Waymo is now allowed to transport passengers in its self-driving vehicles on California roads

Waymo, the Google’s former self-driving that is now a business under Alphabet, has been given permission by California regulators to transport passengers in its robotaxis, TechCrunch has learned. The approval is a milestone for the company as it begins to ramp up towards a commercial service.

The California Public Utilities Commission today granted Waymo a permit on Tuesday to participate in the state’s Autonomous Vehicle Passenger Service pilot. Waymo confirmed the approval. A statement from a Waymo spokesperson provides some hints as to how and where the company intends to use this permit.

“The CPUC allows us to participate in their pilot program, giving Waymo employees the ability to hail our vehicles and bring guests on rides within our South Bay territory,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “This is the next step in our path to eventually expand and offer more Californians opportunities to access our self-driving technology, just as we have gradually done with Waymo One in Metro Phoenix.”

The approval from CPUC is different than the permits issued by the California Department of Motor Vehicles to test self-driving vehicles in the state. More than 60 companies have a permit to test in the state.

Instead, this gives Waymo permission to use its self-driving vehicles — which are the Chrysler Pacifica hybrid minivans and eventually the Jaguar I-PACE electric vehicle — to transport people. The company still faces certain restrictions. It can’t charge for rides and the vehicles must have safety drivers behind the wheel. Waymo will also have to provide reports to CPUC with information on total passenger miles traveled and safety protocols.

The CPUC also gave Waymo an exemption that will allow the autonomous vehicle technology startup to use a third-party company to contract out safety operators. Waymo argued in a letter requesting the exemption that while the company’s “team of test drivers will include some full-time Waymo employees, operating and scaling a meaningful pilot requires a large group of drivers who are more efficiently engaged through Waymo’s experienced and specialized third-party staffing providers.”

Waymo confirmed that all test drivers go through its proprietary driver training program.

Waymo isn’t the first to receive the permit. Back in December, Zoox scored the inaugural permit from the CPUC. Pony.ai and and AutoX, which started as an autonomous delivery company, also have received permits.

Waymo has been testing self-driving vehicles in California for years. But its first ride-hailing service began in Arizona, a state with fewer regulatory hoops for companies to jump through.

Waymo opened a technical center Chandler, Arizona and started testing there in 2016. Since then the company has ramped up its testing and launched an early rider program in April 2017 as a step towards commercial deployment.

In December, the company launched Waymo One, a commercial self-driving car service and accompanying app. The service, which does charge passengers, still has Waymo-trained test drivers are still behind the wheel.

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Trump taps conservative pundits for ‘social media summit’

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk and PragerU are among the conservative voices that have been tapped to attend next week’s White House “social media summit.” That news is courtesy of The Washington Post, which highlights some of the plans for the July 11 event, set to focus on “opportunities and challenges of today’s online environment.”

The move event won’t come as a surprise to anyone whose followed the news cycle since Trump arrived in office. While social media sites have been the subject of plenty of criticism from both the left and the right, conservatives in particular have had companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter in their sights over claimed “liberal biases.”

Just yesterday, Trump told Fox News’ Tucker Carlson that the sites have been “fighting” him. “I know for a fact a lot of people try and follow me and it’s very hard,” the President said. “I have so many people coming up that they say, ‘Sir, it’s so hard. They make it hard to follow.’ What they’re doing is wrong and possibly illegal. And a lot of things are being looked at right now.”

While Trump offered no specific evidence around his claims, the move follows a pattern of accusing different platforms of “shadow banning” Trump and other conservative voices. Last week, Twitter announced that it would be issuing warnings for “abusive behavior” from prominent news figures. While not a block or a ban, the move is an attempt to walk the line between curbing abuse and maintaining “newsworthy” content. Many saw the move as specifically targeting Trump.

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Trump taps conservative pundits for ‘social media summit’

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk and PragerU are among the conservative voices that have been tapped to attend next week’s White House “social media summit.” That news is courtesy of The Washington Post, which highlights some of the plans for the July 11 event, set to focus on “opportunities and challenges of today’s online environment.”

The move event won’t come as a surprise to anyone whose followed the news cycle since Trump arrived in office. While social media sites have been the subject of plenty of criticism from both the left and the right, conservatives in particular have had companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter in their sights over claimed “liberal biases.”

Just yesterday, Trump told Fox News’ Tucker Carlson that the sites have been “fighting” him. “I know for a fact a lot of people try and follow me and it’s very hard,” the President said. “I have so many people coming up that they say, ‘Sir, it’s so hard. They make it hard to follow.’ What they’re doing is wrong and possibly illegal. And a lot of things are being looked at right now.”

While Trump offered no specific evidence around his claims, the move follows a pattern of accusing different platforms of “shadow banning” Trump and other conservative voices. Last week, Twitter announced that it would be issuing warnings for “abusive behavior” from prominent news figures. While not a block or a ban, the move is an attempt to walk the line between curbing abuse and maintaining “newsworthy” content. Many saw the move as specifically targeting Trump.

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Instagram’s new chat sticker lets friends ask to get in on the conversation directly in Stories

Instagram has a new sticker type rolling out today that lets friends and followers instantly tap to start conversations from within Stories. The new sticker option, labelled “Chat,” will let anyone looking at a story request to join an Instagram group DM conversation tied to the post, with the original poster still getting the opportunity to actually approve the requests coming in from their friends and followers.

Introducing the new chat sticker in Stories. Now, there's an easy way to start conversations with a group of friends right from your story. pic.twitter.com/A1An7d9TjJ

— Instagram (@instagram) July 2, 2019

Instagram’s Direct Messages provide built-in one-to-one and one-to-many private messaging for users on the platform, and are one key way that the social network owned by Facebook has used to fend off, anticipate and adapt features from would-be competitor Snapchat. The company confirmed in May that it was discontinuing development of Direct, its own standalone app version of the Instagram DM feature, but its clearly still interested on iterating the core product to make it more engaging for users and better linked to Instagram’s other core sharing capabilities.

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US retail group offers to help antitrust investigators in going after Amazon and Google

A leading U.S. retail group, whose members include Walmart, Target, Best Buy and others, has penned a letter to the Federal Trade Commission that details its concerns over big tech companies’ dominance. The letter specifically calls out Amazon and Google for their control over the majority of internet product searches, how price and product information reaches consumers and other concerns.

The letter, written by The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), urges the FTC to take a closer look at the big tech platforms. The group also offers to help in any antitrust investigations.

“It should…be quite concerning to the Commission that Amazon and Google control the majority of all Internet product search, and can very easily affect whether and how price and product information actually reaches consumers,” write the RILA. “Moreover, these firms are extraordinarily adept at determining how small changes in the way in which information is conveyed affect consumer behavior — given that nearly everything they do is driven by big-data science and machine learning models,” the letter continues.

