Angry Neighbors Protest Outside Snap Offices Ahead Of Highly Anticipated IPO

Gavin Stenhouse As Snap Inc. gears up for its forthcoming IPO, some of the company's Venice, California neighbors rallied outside its doors, aiming to send a message to the fast-growing social media phenom: Get out. On Tuesday afternoon, dozens of Venice locals gathered outside of Snap's offices to protest what they say is an unwelcome transformation of a vital piece of Los Angeles. "This is a public street and the community will not sit by quietly while Snap attempts to annex it for a private corporate campus," 11 year Venice resident Laura Booth told BuzzFeed News. Snap's headquarters is scattered throughout multiple buildings in the quirky beachside enclave that's home to surfers, eccentrics and now herds of tech employees. The company's Venice footprint has ballooned ahead of an initial public offering expected to hit the market this later week. And, as BuzzFeed News reported last week, that growth is causing serious tension with neighbors, some of whom say Snap is turning Venice into "a horrible business park." Instagram: @cjgronner Reached for comment, Snap told BuzzFeed News that it is looking beyond Venice for future expansion. "We're very grateful to be a part of the Venice community and we are sorry for any strain that our growth has placed on those who live and work here," a Snap Inc. spokesperson said.. "We've partnered closely with local schools and nonprofits to be a good neighbor and we've always tried to help our community feel safer in a neighborhood that is all too often the victim of violent crime. We recognize that we are no longer the small startup that we once were and we are necessarily concentrating our future growth outside of Venice." Laura Booth Laura Booth Laura Booth via BuzzFeed - Tech http://ift.tt/2mrcXXh If new feed item from http://www.buzzfeed.com/tech.xml, then send me an email at gocukx.faster@blogger.com

Video Shows Uber CEO Travis Kalanick Arguing With Driver Over Fares

Shu Zhang / Reuters Uber's public relations crisis continues apace with no apparent end in sight. On Tuesday afternoon, Bloomberg published a video in which CEO Travis Kalanick aggressively argues with an Uber driver who claimed he is earning less money after Uber cut fares. "Some people don't like to take responsibility for their own shit," Kalanick exclaims, after his driver says he lost $97,000 because of Uber. "They blame everything in their life on somebody else. Good luck!" youtube.com The publication of the dash-cam shot video is the latest in a parade of PR disasters for Uber. In January, Kalanick's decision to sit on President Trump's economic advisory group inspired a viral #DeleteUber campaign in which the company saw about 200,000 users delete their accounts, according to the New York Times. Kalanick subsequently resigned from the council. Then, in early February, a former Uber engineer penned a viral account of her experience at the company with detailed allegations of systemic sexism. In response, Uber launched an internal investigation into the accusations, led by former attorney general Eric Holder and Arianna Huffington, who sits on Uber's board. A visibly emotional Kalanick apologized to his staff at an all-hands meeting and promised to "do better." Two days later, during a meeting with more than 100 women engineers, Kalanick was grilled about issues of sexism at Uber, according to an audio recording obtained by BuzzFeed News. "I want to root out the injustice," he told those in attendance. "I want to get at the people who are making this place a bad place. And you have my commitment." Uber's tensions with its drivers are well-documented. The company continues to grapple with lawsuits over the classification of drivers as independent contractors. Just last month, Uber paid the Federal Trade Commission $20 million to settle allegations that it advertised inflated estimates of how much its drivers earn on its website and in Craigslist job postings. Kalanick's video interaction with his Uber driver is in many ways a snapshot of those tensions — and one that Uber clearly did not expect to become public. Uber declined to comment on the video. Uber says on its website that drivers are permitted by the company to record riders "for purposes of safety," but notes that "local regulations may require individuals using recording equipment in vehicles to fully disclose to riders that they are being recorded in or around a vehicle and obtain consent." In California, a state with a two-party consent rule for recording confidential conversations, could the driver be in legal trouble? "It was a risky move to publicize this video," Eric Goldman, a law professor at Santa Clara University, told BuzzFeed News. "It's unclear if the conversation between the Uber driver and the CEO would qualify as a confidential communication." Goldman said whether the conversation would qualify as confidential would depend on several factors, such as whether the dashcam was prominently visible, and whether for-hire vehicles could count as public spaces. Regardless of those questions, he said, lawsuits of this variety are uncommon and the optics around Uber suing one of its own drivers lower the odds of a lawsuit. Said Goldman, "Uber's CEO has much bigger problems in his life right now." via BuzzFeed - Tech http://ift.tt/2llWhvv If new feed item from http://www.buzzfeed.com/tech.xml, then send me an email at gocukx.faster@blogger.com

