15 December 2018

The limits of coworking


It feels like there’s a WeWork on every street nowadays. Take a walk through midtown Manhattan (please don’t actually) and it might even seem like there are more WeWorks than office buildings.

Consider this an ongoing discussion about Urban Tech, its intersection with regulation, issues of public service, and other complexities that people have full PHDs on. I’m just a bitter, born-and-bred New Yorker trying to figure out why I’ve been stuck in between subway stops for the last 15 minutes, so please reach out with your take on any of these thoughts: @Arman.Tabatabai@techcrunch.com.

Co-working has permeated cities around the world at an astronomical rate. The rise has been so remarkable that even the headline-dominating SoftBank seems willing to bet the success of its colossal Vision Fund on the shift continuing, having poured billions into WeWork – including a recent $4.4 billion top-up that saw the co-working king’s valuation spike to $45 billion.

And there are no signs of the trend slowing down. With growing frequency, new startups are popping up across cities looking to turn under-utilized brick-and-mortar or commercial space into low-cost co-working options.

It’s a strategy spreading through every type of business from retail – where companies like Workbar have helped retailers offer up portions of their stores – to more niche verticals like parking lots – where companies like Campsyte are transforming empty lots into spaces for outdoor co-working and corporate off-sites. Restaurants and bars might even prove most popular for co-working, with startups like Spacious and KettleSpace turning restaurants that are closed during the day into private co-working space during their off-hours.

Before you know it, a startup will be strapping an Aeron chair to the top of a telephone pole and calling it “WirelessWorking”.

But is there a limit to how far co-working can go? Are all of the storefronts, restaurants and open spaces that line city streets going to be filled with MacBooks, cappuccinos and Moleskine notebooks? That might be too tall a task, even for the movement taking over skyscrapers.

The co-working of everything

Photo: Vasyl Dolmatov / iStock via Getty Images

So why is everyone trying to turn your favorite neighborhood dinner spot into a part-time WeWork in the first place? Co-working offers a particularly compelling use case for under-utilized space.

First, co-working falls under the same general commercial zoning categories as most independent businesses and very little additional infrastructure – outside of a few extra power outlets and some decent WiFi – is required to turn a space into an effective replacement for the often crowded and distracting coffee shops used by price-sensitive, lean, remote, or nomadic workers that make up a growing portion of the workforce.

Thus, businesses can list their space at little-to-no cost, without having to deal with structural layout changes that are more likely to arise when dealing with pop-up solutions or event rentals.

On the supply side, these co-working networks don’t have to purchase leases or make capital improvements to convert each space, and so they’re able to offer more square footage per member at a much lower rate than traditional co-working spaces. Spacious, for example, charges a monthly membership fee of $99-$129 dollars for access to its network of vetted restaurants, which is cheap compared to a WeWork desk, which can cost anywhere from $300-$800 per month in New York City.

Customers realize more affordable co-working alternatives, while tight-margin businesses facing increasing rents for under-utilized property are able to pool resources into a network and access a completely new revenue stream at very little cost. The value proposition is proving to be seriously convincing in initial cities – Spacious told the New York Times, that so many restaurants were applying to join the network on their own volition that only five percent of total applicants were ultimately getting accepted.

Basically, the business model here checks a lot of the boxes for successful marketplaces: Acquisition and transaction friction is low for both customers and suppliers, with both seeing real value that didn’t exist previously. Unit economics seem strong, and vetting on both sides of the market creates trust and community. Finally, there’s an observable network effect whereby suppliers benefit from higher occupancy as more customers join the network, while customers benefit from added flexibility as more locations join the network.

… Or just the co-working of some things

Photo: Caiaimage / Robert Daly via Getty Images

So is this the way of the future? The strategy is really compelling, with a creative solution that offers tremendous value to businesses and workers in major cities. But concerns around the scalability of demand make it difficult to picture this phenomenon becoming ubiquitous across cities or something that reaches the scale of a WeWork or large conventional co-working player.