“To put the matter as simply as possible, a firm does not need to have the power to control prices if it has the power to control effective access to price information,” it says.

The RILA says it understands the consumer benefits to e-commerce, in that it provides fast and efficient access to products at a scale that exceeds what’s possible in the physical realm. But it also presents their case where the major tech firms are called out as “bottleneck technology platforms,” where information about products is not transparently shared with consumers.

The group asks the FTC to consider rules and enforcement actions that require companies to disclose where products come from, whether they’re new or used, whether their sale is authorized and how the price from one seller compares to others. Amazon is mentioned here as an example of the problems that can arise when a firm controls an “essential platform” like Amazon Marketplace and also competes on that same platform.

Additionally, the letter asks the FTC to look beyond the consumer benefit of lowered prices or free services — sometimes by subsidizing the platform with other profit streams.

“…Retailers believe antitrust regulators’ traditional reliance on price is ripe for reevaluation and are encouraged by recent statements by policymakers indicating a renewed commitment to evaluating non-price competition harms,” the letter says.

Pointing to how much power Amazon has, the RILA notes that nearly two-thirds of consumers search directly on its site when looking for products, allowing it to collect massive amounts of data on consumer shopping habits, which its privacy policy allows it to share with others — and it doesn’t offer an opt-out.

Plus, the retailer group argues that smaller sellers are forced to operate on Amazon because of its dominance, which in turn provides Amazon with data to then capture their business if it’s profitable or growing.

For example, Amazon searches will direct consumers in a way that make it seem as if a product is sold on the site, even if the brand doesn’t sell on Amazon. The letter references the Williams-Sonoma lawsuit in this case. The suit claims Amazon is infringing on Williams-Sonoma’s patent by directing searchers to its products, without making it clear those products aren’t coming from Williams-Sonoma itself.

Related to this, counterfeiters are a problem on Amazon’s site — as recent lawsuits in which Amazon is participating also show.

The organization ends the letter by offering to work with the FTC as it investigates antitrust claims over any of these matters.

Aware of the increased insight, Amazon has been making its own case to counter these claims, saying it’s only a “small player” in global retail, as 90% remains in the physical realm.

The FTC is one of two U.S. government bodies now investigating big tech. The FTC is overseeing probes into Facebook and Amazon, while the DOJ (Department of Justice) is looking into Google and Apple. In addition, the House Judiciary’s antitrust subcommittee began in June to look into how Facebook and Google are impacting the news industry. 

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Facebook News Feed changes downrank misleading health info and dangerous ‘cures’

No, drinking bleach is not a miracle cure for diseases and other conditions — but that’s the sort of bogus health claim that’s floating around the web these days, getting blocked by sites like Amazon and YouTube. Now you can add Facebook to that list of sites taking action — well, kind of! The social network today announced it will minimize the spread of health content that’s sensational or misleading.

No, not block it. Not ban it. Minimize it.

Facebook says it’s taking the same approach to reduce the spread of misleading health information as it did when it previously changed the News Feed algorithms to downrank clickbait and other low-quality content. (Not that clickbait ever killed anyone the way that fake miracle cures have. But we digress.)

In two algorithm changes, which actually rolled out a month ago but are only today being detailed, Facebook says it’s reducing the spread of posts that make exaggerated or sensational health claims, as well as those trying to sell products or services based on health-related claims.

The former will go to address the dangerous miracle cures while the latter will be more focused on reducing the spread of posts trying to make a buck through unsubstantiated claims — like those touting weight loss pills, for example.

“Posts with sensational health claims or solicitation using health-related claims will have reduced distribution,” explains Facebook. “Pages should avoid posts about health that exaggerate or mislead people and posts that try to sell products using health-related claims. If a Page stops posting this content, their posts will no longer be affected by this change,” it says.

Unfortunately, with a focus on Facebook Pages, the changes may overlook a popular means of spreading misleading health information: individuals. A number of people directly post misinformation to their own Facebook timeline — either intentionally or because they’re also misinformed. This can range from the relatively harmless homemade cures that aren’t as effective as they claim, to those that are actually pretty bad  — like a recipe for homemade sunscreen that puts people at risk of skin cancer because it doesn’t block UV rays — to outright dangerous information.

The change also won’t seemingly block the sort of “social selling” where MLMs like AdvoCare, Herbalife, or It Works!, for example — require their salespeople to post to their own profile pages with posts they write themselves, in a knowing effort to get around News Feed changes like this. (And this is especially true if the profile owner’s friends interact with the content, which makes the post seem — to an algorithm at least —  like quality fare.)

Facebook says that it anticipates that “most Pages won’t see any significant changes to their distribution in News Feed as a result of this update.”

So helpful!

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Security flaws in a popular smart home hub let hackers unlock front doors

When is a smart home not so smart? When it can be hacked.

That’s exactly what security researchers Chase Dardaman and Jason Wheeler did with one of the Zipato smart hubs. In new research published Tuesday and shared with TechCrunch, Dardaman and Wheeler found three security flaws which when chained together could be abused to open a front door with a smart lock.

Smart home technology has come under increasing scrutiny in the past year. Although convenient to some, security experts have long warned that adding an internet connection to a device increases the attack surface, making the devices less secure than their traditional counterparts. The smart home hubs that control a home’s smart devices, like water meters and even the front door lock, can be abused to allow landlords entry to a tenant’s home whenever they like.

In January, security expert Lesley Carhart wrote about her landlord’s decision to install smart locks — forcing her to look for a new home. Other renters and tenants have faced similar pressure from their landlords and even sued to retain the right to use a physical key.

Dardaman and Wheeler began looking into the ZipaMicro, a popular smart home hub developed by Croatian firm Zipato, some months ago but only released their findings once the flaws had been fixed.

The researchers found they could extract the hub’s private SSH key for “root” — the user account with the highest level of access — from the memory card on the device. Anyone with the private key could access a device without needing a password, said Wheeler.

The later discovered that the private SSH key was hardcoded in every hub sold to customers — putting every home with the same hub installed at risk.

Using that private key, the researchers downloaded a file from the device containing scrambled passwords used to access the hub. They found that the smart hub uses a “pass-the-hash” authentication system, which doesn’t require knowing the user’s plaintext password, only the scrambled version. By taking the scrambled password and passing it to the smart hub, the researchers could trick the device into thinking they were the homeowner.

All an attacker had to do was send a command tell the lock to open or close. With just a few lines of code, the researchers built a script that locked and unlocked a smart lock connected to a vulnerable smart hub.

