As developers for tablets and smartphones we like to keep abreast of the latest mobile technology developments . This is a daily digest of mobile development and related technology news gathered from the BBC, the New York Times, New Scientist and the Globe and Mail to name a few. We scour the web for articles concerning, iPhone, iPad and android development, iOS and android operating systems as well as general articles on advances in mobile technology. We hope you find this useful and that it helps to keep you up to date with the latest technology developments.
Executive Survey Shows the Benefits of Data Innovation Across the Whole Economy
There are pervasive myths and misconceptions about how data innovation is transforming the global economy, from the idea that it’s all about so-called “Big Data” (in fact, analyzing even small data sets can produce useful insights) to the false notion that all data is personal information (when discoveries are being made from data sources such as wind turbines, jet engines, financial markets, crop harvests, traffic patterns and energy consumption).
Today we released a new survey that sets right another such myth — that big tech companies and Silicon Valley start-ups are the main beneficiaries of data innovation. The reality is that data tools are catalysts for innovation and growth across the whole economy, and the benefits of that innovation and growth accrue to society as a whole.
We commissioned Ipsos Public Affairs to poll 1,500 senior executives and business decision-makes across the United States and Europe about the role of data analytics in their companies. We found a number of things that were surprising:
First, data analytics are important to companies of all types and sizes — including an overwhelming majority (60 percent) of small businesses with 50 or fewer employees.
Second, data analytics can contribute to job growth. Sixty-one percent of senior executives in the US and 58 percent in Europe say data analytics are important to their companies’ plans to hire more employees.
Third, eight out of 10 respondents overall say data analytics are important to their companies’ plans to better serve their customers’ needs.
It’s clear that data innovation will be increasingly important to how companies across the economy do business. The question is: how do we ensure we are maximizing the opportunities?
Data is inherently borderless, making the digital economy a global economy. That is why it is critical that we have global trade rules that promote data innovation. But currently there are no global standards in place to ensure that data can move freely across borders.
Chief negotiators from 12 countries are converging this week in Washington to continue hammering out the terms of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). That agreement — and the ongoing US-EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) — present important opportunities to establish 21st century trade standards that enable data to flow across borders. That’s why BSA is urging trade negotiators to seize the moment and create the beginnings of a global framework to promote open markets and prevent protectionist measures such as server-location requirements that could undermine the architecture of the Internet and stifle data innovation.
Equally important is the need to build public trust in the underpinnings of the digital economy. That trust has been shaken in the aftermath of the Snowden/NSA disclosures. We must strike the right balance between essential privacy protections and governments’ need to access data for legitimate national security and law enforcement purposes. These are difficult issues, but our survey shows that getting them right will have an enormous payoff.
World Cup and 1D top UK Twitter list
Tweets by members of pop group One Direction – and about the World Cup – preoccupied UK Twitter users in 2014, statistics from the social media company show.
T-Mobile offers new two- and four-line family plans for $100 per month
Starting December 10, T-Mobile will offer unlimited talk, text and data for two lines in a new $100 per month plan — or 10 GB of total data with unlimited talk and text for four-line plans at the same price, Electronista has learned. The move comes backed up by a poll of cell phone subscribers which claims, among other things, that 81 percent of those polled said they found promotions offered by providers such as AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint to be confusing. T-Mobile President and CEO, John Legere, described the two new offerings as being “simple and saner” alternatives to the competition, altho
The rise of the Swedish cyborgs
Is implantable technology the next logical step for wearables?
California Prosecutors Sue Uber Over Background Checks
SAN FRANCISCO — Prosecutors in Los Angeles and San Francisco have sued Uber over its background check policies and other business practices, alleging that the popular ride-sharing service lied to give customers a false sense of security.
San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon announced Tuesday that he and Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey had joined to sue San Francisco-based Uber, claiming that the company violated California law with fraudulent business practices. The lawsuit alleges that Uber lied to consumers about the strength of its background check system and charged UberX users a $1 “Safe Rides Fee” that falsely advertised the checks. The lawsuit also accuses the company of illegally operating at airports, charging riders fraudulent airport fees and calculating fares without consulting with state agencies.
Gascon chastised Uber for not using fingerprints or LiveScan when screening potential drivers, instead relying on driver-provided information. Uber, by calling its background check process “industry-leading,” is “giving consumers a false sense of security when deciding whether to get into a stranger’s car,” Gascon said at a news conference.
