The wait is over, hackathon fans. Disrupt SF 2017 is right around the corner, and with just a few short weeks until we kick off the best startup show in the Bay Area, we thought it was high time we released the first batch of tickets to the Disrupt SF Hackathon. Read More
The FCC’s claim that its commenting system was attacked on the night of May 7 has been the subject of considerable controversy, but not because of the attack itself. The agency has been so reluctant to release any substantive details about the attack or the countermeasures it has taken since that Congress is calling for an independent investigation by the Government Accountability Office. Read More
Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince has called for the implementation of a framework to govern how the internet’s gatekeepers deal with cases like The Daily Stormer. This comes after a number of tech companies have revoked support for the neo-Nazi website for its close association with the violent far-right demonstrations in Charlottesville. Seven-year-old Cloudflare took the step of… Read More
The problem of sexism is front and center in the technology industry right now, but for those not directly affected (read: men like me) the problem can languish in the middle: too close to see the scale of it, but not close enough to see the details. A new survey of tech workers fills out this picture nicely, and identifies interesting — and depressing — contrasts in… Read More
Following July’s expansion which tripled its footprint, Google today announced that YouTube TV is now available to 50 percent of U.S. households, thanks to a rollout to 14 new markets. The company is also pre-announcing its plans to move into 17 more major metros in the weeks ahead, as it continues its rapid march towards nationwide coverage.
YouTube TV is one of many “skinny… Read More
Apple’s iOS 11 includes ARKit, developer tools that make it surprisingly easy to build great quality augmented reality experiences. This could have an impact in the automotive world, since it makes it a lot easier to bring virtual showroom experiences to potential car buyers and automakers via ordinary consumer devices.
Here’s an example of what that could look like: Developer… Read More
Space and autonomous driving are longtime areas of interest for Steve Jurvetson, as is the digital divide that technology has helped create between the haves and the have-nots. We’re delighted to be able to explore these issues with Jurvetson during a fireside chat at our upcoming Disrupt SF show. Read More
Reddit today is officially launching its own native video hosting across both desktop and mobile. The platform, still in beta, was one of the company’s promised initiatives following its recent $200 million round of funding that valued its business at $1.8 billion, announced earlier this summer. Video today, along with GIFs, make up a major part of the content shared across… Read More
This isn’t a game of bingo, the company called Blockchain is maintaining the world’s most popular bitcoin wallet. And starting today, Blockchain users will also be able to create Ethereum wallets and hold ethers. Blockchain isn’t a centralized exchange like Coinbase or Kraken. It is simply a wallet so that you can safely story all your cryptocurrencies. Compared to many… Read More
If you’ve worked in tech in the Bay Area over the last decade or more, you quite possibly know Mike Ghaffary, a USC grad who nabbed both his MBA and JD from Harvard before beginning to work his way through a number of well-known institutions. Read More
With Disrupt SF 2017 just a few short weeks away, the window to purchase early-bird Disrupt tickets is quickly closing. You have until the end of day tomorrow, August 18, to get tickets for just $1,995 apiece, a full $1,000 less than what you’ll pay if you wait until Saturday. Read More
Duke Robotics, a military contractor, has produced a video for their unique and uniquely dangerous new tool, TIKAD. This drone platform looks fairly basic – a custom multi-rotor drone with a chassis on the bottom to hold what looks like a stripped down machine gun, sniper rifle, or grenade launcher – but what it suggests about the future of warfare is pretty scary. A gimbal at… Read More
Ever gotten tricked into clicking a fake play button on Facebook that opens a link instead of starting a video? I did, repeatedly, and wrote a story in 2014 titled “Yo Facebook, Ban Links With Fake Video Play Buttons”. Now Facebook is doing just that. Today it started downranking the News Feed presence of links that display a fake play button in the preview image, as well as… Read More
Releaf is a new B2B marketplace that wants to help African businesses prosper by helping them find partners they can trust. The startup, which is currently taking part in Y Combinator, has signed up about 1,000 businesses since its public launch in Nigeria on August 3. Read More
Coup is launching its second city for its electronic scooter-sharing service. You can now find hundreds of Coup scooters in Paris. The company is going to compete with Cityscoot, a similar service that has been around for a while. While the city’s bike-sharing service has been around for a decade in Paris, scooter-sharing is something new. Coup has acquired around 600 electronic… Read More
Tesla’s energy unit is working with GE’s Current to install solar systems on 50 Home Depot locations in the U.S. The installation is part of a plan on Home Depot’s part to move more of its stores to clean power, with a goal of generating 135 megawatts of clean energy from its locations by 2020, Bloomberg reports. The power generated from the installations will be sold back… Read More
End-to-end encrypted email provider ProtonMail has added official support for payment in Bitcoin. In a blog about the addition, it notes: “Starting from version 3.11 of ProtonMail it is now possible to pay for premium ProtonMail secure email account using Bitcoin.” Read More
News from the ridesharing industry seems to come in one of two flavors. There’s salacious coverage of the cultural and leadership woes of the industry’s reigning champion, Uber. And, every month or so there’s a story about another nine-figure investment/buyout in the sector. We’re going to focus on investment activity and the structure of its investment network in… Read More
San Francisco-based ZeroCater is one of a growing number of startups hoping to disrupt the lunch rituals of businesses by providing catered lunches to small and medium-sized businesses in cities around the country. One way the company is seeking to differentiate itself from competitors is with a new offering to stock client’s shelves with produce and snacks. Read More
Part of YC’s Summer ’17 class, Fat Lama wants to be a rental marketplace for anything. Launched late last year in London, the startup has gained early traction among professionals needing short-term rentals of creative gear – like drones, cameras or DJ equipment. But the platform is also filled with weirder goods – like a tuxedo, camper van or popcorn machine. Items… Read More