The proof-of-concept code letting the hackers unlock a smart lock. (Image: Chase Dardaman, Jason Wheeler)

Worse, Dardaman said that any apartment building that registered one main account for all the apartments in their building would allow them to “open any door” from that same password hash.

The researchers conceded that their findings weren’t a perfect skeleton key into everyone’s homes. In order to exploit the flaws, an attacker would need to be on the same Wi-Fi network as the vulnerable smart hub. Dardaman said any hub connected directly to the internet would be remotely exploitable. The researchers found five such vulnerable devices using Shodan, a search engine for publicly available devices and databases.

Zipato says it has 112,000 devices in 20,000 households, but the exact number of vulnerable hubs isn’t known.

We asked SmartRent, a Zipato customer and one of the largest smart home automation providers, which said fewer than 5% of its apartment-owning customers were affected by the vulnerable technology. A spokesperson wouldn’t quantify the figure further. SmartRent said it had more than 20,000 installations in mid-February, just weeks before the researchers’ disclosure.

For its part, Zipato fixed the vulnerabilities within a few weeks of receiving the researchers’ disclosure.

Zipato’s chief executive Sebastian Popovic told TechCrunch that each smart hub now comes with a unique private SSH key and other security improvements. Zipato has also since discontinued the ZipaMicro hub in favor of one of its newer products.

Smart home tech isn’t likely to go away any time soon. Figures from research firm IDC estimates more than 832 million smart home devices will be sold in 2019, just as states and countries crack down on poor security in internet-connected devices.

That’s also likely to bring more scrutiny to smart home tech by hackers and security researchers alike.

“We want to show that there is a risk to this kind of tech and apartment buildings or even individual consumers need to know that these are not necessarily safer than a traditional door lock,” said Dardaman.

Smart home tech makers don’t want to say if the feds come for your data

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Alphabet’s Loon balloons get their first commercial trial in Kenya

Google spinout and now fellow member of the Alphabet family of companies Loon will get a big test in the coming weeks, as it begins its first commercial trial in Kenya in partnership with Telkom Kenya.

Loon’s entire mission is to provide internet connectivity to areas that are typically underserved, using high-altitude balloons with solar-powered cellular network gear on board, replacing the need for permanent tower infrastructure in environments where that kind of option either isn’t practical or affordable.

With this new commercial trial, Telkom Kenya will be providing access to customers spread out across a number of villages located in a mountainous region of the country at rates on par with what it offers its existing customers through its more traditional network infrastructure.

According to Reuters, Loon still has work to do in terms of proving out that its novel model for delivering connectivity makes business sense for carrier partners, who seem to be skeptical of its ability to provide reliable service at a cost that still makes sense in terms of profitability.

For its part, Loon seems eager to prove out its commercial viability, after having already demonstrated that its balloon networks have the technical chops to provide connectivity on the ground via engagements in Peru and Puerto Rico where its tech was used for free by local carriers to bolster networks brought down by natural disasters.

Alphabet’s balloon-based internet will eventually compete with satellite networks aiming to provide the same kind of coverage to low-density areas not covered by tower-based infrastructure, including efforts like SapceX’s own Starlink network.

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The Best Devices to Use as a Plex Media Server

If you own an extensive collection of movies, TV shows, and music and want to access it on all of your devices, Plex is one of the best solutions.

To get the system up and running, you need to designate at least one of your devices as the server. But what are the best devices to use as a Plex media server?

In this article we run you through some of the options and list the pros and cons of each device.

What Is a Plex Media Server?

Plex comes in two parts. There’s the Plex Media Server app and the Plex Media Player app.

The Plex Media Server is responsible for accessing your videos and sending them to the Plex Media Player apps on other devices.

The device on which you’re running the Plex Media Server app needs a) to have access to all of your videos, and b) to be running 24/7.

Plex Media Server is available for free on Windows, Mac, Linux, NAS drives, and Docker. There’s also a unique Android TV version. Plex Media Player is available on everything from Amazon Alexa to Oculus Go.

Download: Plex Media Server (Free)

Which Is the Best Device to Use as a Plex Media Server?

Users are faced with a considerable number of choices. You could feasibly run the Plex Media Server app on a laptop, desktop, mini PC, Android TV device, Raspberry Pi, network-attached storage drive, or any other device on which you can install Linux.

Let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of each of those devices in more detail.

1. Laptops

One of the most important things needed by the Plex Media Server is CPU power. If there isn’t enough available, your server is going to struggle to transcode videos and will be unable to handle simultaneous users.

As such, ancient, underpowered laptops might not be suitable. However, if you’ve got a semi-old device lying around, it’s worth considering.

It’s not recommended to run Plex on your main laptop. Overheating could quickly become an issue. If you’re using an old laptop, make sure you buy a cooling stand.

2. Desktops

The most significant benefit of using a desktop is power. Even a mid-spec desktop computer will comfortably be able to handle everything Plex can throw at it.

If you’re expecting several people to access your Plex media server at the same time, it is probably the best solution.

The same caveat about using your primary machine applies, however. You don’t want to be in the middle of working on an important document only for your fan to kick in because your wife and kids are all watching Plex on different screens.

3. Mini PCs

Mini PCs are often overlooked as potential Plex media servers. They have a few important benefits over regular desktops.

These benefits include lower power consumption, lower costs if you’re buying a new device, and, frequently, lower noise.

Mini PCs also strike a nice blend between size and portability. Sure, they’re not going to fit in your pocket, but they are easy to mount behind a TV or in a TV stand.

Dozens of mini PCs are available across a wide range of specs and price points. You can see some of the best devices available in our list of the best pre-built and DIY Plex media servers.

4. Android TV

Is an Nvidia Shield good as a Plex server? I’m looking for something I can basically stick in a closet and rarely look at.

— Zac Cichy (@zcichy) January 13, 2019

Plex hasn’t been able to use Android devices as media servers since the demise of the Plex Media Center app a few years ago.

There is, however, one exception: the Nvidia Shield. Nvidia has entered into a unique partnership with Plex, and the devices can act as Plex media servers.

And because both the regular Nvidia Shield and the Pro version both have USB ports, you can easily connect an external hard drive which contains all your movies and TV shows and stream the contents. You don’t need to move your library onto the Nvidia Shield itself.

Unfortunately, the Nvidia Shield has one potential drawback. Several users have reported that this device is unsuitable for very large libraries. Some complain about insufficient space for streaming in 4K, while others say thumbnail generation chews through the memory.

5. Raspberry Pi

Raspberry Pi devices have some very unique advantages and disadvantages when you’re using them with the Plex Media Server app.

