Business, Spoken

There’s a trust crisis afoot. Earlier this week, Edelman’s annual Trust Barometer report suggested that trust is collapsing in America. In a survey of 33,000 people across more than 28 countries, only a third of Americans responded that they trust the government, a 14 percentage point decline from last year. Fewer than half of us trust the media. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Fired Google engineer James Damore says he was vilified and harassed for questioning what he calls the company’s liberal political orthodoxy, particularly around the merits of diversity. Now, outspoken diversity advocates at Google say that they are being targeted by a small group of their coworkers, in an effort to silence discussions about racial and gender diversity. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In 1978 a young woman named Maria Klawe arrived at the University of Toronto to pursue a doctorate in computer science. She had never used a computer—much less written a line of code—but she had a PhD in math and a drive to succeed in a male-dominated field. She was so good that, nine months later, the university asked her to be a professor. Today, however, computer science is one of the few STEM fields in which the number of women has been steadily decreasing since the ’80s. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Amazon's list of finalists for the location of its second headquarters holds few surprises. Following months of hype in cities and small towns across America, the 20 that made the final cut are altogether expected—major business centers and transit hubs like New York, Boston, Atlanta, and Los Angeles, mixed in with some political powerhouses, like Washington, DC and Northern Virginia. Amazon's picks for its so-called HQ2 are, with a few exceptions, already thriving. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Do you trust me? Do you trust what you are about to read, assuming you keep reading? (Keep reading!) Do you believe that I comported myself ethically during my reporting, did not make anything up, did not use the work of others without credit? Let me put that another way: Do you trust that this article will make you feel better, or correct, about the world? Do you think that I, as the writer, have some connection to you, as part of a community? That I want you to be informed, sure, but also protected? Both of those paragraphs define trust, but very differently. Which makes it both troubling and a... Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Last year’s national conversation about sexual harassment in the workplace began in the tech industry. In the months that followed Susan J. Fowler’s February blog post about sexual harassment at Uber, a number of well-known tech executives---particularly, venture capitalists and startup executives---were ousted from positions of power after allegations of harassment and sexual misconduct. But with the October downfall of Harvey Weinstein, Hollywood took the lead on the conversation. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

As a candidate for president, Donald J. Trump scarcely mentioned the word "tech." One year since he took the oath of office, that hasn't changed much. And yet just a year in, the Trump administration has shaped policy in ways that will radically alter the country's long-term ability to innovate—and often not for the better. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

There comes a time in every hyped-up business trend’s life cycle when the noise becomes so intense it’s comical. Cryptocurrency, bitcoin, and most important, the blockchain technology that underlies them, have reached that moment. Executives in just about any industry imaginable—music, advertising, medicine, pizza delivery—are now eager to discuss how they can capitalize on “the blockchain.” (Note to execs: There are many blockchains, not just “the one. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

As if there wasn’t enough angst in the world, what with the Washington soap opera, #MeToo, false nuclear alerts, and a general sense of apprehension, now we also have a growing sense of alarm about how smartphones and their applications are impacting children. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Mark Zuckerberg promised to spend 2018 fixing Facebook. Last week, he addressed Facebook making you feel bad. Now he’s onto fake news. Late Friday, Facebook buried another major announcement at the end of the week: How to make sure that users see high-quality news on Facebook. Facebook’s solution? Let its users decide what to trust. On the difficult problem of fixing fake news, Zuckerberg took the path with the least responsibility for Facebook, but described it as the most objective. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In May 2015, The New Yorker published a profile of the Silicon Valley investor Marc Andreessen. In it, writer Tad Friend joined Andreessen in his living room to watch an episode of Halt & Catch Fire, the AMC drama chronicling the rise of personal computing in the early 1980s. The scene provided an intimate window into the billionaire’s home life. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Thomas M. Wagner has uploaded over 300 science fiction reviews to YouTube since 2013. He’s not a major star, but his content has attracted an audience of around 4,400 bookworms who subscribe to his channel. In return for their attention, Wagner likely receives less than $100 a month in advertising revenue, according to the analytics company SocialBlade. The vast majority of YouTube comprises niche channels like Wagner’s. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In 2014, Joseph Poon and Thaddeus Dryja were bitcoin-obsessed engineers hanging out at pizza-fueled meetups in San Francisco. Their conversation often turned to the central problem of bitcoin: How to make it more useful? The bitcoin network’s design effectively limits it to handling three to seven transactions per second, compared with tens of thousands per second for Visa. Poon and Dryja recognized that for bitcoin to reach its full potential, it needed a major fix. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

