panic and quickly pull the plug from the evil appliance. Read More

The White House Is Ready For Tech To Step Up In Government

800px-WhiteHouseSouthFacade It’s no secret that the tech community has historically reacted with hesitation at the thought of collaborating with the public sector, what with the red tape, bureaucratic processes, lengthy sales cycles and a generally poor standard of implemented technology (remember Healthcare.gov before Marketplace Lite?). Clashes with Uber and Airbnb have created an image of our government as… Read More

Raise Your Seed Round By Treating Investors As Team Members

teamworkdiverse The psychology of seed-stage investing is complex. As the one raising money, it’s easy to fall into the trap of treating the process like a transaction. But at the seed stage, neither investors nor the startups can make accurate predictions on numbers alone. Investors look for other data points to evaluate the opportunity, such as the strength of the team and who else has already… Read More

Uber Refueling Its Warchest Yet Again, At A Valuation Of Up To $70BN

uber headquarters Another month, another billion for Uber… The ride-hailing business is reportedly raising yet again — planning to raise close to $1 billion in new investment according to the NYT citing “people close to the matter”, with investors looking at a valuation of between $60 billion and $70 billion for the six-year-old startup. Read More

When Facebook Knows You Better Than You Know Yourself

facebook_shirt Every time you log in to Facebook, every time you click on your News Feed, every time you Like a photo, every time you send anything via Messenger, you add another data point to the galaxy they already have regarding you and your behavior. That, in turn, is a tiny, insignificant dot within their vast universe of information about their billion-plus users. Read More

Walgreens Halts Theranos Testing Center Expansion

14148600379_095e7758a9_k Walgreens won’t be going forward with any plans to open up more Theranos Wellness Centers until it can “understand the truth,” behind recent questioning of the blood work startup’s technology, according to the Wall Street Journal. Walgreens and Theranos announced a partnership in September 2013, allowing Theranos to offer its lab testing services at Walgreens… Read More

Coding Academies Are Nonsense

dunce Coding as a profession has recently catapulted from the dark rooms of nerdom into the shining light of mainstream appeal, and few people are better off for it. In 20+ years of professional coding, I’ve never seen someone go from novice to full-fledged programmer in a matter of weeks, yet that seems to be what coding academies are promising, alongside instant employment, a salary big… Read More

DigitasLBi Identifies The Most “Contagious” Brands On Social Media

DigitasLBi It should be easy to tell whether or not something’s working on social media, right? I mean, if you’ve got a lot of likes and favorites, that’s great. If you don’t, that’s less great. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to work? Well, not quite — at least according to DigitasLBi. The marketing agency worked with Wharton professor Jonah Berger to develop… Read More

Periscope Goes Batty For Halloween, Introduces A Themed Heart

Screen Shot 2015-10-23 at 5.22.49 PM It’s not a Twitter custom emoji, but it’s close. Looks like Periscope is playing around with the hearts that you can send folks who are livestreaming. For Halloween, it’s bats! Simply use “#Halloween” in your Periscope title and the bats will fly, the team tells me. This is the first customized icon (or themed hearts as Periscope calls them) that I’ve seen… Read More

Pandora Loses More Than A Third Of Its Value As It Battles Apple Music For Listeners

pandora-earnings Shares of online radio service Pandora tanked about 36 percent on Friday. The sharp decline comes after the company reported a loss of almost $86 million yesterday. The call was the company’s first report on earnings after the June 30 launch of Apple Music, and Friday’s dive shows investors were not pleased with how the Oakland, California, company stacked up against the… Read More

SeatGeek Embraces Paperless Tickets

stadium seats Ticket sales startup SeatGeek is the latest company joining the move to paperless tickets.
Thanks a new feature, when you buy a ticket on SeatGeek, you’ll no longer have to print out a PDF or (shudder) wait for someone to put your physical tickets in the mail. Instead, the tickets will be delivered through the app, giving you a mobile barcode that will be scanned when you reach the… Read More

Do Fantasy Sports Spell The End Of Corruption In Athletics?

soccerbribe Sport is about triumph, passion, pain and belonging. Yet it loses every iota of truth and meaning for fans when dirty money corrupts the players and referees. Unfortunately, in 2015, it’s hard to think of a sport left untouched by the spindly fingers of organized crime and match fixing. It doesn’t matter if you’re into sumo wrestling, NBA, boxing, college football or the… Read More