“At the end of the day, you cannot conduct the most comprehensive background check possible if the info you have obtained has nothing to do with the person that is signing on with you to be a driver,” Gascon said. ”It is completely worthless.”
Lyft, a competing ride-share service also based in San Francisco, settled a similar lawsuit with the state, agreeing to pay $500,000 in civil penalties and resolve issues raised by the suit. Sidecar, another competitor, also is under investigation.
Uber said it had met with the district attorneys to discuss the concerns.
“Californians and California lawmakers all agree — Uber is an integral, safe, and established part of the transportation ecosystem in the Golden State. Uber has met with the District Attorneys to address their concerns regarding airport operations, the uberPOOL product, background checks, and operation of the app,” Uber spokeswoman Eva Behrend said in a statement provided to The Huffington Post. “We will continue to engage in discussions with the District Attorneys.”
Ride-sharing services, which allow customers to summon a ride from their smartphones, have become hugely popular in recent years for providing a convenient and affordable alternative to traditional taxi services. However, the services have raised regulatory issues as states grapple with how ride-sharing fits with existing law.
Uber, the largest of the three biggest ride-sharing companies, has faced legal and publicity woes in recent weeks. Earlier Tuesday, Portland, Oregon, sued to stop the company from operating there. The service was suspended in Nevada and banned in the Netherlands, Spain and Thailand.
In New Delhi, Uber was blocked from operating after a driver was accused of raping a female passenger. The driver in question had been previously arrested on sexual assault charges. Additionally, a former Uber driver was charged Tuesday with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in the death of a 6-year-old girl who was struck in San Francisco last year.
Read the full lawsuit against Uber below:
Uber Lawsuit
Chicago Police Investigate Rape Allegation Against Uber Driver
(Reuters) – Chicago police said on Tuesday they are investigating an allegation that a driver for the online car service Uber raped a female customer.
Chicago police said in a statement that they have been in contact with the woman as well as Uber personnel, but declined to give further details.
Uber spokeswoman Jennifer Mullin called the incident “appalling and unacceptable.” She said the company immediately removed the driver from the Uber platform when it learned of the incident, and is cooperating with police in the investigation.
Mullin said that all drivers with the ridesharing service undergo a “rigorous background check.”
Uber is one of several ride-sharing services gaining popularity in cities, despite opposition from taxi companies that typically operate under stricter regulations.
The Chicago investigation comes as Uber has been in the news for other issues with government authorities.
Also on Tuesday, California prosecutors said that a former Uber driver was charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in the death of a 6-year-old girl who was struck in a San Francisco crosswalk on New Year’s Eve.
On Monday, Portland, Oregon sued Uber to stop the service from operating in the city until it follows local regulations.
The same day, the company was banned from operating in India’s capital, New Delhi, after a female passenger accused one of its drivers of rape.
The fast-growing company was valued at $40 billion last week after its latest funding round ahead of an expected initial public offering.
(Editing by Eric Walsh)
Digital governments meet in London to commit to best practices
Digital governments from across the world are meeting in London today as part of the inaugural D5 summit
How The Internet May Be 'Getting In The Way Of Every Important Thing In Your Life'
The Internet has its perks, but it certainly has its pitfalls, too.
The latest video from The School Of Life, a London-based organization that focuses on developing emotional intelligence, warns that the Internet may be “getting in the way of every important thing in your life.”
The group has a point: Crime, bullying and threats to privacy have all been taken to a new level because of the Internet. Plus, we’re incredibly addicted to being online.
According to one survey, the clip notes, people “put the Internet at the top of their list of daily essentials,” over a bath, car and TV. And three out of five people in the United Kingdom said checking the Internet is the last thing they do at night and the first thing they do in the morning.
The Internet also poses a huge threat to our interpersonal relationships: According to the video, two out of five women say one of the greatest challenges in their relationships is trying to prove themselves more interesting than their partner’s smartphone. (Yikes!)
We’re not saying the Internet is all bad news, but the video does point out some ugly truths: After all, 72 percent of Americans almost always have their phone within 5 feet of them, according to a 2013 study from Harris Interactive and Jumio, and nearly 20 percent of young adults are looking at their phones during sex.
Ready for a digital detox yet?
Grand Theft Auto V and the Culture of Violence Against Women
Coming to you, right in time for Christmas, is Grand Theft Auto V. It is a continuation of the violence and sexual denigration of women offered in the previous versions of the Grand Theft Auto games. But, now, taken one step further as the acts of gender-based violence can be played out in first person.