All these companies seem to be competing for a similar demographic, not only with one another, but also with coffee shops, free workspaces, and other flexible co-working options like Croissant, which provides members with access to unused desks and offices in traditional co-working spaces. Like Spacious and KettleSpace, the spaces on Croissant own the property leases and are already built for co-working, so Croissant can still offer comparatively attractive rates.

The offer seems most compelling for someone that is able to work without a stable location and without the amenities offered in traditional co-working or office spaces, and is also price sensitive enough where they would trade those benefits for a lower price. Yet at the same time, they can’t be too price sensitive, where they would prefer working out of free – or close to free – coffee shops instead of paying a monthly membership fee to avoid the frictions that can come with them.

And it seems unclear whether the problem or solution is as poignant outside of high-density cities – let alone outside of high-density areas of high-density cities.

Without density, is the competition for space or traffic in coffee shops and free workspaces still high enough where it’s worth paying a membership fee for? Would the desire for a private working environment, or for a working community, be enough to incentivize membership alone? And in less-dense and more-sprawl oriented cities, members could also face the risk of having to travel significant distances if space isn’t available in nearby locations.

While the emerging workforce is trending towards more remote, agile and nomadic workers that can do more with less, it’s less certain how many will actually fit the profile that opts out of both more costly but stable traditional workspaces, as well as potentially frustrating but free alternatives. And if the lack of density does prove to be an issue, how many of those workers will live in hyper-dense areas, especially if they are price-sensitive and can work and live anywhere?

To be clear, I’m not saying the companies won’t see significant growth – in fact, I think they will. But will the trend of monetizing unused space through co-working come to permeate cities everywhere and do so with meaningful occupancy? Maybe not. That said, there is still a sizable and growing demographic that need these solutions and the value proposition is significant in many major urban areas.

The companies are creating real value, creating more efficient use of wasted space, and fixing a supply-demand issue. And the cultural value of even modestly helping independent businesses keep the lights on seems to outweigh the cultural “damage” some may fear in turning them into part-time co-working spaces.

And lastly, some reading while in transit:


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The Worst Passwords of 2018, Revealed


We now know the worst passwords of 2018. These are the passwords you should never use, and that you shouldn’t let any friends or family members use either. Because not only are they very common, they’re so weak that even a six-year-old could crack them.

The Top 10 Worst Passwords of 2018

  1. 123456
  2. password
  3. 123456789
  4. 12345678
  5. 12345
  6. 111111
  7. 1234567
  8. sunshine
  9. qwerty
  10. iloveyou

A lot of these terrible passwords will be familiar from previous lists. Obvious words such as “password” and “qwerty” plus the the easy-to-remember number sequences such as “123456” and “111111” make it into the top 10 worst passwords year after year.

This means there are people out there who have failed to change their passwords despite being shamed for their choices every year. But then someone using the same number six times in a row probably isn’t the brightest of individuals. Eh, Kanye.

Donald Trump Inspires a Bad Password

The more interesting passwords appear further down the list. At #67 we have “maverick” (as in Top Gun), at #60 we have “starwars” (as in Star Wars), at #45 we have “solo” (as in Han), at #39 we have “harley” (as in Harley Quinn), and at #23 we have “donald”.

We have to assume “donald” is a reference to Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States of America. But then it could also refer to Donald Duck, Donald Glover, or Donald Sutherland. None of which are quite as newsworthy as Trump right now.

Learn More About Password Managers

This list of bad passwords comes courtesy of SplashData, the company behind password manager, SplashID. The passwords are the most commonly found passwords from recent data breaches, which is testament to both their popularity and their uselessness.

Whether or not you use a password manager, it’s worth learning more about them. We have previously compared the biggest password managers, explained how password managers keep you safe, and discussed some password manager security mistakes.

Image Credit: Maxx-Studio via Shutterstock.com

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10 Christmas Decorations You Can Make From Recycled Materials


Christmas is approaching fast, and as well as choosing gifts for your loved ones, it is time to think about decorating for the festive season. While it can be tempting to buy new decorations each year, these purchases can all add up.

Making your own decorations not only saves money and cuts out pointless waste, but is a great way to do something creative. Here are 10 ideas for DIY decorations to brighten up your home this Christmas.