Hootsuite CEO Directs Comment-Seeking Reporter To Phone Sex Line

The CEO of Hootsuite — a Canadian social media management startup — responded to a Bloomberg reporter's request for comment on Tuesday by directing him to a paid sex phone hotline. Here's what we know: Earlier this morning, Bloomberg News reporter Gerrit De Vynck published a story making the case that Hootsuite is overvalued at $1 billion and is underserving of its so-called unicorn status. Hootesuite CEO Ryan Holmes (who maintains that the company is, in fact, worth more than a billion dollars) took to Twitter, decrying Bloomberg's headline ("Hootsuite: The Unicorn That Never Was") as salacious, and complaining that that the De Vynck published his story without comment from Hootsuite. The Bloomberg reporter tweeted back at Holmes with his phone number, asking the CEO to call him. Here's what Holmes tweeted back: The thing is, that's not Holmes' phone number — it's the number for a paid sex hotline — 1-800-EAT-DICK. When you call it, a man's voice offers you unpublishable favors, if you simply enter a valid Visa, Mastercard or American Express credit card number. After BuzzFeed News reached out to Holmes and his PR team, he deleted the tweet, and his PR person pointed to a followup tweet sent by Holmes that says, "apologies. wrong number." The timing of Holmes' tweet is particularly ill-timed, considering the tech industry writ large is under fire this week for reports of pernicious sexism in the workplace. Earlier this month, a former Uber employee published a harrowing account of her time at the company, which detailed numerous allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination. The post sparked a public dialogue about how and why inappropriate behavior gets brushed under the rug at startups. The reporter involved in the exchange declined to comment, but in an email, a Bloomberg spokesperson told BuzzFeed News that "we stand by our reporting." via BuzzFeed - Tech http://ift.tt/2l940Sq If new feed item from http://www.buzzfeed.com/tech.xml, then send me an email at gocukx.faster@blogger.com

YouTube’s New App Lets You Watch Live TV

YouTube / Via tv.youtube.com YouTube unveiled YouTube TV today, a standalone app that'll let you watch 40+ cable and broadcast channels via the internet for $35 per month. The service will launch in the spring at an unspecified date in "the largest US markets," according to a YouTube statement. Key channels include ESPN, CBS, ABC, USA, FX, Fox News, E!, the CW, and others. And just like a cable subscription, you can add premium channels like Showtime to your bundle for extra money per month. The service resembles Dish's Sling TV, Sony PlayStation Vue, and AT&T's DirecTV Now, which allow people to watch live TV on traditional channels via the internet. Hulu is planning to release a similar service soon, according to the New York Post. Facebook has plans for a standalone TV app, and Apple, already a player with Apple TV, has announced plans for making original TV shows. YouTube TV is separate from YouTube Red, the site's premium content channel that requires a subscription, though subscribing to YouTube TV also gives you access to YouTube Red Originals. (Disclosure: YouTube Red has purchased web series from BuzzFeed). YouTube TV will be a standalone app downloaded to phones (both iOS and Android), tablets (same), or computers. In its announcement blog post, the company highlighted the ability to watch YouTube TV on traditional sets via the company's Chromecast device. You'll be able to record live shows and save them to the app without storage limits, where you can keep them for up to nine months. Each subscription comes with the ability to create six personalized accounts and watch three concurrent streams at once. Recode reports that Google's artificial intelligence software will power the service's recommendation system. The company didn't say how regular YouTube videos will interact with YouTube TV, but it is worth noting that TV will be a separate app from YouTube's flagship downloadable service. Justin Connolly, an executive vice president at Disney and ESPN, said in a statement that the service would allow networks to reach "young, mobile-first audiences." via BuzzFeed - Tech http://ift.tt/2lTUXSj If new feed item from http://www.buzzfeed.com/tech.xml, then send me an email at gocukx.faster@blogger.com