In GTA V, a gamer can purchase a woman (or is she a girl?) to perform a menu of different sexual acts that he experiences in first person. After purchasing the woman/girl, the gamer can choose to kill her — and actually is incentivized to kill her to get his money back. At present, GTA V is one of the most popular and money making video games.
If Cambodia, India, or Nigeria produced such a video game, there would be global outrage. It would serve as unequivocal evidence of their misogynistic cultures in which women and girls are systemically raped and murdered with impunity. We would critique the ways in which their cultures and values are organized around the normalization of gendered violence.
Interestingly, there has been little to none such backlash against the American made and marketed GTA V in the U.S. The release of GTA V has been met with a very muted response. Any criticisms are reduced to being mere moral panics. Free speech advocates, GTA V fans, and other supporters insist that GTA V is simply a game, a victimless form of entertainment.
GTA V is certainly not the only video game, or only iteration, of celebrated violence against women. Nor can GTA V be faulted for actually causing gendered violence. But GTA V’s new standard for ramped-up, graphic violence against women comfortably exists in our rape culture, and reifies the distinct ways in which women and girls are propertied, humiliated, and abused.
Violence against women — and our acceptance of that violence — is why GTA V’s assault on women can be framed as unapologetically entertaining. The abuse played out in the game is not really outside of our cultural norms. Here, in this country, one in four woman will experience some form of sexual violence by the time she turns 18. One in five young women on college campuses will experience sexual assault. One out of every three American women has been beaten, sexually coerced or otherwise abused in her lifetime. Overall, domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women in the U.S.
It therefore makes sense, against this backdrop of tolerated violence against women, that victims rarely report the crimes committed against them. The Justice Department estimates that fewer than 5 percent of completed and attempted rapes of college women are reported to law enforcement officials. In general, 60 percent of sexual assaults are not reported to the police and 97 percent of rapists will never spend a day in jail. When rape and other forms of violence are normalized, victims are silenced, disbelieved, and ridiculed–and perpetrators are rarely held accountable.
And that is precisely why we must speak out against Grand Theft Auto V. In it’s first three days, GTA V grossed $1 billion, setting industry records. It is legitimizing, and significantly profiting off of, America’s rape and gender-based violence culture that we must be seeking to end, and not expand or further entrench.
Last week, Target Australia pulled GTA V off its shelves after three survivors of sexual violence started a change.org petition for the game’s removal. In the petition, the survivors wrote to Target: “to see this violence that we lived through turned into a form of entertainment is sickening…” Nearly 50,000 Australians signed the petition. Wal-Mart Australia pulled the game shortly after Target’s announcement.
In a matter of weeks, parents will be wrapping gifts for our children. If we want more for our daughters — and our sons — then there is no reason to purchase GTA V, and be complicit with the many ways in which violence against women and girls has become the comfortable norm. We must call out the very practices that bind our daughters to a culture of violence. Even when those practices include a popular, profit-busting video game that our kids, or other family members, want for the holidays.
Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) for the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-656-HOPE for the National Sexual Assault Hotline.
Is Pinterest Making a Misery Out of Motherhood?
I am profoundly grateful to the Great IT Department of the Cosmos for waiting to invent social media until I was a good decade clear of my teenage years. The relief that my every adolescent haircut, lovelorn confession and non-rhyming poem has not been archived for eternity at Facebook’s corporate headquarters is matched only by the knowledge that I escaped the half-naked selfie life stage entirely, making it home-free to the Pinterest demographic without the Internet ever seeing me in my bra. Now, mercifully, my social network can measure my value as a human being and a woman on criteria far more worthwhile than how I look in my underwear. Like, say, my ability to hand-stitch a reindeer costume for a pinecone.
Despite being the third most trafficked social media site after Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest took a while to creep up on me. One moment I was half-listening to something on NPR about a website that lets you create online “visual mood boards.” The next thing I knew, I entered the site via a portal labeled “24 Ways With Mason Jars” and the entire space-time continuum collapsed in on itself. I emerged 150 years later with the entirety of the feminist movement wiped from both my own brain and human history.
It used to be generally accepted that overblown levels of domestic perfection were merely a shorthand for inner despair. Whenever a movie opened with a housewife in manicured suburbia adding the finishing touches to a flower arrangement or a pie, we all instinctively understood that this was a clear cinematic trope meaning that her husband is having an affair, her life is overshadowed by the desperate creep of unfulfillment and by the end of the movie, she will have tipped into a bottomless pit of churning, wailing mental anguish.
