Weekend Edition 9: Ebola’s Back? Here we go with the Midterm Health Scare… and More.

Ebola’s Back, Let the Election Scare Commence!

India Fines Google

Elon to Fire 75% of Twitter Staff

Snap Growth Slow?

Texas Sues Google?

WE 9-1: Ebola “Strikes” in Uganda Again… Just in Time for a US Midterm Scare

The first reported case was on September 15, in Uganda, after a 24-year-old man was admitted to Mubende Regional Referral Hospital with fever and convulsions. It was found to be the Sudan strain, which has no vaccine. I am not downplaying the potential deadliness of Ebola. However, we seem to have a major illness outbreak about every 2 years, almost like clockwork… this article does not touch that reality, but does observe that Ebola has flared up repeatedly in Africa over the last 40 years. With the current outbreak, there have been as many deaths as recoveries, which is interesting, but not necessarily surprising, as it does generally have a 50% mortality/ survivability rate. For now, it is simply another african outbreak, and the Ugandan government seems to have a handle on it via contact tracing and quarrantines.

https://www.wired.com/story/uganda-ebola-outbreak-vaccine/#intcid=_wired-verso-hp-trending_309a8033-e2fd-40e0-a89d-bc7da4f491dd_popular4-1

#weekendedition #Ebola #electionflu #scaretactics #realtalk #thinkaboutit #TechFreedom

WE 9-2: India Stands Up to Google, Fines Them $162 million for Anti-competitive Practices

Oh no, our corporate overlords are getting fined again! Another fine? Whatever will we do? Will they survive all of this legal scrutiny? How could they ever do anything wrong? Anti-trust? Anti-competitive? No Way…

Indian competiton regulator slaps Google with fine for Android-related infractions. The fact that Google requires OEMs to not only preinstall the entire Google App Suite, but to place it prominently on all Android devices. They also found, after a 3.5 year investigation, that

A) Google has squashed competition in the Search space, even to the point of denying market access to competitors

B) Leveraged its position in the app store market to protect its search interests (and mine more data that way)

C) Used its position to defacto push Chrome browser as the best option

D) Used its position to stifle other video platforms via its stranglehold on the Android OS and app store ecosystem

E) By forcing the preinstallation of its suite of mobile apps, specifically forcing maufacturers to sign license agreements about the Play Store, Google has hindered the growth of Android forks and other alternative mobile OSes by reducing the ability and incentive for handset manufacturers to branch out, even if they wanted to.

According to the Indian watchdog, all of these things add up to this fine that they are leveraging now. Google is suing due to leaks that happened about a year ago, claiming that the watchdog “broke confidence”. Governments around the world are finally waking up to the dangers of Google. Halellujah! Amen. Let’s bring them down, boys. Remember the $4.3 billion fine in the EU? They lost their appeal, so will have to cough it up. Their hegemony needs to be shattered. We need our privacy and our rights to choose back. I could go into a diatribe on this, but you all know where I stand and what I have to offer, so I won’t.

https://techcrunch.com/2022/10/20/india-fines-google-162-million-for-anti-competitive-practices-on-android/
#weekendedition #India #Google #antitrust #anticompetitive #fines #abouttime #TechFreedom

WE 9-3: Elon to Cut 75% of Twitter Workforce?

This article is very sympathetic to the platform as it is. They cite concerns over the stress levels of current staff, as well as moderation, safety, and security concerns which would not be served by such drastic cuts. The writer suggests that Musk was just talking to bankers or investors who might be helping him to acquire the company, and would only be interested in making sure that it is as profitable as possible, therefore deep staffing cuts would seems appealing to them. It looks like the drama might finally be at an end, though, as the deal looks set to close by next Friday. I look forward to talking about other things, frankly. This story dragged on for too long, IMO.

https://techcrunch.com/2022/10/20/elon-musk-twitter-layoffs-wapo/

#weekendedition #musk #twitter #done #almostclosed #wewillsee #whitehat #bigquestions #TechFreedom

WE 9-4: Snapchat Growth Slowing? No More Advertisers?

During its Q3 earnings call, Snap Inc reported itsslwoest quarterly sales growth ever. Advvertisers are not spending as much on ads with the current economy, and once stockholders caught wind of this, shares tumbled 20% in late trading. This is not to say that they didn’t grow. They still grew by an eyewatering $1.13 Billion in Q3. Wow. Just wow. Snap is tightening their belt,soto speak, by cutting up to 20% of their workforce, people who aren’t contributing to either revenue, user, or AR growth. I used Snapchat a little bit a few years ago, but never really got into it. The 1 minute timelimit was too tough for me to live with (can’t imagine why, can you?)...

We are so jaded as the public and as investors that when growth numbers aren’t where we want them to be, even if only by a small percentage, we run for the hills. Wow. I knew this, but it is stunning when a company misses their projections by one hundredth of a billion in expected growth, that so many would just give up on them. I also have to wonder how much of that was simply institutional whales and various funds (mutual and hedge) vs individual investors on a mom & pop retail level.

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-10-20/snap-reports-slowest-quarterly-sales-growth-ever-as-advertisers-retreat

#weekendedition #snap #snapchat #growth #cuts #market #stonks #TechFreedom

WE 9-5: Texas Sues Google Again?

Another Alphabet lawsuit? However could our benevolent digital overlords do anything to infringe on our digital rights? I have never heard of such a thing… Google is always innocent. Oh wait, that is STRONG sarcasm… if a government is taking issue with their practices, it is because they have been utterly eggregious in flouting the laws and regulations around those practices. Either that, or they are trying to pander to their constituents, who are starting to wake up to the abuses… either way, it is a net positive. That is what my emotions say… I do still question the size of the government in general, as I talk about most weeks.

What is going on here? Well, Texas is alleging that Google gathered biometric data on Texas citizens illicitly, through facial recognition, voiceprints, and other biometirc identifiers, without explicit consent from the users. Included in the number they are asking for is up to $25,000 per violation. There are potentially millions of people who would be party to this suit and could collect on it, should the courts agree with Paxton’s team.

https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/texas-sues-google-for-allgedly-collecting-and-using-biometric-data-without-explicit-consent/

#weekendedition #Google #Alphabet #privacy #Texas #agpaxton #biggov #BigTech #TechFreedom