The most notable downside is the lack of CPU power. The Raspberry Pi 2 has a 900 MHz quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU along with 1GB of RAM. The Raspberry Pi 3 uses a 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A53 CPU and 1GB of RAM.

That’s well short of Plex’s recommended requirements for the Media Server app: an Intel Core i3 processor and at least 2GB of RAM.

However, the Raspberry Pi also has some massive upsides, the most notable of which is portability. The web is full of users looking for advice on the best cheap device to use as a Plex media server in hotels and offices. The Raspberry Pi is probably the best solution. Just don’t expect to transcode 4K content.

6. NAS Drives

For people who need to access all their Plex content remotely, a NAS drive is perhaps the best choice. Too many people have complained about unreliability in the Plex Media Server app when it’s used on a laptop or desktop for them to be a dependable option.

As a company, Plex is big on pushing its NAS drive solutions. There are custom versions available for NAS drives from Synology, Netgear, QNAP, unRAID, Drobo, Asustor, Seagate, Western Digital, and TerraMaster.

However, before you hit the store looking to buy one, there are some things you need to consider. According to Plex, your NAS drive will need an x86 CPU. And if you buy an ARM model, transcoding will not be available. Therefore, you’ll need to ensure your video media is saved in a format which your Plex Media Player can support.

For the most universal playability, Plex recommends an MP4 container, the H.264 video codec, AAC audio, and a bitrate of less than 8Mbps.

If you want a NAS drive for Plex, we recommend the QNAP TS-453Be 4-Bay Professional NAS, the Synology DS218play, and the TerraMaster F4-220 4-Bay NAS.

Which Is the Best Plex Media Server?

If you’re a very occasional viewer, you can use Plex on your primary computers without too much concern. More serious users should consider using a dedicated old computer or a mini PC. Anyone who does a lot of traveling should buy a Raspberry Pi. And if remote access is important, consider purchasing a NAS drive.

If you would like to learn more about using Plex, check out our article listing the best Plex plugins for power users and our list of reasons why you don’t need a Plex Pass.

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The 7 Best Outdoor TV Antennas in 2019

Enter Our Giveaway to Win an iPad Pro, Apple Pencil, and Smart Keyboard!

Thought tablets were only for web browsing and watching YouTube? The new iPad Pro will make you think again. This touchscreen beast is more powerful than most laptops, with a high-resolution display that’s perfect for creativity and productivity.

The folks at MakeUseOf Deals have one iPad Pro to give away, along with an Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard. Enter now for your chance to win!

iPad Pro Power User

It would be fair to say that the iPad Pro is in a different league from most tablets. Featuring an 11-inch Liquid Retina display and an A12X Bionic chip with 64-bit architecture, this remarkable device is made for power users.

Thanks to the upcoming iPadOS, the iPad Pro offers all the same multi-tasking options as a conventional laptop. The difference is, you get access to the App Store and all the great features of iOS. With 512GB of internal storage and a built-in 4K camera, video is also a strong point.

With the Apple Pencil, you can turn your iPad Pro into a high-resolution tablet for digital art. Meanwhile, the Smart Keyboard makes typing long reports more comfortable. No matter what your needs may be, this device has you covered.

Enter Now!

Enter the giveaway now for your chance to win the iPad Pro and accessories, worth $1,457. We wish you the best of luck!

Read the full article: Enter Our Giveaway to Win an iPad Pro, Apple Pencil, and Smart Keyboard!

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5 Vegan Apps and Sites for a Healthier and Eco-friendly Diet

Samsung will announce the next Galaxy Note on August 7

It’s official. Samsung just sent out invites for the next Unpacked event. The big show kicks off at 4PM ET August 7, right here in New York. The timing lines up with rumors that have been floating around for few weeks — not to mention last year’s big event.

And in case there was any mystery around what precisely the company is going to unveil, Samsung has happily spoiled the surprise with the inclusion of a prominent S Pen on the invite. The August event will almost certainly see the debut of the Galaxy Note 10.

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 review

The art appears to hint at an updated camera, as well. Based on recent leaks, the invite looks to be a closeup of the nearly all-screen front of the new phablet, with the single hole punch front facing camera up top. 

The new handset is said to include a vertical three array camera with depth sensing and a 5G option. Samsung is also reportedly dropping the headphone jack this time out, after years pointing to it as a standout feature from the rest of the industry.

Last year’s event also saw a number of additional devices, including the (still unreleased) Galaxy Home smart speaker. And very least maybe we’ll finally be getting a date on that product, along with more information about the long delayed Galaxy Fold.

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Google Maps Features New Tricks for Bus Passengers

Google Maps has two new tricks up its sleeve, and they should make commuters’ lives easier. While Google Maps is most useful for drivers—especially as Google can now direct you away from natural disasters—public transit users haven’t been forgotten.

Google Maps Makes Commuters’ Lives Easier

According to a post on The Keyword, Google Maps can now predict how crowded your bus, train, or subway ride is going to be. Google Maps will also deliver live traffic delays for passengers waiting to board a bus. Allowing them to adjust their journey.

First up are the crowdedness predictions for buses, trains, and subways. These will predict how crowded your choice of public transit is likely to be based on historical data. Thus allowing you to make an informed decision as to whether or not to squeeze on board.

Me during my commute: MOVE. THAT. BUS.

Now you can see real-time delays and how crowded your bus is on your way to work ?

Read more here: https://t.co/mMrQY3ji5u pic.twitter.com/afAK2Bz5KB

— Google Maps (@googlemaps) June 27, 2019

Secondly, Google will now keep you informed of live traffic delays for buses. Google will let you know if your bus is going to be late based on live traffic conditions along the route. This is meant to fill the gap left by bus companies which don’t offer such information.

Google has also published a post all about transit crowdedness trends around the world. The data is based on reports from Google Maps users travelling during peak commuting hours. And for those who live in crowded cities, the stats make for interesting reading.

These features are available for Google Maps in 200 cities around the world.

Download: Google Maps for Android | iOS

Google Maps Is Getting Better and Better

Google keeps improving the information available to Google Maps users, and adding new features regularly. So it’s no wonder that Google Maps is the number one navigation app in the world. And that applies whether you’re walking, driving, or taking the bus.

Google Maps isn’t the only tech company trying to make commuters’ lives easier. In June 2019, Spotify launched Your Daily Drive, mixing your favorite songs with short-form podcasts. And contrary to the name, you can still listen to Your Daily Drive on the bus!

Image Credit: Matt Brown/Flickr

Read the full article: Google Maps Features New Tricks for Bus Passengers

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15 Google Home Commands for Mini Games and More

Google Home combines the convenience of Google Assistant with smart home devices, opening up a whole world of things you can do using Google Home commands.