Now, apparently, we all want to be that housewife.
We live in the era of the curated life. Social media has led us to believe not just that our lives should be happy, but that they should look perfect from the outside. Facebook and Instagram have become personal PR agencies, forums for us to assemble a set of dazzling promotional materials for our own lives. My real children may be covered in mud and subsist on a diet of canned refried beans and Barney the dinosaur, but my Facebook children are always clean, nutritionally balanced and baking low-sugar holiday cookies. In a climate of competitive perfection, Pinterest raises the stakes for what perfect should look like.
Barely able to find time to do the laundry, we somehow find ourselves at 2 a.m. the night before the preschool holiday party crippled by unrealistic expectations, resentfully baking high concept cupcakes and assembling lopsided magical winter wonderlands. Glue guns don’t kill people, but people with glue guns kill any last hope of guilt-free motherhood.
Because when life has to look perfect, it is generally acknowledged that the late night perfecting burden will be shouldered by women, and in particular, by mothers. Lifestyle whitewashing on social media has meant a constant inflation of what a mother’s role is expected to involve. Maintaining a job, a reasonably happy home environment and our own sanity is not enough. In the Pinterest era, kids’ birthday parties and craft projects now feel like motherhood mid-terms.
This isn’t just suffocating on the individual level. As we increasingly fetishize the domestic arts, we are sleepwalking back to the 1950s, when society’s expectations of household accomplishment came at the clear expense of women’s emancipation.
Why are we buying into this insanity? At a time when almost all of us are overwhelmed and rushed, when the combination of our punishing working hours and our childcare expectations sometimes feel liable to crush us and the debate rages on about the impossibility of “having it all,” why are we ludicrously inflating the norms of what “it all” should be? Why are we rushing to embrace a level of domestic expectation that would have sent our mothers running in horror?
This time around, we can’t blame the patriarchy. More than 80% of Pinterest users are female, and we do over 90% of the pinning. These are our own expectations, self-generated. Together, we are throwing feminism under the Mason jar.
Like a divorced parent sinking his entire paycheck at Toys’R'Us, perhaps we hope that a handmade elf will offset our misplaced working mother guilt. Maybe it’s that as we feel our lives sliding out of control, a forced march to domestic perfection shows the world that we are coping. Or perhaps we have all bought into social media’s fiction that how our lives look is ultimately more important than what they are. Whatever the reason, I don’t have time to think about it. I’m too busy glue-gunning my way to a magical holiday season.
14 Parents Who Took The Internet By Storm In 2014
From music videos and dance parties to strongly-worded letters and stunning photography series, parents have certainly made their marks on the Internet recently. This past year has seen an impressive display of such innovative parents, and we’ve looked back on our coverage to remind you of some of your favorites.
So, without further ado, here are 14 parents who took viral mania to memorable heights in 2014.
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December Breach Round Up
We’re only a week in to December and there’s already been significant cyber security activity. There have been a number of well publicized high profile breaches, malware attacks and phishing attacks as we head in to the final stretch of the year. To help you better understand the breaches, their risks and how they impact you, I’ve rounded up a few of the bigger incidents that are currently in the news.
Sony Pictures Entertainment Breach. Earlier this week it came to light that hackers infiltrated Sony Pictures Entertainment’s internal systems and took a yet-to-be-determined amount of sensitive information. The hacker group, who call themselves the Guardians of Peace, stole and published information ranging from employee logins, passwords and social security numbers to executive salaries and even unreleased movie and TV scripts. More importantly, the group also gained access to the master list of Sony Pictures databases and servers along with the requisite RSA SecurID tokens needed to access them. Needless to say Sony Pictures had to shut down its entire infrastructure after discovering the hack and the company is still working on rebuilding its systems and restoring functionality. It seems likely that we will be hearing more on this major breach as we head in to the New Year and more details about the cyber attack come to light.
How this impacts you: Unless you are an employee of Sony Pictures Entertainment or a Sony executive, this breach won’t impact you. If you are a Sony Pictures Entertainment employee, change your logins and passwords and keep a close eye on your financial identity.
Seasonal Malware Scams. With the holiday shopping season in full swing, enterprising cyber criminals are using fake “order confirmation” emails to trick consumers in to downloading harmful malware. The emails are set up to look like a holiday package has been delivered to a local store and requires you to click on a link or download a file in order to learn about your order. The links end up installing malware. Many of these emails have been tied back to a piece of malware called Asprox. Asprox is able to scrape logins and passwords from your computer and then use your email to send out additional infected emails to your contact list. It’s a tricky phishing attack that even the most savvy computer users can fall prey to.
