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Newley's Notes

NN197: Google Buys Fitbit – WhatsApp Attack – Accent Explainer – Conan’s Presser

2019 11 05abstract

Photo by Jared Verdi on Unsplash

👋 Hi, friends. Welcome to the latest edition of Newley’s Notes, a weekly newsletter containing my recent Wall Street Journal stories, must-read links on tech and life, and funny dog videos.

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Here are ten items worth your time this week:

⌚ 1) Google to Buy Fitbit, Amping Up Wearables Race [WSJ]

“Google reached a deal to buy wearable fitness products company Fitbit Inc. for roughly $2.1 billion, a move that intensifies the battle among technology giants to capture consumers through devices other than smartphones.”

🇮🇳 2) Indian Activists Targeted in Alleged WhatsApp Attack Demand Answers [WSJ]

“‘It makes me wonder whether our very own government was behind it,’ said Degree Prasad Chauhan, an activist who has worked alongside Ms. Gera and was also informed that he was targeted.”

📹 3) Emotion recognition is China’s new surveillance craze [Financial Times]

“The technology, which is being rolled out at airports and subway stations to identify criminal suspects, is the latest development in crime prediction systems in the world’s largest surveillance market, which already relies on facial and gait recognition, eye tracking and crowd analysis.”

🔍 4) U.S. opens national security investigation into TikTok [Reuters]

“The U.S. government has launched a national security review of TikTok owner Beijing ByteDance Technology Co’s $1 billion acquisition of U.S. social media app Musical.ly, according to three people familiar with the matter.”

🏠 5) I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb [Vice]

“While searching for the person who grifted me in Chicago, I discovered just how easy it is for users of the short-term rental platform to get exploited.”

🥫 6) The first map of America’s food supply chain is mind-boggling [Fast Company]

“Our map is a comprehensive snapshot of all food flows between counties in the U.S.—grains, fruits and vegetables, animal feed, and processed food items.”

🌊 7) Rising Seas Will Erase More Cities by 2050, New Research Shows [New York Times]

“The new research shows that some 150 million people are now living on land that will be below the high-tide line by midcentury. Southern Vietnam could all but disappear.”

🗣️ 8) Video: Accent Expert Explains How to Tell Accents Apart [YouTube]

“Have you ever had a hard time telling the difference between an Aussie and a Kiwi accent? Dialect coach Erik Singer breaks down the subtle differences between a few commonly confused regional accents. ”

🌌 9) Photo: The Milky Way Reflected in the World’s Largest Mirror [Kottke.org]

“I love this photograph by Peruvian photographer Jheison Huerta. It’s a shot of the Milky Way above the Salar de Uyuni salt flat in Bolivia.”

🎤 10) Conan the hero dog holds a press conference on ‘SNL’ [CNN]

“Conan, the dog who chased down the leader of ISIS, got his own press conference on this week’s episode of ”Saturday Night Live."

💡 Quote of the week:

“No man can ever be secure until he has been forsaken by Fortune.” – Boethius

What’s new with you? Hit reply to share your news or just say hi.

👊 Fist bump from New Delhi,

Newley

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