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From commands that open up mini-games to commands for controlling your smart home, there’s no shortage of things to try. Here are some interesting Google Home commands worth using.

What Are Google Home Commands?

Google Home commands are instructions that work with compatible devices. They work both with Google’s own devices and its partners’ smart displays and smart speakers. These devices run Google Assistant, allowing them to access a variety of apps and services through voice commands.

Google Home commands cover everything from launching interactive mini-games, controlling compatible devices, enabling hands-free calling, and other tasks. Commands can also be strung together through routines.

Google Home routines execute a chain of tasks linked to a single voice command. For example, if you ask Google Home to get you ready for bed, it can start a routine that dims your bedroom lights, plays relaxing music, and turns your thermostat down.

Google Home commands free you from needing to carry an Android device everywhere in order to use Google Assistant in your house. Rather, you can use your voice to wake your Google Home device and give it a command. This also makes Assistant accessible to the whole family, without each individual needing their own device.

Google Home Commands: Games You Can Play

Google Assistant-powered devices such as the Google Mini, Google Home, and Google Max are perfect for playing games—either by yourself or with others. Here are a few Google Home mini-games you should try out.

1. Play Ding Dong Coconut

Ding Dong Coconut is an interesting mix of memory and sound games. In the game, you need to remember sounds played by Google Home and words that Assistant assigns to them. For example, a dog’s bark may be associated with the word “smartphone”. During the game, you will be expected to recall which words are associated with which sounds.

Just say: “Hey Google, let’s play Ding Dong Coconut.”

2. Take Part in a Song Quiz With Google Home

Song Quiz is a pop music game where players guess the song name and artist for small clips. You can choose the decade from which the quiz songs should be selected, as well as how many players are taking part.

Just say: “Hey Google, talk to Song Quiz.”

3. Play the Brainstormer Trivia Game for Google Home

If you’re looking for a fun, general knowledge and trivia game to play, ask Google Home to open Brainstormer Trivia. The multiple choice quiz questions you on a variety of topics, providing you with an explanation if you get an answer wrong.

Just say: “Hey Google, talk to Brainstormer Trivia.”

4. Play The Game of Castle

Another fun Google Home mini-game to try is The Game of Castle. This RPG leads you through a narrated adventure and series of scenarios. You are given choices on what to do next, with Google taking you through each stage of the game.

Just say: “Hey Google, ask The Game of Castle to begin adventure” or “Hey Google, ask The Game of Castle to start the game”.

5. Play Akinator Game With Google Home

Akinator is a fun spin on 20 questions where the roles are reversed—a fictional genie named Akinator will ask you twenty questions to figure out which celebrity, public figure, or fictional character you are thinking about.

Just say: “Hey Google, I want to talk to Akinator.”

6. Find New Games for Google Home

Not sure which game to play and want to try something new? You can always get help from Google. Firstly, there are a number of funny questions to ask your Google Home. But if you’re specifically looking for a game to play, you can get Google to walk you through a list of games to choose from.

Just say: “Hey Google, let’s play a game.”

Google Home Commands: Music, Sound, and Audio

If you’re looking for entertainment, but not necessarily games, there’s no shortage of audio content available through your Google Home device. Try out some of these commands to listen to music, hear new podcasts, or enjoy some radio broadcasts.

7. Listen to Your Favorite Songs

You can ask Google Home to play you certain songs and tracks from your associated music account. All you need to do is name the song and artist and Google will start playing the track. The default app used it Google Play Music, but you can also associate your other active streaming accounts with Assistant.

Just say: “Hey Google, play [song name] by [artist].”

8. Play Ambient Sounds for Relaxation

White noise and ambient sounds are great at helping you fall asleep. Google Assistant saves you the trouble of downloading apps by playing ambient sounds such as rainstorms, a crackling fire, and more to help you wind down.

Just say: “Hey Google, help me relax” or “Okay Google, what ambient sounds do you know?”

9. Listen to the Radio With Google Home

For those times you’d like to ditch Spotify or Pandora, ask Google to play your favorite radio station instead. Depending on the associated app you’re using, Assistant will respond to the station’s call sign or number on the dial.

Just say: “Hey Google, play [radio station name].”

10. Recommend a Podcast

If you’re in the mood to listen to a podcast but aren’t sure what to try, Google Home can help you out. Simply ask Assistant to recommend a podcast and it will generate a list of ten to play.

Just say: “Recommend a podcast.”

Google Home Commands for Chromecast

You can control your Chromecast with Google Assistant—and by extension, give your Google Home device the functionality of a TV remote or automated media player. However, you will need to assign your Chromecast a name, such as Living Room TV (a default name Google provides), so that Assistant realizes exactly which device you want to use.

Here are a few Chromecast commands to try out…

11. Use Your Chromecast as a Remote Control

You can use Google Home commands so that Assistant functions as a remote control for your television. These features include turning your TV on and off, volume control, and media playback controls.

Just say: “Turn on my TV” or “Mute my TV.”

12. Stream Your Favorite Netflix Series on Chromecast

If you have linked your Netflix account to your Google Home account, you will be able to stream series and movies to Chromecast using voice commands. If you specify the series you want to watch, it will usually pick up where you left off.

Just say: “Hey Google, play [series name] from Netflix on [Chromecast name].”

13. Get Chromecast to Play Music

Another command you can use with Google Home and Chromecast is music streaming on your TV. You can choose a specific song or simply get a curated playlist of suggested music from your streaming app. Other options include streaming music with a specific theme to your Chromecast. This includes relaxing music or a certain music genre.

Just say: “Hey Google, play [song name] on [Chromecast name].”

Useful Google Home Commands for Smart Homes

Some of the best features of Google Home come from its smart home functionality. Assistant is able to work with a number of third-party devices to create a fluid smart home experience.

14. Control Your Home’s Lighting

You can use Google Home to control lighting across your smart home. Commands range from dimming lights to checking the status of certain rooms’ lights. However, the specific app you want to use with Assistant will depend on which brands you’re using.

Just say: “Hey Google, dim the lights in [room name] or “Hey Google, are the lights on in [room name]?”

15. Get Google Home to Find Your Phone

Probably one of the most useful commands you can use with a Google Home speaker or display is the find phone feature. This is an especially handy tool if you’re prone to leaving your smartphone lying around the house. Google will make your phone start ringing, even if it is on silent mode, so that you can find it again.

Just say: “Hey Google, find my phone.”

Now Read Our Google Home Commands Cheat Sheet

Google Home has so many more commands than the ones that fit into this list. Not only is there a variety of extra features and functionality, but there are also some interesting Easter eggs to enjoy.

