blogger better: 2016-07-17

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Recasting Silicon Valley’s role in society

modern building and technological interface, abstract image visual

At Bloomberg’s recent technology confab in San Francisco, Marc Andreessen offered a vision for entrepreneurship, defining it as the ability to see how the world potentially could be, then inventing what is needed to change it. Herein lies the dilemma for Silicon Valley: The same questions that spur its entrepreneurs to remake the world are often the same questions that lead it into conflict. Read More

http://ift.tt/2a4k39z Recasting Silicon Valley’s role in society http://ift.tt/2a5iHyq

Aerial view of the downtown Los Angeles skyline and the Griffith Park Observatory just after sunrise during the golden hour

It wasn’t so long ago that venture capital was a suburban California phenomenon. Los Angeles didn’t have much in terms of a real tech scene — and even San Francisco only had a few VCs or tech companies. Now, VC offices have sprung up in San Francisco, moving more of the investment energy up there. That great migration of companies and activity touches upon what is now… Read More

http://ift.tt/2amgGxt Pop culture stimulates the evolution of the LA tech scene http://ift.tt/2akDZL9

I’ll be in Chicago this week and I’d love to meet some startups. I’m thinking about holding a micro-mini-meetup on Tuesday, July 26 at a location to be determined. Here’s what I need from you all: Email or tweet me with recommendations where we can meet. I like to just hang out in bars but I could do a co-working space. I know there are a few in town but I’ve… Read More

http://ift.tt/2a3R0Tq Let’s meet in Chicago for a mini-meetup http://ift.tt/2ahcz5T

Bad UX kills

A confusing traffic light system with multiple signal heads.

It clogs systems, causes accidents, wastes energy and makes people unhappy. It’s more than a bad experience on a website — in cities, bad user experience (UX) design can actually kill. We’re talking about signage, public spaces, civic and emergency communications and other forms of urban design that influence our daily routines and, in some cases, are there expressly for… Read More

http://ift.tt/2ak13Xb Bad UX kills http://ift.tt/2ak0rAY

Dots & Co. tweaks the Dots games by adding a friendly companion

{rss:content:encoded} Dots & Co. tweaks the Dots games by adding a friendly companion http://ift.tt/29T5dni http://ift.tt/2a1vM8L July 23, 2016 at 12:42AM dotsandco

Dots & Co., the follow-up to the popular puzzle games Dots and Two Dots, launched on iOS and Android earlier this week. If reading about the new game isn’t enough for you, you can watch me try it out in the video above. In many ways, Dots & Co. should feel pretty familiar to fans of the previous games. Your goal is to clear as many dots as you can by connecting dots of the… Read More

Today there is enough data available to bring people of similar or adjacent profiles closer, and inform them about signals and contexts where they could either help, pay it forward or seek help. Over a period of time, a community (a micro-market network) will form that will prospect for each other — be it for a job or a deal or funding. Read More

http://ift.tt/2ahQrLT Waiting for the right professional network http://ift.tt/2ajsyA8

Toronto entrepreneur David King learned something over the past four months, doing random bringing people together for random dinners at restaurants in Toronto: Many of the people participating were freelancers and entrepreneurs, and many of them wanted somewhere to work more often than they wanted a dinner party. He already had the two ends to his double-sided marketplace, he just… Read More

http://ift.tt/29ZLKXb RNDMWRK randomizes remote work with subscription spaces http://ift.tt/2ahxNU9

Apple says Pokémon Go is the most downloaded app in its first week ever

{rss:content:encoded} Apple says Pokémon Go is the most downloaded app in its first week ever http://ift.tt/2aeBbfR http://ift.tt/29ArE1x July 22, 2016 at 08:32PM pokemon go caterpie ios

Apple has told TechCrunch that Pokémon Go has broken an impressive App Store record. While the game was only available in a few countries at the time, the app has attracted more downloads in the App Store during its first week than any other app in App Store history. Read More

India, West Bengal, Kolkata, Calcutta, building courtyard, boy playing football

In Silicon Valley the term “hacker” has evolved to connote high praise for someone particularly creative, ingenious and adept at finding clever new ways to accomplish a difficult task. And it’s with that framework in mind, rather than some of the other meanings that “hack” has represented over time, that I suggested during my recent TEDx talk that Pope Francis and… Read More

http://ift.tt/2aBh6iz Hacking poverty through mobile tech and social entrepreneurship http://ift.tt/29QGmV2

If 2016 taught us anything it’s that the Internet isn’t fun anymore. It’s not that a soulless network of computers interconnected via TCP/IP was ever supposed to be fun. It’s that eventually fun overlaid itself on that network and created a world where nearly everyone could interact without fear. Kids grew up in a world where it was easier to talk to someone in… Read More

from Social – TechCrunch http://ift.tt/2a5KksD 100% Fun John Biggs http://ift.tt/2a0BRm3
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If 2016 taught us anything it’s that the Internet isn’t fun anymore. It’s not that a soulless network of computers interconnected via TCP/IP was ever supposed to be fun. It’s that eventually fun overlaid itself on that network and created a world where nearly everyone could interact without fear. Kids grew up in a world where it was easier to talk to someone in… Read More

http://ift.tt/2a5KksD 100% Fun http://ift.tt/2a0BRm3

A Flirtey drone delivers hot and cold food from a 7-Eleven store to a customer nearby in Reno, Nevada.

