Tuesday, May 24, 2016

"There's something happening here..."

*1. "There's something happening here..."

"What it is ain't exactly clear." It's actually perfectly clear. What China is doing in the South China Sea is making waves. The fact that the U.S. just ended an arms embargo with Vietnam should give you an idea how big the waves are.

From WaPo - In historic move, U.S. lifts embargo on arms sales to Vietnam

"'The decision to lift the ban was not based on China or any other considerations,” he [Obama] said, with the Vietnamese president, Tran Dai Quang, standing stiffly by his side. 'It was based on our desire to complete what has been a lengthy process of moving toward normalization with Vietnam.'"

Uhhh, yea, right...

*2. "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free"


While there are economic and dissatisfaction with political establishment movements sweeping across Europe and the U.S., the one overarching theme driving a move to the right seems to be migration. Migration because of war or other reasons.

From NYT - Austrian Far-Right Candidate Norbert Hofer Narrowly Loses Presidential Vote

"Just 0.6 percent of the vote kept Norbert Hofer from becoming the first far-right European president since the end of the Nazi era."

"Mr. Hofer campaigned on strengthening the country’s borders and its army, limiting benefits for immigrants and favoring Austrians in the job market."

+ The right-wing is gaining in just about every European country.

*3. This is confusing, but important...and some other tech news


A judge is about to rule whether Google violated copyright laws when it used Oracle's Java application programming interface (API) code in its Android software. It's important because API's (there are many different API's, some proprietary, some open source) create a link between the helpful apps we use to, say, do our banking, to other platforms. A victory for Google means, pretty much, business as usual. App makers can keep using proprietary API for development. A victory for Oracle and the entire app developing ecosystem could get turned on its head.

+ From TechCrunch - The rise of APIs

+ If Google's right about AI, that's a problem for Apple - Google (and Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook) has been sinking a ton of capital into artificial intelligence (AI) development. Apple has not. To facilitate AI resources development, the key requirement is massive amounts of data to help machine learning. The data being used is customer data. Apple has decided to protect its customer data. This could be Apple's downfall.

+ From Wired - Project Ara Lives: Google's Modular Phone Is Ready for you Now

*4. Greenhouse Gas for Greenhouse Cash

This is the first time I've seen global warming issues spill over into investing and it makes complete sense.

From NYT - Exxon Investors Seek Assurance as Climate Shifts, Along With Attitudes

"But there is a growing chorus of investors, many of them large institutional shareholders, who say they are worried that ExxonMobil, the largest publicly traded energy company in the world, is not adequately preparing for tighter times if countries start acting on the pledges they made last December as part of the Paris climate change accord."

+ From Fortune - Meet the Private Company That Has Changed the Face of the World

*5. Hey, hey, hey!

From WaPo - At 78, Bill Cosby's life is a blur of legal minutia, lawyers and judges

This is a sad story. Sad if the alleged assaults happened and sad that it took so long for them to come to light. And sad for a generation who grew up with this guy, but now feel hoodwinked. It kind of reminds me of the sad state of the Joe Paterno legacy.

*BOTTOM OF THE NEWS

* Why Google beat Yahoo in the war for the internet (hint: backend engineering)

* How the Elephant Became the Newest Celebrity Cause (hint: stars attract other stars)

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