1. Recycled Christmas Card Bunting

Recycled Christmas Card Bunting

Every year after Christmas, many houses are left with a huge wealth of Christmas cards. While they were perfect to display around the home during the season, most of these cards end up in the bin shortly after festivities end.

This project from Emily Peckenham on inhabitat.com requires nothing more than some string and a stack of old cards, the more colorful the better! They are so quick and easy to make that it could be easy to go crazy and cover your whole house, your pets, and your children with recycled card bunting.

2. Mason Jar Snow Globes

The much underappreciated snow globe is a great decoration for your home. The inside of your snow globe can comprise of anything, old Christmas decorations, tree branches, holly from the garden—the possibilities are endless.

As well as looking great, these snow globes provide an interactive child distraction system which can be a much needed commodity during this season.

3. Origami Ornaments

Origami Light up Stars by Sebnibo

This fascinating design consists of only two pieces of paper, and ends up with an incredibly professional looking decoration you can hang from your tree. This design by Instructables user sebnibo is made out of paper, and there is nothing to stop you using any kind of paper you would otherwise throw out.

Just make sure it isn’t too flimsy or you may end up with some rather limp stars!

If you are feeling like adding a tech aspect to the build, why not follow sebnibo’s other Instructable to add lights to your origami stars?

4. Cork Wreath

DIY Cork Christmas Wreath

Depending on your poison, you may end up with a surplus of wine corks around Christmas or any other day of the year. Instead of chucking them out, collect them for a while and make something out of them!

This is a great thrifty project requiring only a pre-made ring and some glue. For an extra splash of color you can paint the corks first, or bribe younger family members to do it for you with cookies. The choice is yours.

Why not make it flashy by adding our Motion Activated LED Matrix project to the center of it?

5. Five in One Decorations

Since this is Christmas time, it seems fitting to give a gift. Number 5 on this list is five simple projects you can create yourself using basic materials. All of these builds are simple and suitable to do with children under supervision.

All of these projects use things you’ll likely have around the house except from the Styrofoam balls. That does of course depend on your house, owners of a dedicated Styrofoam ball room will be at an advantage here.

6. DIY BB-8

So far we have covered some traditional Christmas decorations, but we all know that the festive season is truly about Star Wars! What better way to adorn your Endorian Soul Tree than with a DIY BB-8 droid?

The above video is taken from an Instructable by inspiretomake, and shows the surprisingly straightforward process required to put it all together. Comprising of just a few baubles and printed templates, the droid can be built in minutes.

7. Star Wars Snowflakes

Star Wars Snow Flakes

Snow Wars! Star Flakes? Lets just call them War Flarks. Either way, for the past few years designer Anthony Herrera has been offering templates for Star Wars themed snow flakes on his website. The templates are free to download as PDF files, and are utterly stunning.

There really is a wealth of designs to choose from, encompassing every major character and vehicle in the series, along with a few less obvious choices which will cause any true Star Wars fan to make involuntary noises.

8. 8-Bit Baubles

8-Bit tree Baubles

With our eighth idea we are going 8-bit! These baubles bring Christmas down to a level of pixelation we understand, and look fantastic too. They are the creation of Kat and Cam of the ourNERDhome blog, and the design they have come up with is as eye catching as it is colorful.

These retro gaming inspired decorations are made out of foam board and painted with simple hobby craft paint—though a similar effect can be achieved painting on scrap cardboard to make this truly a recycled DIY project.

The real kicker in this project is the optional use of a finishing coat on the baubles to make them shine.

9. Mario Star Christmas Tree Topper

Mario Christmas Tree Topper

Christmas is a great time to enjoy the important people in your life, like Mario. This DIY Mario Star is easy to make, and will give the top of your Christmas tree that feeling of invincibility it deserves!

This crafty project is the brain child of Instructables user scoochmaroo, and gives a great effect using simple materials. You could easily switch out the vinyl for scrap material, and you should find you have most of the bits you need to make this around the house.

It’s worth adding a 100-300 ohm resistor to the LED circuit if you want your LED to last more than a day or so!