How this impacts you: Millions of these types of phishing emails are sent out daily so don’t be too surprised if one lands in your inbox. Luckily they are only harmful if you click on the link or download the attached file. If you get an email from a store that looks even slightly fishy, never click on the link. Go directly to the store’s website and monitor your purchase or delivery from there.
The Year of the Breach. In a piece that ran earlier this month, 60 Minutes officially dubbed 2014 as the year of the breach. If you follow security news, you know why. Consumers started off 2014 by dealing with the aftermath of the massive Target breach that resulted in the loss of more than 40 million consumer debit and credit cards. The Target breach was followed by the Michaels breach where two million more cards were lost. Following Michaels was P.F. Chang’s (33 restaurants affected), Home Depot (56 million debit and credit cards lost) and then Staples (the breach is still under investigation). Consumers have been inundated with breach news this year and many are rightfully wary about swiping their cards at retailer stores when making holiday purchases. The reasons behind the growing number of retailer beaches are numerous. At CSID we’ve noticed that poor security habits like reusing passwords or not implementing security best practices, such as encryption and detection software, often allow cyber criminals to access a retailer or vendor system. Others, such as Mallory Duncan with the National Retailer Federation, feel the main issue is the mag stripe technology currently used for most U.S. credit and debit cards. According to Duncan, “The underlying problem is that we have cards that were designed for the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s but we now have hackers using 21st century tools to break in.” Whatever the case, these types of retail breaches show no sign of stopping and it is only a matter of time until news about the next big breach shows up in our news feeds.
How this impacts you: Unless you make all of your retail purchases using cash, you are at risk for becoming of victim of this type of breach. If you must use a card when making purchases, use a credit card as it is easier to recoup losses related to unauthorized purchases made with your credit card versus your debit card. Another good practice is to keep a close eye on your bank statements. Cyber criminals will often test a stolen card with a small purchase to make sure it is active. These smaller purchases are likely to go unnoticed on a bank statement.
At CSID we anticipate the frequency and severity of data breaches will continue to increase going in to 2015. We also expect to see more breaches occurring on a global scale. In the meantime, be vigilant about security best practices – use secure passwords and don’t reuse them across sites, keep an eye on your credit and financial statements and never click on a suspicious link. It is also a good practice to use a monitoring service that can alert you if your personally identifiable information like your Social Security number, phone number or home address are being used for malicious purposes.
How to Hire a Tech Team If You Know Nothing About Tech
The email might as well have been written in Chinese.
I mean, for all intents and purposes (mine) it was. “Bounce rate,” “cascading style sheets,” “embedded link,” “Extensible Markup Language” — it all looked and felt like “木須肉” to me.
Launching an online business is a huge undertaking and it’s an even bigger undertaking when you’re not particularly tech savvy. Prior to launching my site, I’d never tweeted, I didn’t know how to embed links, and I only used Facebook to stalk friends from high school. Launching a site was exciting!
It was also very stressful and surprisingly emotionally charged.
Because you know what makes you feel ridiculous in two minutes flat?
Having to google every second word in an email.
Not even knowing the type of questions you should be asking potential developers.
Being reduced to tears by someone’s About Me page because you’re pretty sure you should be impressed by their qualifications but you don’t even know what ‘information architecture’ is.
If you’re in the same boat, welcome.
I, too, am a well-educated, intelligent, generally capable human who struggled to translate technology and was overwhelmed by the process of hiring and designing an online business.
But I’ve come out the other side alive, intact, with a beautiful site and I’d love to help you do the same.
If you:
* need to hire tech or design people
* don’t speak the language of tech or design and need to create meaningful and productive relationships with professionals who do
* think positive relationships are important and do best in relationships with collaboration and support
… read on.
Here are four tips that will make your search process easier + less stressful
1. Do at least three interviews and get at least three proposals
Push yourself to interview at least three people, even if you think you’ve found the right person. I interviewed six designers/developers for my project and each interview taught me something new about the project and what I needed from a designer/developer.
Getting multiple proposals will show you how these candidates present their work. If a person sends you a sloppy proposal, do you really want them designing your website? Having multiple proposals also gives you an idea about cost discrepancies and how each team would work with your project.