News spread Monday of a remarkable breakthrough in artificial intelligence. Microsoft and Chinese retailer Alibaba independently announced that they had made software that matched or outperformed humans on a reading-comprehension test devised at Stanford. Microsoft called it a “major milestone.” Media coverage amplified the claims, with Newsweek estimating “millions of jobs at risk.” Those jobs seem safe for a while. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Apple has faced mounting criticism in recent years for avoiding taxes in the US and Europe. Wednesday, it offered critics 38 billion replies. More precisely, Apple said it would pay an estimated $38 billion in tax to bring back to the US some of the cash it has stashed overseas over the years. Apple says the payment would be the largest tax payment of its type in history. But it’s also a pretty good deal for the company. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The engineer at the heart of the upcoming Waymo vs Uber trial is facing dramatic new allegations of commercial wrongdoing, this time from a former nanny. Erika Wong, who says she cared for Anthony Levandowski’s two children from December 2016 to June 2017, filed a lawsuit in California this month accusing him of breaking a long list of employment laws. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In the fall of 2016, Keegan Hankes, an analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center, paid a visit to the neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer. This was not unusual; part of Hankes’ job at the civil rights organization was to track white supremacists online, which meant reading their sites. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

For most of modern history, the easiest way to block the spread of an idea was to keep it from being mechanically disseminated. Shutter the news­paper, pressure the broad­cast chief, install an official censor at the publishing house. Or, if push came to shove, hold a loaded gun to the announcer’s head. This actually happened once in Turkey. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Late last fall, in the gleaming white lobby of Madison Square Garden, uniformed attendants were posted at security stations to make thousands of smartphones stupid. Chris Rock was playing his 10th show in a 12-city international tour, and at every stop, each guest was required to pass through the entryway, confirm that his or her phone was on vibrate or silent, and then hand it over to a security guard who snapped it into a locking gray neoprene pouch—rendering it totally inaccessible. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

It’s late November 2016, and I’m squeezed into the far corner of a long row of gray cubicles in the call screening center for the Allegheny County Office of Children, Youth and Families (CYF) child neglect and abuse hotline. I’m sharing a desk and a tiny purple footstool with intake screener Pat Gordon. We’re both studying the Key Information and Demographics System (KIDS), a blue screen filled with case notes, demographic data, and program statistics. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In November, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg started sprinkling a new phrase, or perhaps a new idea, into his quarterly call with investors. “It's important to remember that Facebook is about bringing people closer together and enabling meaningful social interactions,” he said. Research, he continued, demonstrates that interactions with friends and family on social media is particularly “meaningful. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Earlier this month, a Vanity Fair report revealed sordid tales of Silicon Valley sex parties. But the tales, while full of unsavory and salacious details, did not include any names, raising questions in some minds about their truthfulness. Two people familiar with one of the parties---including one who attended---tell WIRED it was hosted by venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson, co-founder of the firm DFJ. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In 2015, Twitter permanently banned alt-right troll Chuck Johnson, after he tweeted that he wanted to "take out" civil rights activist DeRay McKesson. Johnson now says the San Francisco-based company infringed on his First Amendment rights. But the law may say otherwise. On Monday, Johnson filed a lawsuit against Twitter, arguing that the company banned him for his political beliefs in what he believes is a clear violation of free speech. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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If you've ever struggled to pair your phone with a Bluetooth speaker or set up a wireless printer, you know that it's often easier to connect to a server halfway around the world than to a gadget across the room. That's a problem as we increasingly use our phones to pay for stuff, unlock doors, and control everything from televisions to thermostats. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Last August, Google fired James Damore shortly after the engineer’s internal screed against affirmative action at the company went viral. Monday, Damore sued Google for illegally discriminating against whites, males, and conservatives, demonstrating that the company cannot rid itself of its controversy-courting former employee so easily. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Facebook tells users that giving the company their mobile phone number will help keep their account secure. Until a few weeks ago, however, the social network’s self-service ad-targeting tools could be massaged into revealing a Facebook user’s cellphone number from their email address. The same flaw made it possible to collect phone numbers for Facebook users who had visited a particular webpage. Facebook fixed the problems on Dec. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