10. Mario Coin Goodie Boxes

Sticking with the Mario theme, our final project is the ubiquitous Coin Box from the Mario series.

Templates for the box design can be found in the video description, and the finished boxes are really impressive. This project uses foam core, but if you do not have any to hand you can use card from packing boxes to the same effect.

The finished product in this video has a slot in the top for placing items in the boxes.

A great alternative would be to stash tasty edible goodies inside the boxes and hang them from the tree for your family and guests to break open and eat. Tiny Mario box pinatas? Yes please!

Getting Into the Spirit

These few ideas are a great start to giving you a DIY Christmas—with an emphasis on recycling where possible. This list is just a tiny glimpse of the hundreds of fantastic projects out there.

As well as getting the perfect gift for your tech savvy family members, give your home the creative treatment this Christmas.

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Is Amazon Prime Pantry Worth It? 5 Things You Need to Know


amazon-prime-pantry

Allow me to start with two important remarks.

One, I’m a huge fan of Amazon Prime and I recommend it to pretty much everyone who has regular internet access. Two, even though I don’t personally use Prime Pantry, that doesn’t mean I think it’s a bad service. It’s actually one of the lesser-known benefits of Amazon Prime that can be great under the right circumstances.

But is Prime Pantry right for you? You’ll need to consider a handful of details that will inform your decision. If you decide that it won’t benefit you, that’s fine. If you think it will, even better. I have no stake in this—I just want to help you come to the best decision according to your needs.

Here’s everything you need to know about Prime Pantry.

1. How Does Prime Pantry Work?

As the name implies, you’ll need an Amazon Prime membership to take advantage of Prime Pantry, which means committing to $129/year. Is Amazon Prime worth it? I think so. The two-day shipping alone is fantastic, but you also get Prime Video, Prime Music, and more.

As an Amazon Prime member, you have three ways to shop Prime Pantry:

  1. On Prime Pantry orders that total under $35, shipping costs a flat $5.99.
  2. On Prime Pantry orders that total $35 or more, shipping is free.
  3. With a Prime Pantry supplemental subscription, orders that total $10 or more have free shipping. The supplemental Prime Pantry subscription costs $4.99/month on top of the regular Amazon Prime membership.

Only Prime Pantry-eligible items count towards Prime Pantry orders. The easiest way to shop Prime Pantry is to visit the Prime Pantry Store page. However, you can also browse Amazon normally as long as you look for the Prime Pantry label, which you can see on the items below:

prime pantry label example

When Prime Pantry-eligible items are added to your Cart, they’ll display separately from normal Amazon items. In your Cart, you’ll see a Prime Pantry item that has a bunch of sub-items below it, along with how much each item costs and the total cost of the box. You can also see any eligible coupons (more on this later in the article):

prime pantry shopping cart example

Note: If you’re a student with an active .EDU email, you can actually get Amazon Prime for 50% off through the Prime for Students program. This discount applies every year for up to four years or until you graduate, whichever comes first. This makes Prime Pantry a much better deal for students!

2. Prime Pantry Shipping Restrictions

As far as shipping restrictions go, you’ll need to know three major details.

Only in the Continental US

If you live in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Canada, or any other country in the world, you can forget about Prime Pantry. Since its debut, the service has only been available to users in the 48 states that make up the continental US. (There are ways to get around this but may violate the terms of Amazon Prime. Do so at your own risk!)

Only Shipped by Ground Shipping

Amazon Prime has spoiled me with its two-day shipping policy, so now anything longer than that feels like an eternity. Unfortunately, Prime Pantry isn’t included in the two-day shipping policy that makes Amazon so convenient. All Prime Pantry orders are shipped using ground shipping, which takes an average of four days.

Note: If you have non-Prime Pantry items in your Cart when checking out, they’ll ship separately.

Only for Residential or Business Addresses

For the most part, Amazon Prime can ship anywhere—including PO boxes, Amazon Lockers, and even APO, FPO, and DPO addresses. One major downside to Prime Pantry is that those exceptional address types are excluded: no PO boxes, no Amazon Lockers, no APO/FPO/DPO addresses.

