Snap is going to market, trying to pitch itself as a unique blend of Silicon Valley and Hollywood. And no wonder: It has the losses of a tech startup combined with the anemic growth of a media company.

OUCH!

That quote comes from 'The Information'

Read all about it.

When I wrote this, I hadn't seen this ... so I am going with Blackwater.

Jeremy Scahill, editor of the online news publication The Intercept and author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army profiles Erik Prince as a “Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe,â€

Scared yet?

How about this ...

Erik Prince is allegedly the new ex-officio foreign policy adviser to Trump today! 

Erik Prince Is Advising Trump from the Shadows should have red flags going up. Lest we forget, he’s the same man who wants to eliminate Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe. 

Scahill spoke with PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) recently. 

He mentioned a man by the name of Joseph Schmitz, who too is President Trump’s top foreign policy adviser. 

Schmitz worked for Erik Prince’s Blackwater.

Oh - that logo at the top ... Academi, according to Wikipedia

Academi is an American private military company founded in 1997 by former Navy SEAL officer Erik Prince as Blackwater, renamed as XE Services in 2009 and now known as Academi since 2011 after the company was acquired by a group of private investors.

Their name changes faster than leaks out of the Whitehouse. Why would they do that?

Old pieces now - but let’s not forget the connections that don’t seem to be too much reported by the ‘dishonest media’ on Betsy.

Betsy DeVos's brother, Erik Prince, the founder of the mercenary firm Blackwater, has been quietly advising Trump's transition team, including helping vet Cabinet picks.

from Here and

She is the daughter of Edgar Prince, who founded the Michigan-based Prince Corporation, an auto parts business that sold for $1.35 billion in 1996; she also married into the massive Amway fortune by marrying Dick DeVos, whose father co-founded that company.

from Here.

Yup, Betsy is married to Amway … bastion of the original pyramid selling scheme and implicated in more global corruption schemes than your average soldier and brother to Blackwater - the private ‘protection company’ that the US government had to extract itself from.

The other common connection?

Both Blackwater and Amway have had to change their names in an attempt to present a more acceptable face to the public after their crimes were unearthed. Betsy - that’s who Trumpette is pointing to in the picture up there … and her connections admitted that as much as $200 million could have been contributed to Trump’s campaign. It’s amazing what money can buy.

Great post from the people at Taxi Leaks on Uber's business model ...

Dragon: So you are going to be a taxi company.
Me: No I am going to create a technology company
Dragon: Sorry... I do not understand? You are going to be offering a taxi service to the public?
Me: No.. I am not offering a taxi service to anyone. I want to 'reach out' by offering the technology to connect the public to taxis around the world.
Dragon: So you are going to be a global taxi company?
Me: No.. I want to offer a platform that people who own taxis can connect with the public.
Dragon: So you want to be a global company offering a taxi service?
Me: No... I want to offer a platform that people who own taxis can connect with the public.
Dragon: Ok.. let me put it another way. You want to offer a service where people use your technology to order a taxi.
Me: Yes
Dragon: So you want to be a global taxi company?
Me: No

Read the whole piece here.

We love what you’ve done so far with Season 1. We think this is shaping up to be a truly unique season of television. Mr. Trump, as always, is an enigmatic yet captivating character. A couple thoughts so far.

We feel like things are progressing a little too fast. Can we find a few more steps? It seems like we’re just burning through plot, and there are far too many storylines to keep track of. Is the mission of the week to build a wall? To ban Muslims? To buy bigger gloves? Please focus one or two to keep the narrative tension building to a roiling boil.

Read On.

... 'BT Wi-Fi with Fon' told to f**k off and die.

I have just returned from the UK - I thought it was just me.

OK, this 'billy-do' is from The Daily Mash - but - just like The Onion, some of their stuff is based on real world issues. Like this one.

THE stupidly-named BT wi-fi thing that overrides your internet connection should burn in hell, it has been confirmed.
‘BT Wi-Fi with Fon’, ‘BT Fon’, ‘BT-Wi-Fi-with-Fon’ or whatever the fuck it is called deliberately antagonises internet users by bullying their home internet into submission.

Read All About It -- the article is titled ... 'BT Wi-Fi with Fon' told to f**k off and die.

As I said. Just back from the UK and I lost count of when I THOUGHT I was on a usable wireless network - only to discover that no network was avaialble - becaause F@@@ing BT had co-opted my connection.

