blogger better: 2017-05-28

Friday, June 2, 2017

Storyzy is a quote verifier that wants to skewer fake news

On the Internet no-one knows you’re a dog. And no-one knows whether that ‘fact’ you’re reading — say, about President Putin’s pet dog — is bona fide truth or more nonsense FAKE NEWS doing the rounds on Facebook. Which is where Storyzy wants to help out, with a just launched quote verifier tool… Read More

from Social – TechCrunch http://ift.tt/2snVCOD Storyzy is a quote verifier that wants to skewer fake news Natasha Lomas http://ift.tt/2rkVWiF
via IFTTT

Some 1.4 billion people lack access to electricity worldwide today, most in rural areas across Southeast Asia, China, India and Sub-Saharan Africa according to data from the OECD. While others are focused on wiring those places up and developing new energy sources, a startup called Evaptainers has created a kind of refrigerator that requires no electricity, runs instead on water, and can… Read More

http://ift.tt/2o9Gk0g Evaptainers decouples refrigeration from electricity to help rural farms and families http://ift.tt/2rNREBO

Sherpa turns Instagram’s best photos into a travel guide

{rss:content:encoded} Sherpa turns Instagram’s best photos into a travel guide http://ift.tt/2qKyFrO http://ift.tt/2qKCLAa June 02, 2017 at 07:28PM

There are a number of places to find travel inspiration – Pinterest, Google Destinations, travel blogs or media sites like Condé Nast’s Traveler, among others. But a new application called Sherpa launching this week believes that some of the best travel ideas can be found on Instagram. The iOS application curates photos from top Instagram photographers, and turns them into… Read More

Sherpa turns Instagram’s best photos into a travel guide

When small and medium businesses want to build a website, they can take advantage of easy-to-use web tools like Squarespace — but who do they turn to when they need more technical help? New York City startup Lorem Technologies is trying to make this process easier. After all, CEO Sam Wilcoxon (pictured above with his co-founder Charlie Fogarty) told me that not only do many business… Read More

http://ift.tt/2s22S5o Lorem raises $1.1M to connect small businesses and web developers for quick assistance http://ift.tt/2rNpmHF

As the U.S. seems to be hellbent on making itself less attractive to immigrants and visitors, its neighbors to the north are sensing an opening and going the other way in an effort to attract the smartest tech entrepreneurs. Read More

http://ift.tt/2rzTNA6 Launch Academy’s startup visa program gives entrepreneurs permanent residency in Canada http://ift.tt/2sxG7mv

AT&T makes DirecTV Now a $10 add-on to its Unlimited Choice plan

{rss:content:encoded} AT&T makes DirecTV Now a $10 add-on to its Unlimited Choice plan http://ift.tt/2qOEOP7 http://ift.tt/2gJI6zg June 02, 2017 at 05:59PM DirecTV Now event

Recent reports have indicated that AT&T’s new streaming service, DirecTV Now, may be seeing slowing growth. But don’t count it out just yet. This week, AT&T announced it’s expanding its distribution strategy for the service by bundling in with the wireless carrier’s Unlimited Choice plan for only $10 more per month. The move is largely meant to entice customers… Read More

Perhaps you’d like to visit an out of the way restaurant or smoke a unique cigar. Perhaps you’d like to take part in native dances or infiltrate a foreign government at a classy cocktail party. ViaHero, a new app that lets locals help plan your trips abroad, can help. The founders, Greg Buzulencia and Ben Preston, have raised $210,000 from investors and Pittsburgh’s… Read More

http://ift.tt/2sxCsp2 ViaHero lets locals plan your trips abroad http://ift.tt/2rz5dnR

On YouTube, you have to either know what it is you watch to watch and seek it out, or you can click through the site’s suggestions of popular or trending content. A startup called Rheo, founded by ex-Apple product veterans, has a different take on video discovery. Instead of browsing by genre, publisher or chart position, viewers can browse by mood. That is, you can seek out videos to… Read More

http://ift.tt/2bVKOzj Rheo, a personalized video app from ex-Apple product vets, launches on iOS and the web http://ift.tt/2rsIMi6

Rheo, a personalized video app from ex-Apple product vets, launches on iOS and the web

