Former Facebook editor launches Beacon, a platform that pays journalists!!!!!!

Former Facebook editor launches Beacon, a platform that pays journalists (via Pando Daily)

By Hamish McKenzie On September 17, 2013 Former Facebook managing editor Daniel Fletcher and the two founders behind the Backspaces storytelling app have launched the beta version of a platform that aims to help independent journalists get paid for their…

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The Netflix for books is here, it’s mobile, and it makes Amazon look old!!!!!!!

The Netflix for books is here, it’s mobile, and it makes Amazon look old (via Pando Daily)

By Hamish McKenzie On September 5, 2013 As of now, the world has a platform that brings the power of Netflix-style recommendations and all-you-can-eat buffets to bear on one of the world’s oldest and greatest products: books. Today, New York-based…

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News sites are looking more like tablet apps every day, and that’s a good thing!!!!!

News sites are looking more like tablet apps every day, and that’s a good thing (via Pando Daily)

By Hamish McKenzie On August 30, 2013 Two weeks ago, NPR unveiled the redesign of its homepage, which is now a spare, white-space-heavy reading environment that places more emphasis on each story and less emphasis on cramming lots of headlines into a…

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Hugo Barra’s departure from Google is huge news for Xiaomi. It’s bigger news for Chinese tech!!!!!

Hugo Barra’s departure from Google is huge news for Xiaomi. It’s bigger news for Chinese tech (via Pando Daily)

By Hamish McKenzie On August 29, 2013 It is significant that Android’s Hugo Barra is leaving Google to join Xiaomi, a three-year-old smartphone maker that is already valued at $10 billion. And it’s just as significant that he is taking on a role…

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BuzzFeed has a Medium problem!!!!!!!

BuzzFeed has a Medium problem (via Pando Daily)

By Hamish McKenzie On August 28, 2013 BuzzFeed ought to thank anti-abortion group Personhood USA, which has exposed a serious flaw in the upstart publication’s system. With a BuzzFeedalicious listicle detailing why Planned Parenthood is the work of…

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Digitalundivided wants to start dialogue about more black people in tech!!!!!!

Digitalundivided wants to start dialogue about more black people in tech (via Pando Daily)

By Hamish McKenzie On August 27, 2013 Kathryn Finney’s dad was a high-school dropout living in inner-city Milwaukee and working for a brewery, unloading boxes from a truck. His life path seemed pretty much set. But then, at 36 years old, he took a…

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Government report finds “patent troll” narrative not straightforward!!!!!!!

Government report finds “patent troll” narrative not straightforward (via Pando Daily)

By Hamish McKenzie On August 23, 2013 Yesterday, the Government Accountability Office released a report on patent infringement litigation, but its findings didn’t align precisely with what fighters of “patent trolls” might have been hoping to hear…

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Wibbitz’s approach to mobile news shows the problem of too much tech!!!!!!

Wibbitz’s approach to mobile news shows the problem of too much tech (via Pando Daily)

By Hamish McKenzie On August 14, 2013 Israeli startup Wibbitz has news technology that seems to tick the right boxes for the mobile and wearable computing era, which is probably a big reason the company has Li Ka-shing, one of the world’s richest men…

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The secret to PolicyMic’s surprising viral success? Behavioral analysis!!!!!!!!!

The secret to PolicyMic’s surprising viral success? Behavioral analysis (via Pando Daily)

By Hamish McKenzie On August 13, 2013 PolicyMic doesn’t sound like a news website that could work. It peddles news and opinion pieces on serious topics, like North Carolina’s voter ID laws, anti-gay policy in Russia, or Republican opposition to…

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With Sean Parker as a new investor, WillCall’s mission to help bands steps up!!!!!!!

With Sean Parker as a new investor, WillCall’s mission to help bands steps up (via Pando Daily)

By Hamish McKenzie On August 7, 2013 Sean Parker has added his name to the list of investors putting money into WillCall, a bookings app that focuses on live music and lets people buy tickets to shows with one click. The San Francisco-based startup announced…

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The mad scramble to be the next mobile gaming platform is under way!!!!!!

