Specializing in Computer Repair, Networking, Internet Solutions, Web Designing, Hybrid App Designing and Windows Operating systems.
Susan D'Agostino / Quanta Magazine:
Profile of and Q&A with pioneering computer scientist Donald Knuth, who is still writing his magnum opus The Art of Computer Programming, which he began in 1962 — For pioneering computer scientist Donald Knuth, good coding is synonymous with beautiful expression.
Edward Ongweso Jr / VICE:
Uber's sick pay policy for drivers has changed several times amid the pandemic, excluding some who need it the most and increasing the documentation required — The pandemic makes clear that Uber sees its own well-being as divergent from that of its workers.
Ian Walker / Kotaku:
Riot launches one of the biggest bug bounty programs in gaming, offering up to $100K for finding security flaws in its controversial Vanguard anti-cheat system — Riot has posted one of the biggest—if not the biggest—bounties in gaming, offering people up to $100,000 if they can find …
Ryan Gallagher / Bloomberg:
Researchers say an unsecured server storing info on 42M messaging accounts, nearly all from Iran and tied to Telegram, was part of Iran's spying operation — - ‘Hunting System’ contained data on 42 million chat accounts — Information on server from users of Telegram and its imitators
Caroline O'Donovan / BuzzFeed News:
Filing: NLRB is looking into claims that Amazon retaliated against workers who participated in labor protests on the pretext they broke social distancing rules — As employees, labor activists, and lawmakers decry Amazon's firing of employees involved in labor protests …
James Batchelor / GamesIndustry.biz:
Pokémon Go developer Niantic names its current board member Megan Quinn as COO, who was most recently a partner at VC firm Spark Capital — Former employee leaves position at Spark Capital to return to Pokmon Go developer — Niantic has appointed a new COO — and it's a familiar face for the firm.
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Spontaneous social apps that let users join video, voice, and chat rooms on a whim have become popular under lockdowns, like exclusive voice chat app Clubhouse — Forget the calendar invite. Just jump into a conversation. That's the idea powering a fresh batch of social startups poised …
Arielle Pardes / Wired:
Some Instacart workers are frustrated over the delay in safety kits the company promised them on April 2; Instacart says it caps the daily number of kit orders — Instacart promised it would provide masks and sanitizer kits weeks ago. Now the company claims the delay is by design.
Zach Schonfeld / VICE:
Cameo, which lets fans pay for shoutout videos from celebs, has become a gig economy for celebs during the pandemic as some use it to compensate for income loss — On March 20, Steven Galanis, the CEO and co-founder of Cameo, took a call from Akon, the R&B singer behind the 2006 hit “Smack That.”
Forget the calendar invite. Just jump into a conversation. That’s the idea powering a fresh batch of social startups poised to take advantage of our cleared schedules amidst quarantine. But they could also change the way we work and socialize long after COVID-19 by bringing the free-flowing, ad-hoc communication of parties and open office plans online. While “Live” has become synonymous with performative streaming, these new apps instead spread the limelight across several users as well as the task, game, or discussion at hand.
The most buzzy of these startups is Clubhouse, an audio-based social network where people can spontaneously jump into voice chat rooms together. You see the unlabeled rooms of all the people you follow, and you can join to talk or just listen along, milling around to find what interests you. High-energy rooms attract crowds while slower ones see participants slip out to join other chat circles.
Clubhouse blew up this weekend on VC Twitter as people scrambled for exclusive invites, humblebragged about their membership, or made fun of everyone’s FOMO. For now, there’s no public app or access. The name Clubhouse perfectly captures how people long to be part of the in-crowd.
Clubhouse was built by Paul Davison, who previously founded serendipitous offline people-meeting location app Highlight and reveal-your-whole-camera-roll app Shorts before his team was acquired by Pinterest in 2016. This year he debuted his Alpha Exploration Co startup studio and launched Talkshow for instantly broadcasting radio-style call-in shows. Spontaneity is the thread that ties Davison’s work together, whether its for making new friends, sharing your life, transmitting your thoughts, or having a discussion.
It’s very early days for Clubhouse. It doesn’t even have a website. There’s no telling exactly what it will be like if or when it officially launches, and Davison and his co-founder Rohan Seth declined to comment. But the positive reception shows a desire for a more immediate, multi-media approach to discussion that updates what Twitter did with text.