If you want to find out more about commands you can use with your Google Home device, check out our Google Home commands cheat sheet.

Read the full article: 15 Google Home Commands for Mini Games and More

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Atlan raises $2.5M to stop enterprises from being so bad at managing data

Even as much of the world is digitizing its governance, in small towns and villages of India, data about its citizens is still being largely logged on long and thick notebooks. Have they received the subsidized cooking gas cylinders? How frequent are the power cuts in the village? If these data points exist at all, they are probably stored in big paperbacks stacked in a corner of some agency’s office.

Five years ago, two young entrepreneurs — Prukalpa Sankar and Varun Banka — set out to modernize this system. They founded SocialCops, a startup that builds tools that make it easier for government officials — and anyone else — to quickly conduct surveys and maintain digital records that could be accessed from anywhere.

The Indian government was so impressed with SocialCops’ offering that it partnered with the startup on National Data Platform, a project to connect and bring more transparency within many of the state-run initiatives; and Ujjwala Yojana, a project to deliver subsidized cooking gas cylinders to poor women across the nation.

“This is a crucial step towards good governance through which we will be able to monitor everything centrally,” India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said of National Data Platform. “It will enable us to effectively monitor every village of the country.”

Two years ago, the duo wondered if the internal tools that they built for their own teams to manage their projects could help data teams around the world? The early results are in: Atlan, a startup they founded using learnings from SocialCops, has secured more than 200 customers from over 50 nations and has raised $2.5 million in pre-Series A funding led by Waterbridge Ventures, an early stage venture fund.

The startup, which employs about 80 people, has also received backing from Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of conglomerate Tata Sons, Rajan Anandan, the former head of Google Southeast Asia, and 500 Startups. On Tuesday, Singapore-headquartered Atlan moved out of stealth mode.

The premise of Atlan’s products is simple. It’s built on the assumption that the way most people in enterprises deal with data is inefficient and broken, Sankar and Banka told TechCrunch in an interview. Typically, there is no central system to keep track of all these data points that often live in their own silos. This often results in people spending days to figure out what their compliance policy is, for instance.

“Atlan wants to democratize data inside organizations,” said Sankar.

Teams within a typical company currently use a number of different tools to gather and manage data. Atlan has built products — dubbed Discovery, Grid, and Workflows — that work with several popular services to fetch data points from internal and external sources to one interface. This interface, which serves as a collaborative layer, can be viewed by anyone with prerequisite permission to access and edit data on a web browser. The interface also allows users to quickly sort the data points by the year of their creation and look for patterns.

Atlan’s Grid allows an organization to see all the data they have licensed or purchased from external sources. So, for instance, an organization may have teams that subscribe to data from consulting and analytics firm. Currently, they are required to visit the websites or apps of all these third-party firms to view the data. Grid brings them to the same aforementioned interface.

The startup has also built a product called Collect that allows an organization to quickly deploy apps to conduct surveys and collect granular data. These apps can collect data even when there is no internet connection and again, all of these data points then can be viewed on one interface.

Atlan intends to use the capital it has raised on product development and sign more customers. It has already won some big names including Unilever, Milkbasket, Barbeque Nation, WPP and GroupM, Mahindra Group and InMobi in India, Chuan Lim Construction in Singapore, ServeHaiti in Haiti, Swansea University in the UK, the Ministry of Environment in Costa Rica, and Varun Beverages in Zambia.

In a prepared statement, Manish Kheterpal, Managing Partner at WaterBridge Ventures, said, “companies are struggling to overcome the friction that arises when diverse individuals need to collaborate, leading to project failure. The IPOs of companies like Slack and Zoom are proof that we live in the era of consumerization of the enterprise. With its sharp focus on data democratization, Atlan is well-positioned to reimagine the future of how data teams work.”

As for SocialCops, Sankar said many companies and government agencies are using the startup’s products and it will continue to live on and pursue its signature “social good” mission.

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Atlan raises $2.5M to stop enterprises from being so bad at managing data

Even as much of the world is digitizing its governance, in small towns and villages of India, data about its citizens is still being largely logged on long and thick notebooks. Have they received the subsidized cooking gas cylinders? How frequent are the power cuts in the village? If these data points exist at all, they are probably stored in big paperbacks stacked in a corner of some agency’s office.

Five years ago, two young entrepreneurs — Prukalpa Sankar and Varun Banka — set out to modernize this system. They founded SocialCops, a startup that builds tools that make it easier for government officials — and anyone else — to quickly conduct surveys and maintain digital records that could be accessed from anywhere.

The Indian government was so impressed with SocialCops’ offering that it partnered with the startup on National Data Platform, a project to connect and bring more transparency within many of the state-run initiatives; and Ujjwala Yojana, a project to deliver subsidized cooking gas cylinders to poor women across the nation.

“This is a crucial step towards good governance through which we will be able to monitor everything centrally,” India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said of National Data Platform. “It will enable us to effectively monitor every village of the country.”

Two years ago, the duo wondered if their products could find any usage in the enterprise world? The early results are in: Atlan, a startup they founded using learnings from SocialCops, has secured more than 200 customers from over 50 nations and has raised $2.5 million in pre-Series A funding led by Waterbridge Ventures, an early stage venture fund.

The startup, which employs about 80 people, has also received backing from Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of conglomerate Tata Sons, Rajan Anandan, the former head of Google Southeast Asia, and 500 Startups. On Tuesday, Singapore-headquartered Atlan moved out of stealth mode.

The premise of Atlan’s products is simple. It’s built on the assumption that the way most people in enterprises deal with data is inefficient and broken, Sankar and Banka told TechCrunch in an interview. Typically, there is no central system to keep track of all these data points that often live in their own silos. This often results in people spending days to figure out what their compliance policy is, for instance.

“Atlan wants to democratize data inside organizations,” said Sankar.

Teams within a typical company currently use a number of different tools to gather and manage data. Atlan has built products — dubbed Discovery, Grid, and Workflows — that work with several popular services to fetch data points from internal and external sources to one interface. This interface can be viewed by anyone with prerequisite permission to access and edit data on a web browser. The interface also allows users to quickly sort the data points by the year of their creation and look for patterns.

Atlan’s Grid allows an organization to see all the data they have licensed or purchased from external sources. So, for instance, an organization may have teams that subscribe to data from consulting and analytics firm. Currently, they are required to visit the websites or apps of all these third-party firms to view the data. Grid brings them to the same aforementioned interface.

The startup has also built a product called Collect that allows an organization to quickly deploy apps to conduct surveys and collect granular data. These apps can collect data even when there is no internet connection and again, all of these data points then can be viewed on one interface.