It’s difficult to remember now, but there was a moment in early 2016 when many in the tech industry believed chatbots---automated text-based virtual assistants---would be the next big platform. Messaging app Kik staked its company’s future on bots and “chatvertising.” Startup studio Betaworks launched an accelerator program called Botcamp. And at its 2016 F8 conference, Facebook pitched bots to developers as the best way to connect with 900 million Messenger users. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Since 2009, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has publicly announced a personal improvement challenge in January, a sort of New Year's resolution and Oprah’s Book Club rolled into one. Learn Mandarin. Run 365 miles. Kill your own meat. But this year, Zuckerberg pledged to spend 2018 "fixing" big problems at Facebook. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Last weekend, 150 of tech’s most gifted engineers traveled to an Arizona resort to spend three days at an event that, despite having never happened before, is called Reunion. The group ranged from the semi-famous, like PayPal founder Max Levchin and Microsoft chief technology officer Kevin Scott, to the spectacularly promising, like Stanford junior Nancy Xu. There were a few panels, some company presentations, and a smattering of horseback rides and hikes in the afternoons. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Internet giants Amazon, Facebook, and Google plan to throw their collective weight behind efforts to save net neutrality. The Internet Association, the industry's primary lobbying organization, announced Friday that it plans to join lawsuits aimed at halting the Federal Communications Commission's December action to repeal Obama-era net neutrality rules. Those rules banned internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon from blocking or otherwise discriminating against legal content online. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Technology companies with unprecedented power to sway consumers and move markets have done the unthinkable: They’ve made trust-busting sound like a good idea again. The concentration of wealth and influence among tech giants has been building for years---90 percent of new online-ad dollars went to either Google or Facebook in 2016; Amazon is by far the largest online retailer, the third-largest streaming media company, and largest cloud-computing provider. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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In the high-stakes world of venture-backed startups, not growing is the same as dying. Historically, stalled companies sought a sympathetic acquirer or quietly shut down. Now, startups have a new potential lifeline: They pivot to blockchain. Kik kicked things off in September. The messaging app, which has struggled under competition from Facebook and Instagram, created its own cryptocurrency called Kin, which can be used to buy and sell things via the Kik app today, and other apps in the future. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

“An app that converts your daily change into bail money to free black people.” That’s what Kortney Ryan Ziegler, a social engineer with a PhD in African-American studies, tweeted in July. https://twitter.com/fakerapper/status/889197985678073856The response was instantaneous—and overwhelming. Nearly 200 people replied with offers to help. That was the start of Appolition, which converts users’ spare change into bail money. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The mood around tech is dark these days. Social networks are a cesspool of harassment and lies. On-demand firms are producing a bleak economy of gig labor. AI learns to be racist. Is there anyplace where the tech news is radiant with old-fashioned optimism? Where good cheer abounds? Why, yes, there is: clean energy. It is, in effect, the new Silicon Valley—filled with giddy, breathtaking ingenuity and flat-out good news. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

​As one of the earliest, and first, female investors in Twitter, I had great hopes for its potential to improve human connectedness and relationships. Today, it’s become clear it’s done the opposite—by becoming a thunderously divisive tool weaponized by the leader of the free world. WIRED OPINION ABOUT Susan Wu (@sw) is an entrepreneur, engineer, and angel investor. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Looking back at the year's most-read WIRED business stories, one theme clearly emerges: people are very concerned with the future of work. Will the robot revolution will eradicate positions? (It's more complicated than that.) What are the right skills for future-proofing ourselves? (Learn code.) Could implementing a universal basic income really work? (A real-world case study suggests it might.) Other stories captured our readers attention too, of course. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Republicans argue that the lower taxes for corporations and wealthy individuals promised in the tax bill currently before Congress will result in new investment in businesses and more jobs. But in the age of artificial intelligence and automation, trickle-down economics won't create employment. What corporations and the US economy at large need most in this emerging era is not more free cash, but a new approach to machine-assisted human productivity and purpose. WIRED OPINION ABOUT Olaf J. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

