Tips and tricks for all

Daniel Palmer / CoinDesk : Walmart China uses VeChainThor blockchain to show customers the path a food product took, from its source to the shelves, with 23 product lines listed now   —  Walmart China has launched a blockchain-based platform aimed to address food safety concerns in the country. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3065qwZ

Jordan Crook / TechCrunch : Tundra, a new zero-commission wholesale marketplace, announces $12M Series A; Tundra generates revenue via premium checkout options like faster shipping   —  Tundra, a new zero-commission wholesale marketplace, has today announced the close of $12 million in Series A funding. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2Np1UfI

Japan’s trade ministry said today that it will restrict the export of some tech materials to South Korea, including polyimides used in flexible displays made by companies like Samsung Electronics. The new rules come as the two countries argue over compensation for South Koreans forced to work in Japanese factories during World War II. The list of restricted supplies, expected to go into effect on July 4, includes polyimides used in smartphone and flexible organic LED displays, and etching gas and resist used to make semiconductors. That means Japanese suppliers who wish to sell those materials to South Korean tech companies such as Samsung, LG and SK Hynix will need to submit each contract for approval. Japan’s government may also remove South Korea from its list of countries that have fewer restrictions on trading technology that might have national security implications, reports Nikkei Asian Review. Earlier this year, South Korea’s Supreme Court ruled several Japanese companies ,

Facebook’s second progress report pertaining to the civil rights audit conducted by former ACLU Washington Director Laura Murphy is here. Over the last six months, Facebook has made changes around enforcing against hate, fighting discrimination in ads and protecting against misinformation and suppression in the upcoming U.S. presidential election and 2020 Census, according to the progress report. While Facebook has made changes in some of these areas — Facebook banned white supremacy in March — auditors say Facebook’s policy is still “too narrow.” That’s because it solely prohibits explicit praise, support or representation of the terms “white nationalism” or “white separatism,” but does not technically prohibit references to those terms and ideologies. “The narrow scope of the policy leaves up content that expressly espouses white nationalist ideology without using the term ‘white nationalist,'” the report states. “As a result, content that would cause the same harm is permitt

Louise Matsakis / Wired : How journalists, researchers, and civil rights groups are using big data, which put gerrymandering on steroids, to easily and cheaply track redistricting   —  THE SUPREME COURT'S conservative justices ruled Thursday that the highest court doesn't have the power to address partisan gerrymandering … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/32cuTGW

Makiko Yamazaki / Reuters : Japan will tighten restrictions on export of materials used in smartphone displays and chips to South Korea from July 4, over a dispute about war-time labor   —  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan will tighten restrictions on the export of high-tech materials used in smartphone displays and chips … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2Jt9911

Daniel Palmer / CoinDesk : CoinMarketCap acquihires the team of Hashtag Capital, which started as a crypto trading fund, to improve the easily faked volume-weighted crypto price estimates   —  As its bid to improve its crypto data offering continues, CoinMarketCap is snapping up a firm building technology said to provide a “true price” for cryptocurrencies. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2YngO71

Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat : Bleckwen, a cybersecurity company developing AI-based fraud detection and prevention systems for banks and others, emerges from stealth, raises $10M Series A   —  Bleckwen, a cybersecurity firm developing fraud detection and prevention systems for banks and financial technology companies … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2XgyaWU

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch : Nielsen Music Mid-Year Report: on-demand audio streams in the US grew 31.6% YoY to 507.7B in the first half of 2019   —  Music streaming services have already delivered a new high of half a trillion (507.7 billion) on-demand streams in the first half of 2019, according to Nielsen's mid-year Music Report released this week. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2xnknOI

Leigh Cuen / CoinDesk : TaTaTu, after raising $575M from royals and celebs in a private 2018 ICO for its blockchain-based Netflix-like service, now says it is not a blockchain business   —  What started as a $575 million token sale is now a rewards program for watching videos.  —  TaTaTu's initial coin offering … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/321Ilx5

Sheryl Sandberg / Facebook : Facebook says it will treat 2020 US Census like an election and will have “people, policies and technology in place to protect against census interference”   —  Civil rights are the foundation of a free and just society — and something we care deeply about as a company. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2IYsKXI

Eugene Kim / CNBC : Profile of Jay Carney, formerly Obama's press secretary, who is now a member of Jeff Bezos' elite S-team, in charge of PR and policy at Amazon   —  KEY POINTS  — Jay Carney is running public relations and policy at Amazon, which is the target of an increasing number of political attacks. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2FJEHOX

Rita Liao / TechCrunch : China-based robotic process automation startup Laiye, whose product UiBot gained 6,000 enterprise users after launching in January, raises $35M Series B   —  For many years, the boom and bust of China's tech landscape have centered around consumer-facing products. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2XgdYEA

Nicky Woolf / Tortoise Media : Profile of 8chan founder Fredrick Brennan, who sold the site in 2015, and says he has soured not just on 8chan, but on the whole idea it represented   —  How a childhood of anger led the founder of 8chan to create one of the darkest corners of the internet  —  On 27 April, before he burst … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2ZSgsFY

Alyssa Bereznak / The Ringer : How TikTok users are supplanting the traditional functions of record labels, like talent scouting and publicity, for new artists   —  Lil Nas X's ‘Old Town Road’ is both a chart-topping phenomenon and a turning point for the music business.  Here's what happens when a social media platform becomes a label. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2Nnkh4C

Golnaz Esfandiari / Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty : Iran's Energy Ministry says that power consumption jumped 7% in June, largely due to Bitcoin mining, making the power grid unstable, seizes 1,000 Bitcoin miners   —  Iran has blamed an “unusual” spike in electricity consumption in the country on cryptocurrency miners, while warning … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2XhUsCQ

Kyle Bradshaw / 9to5Google : Google launches Fuchsia OS developer website with official documentation about developing for its open source operating system   —  As was repeatedly made plain to see during this year's Google I/O, developers are eager to learn more about Google's Fuchsia OS. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2JjxjKX

“How Will The Movies Survive The Next Ten Years?” demands the New York Times , in a series of interviews with 24 major Hollywood figures. Good question! I’ve been asking it myself , here , for six years now . Very unlike music, television , books , and home video, the theatrical movie experience has proved remarkably resistant to online disruption… …so far. I’ve argued before that Hollywood and Silicon Valley have many parallels: VCs are like studios, angel investors are like individual producers, founders are like directors, etcetera. However, they also have some striking differences. For most of the last 25 years, the cost to launch a groundbreaking, potentially world-shaking startup has decreased — though that may well be changing — whereas the total cost to make , market , and distribute a theatrical release has decidedly not . Furthermore, movie theaters, built around repeat screening of 90-to-180-minute self-contained films, face new direct-to-streaming-services competitio