{rss:content:encoded} Rheo, a personalized video app from ex-Apple product vets, launches on iOS and the web http://ift.tt/2rsIMi6 http://ift.tt/2bVKOzj June 02, 2017 at 04:29PM

Snap’s Spectacles are going on a summer tour across Europe. Starting today, anyone in Europe can buy a pair of sunglasses on Snap’s website or in a vending machine. With this launch, Spectacles are available outside of the U.S. for the first time. European Spectacles are exactly the same as the ones that launched in September 2016 in the U.S. While the excitement around Spectacles… Read More

from Social – TechCrunch https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/spectacles.png?w=680 Snap’s Spectacles are now available in Europe Romain Dillet http://ift.tt/2s0h0w9
via IFTTT

Voiceitt lets people with speech impairments use voice controlled technology

{rss:content:encoded} Voiceitt lets people with speech impairments use voice controlled technology http://ift.tt/2qLBh3V http://ift.tt/2hrZY1h June 01, 2017 at 11:47PM

Voice controlled technology like Amazon Echo, Siri, or hands free features in Google Maps are thing we’re starting to take for granted. But as Mary Meeker’s 2017 Internet Trends Report noted, voice controls are changing computer-human interfaces, and industries, broadly. Speech recognition or voice controls are being added to medical devices and business applications, even… Read More

Meal ingredient delivery service Blue Apron files to go public

{rss:content:encoded} Meal ingredient delivery service Blue Apron files to go public http://ift.tt/2qGA1nj http://ift.tt/2qGuMnT June 01, 2017 at 11:07PM

Blue Apron, which delivers ingredients to cook meals in your home and was among the companies whispered to go public this year, has now filed to go public. Amidst an array of enterprise companies that have jumped on the IPO bandwagon following Snap’s successful IPO (aside from its more recent earnings report), Blue Apron appears to be the next major consumer IPO. That’s… Read More

Yext passes its first test as a publicly-traded company

{rss:content:encoded} Yext passes its first test as a publicly-traded company http://ift.tt/2qGcMdr http://ift.tt/2nK5WSw June 01, 2017 at 10:59PM

Yext’s first earnings report as a publicly-traded company seems to be a boringly pleasant one — but that’s a good thing for a company that needs to show strong performance out of the gate. These early reports can be critical for setting the stage and expectations for a company going forward. Snap, for example, whiffed on its first earnings and promptly saw its stock tank,… Read More

There is no such thing as too many rainbows. For LGBTQ Pride Month, Instagram is rolling out a special set of pride-flavored features, including a sticker set (Instagram has stickers now, you’ve probably noticed) and a rainbow brush. The sticker set includes a swoopy-banged person holding a rainbow aloft, a cute trans flag/heart situation and a rainbow megaphone for when you need to… Read More

from Social – TechCrunch http://ift.tt/2qKT4Iy Instagram celebrates Pride Month with a very rainbowy sticker set Taylor Hatmaker http://ift.tt/2stDVfL
via IFTTT

Twitter might consider adding premium subscription features to TweetDeck, but likely won’t charge all users because the reduced access wouldn’t jive with what Twitter wants to be, according to COO Anthony Noto. Today at Code Conference, Noto explained the four characteristics that make Twitter special, and how those guide its product evolution. “As growth slowed in 2015 we… Read More

from Social – TechCrunch http://ift.tt/2pQFebh Twitter’s COO explains why charging all users doesn’t make sense Josh Constine http://ift.tt/2rpls4E
via IFTTT

E-books are a lot of things. Convenient. Good for the environment. Usually cheaper than printed books. One thing they’re rarely accused of is being good-looking. Ugly books is what 180g is declaring war on with a completely revamped, 2.0 version of Vellum. Oh, and in the process, they’re adding support for making wood-pulp books, too. Fancy. Read More

http://ift.tt/2siRLT0 Brand new Vellum picks a fight for prettier (e)books http://ift.tt/2rJMjM8

Twitter’s COO explains why charging all users doesn’t make sense

{rss:content:encoded} Twitter’s COO explains why charging all users doesn’t make sense http://ift.tt/2rpls4E http://ift.tt/2pQFebh June 01, 2017 at 07:37PM