What’s In This Issue?
This Week’s Main Stories
Story 01Apple Imagines Destroying The World At WWDC
Story 02Google Launches Beautiful Tool To Teach Kids Online Safety
Story 03The Brave and Slightly Scary Future Of Retail Surge Pricing
Story 04Facebook Lets You Tag A Politician To Make Online Activism Easier
Story 05Brazilian Publisher Offers On-Demand Cleverness For Your Selfies
Story 06A Swiss Town's Attention-Getting Plan To Ban Photos On Social MediaApple Imagines Destroying The World At WWDC
During its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) this past week described by one media outlet as a "parody of itself," Apple launched a video intended to show developers how much the world needs them and the apps they build. The video, unfortunately, ended up illustrating just how much havoc Apple could wreak if it chose to shut down apps, or otherwise deny service. The video accidentally reinforced the scary idea that if you have an iPhone, your entire sanity and perhaps safety are at the complete mercy of Apple.
Google Launches Beautiful Tool To Teach Kids Online Safety
If you are a parent, one of the things that probably keeps you up at night is how to monitor your kids activity online and keep them safe from scams, cyberbullying or worse. This newly launched tool from Google looks to be a wonderful resource both for parents and also educators to teach kids everything they need to know online, from how to avoid phishing scams to the best way to be kind to each other and not turn into trolls. Now we just need a version of this same training for all the adults.
The Brave and Slightly Scary Future Of Retail Surge Pricing
What if every retailer could implement a sort of surge pricing for products on their physical shelves or online stores based on who you are, what you like and the other data they have collected (or purchased) about you. This detailed article takes a deep look at the promising and scary opportunities that real time data will offer to dynamically change pricing to maximize revenue from consumers while offering them exactly what they are looking to buy.
Facebook Lets You Tag A Politician To Make Online Activism Easier
It is a sad reality of politics just how often politicians seem to cater to the loudest of their constituents. Making noise may not be the only way for normal people to create clout anymore, thanks to Facebook's announcement that it will allow users to easily tag their local and state politicians in a post. The feature has the powerful potential to allow anyone to have more direct contact with their politicians and influence them to make decisions that more widely represent all the people, and not just the angriest.
Brazilian Publisher Offers On-Demand Cleverness For Your Selfies
Sometimes it is hard to pick the perfect caption for your selfie, but Brazilian publisher Leya has a solution to help ... and introduce you to some of their newest authors in the process. The brand launched a chatbot that will ask you about your photo and then suggest a quote from one of their authors which you can copy & paste as a caption. The bot then follows up with a link to buy the book at a discount. Clever, timely and strategic.
A Swiss Town's Attention-Getting Plan To Ban Photos On Social Media
How do you get attention for a sleepy little Swiss ski resort town that few people have ever heard of? Ban photos and promise to fine tourists for sharing them online. That's the genius strategy behind this move from the town of Bergün, but the explanation of why is even better. “We don’t want to make people outside the community unhappy by sharing social media photos of our picturesque landscape," says Mayor Peter Nicolay. What's the solution? Just come to the village and experience it for yourself in person ... of course.
