Valuable Tips | Interesting Articles This Week
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Tax Records Reveal How Fame Gave Trump a $427 Million LifelineNYTIMES.COM — Tax records show that “The Apprentice” rescued Donald J. Trump, bringing him new sources of cash and a myth that would propel him to the White House. From the back seat of a stretch limousine heading to meet the first contestants for… |
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10 best podcasts to listen to while runningMASHABLE.COM — I’ve been a runner all my life. Way back in the day, I would’ve described myself as pretty good at running. I knocked out sub-five-minute miles and completed a marathon. Nowadays, well, I’m just trying to get a few miles done without gasping for air or getting injured. So, when I was tasked with compiling a list of good podcasts to listen to while running, my whole goal was to recommend shows that would help a long run fly by faster. |
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Social-media platforms are destroying evidence of war crimesECONOMIST.COM — Sep 21st 2020TECHNOLOGY HAS always mattered in the prosecution of war crimes. The Nazis who stood trial at Nuremberg were damned not only by war reporters’ photographs and films but also by their own typewriters and mimeographs. Forensic science and satellite imagery aided the prosecution of… |
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Biden/Harris amps up ‘Animal Crossing’ campaign with new virtual swagMASHABLE.COM — The all-important Animal Crossing vote is Joe Biden’s to lose at this point. After a successful campaign launch that brought Biden/Harris yard signs to Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the Democratic candidates vying for the White House in 2020 are back for more. They’ve upped their presence in Nintendo’s March release with a lineup of virtual swag for supporters to wear. |
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This interactive VR ‘film’ lets you play god to an evolving artificial intelligenceMASHABLE.COM — If you could play god to an emerging artificial intelligence, would you? Or better: Should you? That’s the moral dilemma at the heart of Agence, an interactive “dynamic film” that blends virtual reality, gaming, and cinematic storytelling to let audiences influence a handful of evolving, three-legged AI creatures, known as agents. |
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Facebook’s Removing its Restrictions on Text Content in Facebook Ad ImagesSOCIALMEDIATODAY.COM — This is a significant update for Facebook Advertisers. According to reports, Facebook is removing its restrictions on ads which include more than 20% text in the main image. “…we will no longer penalize ads with higher amounts of image text in auctions and delivery.” “To create a better experience for viewers and advertisers, ads that appear on Facebook, Instagram, and the Audience Network are screened based on the amount of image text used in your ad. Based on this review, advertisements with a higher percentage of image text may not be shown. Please note that exceptions may apply to certain ad images. For example, exemptions apply to book covers, album covers and product images.” The rule, as you can see, was pretty clear – ads with too much text in their images would not be approved. |
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How a hacker turned a $250 coffee maker into ransom machineARSTECHNICA.COM — With the name Smarter, you might expect a network-connected kitchen appliance maker to be, well, smarter than companies selling conventional appliances. But in the case of the Smarter’s Internet-of-things coffee maker, you’d be wrong. As a thought experiment, Martin Hron, a researcher at security… |
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Trump’s TikTok ban has been blocked (for now)MASHABLE.COM — TikTok has been given a temporary stay of execution in the U.S., with a federal judge blocking the ban that was to go into effect from midnight Monday. The U.government ordered app stores to earlier this month, responding to President Donald Trump’s . This order banned everyone in the U.from doing business with TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance, allegedly due to security concerns. |
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Trump’s Taxes Show Chronic Losses and Years of Income Tax AvoidanceNYTIMES.COM — The Times obtained Donald Trump’s tax information extending over more than two decades, revealing struggling properties, vast write-offs, an audit battle and hundreds of millions in debt coming due. Donald J. Trump paid $750 in… |
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The 8 best ’90s TV shows on Netflix you’ll really, really want to watchMASHABLE.COM — While fanny packs, the Spice Girls, and bowl cuts all made their mark in the ’90s, they weren’t the only things that helped define the decade. The TV shows of the era also left behind a legacy, and — lucky for those of us who want to temporarily reverse time for a respite from today — a handful of them are available for streaming right now. |
