Uber founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick is leaving the company’s board of directors, the ride-hailing company announced today. Kalanick will officially resign from the board as of December 31, to “focus on his new business and philanthropic endeavors,” according to a press release issued by Uber. Kalanick, who was forced out as Uber CEO … Continue reading Uber founder Travis Kalanick is leaving the company’s board of directors
Entrepreneurship
How Bad is Tech Use for Kids
It’s not news that excessive social media use may be harmful. But there’s more to the studies than just the headlines. It feels impossible to tell if the technology our kids use should be celebrated or feared. A few years ago I wrote a book,Hooked, about how technology can be used to change our habits. … Continue reading How Bad is Tech Use for Kids
Kid-focused STEM device startup Kano sees layoffs as it puts Disney e-device on ice
London-based STEM device maker Kano has confirmed it’s cutting a number of jobs which it claims is part of a restructuring effort to shift focus to “educational computing”. The job cuts — from 65 to 50 staff — were reported earlier by The Telegraph. Kano founder Alex Stein confirmed in a call with TechCrunch that … Continue reading Kid-focused STEM device startup Kano sees layoffs as it puts Disney e-device on ice
PayPal COO Bill Ready to depart at end of 2019
PayPal Chief Operating Officer Bill Ready is leaving the company at the end of the year, PayPal announced via a statement issued on Thursday. The exec joined PayPal when it acquired his startup, the payments gateway Braintree, back in 2013 for $800 million in cash. He became PayPal’s COO a few years later, in 2016. … Continue reading PayPal COO Bill Ready to depart at end of 2019
Cryptoqueen: How this woman scammed the world, then vanished
Ruja Ignatova called herself the Cryptoqueen. She told people she had invented a cryptocurrency to rival Bitcoin, and persuaded them to invest billions. Then, two years ago, she disappeared. Jamie Bartlett spent months investigating how she did it for the Missing Cryptoqueen podcast, and trying to figure out where she's hiding. In early June 2016 … Continue reading Cryptoqueen: How this woman scammed the world, then vanished
Why office noise bothers some people more than others
No one likes an office whistler or pen clicker – but for some people, these noises aren’t just a nuisance, they’re a full-blown aural assault. Why? In 2016, the first scientists settled themselves in the Francis Crick Institute in London, a biomedical research facility that cost about £650m ($837m) to build. It took years to … Continue reading Why office noise bothers some people more than others
Sonos acquires voice assistant startup Snips, potentially to build out on-device voice control
Sonos revealed during its quarterly earnings report that it has acquired voice assistant startup Snips in a $37 million cash deal, Variety reported on Wednesday. Snips, which had been developing dedicated smart device assistants that can operate primarily locally, instead of relying on consistently round-tripping voice data to the cloud, could help Sonos set up … Continue reading Sonos acquires voice assistant startup Snips, potentially to build out on-device voice control
PayPal to acquire shopping and rewards platform Honey for $4B
PayPal announced today it has agreed to acquire Honey Science Corporation, the makers of a deal-finding browser add-on and mobile application, for $4 billion, mostly cash. The acquisition, which is PayPal’s largest to date, will give the payments giant a foothold earlier in the customer’s shopping journey. Instead of only competing on the checkout page … Continue reading PayPal to acquire shopping and rewards platform Honey for $4B
The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann
“Most mathematicians prove what they can, von Neumann proves what he wants” It is indeed supremely difficult to effectively refute the claim that John von Neumann is likely the most intelligent person who has ever lived. By the time of his death in 1957 at the modest age of 53, the Hungarian polymath had not … Continue reading The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann
Three of Apple and Google’s former star chip designers launch NUVIA with $53M in series A funding
Silicon is apparently the new gold these days, or so VCs hope. What was once a no-go zone for venture investors, who feared the long development lead times and high technical risk required for new entrants in the semiconductor field, has now turned into one of the hottest investment areas for enterprise and data VCs. … Continue reading Three of Apple and Google’s former star chip designers launch NUVIA with $53M in series A funding
Eric's playground 