The mad scramble to be the next mobile gaming platform is under way (via Pando Daily)

By Hamish McKenzie On August 5, 2013 Earlier today, I wrote a post poking fun at the push by messaging apps to make stickers – effectively, glorified emoticons – a key piece of their monetization strategies. Stickers, easy to make, easy to sell,…

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The Book of Mormon: Why the world’s most capitalist religion breeds so many entrepreneurs!!!!!

The Book of Mormon: Why the world’s most capitalist religion breeds so many entrepreneurs (via Pando Daily)

By Hamish McKenzie On July 31, 2013 On a sunny summer’s day in Provo’s North Park, hundreds of children are out with their parents, lining up for pretzels, lining up for face painting, and lining up to pet sheep. On a stage set up in front of a children…

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Interview with Catherine Bracy about inequality in Silicon Valley!!!!!!!

Listen to our PandoWeekly interview with Catherine Bracy about inequality in Silicon Valley (via Pando Daily)

By Hamish McKenzie On July 19, 2013 In 2010, 89 of the companies in California that got seed funding were founded by men. Only three percent had all-female founding teams. In the same year, less than 1 percent of the founders of Silicon Valley companies…

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Everything you need to know about how Congress is debating patent reform!!!!!!!!

Everything you need to know about how Congress is debating patent reform (via Pando Daily)

By Hamish McKenzie On July 16, 2013 The tech industry has been vocal in the immigration debate, which took a major step forward when the Senate passed a comprehensive bill that, if signed into law, would provide a path to citizenship for undocumented…

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Silicon Valley’s ugly rich-poor gap: What’s the tech world gonna do about it?

Silicon Valley’s ugly rich-poor gap: What’s the tech world gonna do about it? (via Pando Daily)

By Hamish McKenzie On July 8, 2013 When Catherine Bracy moved to San Francisco’s Mission district from Chicago to head up the technology team for President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, she was struck by the difference half a minute can make…

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Washington DC’s 1776 creates global startup competition!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Washington DC’s 1776 creates global startup competition (via Pando Daily)

By Hamish McKenzie On July 3, 2013 The Mayor of Washington DC was at the city’s startup campus ,1776, last night proclaiming that he wants to make the US capital the technology center of the East Coast. Standing on stage at the incubator’s July 4th…

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Why the “Steve Jobs of China” is crucial to the country’s innovative future!!!!!!

Why the “Steve Jobs of China” is crucial to the country’s innovative future (Book excerpt) (via Pando Daily)

By Hamish McKenzie On June 29, 2013 What follows is an excerpt from my new ebook “Beta China: The Dawn of an Innovation Generation,” which is the result of a reporting trip to China last year. The book is now on sale via Amazon and Apple for the…

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Number 8 Wire entrepreneurialism: How a cultural myth can inspire a country!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Number 8 Wire entrepreneurialism: How a cultural myth can inspire a country (via Pando Daily)

By Hamish McKenzie On May 14, 2013 It was March 1903 on a farm near the tiny town of Timaru in the South Island of New Zealand, and Richard Pearse, a humble farmer and inventor, was sitting atop a winged contraption made of bamboo, tubular steel, wire…

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SMS with videos: Invi’s visual take on the mobile messaging craze!!!!!!!

SMS with videos: Invi’s visual take on the mobile messaging craze (via Pando Daily)

By Hamish McKenzie On June 25, 2013 In our PandoWeekly interview the other day, Kik founder Ted Livingston said that he believes messaging is the killer app on mobile. Indeed, messaging apps are taking over the world, so much so that Facebook felt compelled…

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New video app Rockpack is bold and beautiful — but does it deserve to live?

New video app Rockpack is bold and beautiful — but does it deserve to live? (via Pando Daily)

By Hamish McKenzie On June 26, 2013 Rockpack has strong credentials and a good story to tell. Its founder, Sofia Fenichell, is a 45-year-old mother of two who works on the startup until 2am, after she has put her kids to bed. After a career in advertising…

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