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From ‘Not Giving a F*ck’ to ‘F*ck Yeah,’ sweary self-help books aren’t what they seemMASHABLE.COM — It’s tough to practice real self-care when the internet’s obsessed with #selfcare. Let Mashable help with our new series Me, My Self-Care & What, and I cannot stress this enough, the fuck is going on in the world of self-help literature? After decades of scoring mega-hits with cheesy titles (How to Win Friends and Influence People, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff), romantic titles (The Road Less Traveled, The Secret) and straight-up listicles (The Four Agreements, 7 Habits of Highly Successful People), publishers who cash in on solving problems have cottoned on to a new way of selling solutions: screaming “fuck” and “shit” at the tops of their literary lungs. |
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Whoop Strap 3.0 is a complex and cool fitness tracker, but not suited for the casual userMASHABLE.COM — It collects vast amounts of accurate data • There’s no better sleep tracker • The simple look is sharp • Workouts are automatically registered and fun to track • It’s fully • totally waterproof • You never have to take it off The amount of data can be a lot • The app can be difficult to master •… |
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Don’t buy the hype: Free VPNs are bad for your privacyTECHCRUNCH.COM — VPNs are in high demand as Americans scramble to keep access to TikTok and WeChat amid a looming government ban. There are dozens of free VPNs out there that promise to protect your privacy by keeping you anonymous on the internet and hiding your browsing history. Don’t believe it. Free VPNs are bad for you. |
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Facebook gives more details about its efforts against hate speech before Myanmar’s general electionTECHCRUNCH.COM — About three weeks ago, announced will increase its efforts against hate speech and misinformation in Myanmar before the country’s general election on November 2020. Today, it gave some more details about what the company is doing to prevent the spread of hate speech and misinformation. This includes adding Burmese language warning screens to flag information rated false by third-party fact-checkers. |
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The Election That Could Break AmericaTHEATLANTIC.COM — T of close observers of our presidential elections, scholars and lawyers and political strategists, who find themselves in the uneasy position of intelligence analysts in the months before 9/11. As November 3 approaches, their screens are blinking red, alight with warnings that the political system does not know how to absorb. |
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China says it won’t approve TikTok sale, calls it ‘extortion’TECHCRUNCH.COM — The September 20 deadline for a purported sale has already passed, but the parties involved have yet to settle terms on the deal. ByteDance and TikTok’s bidders Oracle and Walmart presented conflicting messages on the future ownership of the app, confusing investors and users. Meanwhile, Beijing’s discontent with the TikTok sale is increasingly obvious. |
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Canceling plans is self-care. Here’s how to do it without being a dick.MASHABLE.COM — It’s tough to practice real self-care when the internet’s obsessed with #self-care. Let Mashable help with our new series Me, My Self-Care & “In terms of instant relief, canceling plans is like heroin.” So says modern-day sage and tall child John Mulaney in his stand-up special New In Town. And while I have no experience with heroin, if it’s anything like the whole-body, bone-deep sense of release you get when you were going to have to go and do things and now you don’t have to go do anything … |
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Elon Musk announces first Tesla-made battery to get to $25,000 EVMASHABLE.COM — Tesla’s Battery Day finally happened Tuesday, drive-in movie theater style, with attendees sitting in parked Tesla cars. They were in the Fremont car factory lot facing a stage to hear about the next advancement in battery technology powering Elon Musk’s electric vehicles. . After the company’s annual shareholder meeting wrapped up, Battery Day kicked off with CEO Elon Musk and Tesla senior vice president Drew Baglino announcing the first ever Tesla-made battery. |
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Contactless delivery robots may soon hit a sidewalk near youFASTCOMPANY.COM — In late July, one drove into a canal near Milton Keynes. Last October, the University of Pittsburgh paused testing of Starship robots after one wheelchair-using student tweeted that one partially blocked a curb ramp; the school resumed tests after Starship tweaked its software, then pronounced the service operational in January. |
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Fitbit Sense review: A half-baked smartwatch for the wellness warriorMASHABLE.COM — Beautiful design • Comfortable • Features EDA sensor for stress mangement • On device music storage • Built-in GPS Unpredictable heart rate monitor • ECG sensor not available yet • Middling battery life • Expensive With fitness and stress management tracking, the Fitbit Sense is aiming to be the… |
| Interesting Articles This Week |
