Month: March 2019

  • China is the big winner + more things

    China is the big winner from Europe’s Brexit chaos – which is probably why the UK will get a shitty deal in phase II. China is the big winner because: More on Brexit here. McDonalds acquires Israeli company Dynamic Yield | Silicon Angle – really interesting purchase by McDonalds Naspers to Separate Tencent Stake, Web…

  • Qualcomm smart speaker platform + more

    Qualcomm smart speaker platform for AI-enabled devices – Business Insider – will Qualcomm attract the same developer community as Amazon’s Alexa has? The Qualcomm smart speaker platform will find it hard to get audiences wanting high quality audio as Apple found out with the first generation HomePod. It won’t only be Qualcomm chips that boost…

  • Robot launch + more things

    Automata Eve robot launch I went along to the Automata Eve robot launch. More about the robot launch in more detail once I get around to write the post. Eve is a robotic arm aimed for light industrial usage. Everything else Moleskine Now Offers Retreats for People Who Work Remotely – Condé Nast Traveler –…

  • Video conferencing + more things

    Holographic-like video conferencing: a killer app for AR? | eeNews Europe – really??? I know the IBM had attempted video conferencing in Second Life, back when that was the metaverse du jour. It still wouldn’t solve a lot of the issues with virtual conferencing a la Zoom or Skype for Business. And then there would…

  • Ken Kocienda on software

    Interesting talk with Ken Kocienda, covering his experience on product management and software design at Apple. Kocienda was a software engineer at Apple during Steve Jobs second time as CEO. Kocienda has since written a book – Creative Selection about his experiences. Interesting bits include: More on Apple here.

  • Robots demoralise workers

    Faster Robots Demoralise Coworkers | Careers | Communications of the ACM – If you get the pace wrong would the effect of robots demoralise coworkers limit productivity? Is the future not robots augmenting coworkers, but replacing coworkers a more productive alternative. A Cornell-led team has found that when robots are beating humans in contests for…

  • Zara model controversy & things I made last week

    Chinese netizens on Zara model controversy. I love Asian Boss’ qualitative interviews. The Zara model controversy happened only because its in China. Chinese netizens over react to anything they perceive as a slight. Fashion isn’t about ‘beauty’, but that subtlety sailed past Chinese netizens. Freckles indicate age and peasantry in Chinese culture. Beauty is porcelain…

  • ICYMI | 당신이 그것을 놓친 경우에 대비해서

    UK tariff plans to limit no-deal Brexit damage | Financial Times – the system would mean that products brought into Northern Ireland across the land border would not have any tariffs imposed. But many products shipped across the Irish Sea from Ireland to Wales or England would have tariffs slapped on them. Officials acknowledged that…

  • The Facebook pivots to WeChat post

    Wonks clearly saw parallels. Hence the short form ‘Facebook pivots to WeChat’. The first thing I’d advise you to do is read Mark Zuckerberg’s notes on how he is planning to move Facebook as a business. There’s a link at the bottom of this post to it, I’ll still be here when you come back.…