3. Prime Pantry Is Mainly Non-Perishable Items

This point isn’t so much a downside as it is an observation: 99% of the items you’ll find in the Prime Pantry catalog are non-perishable household goods. You probably could’ve surmised that from the name itself (“things you’d put in your pantry”), but I just wanted to be extra clear on that. And by non-perishable, we mean “it might eventually perish, but it’s shelf stable for quite some time.”

Common Prime Pantry-eligible item types include:

  • Snacks, like cookies.
  • Canned and bottled beverages, like soda.
  • Cleaning supplies, like bathroom sprays.
  • General supplies, like paper towels.
  • Laundry supplies, like detergent.
  • Food storage, like containers.
  • Hygiene products, like soap and makeup.
  • Healthcare products, like vitamins.
  • Medication and first aid products.
  • Pet care products, like litter.

As you can see, Prime Pantry covers many categories—along with several others that aren’t mentioned above. However, you will not find any fresh produce or groceries in the Prime Pantry catalog. For that, you should look to Amazon Fresh instead.

4. Prime Pantry Lacks Generic and Luxury Brands

Here’s another detail that might seem unremarkable at first but could end up being quite the deal breaker: Prime Pantry is only stocked with “regular” brands.

I personally don’t care about brands all that much—I prefer to shop using value-to-price ratios—but I know a lot of people who are picky about this sort of thing. If that’s you, nothing wrong with that. I’m not here to judge.

Just know that some of your preferred brands won’t be available through Prime Pantry, especially if your tastes lean toward the more expensive end of the spectrum. Then again, if you’re a bargain hunter and always opt for generic brands, you’ll also be sorely disappointed in the Prime Pantry selection.

5. Save Money With Prime Pantry Coupons

Did you know that Amazon has a Coupons program for Amazon Prime members? I had no idea this existed until I dove a little deeper into Amazon as research for this article. In short, you can browse Amazon’s catalog of coupons and click Clip Coupon to get an instant discount on that item at checkout.

prime pantry digital coupons example

As it turns out, a lot of Prime Pantry items are also eligible for these digital coupons. Individually these discounts may seem worthless, but when you have an entire Cart worth of stuff and all of it is discounted to some degree, the savings add up. If you have the time to clip coupons regularly, you might even save enough to negate the shipping fee.

Note: Each coupon is only available for a limited time and is only applicable up to a certain quantity.

Is Prime Pantry Right for You?

After looking at all of these facts about Prime Pantry, a couple things become very clear.

Convenience is the main reason to use Prime Pantry. You don’t have to leave your house, you can shop at your own leisure, and everything gets dropped off right at your doorstep. It’s a great value for students (who get discounted Prime for Students memberships) and supremely useful for those who don’t have cars and don’t want to walk back from the supermarket with heavy bags of groceries.

Prime Pantry is NOT a way to save money on groceries. It’s convenient, but that convenience comes at a cost—namely, flat-rate shipping and the lack of generic brands. The four-day shipping is also a bit disappointing, but not a deal-breaker.

Get started with a free 30-day trial of Prime Pantry, only for current Amazon Prime members. Not an Amazon Prime member yet? Get started with a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime instead!

If Prime Pantry isn’t for you, Amazon Prime is still worth getting for other reasons. Perhaps the benefits of Amazon Prime Day will convince you to become a member.

Read the full article: Is Amazon Prime Pantry Worth It? 5 Things You Need to Know


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Propel raises $12.8M for its free app to manage government benefits


Propel, maker of the Fresh EBT app for managing food stamps and other benefits, announced today that it has raised $12.8 million in Series A funding.

Fresh EBT (the EBT stands for the Electronics Transfer Benefit card, which is how food stamp participants receive their benefits) allows users to check their food stamp/SNAP balance and find stores that accept food stamps. Users can also track their spending. The app is free for consumers and government agencies — the company makes money through digital coupons and a job board.

