Microsoft’s game streaming service Beam rebrands as Mixer, adds co-streaming, a guide & mobile broadcasting

 Microsoft’s live-streaming service Beam, which the company acquired last year shortly after it emerged as the winner of the TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Battlefield, is today getting a new name: Mixer. The name is meant to express the way the service brings people together, the team explains, but it’s not the only change rolling out today, as it turns out. Mixer is also launching… Read More

from Microsoft – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/25/microsofts-game-streaming-service-beam-rebrands-as-mixer-adds-co-streaming-a-guide-mobile-broadcasting/?ncid=rss

“What about endogeneity?”

Ask this question often.

Several times a day, at least.

Endogeneity is a fancy term for confusing cause and effect. For not being clear about causation and correlation.

It's one reason why smart people make so many mistakes. We think A leads to B, so more A gets more B. While A and B may have been related in the past, though, it's not at all clear that improving A is going to do anything about B.

There is, for example, an extraordinarily high correlation between per capita cheese consumption and the risk of being strangled by your bedsheets while you sleep:

That doesn't mean that eating less cheese is going to help you not die in bed.

       

from Seth Godin's Blog on marketing, tribes and respect http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/333209082/0/sethsblog~%e2%80%9cWhat-about-endogeneity%e2%80%9d.html

Ikea’s smart light bulbs will work with Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri and Google Assistant

 Ikea’s smart light bulbs will answer to voice commands starting this summer. The company announced in a Swedish-language press release that its smart lighting product line, called Trådfri, will work with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Siri and HomeKit. Read More

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/23/ikeas-smart-light-bulbs-will-work-with-amazon-alexa-apple-siri-and-google-assistant/?ncid=rss

Amazon adds shoppable stickers to its iOS app

 Using stickers to decorate your photos is a common feature found in social apps like Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and others. But today, stickers have started showing up in a more surprising place: Amazon’s mobile app. Following a recent update, Amazon has added support for stickers within its iOS app’s camera feed – the feature that allows you to search for… Read More

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/24/amazon-adds-shoppable-stickers-to-its-ios-app/?ncid=rss

Microsoft now uses Git and GVFS to develop Windows

 Microsoft today announced that virtually all of its engineers now use the Git version control system to develop its Windows operating system. The Windows Git repository includes about 3.5 million files that weigh in at about 300GB when you check them into Git. Git, however, wasn’t built for a project of this size, so Microsoft developed the Git Virtual File System to be able to get… Read More

from Microsoft – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/24/microsoft-now-uses-git-and-gvfs-to-develop-windows/?ncid=rss

Report: Microsoft to buy security firm Hexadite for $100M as Cloudyn still in progress

 While we wait to get more news on Microsoft closing a reported acquisition of Cloudyn, another report has emerged of one more enterprise startup that the software giant is buying in Israel. Calacalist reported earlier today that Microsoft is paying $100 million to acquire Hexadite, a cybersecurity company that uses AI to sort through and address smaller network attacks — which can… Read More

from Microsoft – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/24/microsoft-hexadite-100m-cloudyn/?ncid=rss

Naspers pours $5M into Coins, a fintech startup for Southeast Asia’s unbanked population

 Prolific investment firm Naspers is making a push into bitcoin and financial services after it backed Philippines-based startup Coins.ph to the tune of $5 million. Coins is focused on offering financial services for the unbanked in the Philippines and Thailand. It uses the blockchain as its underlying technology to facilitate transfers and remittances. It announced the new funding —… Read More

from Amazon – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/24/naspers-coins-ph-unbanked-bitcoin-fintech/?ncid=rss