We are being used by Facebook. It is giving out our personal information freely. It is establishing a dangerous precedent under the guise of helping us connect. It facilitates divisive attitudes and runs contrary to the true reason we started using social networks in the beginning -- human interaction.

It's a disease, so #deletefacebook today.

I have started the gradual process of using the platform less and less, by systemically operating a script which will remove my content. And there is much to remove. There are shares and likes. There are lengthy posts I posted to impress people. There are countless WordPress notifications which inform people what I am doing. Actually, I would bet that I use Facebook to stroke my ego more than engage with other people. I would hazard a guess that this also applies to many other users.

Ripple Aims to Make Investments in Startups That Will use XRP Cryptocurrency

Payments firm Ripple announced that it intends to invest in technology startups to broaden the scope of XRP - its' cryptocurrency which is presently the third biggest digital coin behind ethereum and bitcoin, relative to total market capitalization.

In January and December, XRP rose in value after a crypto market surge that involved bitcoin reaching almost $20k per coin. Collectively, the value of XRP was over $128 billion at its' highest, prior to a January market slump that diminished that value substantially. Now, the coin has a $30 billion market cap, however Ripple has been criticized for XRP's apparent lack of use. Originally, this was advertised as a banking tool, but it has only attracted overseas payment services as clients.

It is important to understand a few things about Google Clips though this Google Clips review. One thing you should understand is to not use the clip on the back. Even though it is called Google Clips and has a clip on back does not mean it is a good idea to clip it.

The next thing to understand, this is not meant to use and an action camera. If you are looking for an action camera refer to the numerous brands that make them. It is also lacking as a security camera.

What Google Clips is is a smart camera, as per Google themselves. It combines ML and AI to capture little clips in your life that it believes are relevant and might otherwise be difficult to capture with a camera or smartphone. The clips stay on the device until you decide to import them to another device.

Chrome's built-in ad blocker is going live. This means that Google will be making the unprecedented move to block Chrome ads. While the average user may not notice much of a change, publishers are dreading this move.

The ad blocker will not block all ads. Only ads that do not meet the standards set forth by the Coalition for Better Ads. You will receive notification that the ad is being blocked, and then you will be given the choice to view the intercepted ad. All ads are subject to being impeded by the blocker, even Google ads. On a positive note, sites that have ads blocked have increased loading speeds, though minimal and an incidental effect.

Members of the United States Senate are calling on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the company that is, allegedly, creating and selling bogus social media followers. The Senators requesting the investigation demand that the practice of selling fake accounts is deceptive and even fraudulent.

Senators Richard Blumenthal and Jerry Moran believe that the practices of this company have created a consumer harm by fabricating goodwill and credibility that does not exist. Devumi, the company responsible for peddling the fake accounts, use real accounts as templates to add authenticity to false followers. The company is responsible for manufacturing followers, likes, connections, and shares on the various social media platforms.

With the FTC remaining reluctant to open an investigation, Eric Schneiderman, Attorney General of New York, has decided to take action. He is investigating whether or not these fake accounts, or bots, are using the identity of those who have had them stolen. His greatest concern is that the voice of genuine people will be overpowered by paid for rhetoric.

The executive chairman for News Corporation, Rupert Murdoch, is asking for Facebook, Twitter, and even Google to subsidize the news websites that show up on people's newsfeeds. Essentially, Murdoch wants someone to pay him for the news that his company, and others like his, would put out on people's feeds.

This change comes right after the announcement of Facebook's updated newsfeed policies that prioritize friends and family first over the likes of news sites and advertisement pages.

This effectively puts news corporations at an extreme disadvantage for having their news seen at all. As anticipated, Wall Street did not take well to the news at all. They expect users will spend less money overall making their market shares decrease over time.

Newsfeed Chief for Facebook, Adam Mosseri, did not really have much to offer in the way of a compromising solution. He was quoted in the press announcement as telling news and advertisement companies to "experiment" and see what "content gets more likes." A very shunted answer when announcing that they are basically cutting off the toes of news companies.

Would you like to work out and earn some coin at the same time? If so, you will be interested to learn about Sweatcoin, one of the newest crypto-currencies to hit the market.

This exciting new startup has already accumulated over five million users in the past year alone and increased its revenue by more than 250% in the last quarter of 2017. The Sweatcoin app has more two million users weekly, making it one of the fastest growing fitness apps available.

Users can download the Sweatcoin app and then connect it to their health and fitness data contained in their smartphone. The app tracks the number of steps you take each day and rewards the user with coins. Users can earn 0.95 sweatcoins for every 1,000 steps taken, which can be traded for fitness gear, gym classes, gift cards and other offers.

When Nintendo Switch came onto the market few imagined that it would become the fastest selling gaming console in the United States. Nintendo sold so many units so quickly that it has surmounted the record set by the previous gaming console. The Nintendo Switch sold more than 4.8 million consoles before the end of the first year. This record beats the sales record, previously held by Wii, by nearly one million units.

Switch enthusiasts are not shocked by the performance record of the console. Games like Breath of the Wild ,The Legend of Zelda have helped rocket the performance of an already popular console. Over half of all Switch owners have purchased the title, exclusive to the Switch console. Other exclusive games that have help bolster sales include "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe" and Mario Odyssey. All the titles are owned by 50 percent or more of all Switch owners. This further supports the feeling that these exclusive games have done a lot to drive the popularity and sales of the device.

Did you hear that the WannaCry cyber attack all came from North Korea?

Last week the U.S. Government officially put the blame on North Korea for the WannaCry cyber attack, the one that used ransomware techniques across the globe and reportedly disrupted more than 200K businesses from over 35 countries in May of 2017.

This was a great win for the United States, with counterterrorism experts in the U.S. government, primarily Homeland Security, putting the ownership of this horrendous globally perpetuated attack squarely into North Korea. Multiple sources across the globe have confirmed with their own findings the same results, and all fingers now point at North Korea.
The attack was so devastating that it crippled many sectors of the global economy, including the UK's National Health Service. Reports from the UK noted that the attack worked to encrypt and render useless many hundreds of thousands of hospital-based computers but also those in schools, businesses and also homes. During this attack, victims received demands for ransom payments, but as it turned out these payments did not unlock their computers. The WannaCry attack was widespread across the globe and and cost billions of dollars in lost revenues and incomes.

Launch of the new Harry Potter game anticipates big Go with $200 million boost

From a fascinating story from the Wall Street Journal we find the creator of Pokémon Go, Niantic, raises $200 million in new funding. There's noted participation from Javelin VC, Founders Fund, Meritech, Megan Quinn from NetEase, Inc. Spark and You & Mr. Jones are all joining in the Series B venture that's raising eyebrows on Wall Street.

Many know Niantic as a key player in games of augmented reality, notably Ingress, the sci-fi spy multiplayer game that came about during its startup days within the Google empire. Niantic then spun away as its own entity in 2015, and shortly afterward launched the much lauded Pokémon Go which attracted all kinds of interest at its launch. Massive gatherings of real-world players came together as part of a very exciting incentivization program which spiked the in-game success of the Pokémon AR game.