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February 2021 - Things of Interest

 


Will Crypto shape the future of global economies?

Electricity needed to mine bitcoin is more than used by 'entire countries'. Bitcoin mining – the process in which a bitcoin is awarded to a computer that solves a complex series of algorithm – is a deeply energy intensive process

Can tech break us out of our bubbles? We need more ways to find new movies, books and activities — especially those that challenge us

Brussels comments on regulating big tech: the Digital Markets Act

The new rules of competition in the technology industry. Tech giants’ fiefs are no longer quite as safe as they used to be

Apple’s duel with Facebook is a new form of big-tech rivalry

Internet sleuths solve secret message on Perseverance rover's Mars parachute. NASA's Ingenuity aircraft, a foldable helicopter deployable from the Perseverance rover, signals from Mars that it is operational. Watch the first high-definition video ever recorded of entry, descent, and landing on another planet – seven minutes of terror.

Power to the People: Calls for CMA to become even stronger consumer champion. Britain's competition regulator should have an enhanced role, becoming a new consumer champion, says a government-commissioned report led by John Penrose MP.

The Penrose Report – are we heading for a “new normal” in UK competition policy?

The UK CMA’s digital markets strategy gets a refresh in February

Bridge Over Troubled Water” – Crossing the Enforcement Gulf for Digital Platforms

Digidog, a robotic dog used by the police, stirs privacy concerns. The New York Police Department has been testing Digidog, which it says can be deployed in dangerous situations and keep officers safer, but some fear it could become an aggressive surveillance tool

AI and privacy are on a collision course

Balancing privacy with data sharing for the public good. Socially valuable data can be combined with standards that safeguard individual privacy, says David Deming, an economist

Virtual meetings spur sales in books for backgrounds

Bill Gates’s latest book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need, is out

As is Adam Grant’s Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

Ikea bought 11,000 acres of forest in Georgia to protect it from development

Jeff Bezos is stepping down. The Amazon CEO, announced the company’s first $100 billion quarter, will hand the reins to cloud services head Andy Jassy. Bezos’ legacy and how Jeff Bezos changed the economy, in charts.

“I very frequently get the question: ‘What's going to change in the next 10 years?' And that is a very interesting question; it's a very common one. I almost never get the question: ‘What's not going to change in the next 10 years?' And I submit to you that that second question is actually the more important of the two — because you can build a business strategy around the things that are stable in time … In our retail business, we know that customers want low prices, and I know that's going to be true 10 years from now. They want fast delivery; they want vast selection. It's impossible to imagine a future 10 years from now where a customer comes up and says, ‘Jeff I love Amazon; I just wish the prices were a little higher,' [or] ‘I love Amazon; I just wish you'd deliver a little more slowly.' Impossible. […] When you have something that you know is true, even over the long term, you can afford to put a lot of energy into it.” — Jeff Bezos on the importance of what’s not going to change

And, the best Amazon Prime benefit is one you might not even know you have

Amazon will pay $61.7 million to delivery drivers after withholding tips

Marty Baron, Jeff Bezos, Donald Trump, and the eight years that reshaped The Washington Post — and journalism

Mark Zuckerberg is last founder to be CEO of a tech giant after Bezos hands Amazon reins to Jassy

Google will pay $2.5 million to underpaid female engineers and overlooked Asian applicants. The Department of Labour alleged systemic pay and hiring discrimination

Uber is betting even bigger on delivery and the UK Supreme Court ruled that Uber drivers are not self-employed

Behind the price tag of the most expensive watches in the world. Expensive materials, delicate craftsmanship, and an economic principle that turns the usual equation of supply and demand on its head. WSJ explains

Bitcoin, Cash App, and e-Commerce were the big highlights from Square's year-end report. This fintech giant is juggling a lot of moving parts

Fixing capitalism. Capitalism is not an organic system, markets are not forces of nature, and companies don’t have minds of their own. They are all collections of human decisions, rules, incentives, predictions, and unintended consequences—and people can change them if they want to

What the White House thinks the economy needs and How White House economists are thinking about COVID-19 relief

Giving teachers the tools they need to provide 21st century civics education

Are you ready for the rebirth of cassette tape?

Netflix tops all studios with 42 nominations for the 2021 Golden Globes  including a film-leading six for “Mank”. predictions for top film and TV categories and Netflix to spend $500M this year to produce new content in South Korea

The Silence of the Lambs is 30 years old

Spotify announces launch of “Renegades: Born in the USA,” an eight-episode podcast with former President Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen

America's global military presence has expanded since 1950, including an unprecedented breadth of counterterrorism operations

In confronting Saudi Arabia, Biden tiptoes with a close ally. The U.S. has accused Saudi Arabia’s crown prince of ordering the killing of the dissident Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi but is wary of causing a break with an important Arab partner

The IMF no longer functions as the world’s safety net. The fund has deployed just 10% of its capacity during the pandemic, though it says it is ‘ready to help’`

China appears to warn India: Push Too Hard and the Lights Could Go Out. As border skirmishing increased last year, malware began to flow into the Indian electric grid, a new study shows, and a blackout hit Mumbai. It now looks like a warning

Chicago ranks No. 1 — again — in corruption and Illinois comes in at No. 3, according to the UIC ranking

AstraZeneca vaccine appears to substantially reduce transmission of the coronavirus, study shows

Some companies are mandating Covid-19 vaccines. They see it as part of their responsibility to create a safe work environment

They're healthy. They're sustainable. So why don't humans eat more bugs?

This psychological trait explains why Serena Williams is a winner--and why she won't retire yet. When she lost to Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open, she blamed herself

12 life lessons from Mathematician and Philosopher Gian-Carlo Rota

Your environment shapes your decisions

Volunteerism can help solve the employee morale crisis

The popular app, Clubhouse’s, guide to running the worst meeting ever

McKinsey’s leadership vote reveals cracks in its global partnership. Settlement on work with opioids makers prompted complaints from overseas partners

When executives misspeak. The modern boss is a cheerleader, not a sergeant-major

Taylor Swift’s Rerecorded Album Releases Begin With ‘Fearless’ in April. After her first six albums were sold to investors, Taylor Swift said she would record entirely new versions of her old songs that she would own. Fearless will drop in April 2021

Grammy’s will happen on 14 March 2021

Daft Punk announces breakup after 28 years, four albums, and six Grammys. I always thought the Around the World video was amazing.

The unlikely Dolphin rescue hot spot: Pakistan

Joe Biden needs to emulate FDR and LBJ — but so far, he's not even close. Like the two legendary liberal presidents, Biden faces massive, historic challenges. Is he up to the task?

Who is Neera Tanden?

Despite a three-decade, award-winning career as an intelligence officer, Juanita Moody's pivotal role in guiding the US through the Cuban Missile Crisis remained almost entirely unknown for years.

How pop music fandom became sports, politics, religion and all-out war. How did we get here?

What happens When Facebook slows the news flow…Residents of a remote island became collateral damage when the social-media giant decided to block its news feeds to Australia. ‘We’ve learned that we can’t just rely on Facebook.’

Facebook to reverse Australia news ban after lawmakers alter bill. Australian Facebook users' News Feeds can once again have actual news in them.

The big lesson From Google’s and Facebook’s Australia News Crisis

New Facebook ad campaign extols the benefits of personalised ads

Ritter Sport is told its new no-sugar bar is not chocolate. Cacao y Nada bar, made from 100% cocoa, contravenes Germany’s strict regulations

China tried to slow divorces by making couples wait. A new rule requiring a cooling-off period before a divorce could be granted led to an outcry and a surge of applications to beat the deadline.

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