It's a funny article - but a real problem.

How are they allowed to do this?

Read All About It

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At the centre of The Book of Dust is the struggle between a despotic and totalitarian organisation, which wants to stifle speculation and inquiry, and those who believe thought and speech should be free.

Philip Pullman unveils epic fantasy trilogy The Book of Dust

... and sets me a reading agenda that I think I want to explore. I have never read Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' ... shame on me - but it is now HIGH on the list.

Today, during my morning routine of opening my laptop, clicking on literally anything, and just screaming and screaming, I made the astonishing discovery that Donald Trump has only been president of the United States for about three weeks. Which is weird, because I could have sworn we had fallen through a tesseract into the airless crush of a two-dimensional void at least seven eternities ago, or what would have constituted seven eternities if such a place had a linear concept of time. Turns out, though, it has only been 25 days, we are still on earth, and every cell in my body has not been excruciatingly flattened into pure math. It just feels like it.

Lindy West writing for The Guardian today.

... quite simply the best opening of an article I have seen in a long time - and leads on to an extraordinary list to serve as a reminder of the F@@K UP that is the current Whitehouse. 

You got to be quick if you gonna delete tweets.

... PAH

Self-Flying Drones .... THAT's where the future is at.

While we here in the West are arguing about whether Self-Driving Cars should be allowed on the roads ... what it means to civilization, humanity and jobs ... Dubai lifts it up a notch.

After buckling into its race-car-style seat, the craft's sole passenger selects a destination on a touch-screen pad in front of the seat and the drone flies there automatically.

Read All About It.

That's what I'm Talking About.

In the tech industry AND the AR/VR industry

Don't forget this that I wrote in Mid January - and adding another one to the list.

Augmented reality helmet maker Daqri is cutting about 25% of its nearly 330-person-strong workforce worldwide, multiple people have told Business Insider, or about 80 people.
The workforce at its headquarters in Los Angeles and its Sunnyvale, California, offices were told of layoffs on Thursday and experienced the brunt of the layoffs, about 60 people, we understand. Other offices in the UK expect to hear about job cuts on Monday.

and

People are now telling us that Daqri is also struggling to perfect and launch some of its promised products as well.

.... they all are. They all are.

I enjoy your beer. Very much. I detest your online policies ....

24 Hours? 28 Days!!!

In my world - with the (essentially free) software I use - when someone unsubscribes - it happens within seconds. Call me if you need help. It looks like you do.

Who Are Fullers?

Meanwhile - file under core versus context ... 

Virgin, BA et al might not be the best food you can get on the planet, but I know of no restaurant that can fly you around the world. Likewise, I have yet to find an ESP/ISP or any other 'X'SP that does a decent beer.

My superpower is that I can sleep when people are wrong on the Internet. But I do sometimes blog about it the next morning.

... Don Marti introducing us to his latest blog post where he writes about the latest abomination that adtech is about to drop onto humanity.

Read All About it. 

I have written many times before that Tesla is not a car company. For example - 18 months ago. So, I for one was not surprised to read that;

Tesla drops 'Motors' from name as CEO Musk looks beyond cars

Quoting Reuters:

Chief Executive Elon Musk looks to transform the Silicon Valley firm from an electric car maker to a diversified energy products company.

Ummm - not news .... I wrote this last summer, and 

To quote Elon Musk - on his own web-site :

I love Flowing Data.

Which is one reason why I am highlighting this post.

Lessons for all ... not just data presenters ... but data readers. When you see a graphic - know where it is coming from. Know the context. Explore and understand the data that surround what you are looking at.

Yes. It's hard work - but how else can you unpick the truth.

And that my friends is absolutely necessary in the times we find ourselves living in.

Remember when I wrote this?

And this?

And how if you are paying attention, you will get the idea that I think we have a bit of a problem in tech .... Check out what just happened at Zenefits.

50% of Zenefits workforce gone.

What's left?

That’s about a third of the size it was a year ago, when it ousted its founding CEO, Parker Conrad, over revelations that it flouted state regulations for selling health insurance.

Wait .... Parker Conrad flouted state regulations for selling health insurance.

But nothing happens to Travis Kalanick (that's the Uber guy in case you are wondering) when he flouts state and national laws all over the world. 

Is he above the law .... or is it just that he is bribing enough people and the right people?

I mean - he does keep on getting banned ... everywhere!