Elon Musk Says He Wants To Send Two People Around The Moon By 2018

Gregg Newton / AFP / Getty Images Two people have paid Elon Musk's SpaceX rocket firm an undisclosed amount to shoot them around the moon on a Falcon Heavy space rocket flight late in 2018. Announced at a Monday briefing, the proposal to circle two unidentified customers around the moon follows past audacious moves by Musk, ranging from now standard landings of rocket stages to sending an unmanned "Red Dragon" crew vehicle to Mars. "They have already paid a significant deposit to do a moon mission," according to a SpaceX statement. The Federal Aviation Administration created new rules allowing for US space tourism in 2016. The trip would send the two people aboard a Dragon space capsule around the moon for a week. The capsule was developed with NASA to send astronauts to the International Space Station. The news comes as NASA contemplates a separate "EM-1" crewed moon trip for its SLS rocket in 2018. "By also flying privately crewed missions, which NASA has encouraged, long-term costs to the government decline and more flight reliability history is gained, benefiting both government and private missions," SpaceX said. "I'm skeptical," space law expert Micheal Listner told BuzzFeed News, saying that SpaceX faced an uphill battle in getting a FAA license to pull off the lunar mission next year, even if it does develop its Falcon Heavy rocket and Dragon capsule on schedule. Despite being a private mission, the launch would also need tracking support from NASA's Deep Space Network (DNS). "So, with all the hype about this being a private mission, it will require public resources," Listner said by email. "That NASA is considering the same thing with EM-1 is sure to create political pressure from Congress as well, who won't take kindly to NASA being upstaged." Musk founded SpaceX in 2002, with the goal of making humanity "interplanetary," and has spoken often of his hopes of colonizing Mars. LINK: NASA Is Studying A Manned Trip Around The Moon On A $23 Billion Rocket LINK: Ready To Die? Elon Musk Has A Plan To Send You To Mars via BuzzFeed - Tech http://ift.tt/2lNvZp8 If new feed item from http://www.buzzfeed.com/tech.xml, then send me an email at gocukx.faster@blogger.com

The Iconic Nokia Brick Phone Is Back

If you were around in the early 2000s, you probably remember this: A total 126 million 3310s were sold since the phone's launch in September 2000. Nokia Well, it's back (kind of). Paul Hanna / Reuters On Sunday — 17 years after the phone was first introduced — Nokia announced it would be reintroducing the 3310. The reimagined phone comes with the classic game Snake, and is said to have a standby battery life of a month. It also has a 2-megapixel camera, a microSD slot, and a color screen. It comes in four colors — red, yellow, blue, and gray — and is expected to cost around $52 when it becomes available sometime in the second quarter of the year. "The love for the brand is immense. It gets a lot of affection from millions and millions of people," said Nokia's Chief Executive Rajeev Suri in a press conference on Sunday. via BuzzFeed - Tech http://ift.tt/2lKvqLr If new feed item from http://www.buzzfeed.com/tech.xml, then send me an email at gocukx.faster@blogger.com