Obviously, only interview people you would consider hiring for your project; never lead people on or waste their time.
2. Hire a tech “translator”
I have zero tech skills so I hired an experienced designer/developer (who didn’t have time for the project herself) to review the proposals and walk me through the pros and cons of each proposal. She was my tech translator and because of her, I knew what I was buying and what was missing from each proposal.
3. Prepare your priority list
Before you interview candidates, get clear on your three non-tech must-haves.
I wanted three things in my tech relationships:
a. Consistent communication
I don’t want to chase down my vendors with phone calls, emails, facebook chats, tweets, etc. I want to know that we have a weekly meeting to go over everything.
b. Organized workflow:
Ideally, I wanted the designer/developer to use a project management system to keep the process smooth for both of us.
c. Feedback:
I wanted a team that would give me feedback. I wanted them to “think with me” rather than just execute for me.
4. Ask hard questions
Before you hire someone, prepare a few hard questions so you can discern how they deal with direct questions and how they think.
These are my three, go-to tough questions:
a. What is one aspect of this project that I’m not looking at?
This shows you if they’re thinking critically about your project and (just as importantly) how they’ll express their views to you.
b. What happens when we do not agree?
This shows you how they’ll deal with conflict.
c. How does your favorite client behave?
This question shows you the behaviors and attitudes they prefer to have in place to do their best work.
Hiring a team to execute your passion project is never easy, and it’s less easy when you’re not fluent in tech. But with a bit of help and research you’ll find the people who can make your online dreams come true.
Netflix Plans To Premiere 20 New Shows A Year
Netflix isn’t fooling around with this whole original programming thing. At a conference on Monday, the streaming company announced a new plan to roll out up to 20 original series or seasons of original shows per year. Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said the company’s five-year goal is to premiere a new show or season every two-and-a-half weeks. That means a whole lot of binge-watching. But Sarandos noted that there won’t be “a new show for everybody, every two-and-a-half weeks,” but shows that cater to “specialized” audiences.
There’s no question that Netflix, along with other online streaming providers, has contributed to a decline in traditional TV viewership. According to The New York Times, there was a “3 percent decline in television viewing so far this season,” something that David Poltrack, chief research officer at CBS, echoed in a new study on Monday. Poltrack’s study, however, also called into question Netflix’s ability to create new hit shows, claiming that the service hasn’t had “a true new hit” since “Orange Is the New Black” and “House of Cards” premiered in 2013. The study also found that Netflix’s original programming only accounts for roughly 7 percent of their adult subscribers.
Though we’ll never really know just how many people are watching “OITNB,” or even how many will stream “Marco Polo” when it premieres this month. Sarandos clarified that Netflix won’t release ratings information, stating that the reasoning isn’t meant to “frustrate the press or talent,” but that it’s an “irrelevant measure of success” for the company. “I honestly think that it works against the quality of television,” he said.
For the full press conference transcript, head to Seeking Alpha.
Is Your Online Persona Killing Your Game?
In the age of digital dating your online persona can make or break you. With as much as 70 percent of gay couples now meeting online, it’s difficult to argue the importance of your online persona. Mountains of revealing personal information is available to any potential love interest with a just few simple keystrokes. This information can score you extra points, give you a handicap, or literally kill any chance you have with someone before you even get to meet each other.
Have you Google searched yourself lately? What’s on the first few pages? What story does it tell? Well, would you date you if you based your decision off this info alone? Although you may be old fashioned and think it’s creepy to Google someone before meeting them, I assure you the masses are doing it and the younger generations don’t think twice about it. As an online dating expert and co-founder of onegoodlove.com (a relationship-focused dating site), if you’re actively dating I can virtually guarantee you someone will be doing a search on you soon. Whether you’re a technological pro or dinosaur, there are some critical questions you should consider if you’re single and searching:
What information do you share in online dating profiles?
I love online dating (obviously) and recommend all singles in search of love (straight, gay, lesbian, or otherwise) use it while looking for a partner. However, you should always consider how much information you want to share. Most dating sites allow you to share minimal personal info, while others encourage you to share everything including your social media profiles. The amount of info you share is up to you, but you do need to remember that if you give your full name or link to anything that contains personally identifiable information, you’ve just opened the door for anyone to peak in.
What are you posting on Facebook and other social media accounts?
Facebook can be a great tool for singles to find interesting people connected to their own friends (usually a bonus). Of all social networks, Facebook may be the most revealing of people. You see who their friends are, what they are interested in, what they talk about, if they are intelligent, educated, or self-absorbed; you see it all.