What quarantine has revealed is that when you separate everyone, spontaneity is a big thing you miss. In your office, that could be having a random watercooler chat with a co-worker or commenting aloud about something funny you found on the internet. At a party, it could be wandering up to chat with group of people because you know one of them or overhear something interesting. That’s lacking while we’re stuck home since we’ve stigmatized randomly phoning a friend, differing to asynchronous text despite its lack of urgency.
Clubhouse founder Paul Davison. Image Credit: JD Lasica
Scheduled Zoom calls, utilitarian Slack threads, and endless email chains don’t capture the thrill of surprise or the joy of conversation that giddily revs up as people riff off each other’s ideas. But smart app developers are also realizing that spontaneity doesn’t mean constantly interrupting people’s life or workflow. They give people the power to decide when they are or aren’t available or signal that they’re not to be disturbed so they’re only thrust into social connection when they want it.
Houseparty chart ranks via AppAnnie
Houseparty embodies this spontaneity. It’s become the breakout hit of quarantine by letting people on a whim join group video chat rooms with friends the second they open the app. It saw 50 million downloads in a month, up 70X over its pre-COVID levels in some places. It’s become the #1 social app in 82 countries including the US, and #1 overall in 16 countries.
Originally built for gaming, Discord lets communities spontaneously connect through persistent video, voice, and chat rooms. It’s seen a 50% increase in US daily voice users with spikes in shelter-in-place early adopter states like California, New York, New Jersey, and Washington. Bunch, for video chat overlayed on mobile gaming, is also climbing the charts and going mainstream with its user base shifting to become majority female as they talk for 1.5 million minutes per day. Both apps make it easy to join up with pals and pick something to play together.
Enterprise video chat tools are adapting to spontaneity as an alternative to heavy-handed, pre-meditated Zoom calls. There’s been a backlash as people realize they don’t get anything done by scheduling back-to-back video chats all day.
Screen
While visual communication has been the breakout feature of our mobile phones by allowing us to show where we are, shelter-in-place means we don’t have much to show. That’s expanded the opportunity for tools that take a less-is-more approach to spontaneous communication. Whether for remote partying or rapid problem solving, new apps beyond Clubhouse are incorporating voice rather than just video. Voice offers a way to rapidly exchange information and feel present together without dominating our workspace or attention, or forcing people into an uncomfortable spotlight.
High Fidelity is Second Life co-founder Philip Rosedale’s $72 million-funded current startup. After recently pivoting away from building a virtual reality co-working tool, High Fidelity has begun testing a voice and headphones-based online event platform and gathering place. The early beta lets users move their dot around a map and hear the voice of anyone close to them with spatial audio so voices get louder as you get closer to someone, and shift between your ears as you move past them. You can spontaneously approach and depart little clusters of dots to explore different conversations within earshot.
An unofficial mockup of High Fidelity’s early tests. Image Credits: DigitalGlobe (opens in a new window) / Getty Images
High Fidelity is currently using a satellite photo of Burning Man as its test map. It allows DJs to set up in different corners, and listeners to stroll between them or walk off with a friend to chat, similar to the real offline event. Since Burning Man was cancelled this year, High Fidelity could potentially be a candidate for holding the scheduled virtual version the organizers have promised.
Houseparty’s former CEO Ben Rubin and Skype GM of engineering Brian Meek are building a spontaneous teamwork tool called Slashtalk. Rubin sold Houseparty to Fortnite-maker Epic in mid-2019, but the gaming giant largely neglected the app until its recent quarantine-driven success. Rubin left.
His new startup’s site explains that “/talk is an anti-meeting tool for fast, decentralized conversations. We believe most meetings can be eliminated if the right people are connected at the right time to discuss the right topics, for just as long as necessary.” It lets people quickly jump into a voice or video chat to get something sorted without delaying until a calendared collab session.
Slashtalk co-founder Ben Rubin at TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2015
Whether for work or play, these spontaneous apps can conjure times from our more unstructured youth. Whether sifting through the cafeteria or school yard, seeing who else is at the mall, walking through halls of open doors in college dorms, or hanging at the student union or campus square, the pre-adult years offer many opportunities for impromptu social interation.
As we age and move into our separate homes, we literally erect walls that limit our ability to perceive the social cues that signal that someone’s available for unprompted communication. That’s spawned apps like Down To Lunch and Snapchat acquisition Zenly, and Facebook’s upcoming Messenger status feature designed to break through those barriers and make it feel less desperate to ask someone to hang out offline.
But while socializing or collaborating IRL requires transportation logistics and usually a plan, the new social apps discussed here bring us together instantly, thereby eliminating the need to schedule togetherness ahead of time. Gone too are the geographic limits restraining you to connect only with those within a reasonable commute. Digitally, you can pick from your whole network. And quarantines have further opened our options by emptying parts of our calendars.
Absent those frictions, what shines through is our intention. We can connect with who we want and accomplish what we want. Spontaneous apps open the channel so our impulsive human nature can shine through.
Zheping Huang / Bloomberg:
Interview with and profile of Xu Lei, CEO of JD Retail who is viewed as heir apparent to JD.com, as founder and CEO Richard Liu retreats from the spotlight — - Richard Liu is grooming lieutenant Xu Lei for key roles — The sales and marketing expert shares his thoughts on JD 2.0
Chinese investors, who have poured about $6 billion into Indian startups in the last two years, will be subjected to strict regulation for their future investments in the world’s second largest internet market.
India amended its foreign direct investment policy on Saturday to include China in the list of neighboring nations that will need to seek approval from New Delhi for their future deals in the country. Previously, only Pakistan and Bangladesh were subjected to this requirement.
The nation’s Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade said it was taking this measure to “curb the opportunistic takeover” of Indian firms that are grappling with challenges due to the coronavirus crises.
The new rule will also be applicable to “the transfer of ownership of any existing or future foreign direct investment in an entity in India, directly or indirectly,” the ministry said.
“There has been a growing concern across the globe that Chinese companies are buying cheap, distressed asset. Government may be thinking that if this is allowed to continue, this may cause some security concerns,” Bangalore-based lawyer Nikhil Narendran told TechCrunch in an interview.
The move comes at a time when major investors in India have cautioned local startups to prepare for a tough period ahead. Earlier this month, they told startup founders that raising fresh capital is likely be more challenging than ever for the next few months.
Recent data from research firm Tracxn showed that Indian startups have already started to face the pressure.
Local startups participated in 79 deals to raise $496 million in March, down from $2.86 billion that they raised across 104 deals in February and $1.24 billion they raised from 93 deals in January this year, according to Tracxn. In March last year, Indian startups had raised $2.1 billion across 153 deals, the firm said.
Narendran said India is following similar efforts from other countries such as Australia that have tighten their foreign direct investment policies.
Chinese giants Alibaba and Tencent have emerged as some of the biggest investors in Indian startups in recent years. Over a dozen additional firms and venture funds in China have stepped up their efforts in scouting deals in India.
Some of India’s biggest startups including financial services firm Paytm, e-commerce giant Flipkart, social media operator ShareChat, and food delivery firm Zomato are backed by Chinese VCs.
Rahul Gandhi, the former head of political party Indian Nation Congress, urged the ruling government earlier this month to take measures to prevent “foreign interests from taking control of any Indian corporate at this time of national crisis.”
The COVID-19 pandemic is doing a number on the world’s economy. If you are facing job cuts, layoffs, or have a similar reason to look for new work, these new websites are helping ease COVID-affected unemployment.
Businesses both big and small have to cut costs in this economic climate. But working from home, remote jobs, and even part-time gigs can smoothen the bumps. While it’s a tough situation, don’t wait for things to get worse. Be proactive from today.
These free websites will help you handle layoffs and find current job boards. You can also search Twitter for job postings and learn how to get into one of the longest-lasting “work online” job types—transcription.
Before making another move, check Candor’s guide to company layoffs. You’ll learn what you can expect, the legal aspects, your final pay and severance check, and other details that HR might not tell you. All of this is part of Candor’s larger goals to help people get paid what they should be.
Then register on Candor’s Layoffs List. It asks for basic details like your name, location, role, past companies, a short bio, and a photo. Add a resume as an attachment or link to your LinkedIn page. Candor becomes a job board for recruiters looking to do their bit by hiring someone affected by the global economic downturn.
Finally, check out Candor’s Hiring Freezes List. It hosts a regularly updated spreadsheet of companies, their current status about whether they’re hiring, have frozen hiring, or have layoffs. You’ll also find user-contributed notes and a link to their job profile pages.
Salary comparison engine Levels.FYI has also curated a list of companies that are still hiring. In a heartening move, the team behind it is checking regularly with companies on it to ensure the list is up-to-date. Outdated listings are a common problem and this is an excellent effort to avoid wasted time for applicants.
In one glance at the list, you can see the company, the roles it is hiring for, and the locations. Each company has a “last updated” timestamp so you know when the team has checked in. You’ll find a direct application link as well. You can sort the list by roles, or use the powerful search function to find keywords.
Interestingly, Levels.FYI has a world map showing where these roles are available. While work-from-home is a necessity right now, in the near future, you should be able to go back to the office when required. This map shows you opportunities by their location, for both remote and non-remote jobs.
Entry-level jobs are difficult to come by, especially those that let you work from home. If there’s one positive to this forced isolation, it’s that people and companies are realizing they don’t need an office. WFH Pad rounds up work-from-home opportunities in entry-level positions.
WFH Pad divides its boards into two types of jobs. “Always Hiring Gigs” lists opportunities for short-term work to tide you over during the pandemic, or earn a side-income in tough times. Short-term gigs are best if you don’t live in the USA, as you will find a wider variety of “work from anywhere” positions.
“Long-Term Jobs” is for those who want to shift completely to online or remote working, but are still new in their chosen profession. Usually, these positions are available for US or Canadian citizens, but there are a few exceptions.
Not every recruiter or company posts jobs online. A lot of bosses look at the unfolding situation and tweet about their requirements. You must have come across these #hiring posts from time to time, but there must be so many that you’re missing. Find Me Gigs is here to save the day.
This smart web app sends you a daily newsletter with jobs you’re interested in. While signing up, you’ll have to add search terms for jobs that you’d like to check out. You can restrict them to remote jobs or be open to local gigs. Go through the tips for search terms before you start to add the right keywords for your interests.
Every day, Find Me Gigs will send an email with tweets about jobs that match your criteria. The tweet excerpt is in the email, but it’s always a good idea to visit it to see the replies. Job posters often clarify further needs as people interact and ask questions.
The basic plan is free and gives you five jobs a day. You can pay for 100 job listings per day in the unlimited or job seeker packages.
One of the most common work-from-home jobs on the internet is transcription. This includes audio and video transcription, as well as subtitling work for YouTube creators and other content makers. Before you jump into it, register at the Transcription Essentials Forum and heed their advice.
The forum has a number of how-to guides, recommended tools, tips and tricks, and job postings. Whether you’re starting with a catch-all mass transcription website like Rev or looking for a specific field, you should know what you’re getting into. The community is helpful, but do read the sticky and essential posts before asking new questions.
Transcription services are ideal for anyone with a grasp of legal or medical experience. These two fields form a large percentage of online transcription services, and you’ll get more assignments if you’re making fewer mistakes. Needless to say, you also need to be able to research new terms and proof-read what you write.
Sure, there are new websites to help you tackle the uncertain job market during this global pandemic, but you can also rely on the classics. Job boards like Remote.co and We Work Remotely have been listing work-from-home opportunities for years now.
In fact, a lot of leading companies across the world also hire remote workers. This includes big names like Apple, Wikimedia, GitHub, DuckDuckGo and others. Check out this list of the best companies that offer remote working jobs to find your next gig.
Read the full article: 5 Job Boards to Find Work From Home Gigs and Remote Jobs
Tomislav Maljic / ReversingLabs Blog:
Researchers discovered 725 Ruby libraries on the official RubyGems repository contained malware intended to copy users' clipboards, targeting bitcoin payments — Typosquatting barrage on RubyGems software repository users — Tomislav Maljic, Threat Analyst at ReversingLabs. ,
Shelly Banjo / Bloomberg:
The tech industry, with an eye towards improving its reputation, is quickly pivoting to offer remedies to the pandemic crisis — Before the pandemic, Yiying Lu was known for her work designing the Twitter Fail Whale and the dumpling and boba tea emojis. In the past few weeks, Lu said she was called to a higher purpose.
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Jay Peters / The Verge:
Google says it is now displaying information for over 2,000 COVID-19 testing centers across 43 US states in search results for terms related to the disease — It will list more than 2,000 COVID-19 testing centers across 43 states — Google searches for terms related to COVID-19 …
