Facebook, Dollars and Sneakers: A Refugee's Survival Kit (video)

Facebook, Dollars and Sneakers: A Refugee's Survival Kit - Thousands of refugees continue to arrive every day in Athens, on ferries from the country's outlying islands. The route they take from the Greek capital to the Macedonian border is now well travelled, and many local businesses are feeling the benefits. Bloomberg's Tom Mackenzie followed one group of Syrian refugees as they navigated the latest leg of their journey. Published on Sep 18, 2015.


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Governments That Block Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook

MAP: Here Are the Countries That Block Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube | Mother Jones: "... the Turkish government blocked the country's access to YouTube, after banning Twitter earlier this month, in an effort to quell anti-government sentiment prior to local elections on March 30. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says that social networks are facilitating the spread of wiretapped recordings that have been politically damaging. The YouTube block reportedly came about after a video surfaced of government officials discussing the possibility of going to war with Syria. The government officially banned Twitter after the network refused to take down an account accusing a former minister of corruption. Twitter is challenging the ban and a Turkish court overturned it on Wednesday, but it's not yet clear how an appeal might play out...."(read more at link above)

When it comes to internet freedom, it is either yes or no.

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$19 Billion, Whatscrap, Whatscrack, Whatsthat?

“A bull market is like sex. It feels best just before it ends.”- Barton Biggs

Here Comes the Climax | The Reformed Broker: "This ... $19 billion Facebook binge felt like the beginning of a climaxing of sorts – the type of deal that usually comes to punctuate the end of a great bull market (think AOL-Time Warner, the LBO of Equity Office Properties) or at least speeds up the gallop into the end."

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When Facebook Bought Instagram

A good read--

Mark Zuckerberg and Kevin Systrom on What Really Happened When Facebook Bought Instagram | Vanity Fair: "The sale of Instagram to Facebook for a cool billion in the spring of 2012 was the ultimate Silicon Valley fairy tale: 18 months from launch to offer. But, for co-founder and C.E.O. Kevin Systrom, it was more of a roller-coaster ride, with several missed opportunities, at least two “aha” moments, and one major reboot. . . ." (read entire article at link)

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Zuckerberg always said Facebook wasn't about making $$

Facebook stock price chart - "it ain't pretty" - source: Google Finance

Is Mark Zuckerberg in over his hoodie as Facebook CEO? - latimes.com: "The deepening slide in  Facebook Inc.'s stock is fueling talk once considered implausible on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley."

Nobody should be surprised by the fall in price of Facebook stock--

The Problem With Mark Zuckerberg - Business Insider: "There is a nagging concern for potential Facebook shareholders: the guy running the company doesn't care that much about making money."

Zuckerberg always said Facebook wasn't about making money--

Mark Zuckerberg - PandaWhale: On 2/1/12, Facebook filed its S-1 so it sell shares to public. Facebook’s S-1 Letter From Zuckerberg - "Simply put: we don’t build services to make money . . . "--Mark Zuckerberg

The question is: "Why did anyone ever buy this stock expecting to make money?"


Furthermore, why would anyone go to work for this company expecting to make money on its stock price?

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Facebook users beware: Facial Recognition Tech

Facebook users beware--

Facial recognition tech is rocketing ahead of laws that can control it | Ars Technica: "Many Americans don't realize they're already in a facial recognition database," Jennifer Lynch, a staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said Wednesday in a hearing on the technology. Addressing Senator Al Franken and the Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law, Lynch pointed out that there is a painful disconnect between how little personal action is required to capture a face and how much personal information can be associated with it. All that, thanks to the Internet. As it is, Lynch said, "Americans can't take precautions to prevent the collection of their image." Senator Franken called the hearing out of concern for the speed at which facial recognition technology is progressing as its use remains unregulated. Dr. Alessandro Acquisti, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, said facial recognition could soon become a casual pursuit as computers get smaller, more powerful, and cloud computing costs come down. "Within a few years, real-time, automated, mass-scale facial recognition will be technologically feasible and economically efficient," Acquisti wrote in a statement; for companies, for friends, and for law enforcement. Facial recognition has two characteristics that alarmed most members of the panel. First, faces (unlike other common information gatekeepers like passwords or PIN numbers) can't be changed for protection. Second, neither permission nor interaction is required for one person to capture the face of another. If they're in public, their visage is fair game. Facial recognition "creates acute privacy concerns that fingerprints do not" because of the ease of collection, Franken said. . . . "

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The Facebook Fad

For those who may not keep up with such things--Facebook went "live" today on the Nasdaq. However, there was no "pop" in the stock price.

Billionaires Take To Twitter To Talk Up Facebook - Forbes: "Billionaire and Pacific Investment Management cofounder Bill Gross was quoted by his company’s Twitter feed, @PIMCO, with a surprisingly sarcastic take on the whole offering. “Gross: Go #Facebook!,” read a PIMCO tweet at about 11:07 AM in New York. “I don’t know how to use it but I know a Bubble when I see one!!!” . .  .  AOL founder Steve Case has been tracking the company closely in the days leading up to the offering on his account @SteveCase. Presenting a stark contrast to Gross, Case tweeted: “Celebrating Facebook IPO today while reflecting on AOL IPO 20 years ago. Valuation was $70 million. Most thought Internet was a fad. #wrong. . . .”

Obviously the internet was not a fad, but AOL? OMG! (AOL stock went from $226 billion in 2001 to about $20 billion in 2006.)

And Facebook? Caveat Emptor!

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Yankeegroup: Facebook Falls Low on Consumers' List of Favorable Brands

Facebook Falls Low on Consumers' List of Favorable Brands - Mobile Now: snapshot from Yankeegroup--percentage of consumers having favorable impressions of brands:

Google US: 77% Europe: 75%

Sony US: 69% Europe: 69%

Disney US: 68% Europe: 52%

Apple US: 66% Europe: 58%

Amazon US: 63% Europe: 59%

Facebook US: 51% Europe: 50%

for more information, go to Yankeegroup.

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