Samsung Just Unveiled A High-Performance Tablet With A Keyboard

Korean conglomerate Samsung revealed two new types of tablets today at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona: a high-performance Galaxy Book series with full desktop PC capabilities, and the sleek, all-glass Galaxy Tab S3, a tablet optimized for entertainment. Price and availability have not been announced for either device. It has a 9.7-inch AMOLED screen with 2048 × 1536 resolution with HDR, 10-bit color support to watch Netflix and browse Facebook. There are four speakers that detect tablet rotation and change the audio output to reflect whether the device is in landscape or portrait. At .928 pounds, it's slightly heavier than the previous Tab S2, and Samsung claims it has a 12-hour battery life. The tablet uses the new USB Type-C port for charging. Some of the standout software features include a blue light filter that eliminates blue light while reading or browsing. (Blue light may block the production of melatonin, a chemical that makes you feel sleepy.) There's also a new game launcher that blocks notifications during gameplay. It's powered by the latest version of Android, Nougat 7.0, a Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB of RAM with a microSD slot for up to 256GB of storage, a 5MP front-facing camera, and a 13MP rear camera. The Tab S3 comes with an S Pen stylus for note-taking, creating GIFs, and quick translations. The tablet also has a special connector that works with a keyboard cover, sold separately. Neither the keyboard nor stylus require pairing or charging. The Galaxy Book series — Samsung's answer to the iPad Pro and Microsoft Surface — is a workhorse designed with productivity and multitaskers in mind. Samsung It's a convertible laptop/tablet hybrid that comes in a 10.6-inch and a 12-inch version. The new device's most notable capability is its ability to run the Windows 10 operating system, meaning that it can easily go from a touchscreen tablet to a true laptop PC. The hybrid is super slim, at 7.6mm thick, and weighs a pound and a half. There are also 2 USB-C ports for accessories or monitors. It ships with an S Pen, which is compatible with Adobe's programs out of the box. The Galaxy Book also includes a backlit keyboard. Samsung claims the Galaxy Book can do anything a full desktop PC can do. Here are the technical details: The 12-inch model: 2160 × 1440 AMOLED screen that supports videos in HDR 3.1GHZ Kaby Lake Core i5 processor Two options: 4GB of RAM with a 128GB solid state drive or 8GB of RAM with a 256GB solid state drive 13MP rear-facing camera and a 5MP front-facing camera The 10-inch model: 1920 × 1280 AMOLED screen 2.6GHz Intel Core m3 processor 5MP front-facing camera only Samsung has had a rocky several months following the recall and eventual discontinuing of the Note7, built with faulty batteries that led to explosions. Samsung's reputation in the US plummeted as a result. Company vice chairman Jay Y. Lee was formally arrested on unrelated bribery allegations. Samsung kicked off Sunday's presentation with a video highlighting the company's commitment to quality assurance, showing that its phones are tested and re-tested. "The past six months have undoubtedly been the most challenging periods in our history," said Samsung CMO David Lowes. Where's the Galaxy S8? Samsung is holding off on announcing its top-of-the-line flagship phone, the Galaxy S8, for now. The new phone now has an official announcement date (March 29) and is rumored to have an April 21 release date. The only other tidbit we heard from the company today is that its newest phone will ship with specially tuned AKG earphones. An app image may have revealed the design of the S8. According to the mockup discovered by SamMobile, the S8 may feature a button-less, nearly bezel-less design. Leaks indicate that the new phone will have an even larger display than past devices, come in two sizes, and feature Samsung's version of Google Assistant and Siri, called Bixby. Stay tuned for more news on the Galaxy S8 in March. via BuzzFeed - Tech http://ift.tt/2lUI3Fw If new feed item from http://www.buzzfeed.com/tech.xml, then send me an email at gocukx.faster@blogger.com