Is that a good thing? It is if you’re honest and considerate of what you post. I give tons of dating advice regarding this topic, but if I had to choose one grossly common game-killer I hear the most complaints about, it would be the infamous daily sexy selfie. If you’re single and taking frequent gratuitous selfies, please stop. It’s not sending the message you think it is.
What search results come up when you Google yourself?
Most people that aren’t famous (or infamous) probably don’t have much come up in their own search results. That alone isn’t a bad thing. It’s also not a good thing as far as online persona points are concerned. There are several easy things you can do to score some points here, including creating a basic profile on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Pinterest to reveal some of your interests or hobbies. You could even get fancy and blog about things you love. Common interests are conversation starters, which can lead to success in the game. If the biggest mistake of your life is the first thing that comes when your name is searched, you may need to seek professional advice to see if the situation can be remedied.
Should you have social media accounts?
Yes, you should. If you refrain from reckless posting it can be a great tool that helps cast a wider net in your search. I have too many fabulous, amazing clients and friends that won’t create social media accounts due to fear of their personal lives being all over the internet or that replying to friends will consume them. It isn’t groundbreaking to suggest that you can only post what you want public, and only reply to whom you want when you have time.
Is my online persona really that important?
It’s only as important as finding a partner is to you. My suggestion is to treat dating like a game; a game you really want to win. Your online persona can be your teammate and with a little effort can score you some bonus points instead of killing your game. Taking anything too seriously in the game of dating can be counterproductive and lead to disappointment. Not taking it serious enough can lead to never finding someone. Finding a healthy balance is the key to success. Regardless, it’s a worthwhile game to play and is definitely worth the risk. Game on!
HBO Wants To Launch Standalone Streaming Service In April: Report
HBO’s new standalone streaming service is being prepped for an April 2015 launch, according to a Fortune report.
HBO wants to launch the service, which will not require a cable subscription, to coincide with the new season of “Game of Thrones,” HBO’s most successful show ever, with an average of 18.4 million viewers per episode, according to Deadline.
HBO did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Huffington Post.
Fortune’s report cites a leaked memo written by Mark Thomas, HBO’s senior vice president of technology program management, and Drew Angeloff, HBO’s senior vice president of digital products.
“Our top priority: Fully support the work needed to enable the external solution for April,” the memo reads in part.
Fortune reports that HBO is outsourcing development of the new service to MLB Advanced Media amid corporate infighting about the state of HBO Go, the company’s current digital service, available only to cable customers. That service suffered major technical problems earlier this year.
Watch 2014 Flash Before Your Eyes In 5 Minutes
Does it feel like this year literally flew by? Thanks to a brand new YouTube Rewind, you can now watch 2014 move by in hyper-speed and relive the greatest moments — including the wackiest Internet celebrities of the past 12 months.
Jam-packed into this five-minute long flashback through the not-do-distant past are all the best viral moments, from the ice bucket challenge, to the selfie, accompanied by the catchiest tunes like Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy.”
Obviously, all your favorite bright young things like Troye Sivan make guest appearances and even Tyler Oakley gets his moment. And you can’t talk 2014 without singing “Let It Go.”
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KeenON: A Conversation with International Rescue Committee CEO David Miliband
Techonomy is proud to present KeenON, a series of interviews by techonologist and author Andrew Keen that explores the intersection of tech, business, and culture.
David Miliband, best known as the Miliband sibling who lost the British Labour party to his brother Ed, has a new job. Miliband is now the CEO of the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the New York City based organization dedicated to helping victims of war, disease, and natural disasters.
Unfortunately, the IRC is in much demand. “We serve 15 million people each year,” Miliband dryly told me when we caught up at Techonomy 2014 in Half Moon Bay, Calif., where he also spoke on a panel with Jack Dorsey about the impact of technology on morality. So does every company, including the IRC, need to be a technology company? And if so, I asked Miliband, what kind of technologies does the IRC need to develop to improve it mission of improving the lives of the most unfortunate people in the world?
While he worries about the impact of networked technology on traditional societies, Miliband was unusually bullish about the impact of technology on social change, believing it to more benign than malign. Networked society is all about “bringing down walls,” he told me. Which is why he believes that the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989–the same year that Tim Berners-Lee invented the World-Wide Web, represents a triumphant validation of networked society.
This video was produced in partnership with genConnect.