Propel says Fresh EBT is now used by more than 1.5 million Americans each month, and that more than 30,000 people have applied for jobs this year that they discovered through the app. For example, the announcement quotes one user, Tracy B. from Fairland, Virginia — she described Fresh EBT as her “personal financial adviser,” and also said she used it to find discount zoo tickets, and even her current job.

When Propel raised its $4 million seed round last year, founder and CEO Jimmy Chen described his mission as building “a more user-friendly safety net.” He argued that there’s no conflict between Propel’s social mission and its structure as a for-profit business, a position he reiterated in today’s announcement.

“Our investors are world-class experts in their respective fields,” he said. “They share an understanding of the challenges of low-income Americans and a belief that Propel can build a massive business by fighting poverty.”

Those investors include Nyca Partners, which led the round. Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Omidyar Network, Alexa von Tobel and Kevin Durant’s Thirty Five Ventures also participated.

“It’s not hard to see the huge opportunity in building better financial services for low-income people,” said Nyca Managing Partner Hans Morris in a statement. “We just haven’t seen many companies in this space that have an opportunity to have such a large impact at massive scale. That’s why we’re so excited to invest in Propel.”


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Amazon Echo speakers now play friendly with Apple Music


Amazon recently said Apple Music would find its way onto Amazon Echo devices sometime soon — and sure enough, it appears to be rolling out now.

To make Alexa work with Apple’s streaming service, you should just have to jump into the newly updated iOS/Android Alexa app and link up your account. You can find the option under Settings > Music.

Once done, commands like “Alexa, play music by Halsey on Apple Music” should work. Or, if you don’t want to have to say the “… on Apple Music” bit every time, you can just set Apple Music as the default service. If you don’t have a specific artist in mind, you an also request playlists or genres.

One catch: as 9to5mac points out, it appears this currently only works with Amazon Echo speakers, and not yet with third-party speakers (like the Sonos ONE or Polk’s Audio Command sounder) that happen to have Alexa-support built in.

Not a fan of Apple’s offering? Alexa also works with Spotify, Pandora, Tidal, Deezer and Amazon’s own Music service.

Using Google devices, rather than Amazon’s? Alas, still no word on if/when proper Apple Music support might come to Google Home.


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Google agrees not to sell facial recognition tech, citing abuse potential


In recent months, pressure has been mounting for major tech firms to develop strong policies regarding facial recognition. Microsoft has helped lead the way on that front, promising to put in place stricter policies, calling for greater regulation and asking fellow companies to follow suit.

Hidden toward the end of a blog post about using artificial intelligence to benefit health clinics in Asia, Google SVP Kent Walker affirmed the company’s commitment not to sell facial recognition APIs. The executive cites concerns over how the technology could be abused.

“[F]acial recognition technology has benefits in areas like new assistive technologies and tools to help find missing persons, with more promising applications on the horizon,” Walker writes. “However, like many technologies with multiple uses, facial recognition merits careful consideration to ensure its use is aligned with our principles and values, and avoids abuse and harmful outcomes. We continue to work with many organizations to identify and address these challenges, and unlike some other companies, Google Cloud has chosen not to offer general-purpose facial recognition APIs before working through important technology and policy questions.”

In an interview this week, CEO Sundar Pichai address similar growing concerns around AI ethics. “I think tech has to realize it just can’t build it and then fix it,” he told The Washington Post. “I think that doesn’t work,” adding that artifical intelligence could ultimately prove “far more dangerous than nukes.”

The ACLU, which has offered sharp criticism over privacy and racial profiling concerns, lauded the statement. In the next paragraph, however, the company promised to continue to apply pressure on these large orgs.

“We will continue to put Google’s feet to the fire to make sure it doesn’t build or sell a face surveillance product that violates civil and human rights,” ACLU tech director Nicole Ozer said in a statement. “We also renew our call on Amazon and Microsoft to not provide dangerous face surveillance to the government. Companies have a responsibility to make sure their products can’t be used to attack communities and harm civil rights and liberties — it’s past time all companies own up to that responsibility.”

The organization has offered particularly sharp criticism against Amazon for its Rekognition software. This week, it also called out the company’s patent application for a smart doorbell that uses facial recognition to identify “suspicious” visitors.


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