Atlan intends to use the capital it has raised on product development and sign more customers. It has already won some big names including Unilever, Milkbasket, Barbeque Nation, WPP and GroupM, Mahindra Group and InMobi in India, Chuan Lim Construction in Singapore, ServeHaiti in Haiti, Swansea University in the UK, the Ministry of Environment in Costa Rica, and Varun Beverages in Zambia.

In a prepared statement, Manish Kheterpal, Managing Partner at WaterBridge Ventures, said, “companies are struggling to overcome the friction that arises when diverse individuals need to collaborate, leading to project failure. The IPOs of companies like Slack and Zoom are proof that we live in the era of consumerization of the enterprise. With its sharp focus on data democratization, Atlan is well-positioned to reimagine the future of how data teams work.”

As for SocialCops, Sankar said many companies and government agencies are using the startup’s products and it will continue to live on and pursue its signature “social good” mission.

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VCs bet on Aegis AI, a startup using computer vision to detect guns

A new startup using computer vision software to turn security cameras into gun-detecting smart cameras has raised $2.2 million in venture capital funding in a round led by Bling Capital, with participation from Upside Partnership and Tensility Venture Partners.

Aegis AI sells to U.S. corporations and school district its technology, which scans thousands of video feeds for brandished weapons and provides threat-detection alerts to customers within one second, for $30 per camera, per month. Coupling AI and cloud computing, Aegis integrates with existing camera hardware and video management software, requiring no on-site installation or maintenance.

“We can take over the role of a security guard with much higher accuracy at a much lower cost,” Aegis co-founder and chief product officer Ben Ziomek tells TechCrunch.

The financing round comes as a fresh cohort of businesses look to new technologies to protect against gun violence. AI-based gun detection is an unproven method, but investors and entrepreneurs alike are hopeful it represents a new era in threat-detection and safety. Seattle-based Virtual eForce, Israel’s AnyVision and Canadian tech startup SN Technologies are among the startups focused on improving security systems across the globe.

For Aegis co-founder and chief executive officer Sonny Tai, protecting against gun violence is personal. The first-time founder, who previously spent nearly a decade in the Marine Corps, grew up in South Africa where gun violence was all too common.

“We had a close family friend who was fatally shot in his own home 20 years ago,” Tai tells TechCrunch. “This prompted my mother to decide that we should immigrate to the U.S. On my end, it inspired a lifelong passion in me. I had to do something about the U.S. gun epidemic.”

Aegis AI co-founders Sonny Tai (left) and Ben Ziomek

Lacking engineering expertise, Tai looked to Ziomek for technical support. Ziomek previously spent several years at Microsoft, most recently leading engineering and data science teams within the company’s AI program. Together they built Aegis, which is currently in the process of uprooting from Chicago to establish headquarters in New York City.

The pair spent 18 months building the technology they say can reliably recognize weapons in security camera footage. They had to take an “aggressive” data augmentation approach to develop the AI, Ziomek explains, as opposed to just scraping the web for images of weapons to feed to the platform.

“If you look at most of the state of the art computer vision models, they are really built specifically for the task of differentiating hundreds of different objects and the objects are very large,” Ziomek said. “We are looking for hard-to-see objects; we honed our system to look for small, dark objects in highly-complex scenes.”

“Traditionally — even if you’re working at Google or Microsoft — you scrape the internet for cats or hot dogs and you use a model based on that,” he added. “What happens when you do that same approach for weapons? You get product images, Instagram shots from people at the shooting range; all of these have no resemblance to real security camera footage.”

To teach its software to identify weapons, Aegis began by scrubbing the web for photos of weapons, then they reached out to key influencers in the personal safety space, who proved to be essential resources throughout the process. To complete the data collection process, they got their hands on real security footage and even took their own posed photos holding weapons to fill in any of the AI’s blind spots.

With a fresh bout of funding, Aegis will develop its technology to detect other threats, including bombs and vehicles.

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Coordinate Precision

Coordinate Precision

Samsung CEO calls Galaxy Fold mishap ‘embarrassing’

In a meeting with a group of journalists in South Korea, Samsung Electronics CEO DJ Koh candidly addressed the company’s latest hardware mishap. “It was embarrassing,” he told reporters, as quoted by The Independent. “I pushed it through before it was ready.”

That last bit no one can debate, really. After years of preamble, Samsung still managed to jump the gun with the Galaxy Fold. The company was eager to be the first major manufacture to market with the category’s most radical redesign in a decade. Ultimately, however, the company ended up pumping the breaks after multiple reviewers reported problems with their units.

Samsung Galaxy Fold review: future shock

Samsung was quick to place the blame at the hands of reviewers, but eventually shifted tacts after realizing that problems were more widespread. More than two months after the handset was initially expected to hit retail, we’re still very much in a holding pattern with Samsung’s first foldable. Though the company has promised a more concrete date for some time.

Samsung has been quick to deny any rumors that the phone has been altogether canceled, and Koh reiterated that the Fold is still being put through its paces. “I do admit I missed something on the foldable phone, but we are in the process of recovery,” the executive told the press. “At the moment, more than 2,000 devices are being tested right now in all aspects. We defined all the issues. Some issues we didn’t even think about, but thanks to our reviewers, mass volume testing is ongoing.”

Koh didn’t offer specifics with regards to a release date, though the company is reportedly gearing up to launch the next version of the Note at an event in August.

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Calm raises $27M to McConaughey you to sleep

Meditation app unicorn Calm wants you to doze off to the dulcet tones of actor Matthew McConaughey’s southern drawl or writer Stephen Fry’s english accent. Calm’s Sleep Stories feature that launched last year is a hit, with over 150 million listens from its 2 million paid subscribers and 50 million downloads. While lots of people want to meditate, they need to sleep. The 7-year-old app has finally found its must-have feature that makes it a habit rather than an aspiration.

Keen to capitalize on solving the insomnia problems plaguing people around the world, Lightspeed tells TechCrunch it has just invested $27 million into a Series B extension round in Calm alongside some celebrity angels at a $1 billion valuation. The cash will help the $70 per year subscription app further expand from guided meditations into more self-help masterclasses, stretching routines, relaxing music, breathing exercises, stories for children, and celebrity readings that lull you to sleep.

The funding adds to Calm’s $88 million Series B led by TPG that was announced in Februay that was also at a $1 billion valuation, bringing the full B round to $115 million and it’s total funding to about $141 million. Lightspeed partner Nicole Quinn confirms the fund started talks with Calm around the same time as TPG, but took longer to finish due diligence, which is why the valuation didn’t grow despite Calm’s progress since February.