Vietnam IT Services Climb the Value Chain
Caption: An IT worker at Quodisys, a digital production boutique in Ho Chi Minh City (photo: Quodisys)
By Will Greene
Vietnam’s IT services sector boomed in recent years as international companies raced to capitalize on the country’s considerable base of low-cost tech talent. Although many came in search of cheap workers for basic tasks, some now see the country as a viable provider of higher-value services, including complex software development, data analytics, and even original R&D.
As Techonomy reported in June, Vietnam shows big potential to become a major provider of IT services in the coming years. Although still an IT minnow compared to powerhouses like India and China, Vietnam benefits from an expanding trained workforce, low labor costs, government incentives, and other advantages.
At the same time, Vietnam’s IT services companies face significant obstacles. The educational system routinely falls short preparing graduates for the IT jobs of today and tomorrow. Weak physical and technological infrastructure, though improving, also casts a shadow. And many wonder if government authorities have the vision and the will to address these pressing problems.
Despite these challenges, revenues from IT services jumped to $2.4 billion in 2012, according to official government estimates. As new contracts are signed and the domestic market gains strength, Vietnam’s IT services companies will likely gain the capital and resources to invest in better training and diversify into higher value services.
TMA Solutions, one of Vietnam’s largest privately owned IT outsourcing companies, provides one example of where the industry may be headed. Founded in 1997, it built a solid business providing development, testing, and maintenance services for big enterprise clients from around the world. Now, with a long track record in outsourcing and over 1,700 engineers on staff, the company is investing in original R&D.
TMA’s climb up the IT value chain began in 2010 when it launched a multi-year plan to build new R&D centers in both Vietnam and Silicon Valley. Since then it has completed development projects in a range of sectors, including healthcare, transportation, biotech and agriculture. To support some of these projects, it also launched a big data and analytics division in early 2013.
As one of Vietnam’s largest IT services companies, TMA also competes for large-scale testing and maintenance contracts, but the company clearly recognizes that skilled, complex projects are the way of the future. Likewise, Vietnam’s smaller outsourcing boutiques can continue to eke out a living doing basic services for small and mid-size clients, but they tend to survive and thrive by finding creative people and doing the kind of smart work that commands a premium in the market.
Quodisys, a digital production boutique based in Ho Chi Minh City, is another company that’s focused on getting better as it gets bigger. ”We started doing basic websites and applications for small and mid-size businesses,” says Business Development Manager Enrick Bui, “but over time our clients wanted more complex projects that required integrated strategies across web, mobile, social, and cloud platforms.”
To meet the growing demands of clients, Bui takes talent management seriously. “Vietnamese universities produce good coders, but don’t always incubate the full spectrum of skills that we need for projects,” he says. “We do whatever we can to help them rise to the challenge.”
“The old model of getting lots of cheap bodies for plug-and-chug work is fading away,” says Chris Harvey, CEO of ITviec, a recruitment site for Vietnam’s IT industry. “We’re seeing more sophisticated companies entering the market and workers with better skills demanding higher wages.”
Prior to starting ITviec, Harvey was head of Vietnamworks, one of Vietnam’s leading jobs sites. ITviec filters jobs and candidates based their knowledge of programming languages and other skills.
But Vietnam urgently needs to improve its education system. Although its people have a strong cultural affinity for math and science, many IT companies complain that local universities are not producing enough trained graduates. Since the system is unlikely to reform itself anytime soon, some of these companies are partnering with development organizations, government agencies, and NGOs to push for rapid change.
Intel, one of many electronics manufacturers flocking to the country, has taken a particularly active role in education reform. Over the past few years, it spent millions on university scholarships for aspiring engineers. Along with Arizona State University and USAID, it also co-founded the Higher Education Engineering Alliance Program, a sweeping initiative to modernize engineering programs at Vietnam’s universities.
Intel also supports tech education at the high school level with initiatives like the Young Makers Challenge, which it co-sponsored earlier this year. Organized by Everest Education, a private education center in Ho Chi Minh City, the program brings together student teams from across the city and trains them in basic electrical engineering and programming. Students then submit their own projects into a competition for scholarships and other prizes.
Initiatives like these will develop the human capital the country needs to continue moving up the IT value chain. As its tech industry matures, expect a growing Vietnamese impact on the global knowledge economy.
Will Greene runs TigerMine Ventures, an advisory firm that helps investors, companies, entrepreneurs, and NGOs in Southeast Asia. He writes regularly for Techonomy about the region.
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