7-Eleven Inc. and a tech startup called Flirtey have beaten Amazon to the punch in making the first drone delivery to a customer’s home in the U.S. Most already know 7-Eleven, the convenience store retail chain that boasts about 10,800 stores in North America and 59,500 in total around the world. Flirtey is a privately held company based in Reno, Nevada, which builds and operates drones… Read More

http://ift.tt/2alGv3v 7-Eleven delivers by drone in Reno including, yes, Slurpees http://ift.tt/2agw81i

Now anyone can build features for Cola messenger

Cola, a messaging app that integrates apps into chats, is opening up its developer kit today to enable anyone to build new apps. The updated version available today comes with 12 “bubbles” that are essentially applications that run inside the messaging app. Users can share weather and flight information, gifs, and more without creating accounts with individual tools. The… Read More

from Social – TechCrunch http://ift.tt/2a4dozI Now anyone can build features for Cola messenger John Mannes http://ift.tt/29YIzZv
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Now anyone can build features for Cola messenger

{rss:content:encoded} Now anyone can build features for Cola messenger http://ift.tt/29YIzZv http://ift.tt/2a4dozI July 22, 2016 at 01:39AM 4d2f871f-6ce6-4823-83d8-704ca4d8a79e

Cola, a messaging app that integrates apps into chats, is opening up its developer kit today to enable anyone to build new apps. The updated version available today comes with 12 “bubbles” that are essentially applications that run inside the messaging app. Users can share weather and flight information, gifs, and more without creating accounts with individual tools. The… Read More

http://ift.tt/2a4dozI Now anyone can build features for Cola messenger http://ift.tt/29YIzZv

Pandora struggles to find new footing as music streaming becomes commoditized

{rss:content:encoded} Pandora struggles to find new footing as music streaming becomes commoditized http://ift.tt/29Zm2z5 http://ift.tt/29P7Me4 July 22, 2016 at 12:02AM The Amazon.com Inc. Prime Music mobile app is displayed on an Apple Inc. iPhone 5 for a photograph in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Thursday, June 12, 2014. Amazon.com Inc. introduced advertising-free music streaming with more than a million songs, ramping up competition against Apple Inc., Spotify Ltd. and Pandora Media Inc. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Amazon.com Inc. Prime Music mobile app is displayed on an Apple Inc. iPhone 5 for a photograph in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Thursday, June 12, 2014. Amazon.com Inc. introduced advertising-free music streaming with more than a million songs, ramping up competition against Apple Inc., Spotify Ltd. and Pandora Media Inc. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Pandora, in a story we’ve seen before with many other maturing companies, is facing an existential crisis. The company now finds itself fighting for its life against competition from the core platforms its service exists on: Android and iOS. Both of them — and Amazon as well — have launched their own music-streaming products, and they’re baked into the core experience. Read More

Monotype, a publicly-traded company focused on font design and technology, announced today that it’s acquiring Olapic, a startup that helps brands promote themselves with user-generated photos. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of this year — at that point, Olapic will operate as a division of Monotype. The purchase price is $130 million, plus $19 million in… Read More

http://ift.tt/22ywJ2d Monotype will acquire marketing startup Olapic for $130M http://ift.tt/29P7B26

Monotype, a publicly-traded company focused on font design and technology, announced today that it’s acquiring Olapic, a startup that helps brands promote themselves with user-generated photos. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of this year — at that point, Olapic will operate as a division of Monotype. The purchase price is $130 million, plus $19 million in… Read More

from Social – TechCrunch http://ift.tt/22ywJ2d Monotype will acquire marketing startup Olapic for $130M Anthony Ha http://ift.tt/29P7B26
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Poke failed. Slingshot failed. But Facebook is still trying to mimic Snapchat with a new Stories-style feature it’s testing called “Quick Updates”. These 24-hour ephemeral updates are buried in a special part of the app, and won’t show up in News Feed or on your profile. We received these screenshots from our reader Tiffany Zhong of Binary Capital who is one of the users… Read More

from Social – TechCrunch https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/fb-quick-updates.png?w=680 Facebook clones Snapchat again with 24-hour “Quick Updates” Josh Constine http://ift.tt/29OZSBc
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Facebook clones Snapchat again with 24-hour “Quick Updates”

{rss:content:encoded} Facebook clones Snapchat again with 24-hour “Quick Updates” http://ift.tt/29OZSBc https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/fb-quick-updates.png?w=680 July 21, 2016 at 10:56PM