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Showing posts from September, 2018

Hot or not: Does rating yourself highly get you more dates?

Why researchers think saying you're a 10/10 may not improve your online dating activity... from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8290670 https://ift.tt/2zGoUOm

California gov. signs nation’s strictest net neutrality rules into law

Trump administration sues California over its brand-new net neutrality law

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The Department of Justice announced on Sunday that it has filed a lawsuit against California to block its new net neutrality law, just hours after it was signed by governor Jerry Brown . The lawsuit was first reported by the Washington Post . Senior Justice Department officials told the newspaper it is filing the lawsuit because only the federal government can regulate net neutrality and that the Federal Communications Commission had been granted that authority by Congress to ensure states don’t write conflicting legislation. In its announcement, the Justice Department stated that by signing California’s Senate Bill 822 into law, the state is “attempting to subvert the Federal Government’s deregulatory approach by imposing burdensome state regulations on the free Internet, which is unlawful and anti-consumer.” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said “under the Constitution, states do not regulate interstate commerce—the federal government does. Once again the California legislature has ...

The best gear for starting a small business

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Editor’s note: This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter . When readers choose to buy Wirecutter’s independently chosen editorial picks, Wirecutter and TechCrunch may earn affiliate commissions. When you’re ready to start a small business, having some helpful essentials will make the process a bit easier. Whether you need to print your own business cards or you’re ready to process orders on a reliable laptop, we’ve put together a few of our recommendations that will cover the basics. Photo: Michael Hession                                                                                     Business Card Printing Service: Vistaprint Vistaprint has the best print quality of all the services we tested, and its website offers the best ordering and design experience. ...

China-based CooTek, developer of TouchPal Keyboard and other apps, closes down 21% on its first day of trading on NYSE, after raising $52.2M in its IPO (Gary Alexander/Seeking Alpha)

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Gary Alexander / Seeking Alpha : China-based CooTek, developer of TouchPal Keyboard and other apps, closes down 21% on its first day of trading on NYSE, after raising $52.2M in its IPO   —  CooTek priced its IPO at $12, the low end of its intended range of $12-$14.  —  Shares proceeded to tumble in their first day of trading … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2xYGf2S

Baidu says its WeChat-like mini-programs platform has surpassed 100M monthly active users since being introduced two months ago (Sarah Dai/South China Morning Post)

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Sarah Dai / South China Morning Post : Baidu says its WeChat-like mini-programs platform has surpassed 100M monthly active users since being introduced two months ago   —  Baidu, China's largest search engine operator and artificial intelligence “national champion”, said its mini-programs have amassed 100 million monthly active users since being introduced two months ago. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2Oq7HAM

US Justice Department moves to sue California in order to quash its new net neutrality law (Washington Post)

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Washington Post : US Justice Department moves to sue California in order to quash its new net neutrality law   —  The Trump administration said Sunday it will sue California in an effort to block what some experts have described as the toughest net neutrality law ever enacted in the United States … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2Qpz0c3

California governor signs net neutrality bill, which FCC Chairman Ajit Pai called "illegal", into law, setting up a showdown with the FCC and ISPs (Jon Brodkin/Ars Technica)

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Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica : California governor signs net neutrality bill, which FCC Chairman Ajit Pai called “illegal”, into law, setting up a showdown with the FCC and ISPs   —  California Governor Jerry Brown today signed net neutrality legislation into law, setting up a legal showdown pitting his state … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2xP2byd

Source: Tencent Music earned almost $400M in 2017, expects $764M profit in 2018 and revenues to grow 72% to $3.1B (Sijia Jiang/Reuters)

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Sijia Jiang / Reuters : Source: Tencent Music earned almost $400M in 2017, expects $764M profit in 2018 and revenues to grow 72% to $3.1B   —  HONG KONG (Reuters) - Tencent Music, which owns China's most popular music streaming apps, is often compared to Sweden's Spotify Technology (SPOT.N) but it offers … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2Nbet8R

Iowa-based IDx, a developer of AI diagnostic tools for various eye conditions, raises $33M in Series A led by 8VC (Laura Lovett/MobiHealthNews)

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Laura Lovett / MobiHealthNews : Iowa-based IDx, a developer of AI diagnostic tools for various eye conditions, raises $33M in Series A led by 8VC   —  After landing a De Novo for its AI diagnostic that can detect diabetic retinopathy, the company raised new money in order to expand diagnostic services.  —  What happened from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2OVWll4

FBI compelled a suspect to use Face ID to unlock his iPhone X, following other cases where police with warrants unlocked iPhones via Touch ID (Thomas Brewster/Forbes)

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Thomas Brewster / Forbes : FBI compelled a suspect to use Face ID to unlock his iPhone X, following other cases where police with warrants unlocked iPhones via Touch ID   —  Privacy concerns around iPhone X facial recognition  —  It finally happened.  The feds forced an Apple iPhone X owner to unlock their device with their face. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2NP3Ttk

Unbiased algorithms can still be problematic

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Creating unbiased, accurate algorithms isn’t impossible — it’s just time consuming. “It actually is mathematically possible,” facial recognition startup Kairos CEO Brian Brackeen told me on a panel at TechCrunch Disrupt SF. Algorithms are sets of rules that computers follow in order to solve problems and make decisions about a particular course of action. Whether it’s the type of information we receive, the information people see about us, the jobs we get hired to do, the credit cards we get approved for, and, down the road, the driverless cars that either see us or don’t, algorithms are increasingly becoming a big part of our lives. But there is an inherent problem with algorithms that begins at the most base level and persists throughout its adaption: human bias that is baked into these machine-based decision-makers. Creating unbiased algorithms is a matter of having enough accurate data. It’s not about just having enough “pale males” in the model, but about having enough images ...

The war over music copyrights

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VC firms haven’t been the only ones raising hundreds of millions of dollars to invest in a booming market. After 15+ years of being the last industry anyone wanted to invest in, the music industry is coming back, and money is flooding in to buy up the rights to popular songs. As paid streaming subscriptions get mainstream adoption, the big music streaming services – namely Spotify, Apple Music, and Tencent Music, but also Pandora, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Deezer, and others – have entered their prime. There are now over 51 million paid subscription accounts among music streaming services in the US. The music industry grew 8% last year globally to $17.3 billion , driven by a 41% increase in streaming revenue and 45% increase in paid streaming revenue. The surge in music streaming means a surge in income for those who own the copyrights to songs, and the growth of entertainment in emerging markets, growing use in digital videos, and potential use of music in new content format...