Girl Scouts Are Taking Credit Card Payments For Cookies And It’s Diabolical

It's Girl Scout cookie season, which means our wallets are getting smaller and our pant sizes are getting bigger. Seasons vary by place. Here's how to find yours. But in these hip modern times, how can you get your Thin Mint fix if you don't carry cash? According to a 2014 report by Bankrate and Princeton Survey Research Associates International, 50% of Americans carry $20 or less every day, and 9% don't carry cash at all. Retailers are adapting at varying speeds. Oh, the burnt caramel taste of sorrow! Giphy The Scouts know this is a problem, though, and they're trying something new: mobile credit card readers. Giphy That's right. Some Girl Scouts have started using Square to take payments, and people around the country have taken notice. Square doesn't have any official data on the prevalence of its readers among the Scouts, and Troop 87 didn't respond to requests for comment about why they decided to try the mobile card readers. Square did say it has seen a trend of more parents telling the company they've started using readers, as well as more social media chatter about scouts around the country using them in 2017 than in 2016. The readers didn't come from an official Girl Scout partnership with Square, and there probably won't be one in the future. Square was excited about the scouts, though: "We love when sellers use Square in creative ways. As you can imagine, their customers are equally as excited that they don't have to carry cash anymore." There's an expense for the convenience, though: the company takes a 2.75% transaction fee for all credit and debit card transactions. Who are these scouts of the future? Meet Ava Burns. She's a seven-year-old Girl Scout and is in the first grade in Austin, Texas. She's sold 720 boxes of Girl Scout cookies this year, the most of anyone in Troop 87. It's only her second year in Girl Scouts, and last year she sold 500 boxes. Her goal for 2017 was 650, which she's obviously already beaten. Her mom, Briana Burns, attributes the increase to one big change: a Square credit card reader. "I think 90% of the people who weren't carrying cash, which were mostly young people, turned around and bought something when they heard we took credit cards," she told BuzzFeed News. Briana Burns Last year, Ava and her mom had some trouble. Several potential cookie buyers walked away empty-handed, saying, "Ah, I want to buy some, but I don't have any cash." The same thing started happening when cookie season started again on January 18 this year. But two days into the season, Troop 87 offered its members the chance to use Square readers to process payments for cookies. Ava wanted to try it out, so she brought the reader with her when she was selling door-to-door after school and when setting up cookie sales booths at Walmart or Walgreens on weekends. Sales end this Sunday, and Ava is currently the top seller in her troop. Briana said that the other scout with a Square reader is among the top three as well. Briana predicts more people will use the readers in 2018 because of how successful they were this year. "Ava asked me last week if we had met our goal, and I looked, and we were already 70 boxes past it," Briana said. It wasn't just Ava's mom using the reader to take payments, either. Ava herself became well-versed in using Square to take credit card payments. The two had set up shop outside a Walmart one day when Briana started having trouble getting the reader to scan a card — "They're easy to use, but a bit touchy," she said — when Ava snatched the iPhone and the reader with a quick "Ugh, mom, just let me do it," and swiped the card herself. "It really empowered her to see technology as a means to achieving her goals rather than a spare time thing," Briana said. "She's my little entrepreneur." The reader had other benefits, too. The troop had instituted a two-box minimum for transactions using the Square reader, so all the customers who didn't have cash had to buy more cookies by default. What a burden to have ~two~ boxes of Samoas instead of one. It was also safer. After a successful day of sales, Girl Scouts can be carrying plenty of cash. In the California Bay Area this year, a Girl Scout and her mother were allegedly robbed at gunpoint for the cash they'd collected from cookie sales. "Having the reader at the booths, especially when it's just me and Ava, makes me feel like we're less likely to be targeted because there's less cash on hand. And we don't have to run into Walmart to make change or go to the bank to deposit all this money," Briana said. On one of her Saturday shifts from 11-1 outside of a Walmart, Ava sold 130 boxes of cookies, beating even the iconic San Francisco Girl Scout Danielle Lei who set up shop outside of a marijuana dispensary in 2014 and sold 117 boxes in two hours. Bottom line: Ava's a champ. Ava is hoping to use the rewards from her cookie sales to go to Girl Scout riding camp, as her mom did when she was a scout. Her favorite cookie is the Samoa, also known as the Caramel Delight. Briana's is the S'More, the new cookie for 2017 that became one of this year's top sellers. via BuzzFeed - Tech http://ift.tt/2lRwJtY If new feed item from http://www.buzzfeed.com/tech.xml, then send me an email at gocukx.faster@blogger.com

What’s Up With David Beckham Casually Posing With Lotion?