We owe a lot to 9th century Persian scholar Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi. Centuries after his death, al-Khwarizmi's works introduced Europe to decimals and algebra, laying some of the foundations for today’s techno-centric age. The latinized version of his name has become a common word: algorithm. In 2017, it took on some sinister overtones. Take this exchange from the US House Intelligence Committee last month. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Last week’s repeal of net neutrality regulations by the Federal Communications Commission generated considerable controversy. Many characterized the decision as a win for telecom and cable companies at the expense of both consumers and content companies. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

A year ago, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi (sha-oh-me) had fallen from the world’s most valuable unicorn to a “unicorpse.” Sales plunged in 2016, pushing the company from first to fifth place among China’s smartphone makers. No firm had ever come back from a wound that severe in the trench warfare of the global smartphone business. Today, Xiaomi is being called a “Chinese phoenix. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Facebook Friday made available a tool to allow users to see whether they had liked or followed a page linked to Russia’s attempt to influence the 2016 US election. Facebook had promised to make such a tool available in November, after the company revealed in a congressional hearing that more than 140 million people may have been exposed to Russia-linked propaganda during the 2016 election cycle. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Eric Schmidt wound up at Google by compromise. In 1998, co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin had made a promise to the two venture-capital firms that funded them---they would hire an experienced CEO to manage the company once it began to take off. But two years later they were hedging, insisting they could scale Google to a global power by themselves. VC John Doerr convinced them to keep interviewing potential leaders. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Chat is almost as old as the internet itself. But this year, investors and big tech companies alike treated workplace messaging as the next big thing. Slack announced a $250 million investment in September from Japanese tech company SoftBank, bringing its total funding to $790 million and boosting its valuation from $3.8 billion to $5.1. In June, rumors surfaced that Amazon wanted to buy the company for as much $9 billion. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

For all the hype about killer robots, 2017 saw some notable strides in artificial intelligence. A bot called Libratus out-bluffed poker kingpins, for example. Out in the real world, machine learning is being put to use improving farming and widening access to healthcare. But have you talked to Siri or Alexa recently? Then you’ll know that despite the hype, and worried billionaires, there are many things that artificial intelligence still can’t do or understand. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The last time I visited Magic Leap founder Rony Abovitz at the company’s secretive Florida offices, he told me about the time he met Beaker, the meeping beeping scientist on the Muppet Show. Not the character Beaker, but the real Beaker. The guy was a film director at creator Jim Henson’s studio, Abovitz explained enthusiastically. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Venture capital isn’t a monolith, but startup investors are compared to lemmings for a reason. Once a trend gets hot, every firm needs to make a play, or come up with a good excuse for missing out. (To be safe, if the firm does miss a trend, its partners should privately trash talk it to anyone who will listen.) Investors continue to aggressively pour money into startups. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Facebook just loosened the leash a little on its facial-recognition algorithms. Starting Tuesday, any time someone uploads a photo that includes what Facebook thinks is your face, you’ll be notified even if you weren’t tagged. The new feature rolled out to most of Facebook’s more than 2 billion global users this morning. It applies only to newly posted photos, and only those with privacy settings that make an image visible to you. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Last week the pilot light for my water heater went out. I tried to relight it by following the instructions pasted on the side of the heater, but they were as inscrutable as hieroglyphs. So I did what everyone does when they need to learn something: I went to YouTube. Bingo. Someone had posted a video showing how to relight my exact model. I crouched down near the heater, holding my phone at arm’s length so I could follow the instructions, as if I were peeking over an expert’s shoulder. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices