📡 Smart-is-the-new-sexy influencer 👨💻
Welcome to the first Pulse of 2020!
Long-time, no pulse, right? How was your holidays? Hope you had a better start to the year than I did with a leaking boiler and a broken water main at my flat (it was more of a pool for a while)!
Anyways, it’s great to be back. I really missed writing for you guys - and on some level, I really hope you missed me too!
Now, let’s do a quick recap of the week.
- Ben from [ perspective ix ]
🗞 NEWS
Astrophysicist Ron Mallett believes he’s found a way to travel back in time — theoretically [Futurism].
Tesla delivered 367,500 vehicles for the year, a 50% increase from 2018 [CNN] - it was Elon’s 2019 new year resolution!
Snapchat quietly splashed $166 million to acquire AI Factory - the company behind its new Cameos feature [TechCrunch]. Interestingly, Snap acquired AI Factory founder Victor Shaburov’s previous company, Looksery, in 2015. Looksery’s tech helped Snap develop its popular “Lenses” feature [Axios].
Google says its AI model found breast cancer in screening mammograms with fewer false positives and fewer false negatives than human experts found [NYTimes] - nice one, Dr G!
TikTok’s released their first transparency report, but it probably doesn’t tell the full story [Wired]. The app says it received most requests for user data and content takedowns from India and USA, with zero requests from China - and that smells like a bunch of pants on 🔥
Global spending on digital games hit a record $109 billion in 2019 [Nielsen data via the Hollywood Reporter] - and you know what’s the most interesting part? Many of them are FREE to play!
🧠 INSIGHTS
Foodies... - Credit: Eaters Collective on Unsplash
How I Eat For Free in NYC Using Python, Automation, Artificial Intelligence, and Instagram by Chris Buetti
Chris Buetti explains how he’s receiving free meals from some of the best restaurants in New York City using code, data science, AI, and Instagram.
Read more here.
📊 STATISTICS
The Smartphones With the Longest-Lasting Batteries - Credit: Statista
The Smartphones With the Longest-Lasting Batteries
Every smartphone users know the dilemma: It doesn’t matter how great your latest-generation smartphone is or which cutting-edge features it contains - the device still runs on old-fashioned electricity it draws from its battery, often the weakest part of the phone. With the number of apps people use and time they spend on their smartphone increasing, battery woes are all too common - the prevalence of powerbanks and charging stations popping up in different places certainly tell that story.
Read more on Statista.
Stock Market Performance in 2019 - Credit: CNBC
Stocks post best annual gain in 6 years
Global stocks closed out 2019 with one of their best performances in years.
S&P: 28.9% - the best-performing stocks were chipmakers AMD, Lam Research, and KLA Corp.
Nasdaq: 35.2% - the tech heavy index had its best annual performance in six years.
Dow: 22.3% - Apple and Microsoft led the way, rallying 86.2% and 55.3%, respectively.
Read more on CNBC.
Global Consumer Spending in Apps on 🎄2019 - Credit: SensorTower
Global App Spending Reached $277 Million on Christmas
Spurred by new device sales, first-time mobile users, and consumers flush with gift card credit, worldwide spending across the App Store and Google Play on Christmas topped $277 million according to Sensor Tower estimates. This represented combined YoY growth of 11.3% for the stores, which brought in a total of $249 million in user spending on the same day in 2018.
Read more on SensorTower.
📱 TOOLS & APPS
WaterLama: Challenge yourself to stay hydrated & happy [iOS]
iShuffle: Listen to your favourite music, in perfect harmony. [Brave | Firefox | Chrome] A Chrome & Firefox extensiton which seamlessly connects with Apple Music, Spotify, SoundCloud or YouTube and play your favorite artist’s latest releases, playlists, songs and albums from any page.
🎧 AUDIO STIMULATION
Things We Learned in 2019 - Planet Money
Tom Whitwell made an amazing list of 52 things he learned this year. Planet Money digs into their favourites here.
📡 [ pulse ] → a collaborative playlist on Spotify
Add your favourite songs to this collaborative playlist! Come on! Let’s enjoy music together.
🐦 TWEETS of the WEEK
On this day in 2010: Travis Kalanick tweets Uber’s first job opening
Ryan Graves replies & becomes Uber’s first hire (he’s now a billionaire) https://t.co/bPpGHlJb2M
Scrolling through Twitter is cardio
@Twitter How about scrolling through draft tweets?
@PerspectiveIX great for stretching
↓ and this made so much sense, although i have posted on TikTok a few times.
My parents have Instagram,
but they don’t post.
“We don’t know what to post!
We just like to watch!”
I toss low-hanging millennial jokes
& call them old.
Then I realize.
I watch TikTok daily, but don’t post. Because I don’t know what to post. I just like to watch.
Oh no.
Don’t be funnier than me in my replies or I’ll delete the whole tweet. Now no one gets to laugh
Netflix India gets it.
😂 FUN STUFF
😂😂😂
VR hits again!
When Santa under-delivers; or doesn't at all - Credit: Reddit/u/mandarancza
That's all for this week...
Hope your Santa delivered. See you again soon!
Ciao