Welcome to "Is This an Ad?," a column in which we take a celebrity social media post about a brand or product and find out if they're getting paid to post about it or what. Because even though the FTC recently came out with rules on this, it's not always clear. Send a tip for ambiguous tweets or 'grams to katie@buzzfeed.com. THE CASE: Soccer star David Beckham posted an Instagram where he's awkwardly sitting in front of a strange desk or table in front of a blank wall. I'm guessing it's a hotel room of sorts – he has a Goyard toiletries-sized bag and a copy of Widow Basquiat, a biography of Jean-Michel Basquiat's girlfriend, propped up on some brown thing (the hotel room service menu, perhaps?). And quite noticeably… you can see a bottle of green lotion with the label turned sideways, too small to read. Whatever that bottle is… is this an ad for it? Note the green bottle. Is this a low-key ad? At least one person in Beckham's comments noticed the conspicuous lotion placement and wrote, "along with some carefully positioned props Sir David." Via instagram.com THE EVIDENCE: David Beckham is no stranger to endorsement deals. He's a soccer star, and athlete endorsements for sports apparel or sneakers is completely normal to most people – nobody bats an eye or thinks a player is a "sell out" if they're in a Nike ad. Beckham is one of the most famous athletes ever, and he's done endorsement deals for many, many brands, including Adidas, H&M, Burger King, Gillette, and Motorola, and lots more. He does TV and print ads for these things, very classic and recognizable advertising. He doesn't do sneaky or lame diet tea ads. A HINT: Ok, you should know this: David Beckham is the ambassador of the Biotherm Homme skincare line, and the lotion pictured in his instagram (even if it's hard to tell) is their Aquapower Gel moisturizer. But that doesn't make the answer totally clear either, right? Is this meant to be an ad, or does he just happen to randomly have his bottle of moisturizer (let's assume he truly uses the stuff) on his hotel nightstand next to his book before he goes to bed? It's not so unreasonable you or I would randomly have moisturizer and a toiletries bag in the background of a hotel selfie, right? Plus, he doesn't mention the name of the moisturizer in his caption, it just appears in the background, so small you can't even read the label. There's one other piece of information you should know: PR for L'Oréal sent BuzzFeed a press alert about this particular Instagram, touting how the brand's ambassador uses the cream in his relaxing nightly routine. Again, that doesn't mean that they paid him to post that instagram, but he does have an endorsement deal with them. I asked L'Oréal what "ambassador" means, and they explained that he has a longstanding relationship with the company, is the face of Biotherm Homme, and has a deal to develop his own product line in the future. So basically, Beckham has some skin in the game (heh) – he's not just getting paid a lump sum to do one TV ad. The better this product sells, the better for him. THE VERDICT: Here's what L'Oréal told me: L'Oréal's policy is to respect all disclosure obligations for endorsements. David Beckham is the global face of Biotherm Homme, appearing in all media, but while Beckham's Instagram post shows a Biotherm product on his desk behind him in the background, this appearance was not obligated. According to them, this isn't an "ad" per se, because they didn't ASK him to post it. Then I asked Bonnie Patton, a lawyer and executive director of the nonprofit advocacy group Truth In Advertising. "The FTC law is quite clear," Patton said. "If there is a material connection between the endorser and the product, then that needs to be disclosed." Ok, but what about this particular post? Patton said: "we would look at an Instagram post like this and say it's Mr. Beckham's responsibility and the responsibility of the company to make sure that consumers are informed that he has a material connection to this product." So according to an industry watchdog group, it's an ad and should be disclosed. In this case, I'm giving a ruling to the watchdog group instead of the brand. It's an ad. Ironically, I asked a friend to help identify the book in the photo, and he had read it and recommended it highly, so I ordered it on Amazon. This was a tremendously effective ad, but for the book instead of the men's moisturizer. via BuzzFeed - Tech http://ift.tt/2mwF0Rd If new feed item from http://www.buzzfeed.com/tech.xml, then send me an email at gocukx.faster@blogger.com