“Nicole and Lightspeed are valueable partners as we continue to double down on entertainment through our content” Calm’s head of communications Alexia Marchetti tells me. The startup plans to announce more celebrity content tie-ins later this summer.

Broadening its appeal is critical for Calm amidst a crowded meditation app market including Headspace, Simple Habit, and Insight Timer plus newer entrants like Peleton’s mindfulness sessions and Journey’s live group classes. It’s become easy to find guided meditations online for free, so Calm needs to become a holistic mental wellness hub.

While it risks diluting its message by doing so much, Calm plethora of services could make it a gateway to more of your personal health spend, including therapy, meditation retreats, and health merchandise from airy clothing to yoga mats. But subscription fees alone are powering a big business. Calm quadrupled  revenue in 2018 to reach $150 million in annual revenue and profitability.

That revenue is poised to keep up it’s rapid growth. After the launch of Sleep Stories, “it was incredible to see the engagement spike up and also the retention” says Quinn. Users can choose from having McConaughey describe the wonders of the cosmosm, John McEnroe walk you through the rules of tennis, fairy tales like The Little Mermaid, and more.

Quinn tells me “Sleep Stories is now a huge percentage of the business, and also the length of time people spend on the app has gone up dramatically.” She tells me that so many startups are “trying to invent a problem where there isn’t one.” But difficulty snoozing is so widespread and detrimental that users are eager to pay for an app instead of a sleeping pill.

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Secret Border Patrol Facebook group is brimming with hate

At a time when immigration and border issues are foremost on Americans’ minds, the integrity of the men and women who enforce those policies is similarly important. Unfortunately, a private Facebook group for Border Patrol officers shows extremely troubling conduct — and shows the limits of such groups for those wishing to engage in bad behavior online.

Documented in a report by ProPublica, which was sent screenshots of a variety of posts and comments from it, the group is known as “I’m 10-15.” That’s code in the Border Patrol agency for “aliens in custody,” i.e. that someone attempting to cross the border illegally has been apprehended.

The group has some 9,500 members; recent reports put the total number of CBP officers at about twice that, so this would seem to be a popular group — but a secret one, visible only if you are invited. ProPublica verified that some of the postings they were sent were associated with accounts owned by officers.

The content apparently posted to the group (again, this can’t be verified without joining) is pretty vile. There’s dehumanization of detained migrant children — “oh well,” commented one member on a story about the death of one Guatemalan teen.

There’s incitement to violence — suggesting some agent “throw a 10-15 burrito at one of these bitches,” referring to Representatives Escobar (D-TX) and Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). “Fuck the hoes,” concurred another.

There’s conspiracy — one post suggests the now-famous image of the father and daughter drowned in the Rio Grande is falsified, saying “We’ve all seen the dems and liberal parties doing some pretty sick things.”

One user posted a manipulated image showing President Trump forcing Ocasio-Cortez to perform oral sex on him. Like I said, pretty vile. Here as elsewhere, the outspoken Congresswoman is a favored target for gendered abuse.

Online platforms still not clear enough about hate speech takedowns: EC

I’ve asked CBP for comment and have not yet heard back from the agency. But it seems unlikely that, with potentially half the force members of the group, that they could be completely ignorant of it or the type of content that’s being posted there.

This isn’t the only law enforcement group with hateful content out there by a long shot. The Plain View Project just posted a large database of posts it had collected from police department groups and accounts, and what’s visible there is more than a little troubling. Smaller exposures of concerning posts from individual departments or officers are commonplace.

It would be unfair to hold Facebook directly accountable for these ugly collections of xenophobic and sexist content. While objectionable they are nevertheless both protected speech and at least in some cases not prohibited by Facebook’s terms of service. Furthermore as a secret group they are unlikely to be reported by a random user, so even violating content will remain up for longer than it might if it were posted publicly.

Facebook’s policy on white supremacy plays right into a racist agenda

At the same time it’s also obvious that Facebook and other online platforms provide a venue for this kind of behavior and, especially with the suddenly rediscovered focus on privacy, it is difficult to prevent or detect. The same things that make it possible for an oppressed group to communicate undetected in a totalitarian country allows a totalitarian force to communicate undetected about that oppressed group.

But it only takes one dissenter or security flub to expose the whole operation or bring down the apparatus of oversight on it, as hopefully will be the case with this CBP group. No one begrudges an industry or group the ability to grouse privately about its unique challenges, and maybe even in a way others would find grating or inappropriate. Standards differ. But when it reaches a certain level, especially among a group which we would like to hold to a higher standard of behavior, exposure and condemnation seems not only desirable but inevitable.

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Girlboss pivots to provide a LinkedIn for professional women

Girlboss is the multi-media brand for women founded by serial entrepreneur Sophia Amoruso, whose last company, Nasty Gal, presaged the direct to consumer trend before collapsing under the weight of its own ambition.

Now, Amoruso is back with yet another iteration on Girlboss, the media site launched off the strength of her podcast, in what it’s labeling as professional networking 2.0.

More than 50,000 people have signed up for early access, including Jen Rubio, the co-founder of Away; Elaine Welteroth, the former editor in chief of Teen Vogue; celebrity hairstylist Jen Atkin; and other women from the media and entertainment world.

With their free membership, women who sign up get access to other entrepreneurial women and the ability to ask and answer questions from their peer group.

“Existing professional networks were built for another era. The resume is such an outdated way to represent ourselves. Girlboss is a place where our members can bring their whole self — and share not just what they do but who they are. In a time where most of us have more than one ambition, and are trading on our personalities as much as we are our experience, it’s clear that there’s a need for a platform that allows us to experience ourselves and one another in this capacity,” wrote Amoruso in an email. “Our goal is to drive as much intention as possible among members, from their profile creation, to user-generated content, to how users connect with one another.”

The profiles take LinkedIn one step further, according to the company, by including accomplishments, “life moments” and other elements to make the social network more personal — like a daily horoscope and a Meyers-Briggs type.

Other content like fireside chats, community questions and thought leaders, and access to a full member directory, will also be part of the community.

“Women are congregating to support one another more than ever. We make less money than men, we live longer, and we have institutionally been denied ‘the keys to the castle.’ For so long, women were encouraged to shy away from discussing the topics that have the greatest impact on our livelihood — from negotiating to pricing our services, to having difficult conversations to the state of our finances,” Amoruso wrote in an email. “Our community has shown up and proven they are hungry to connect on all of these things and more. Because real power comes through communal efforts—and through transparency at scale.”

Girlboss has raised more than $6 million from Initialized Capital, Gary Vaynerchuk, Slow Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Atom Factory and Jaws Ventures.

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