Greg Ferenstein

Articles by Greg Ferenstein

Ferenstein: Breitbart Correctly Identified a Conflict Between Silicon Valley and Nationalism

The growing divide between conservatives and Silicon Valley is no accident. In a recently released survey of over 600 tech founders, I and my co-authors identified fundamental philosophical differences between Trump voters and technologists. Namely, Silicon Valley is about as “globalist” as it gets, supporting both free trade and immigration much more than the typical self-identified Republican.

TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images

Ferenstein: DACA Represents the Best of America

While there is plenty wrong with our immigration system, the policy that protected undocumented children (‘Dreamers”) is something that should make Americans proud.

The Associated Press

Why Apple Fears Britain’s ‘Snooper’s Charter’

Apple is formally opposing a proposed UK law that requires tech companies to provide a way for authorities to access encrypted messages. The software giant has prided itself on communications so secure that not even it can read some messages. Under so-called “end-to-end encryption,” only sender and receiver have the capacity to unscramble a message.

AP Photo/Andy Wong

The Gig Economy Appears to Be Growing– Here’s Why

With the rise of Uber, Airbnb, and TaskRabbit, there’s a sinking suspicion that the traditional 9-5 job is being replaced by flexible, independent contract work. But, despite the existence of multiple billion-dollar Silicon Valley startups hiring an army of independent contract workers, economists have had difficulty finding any evidence that Americans were more likely to be self-employed.

REUTERS/ROBERT GALBRAITH

Elon Musk Explains How He Plans to Stop Evil Artificial Intelligence

The tech elite are teaming up to protect humanity from evil Matrix-like artificial intelligence. Elon Musk and a team of Silicon Valley elite have reportedly pledged more than a billion dollars to construct artificial intelligence that benefits mankind, rather than enslaves it.

AP Photo/Francois Mori

Best Post-Mailbox Email Application

My favorite email application, Mailbox, is shutting down in February, so I am scrambling for an alternative. Fortunately, Mailbox’s trailblazing features have been widely adopted by many of its competitors, so there are plenty options. My favorites are Google’s Inbox and Microsoft Outlook. (Yes, Outlook works for iPhone and Gmail users.)

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Google Censored over 300,000 Links for European Regulators

Google has censored hundreds of thousands of links to comply with European “right to be forgotten” regulations. A new transparency report reveals that the search giant has complied with 348,508 of the 1,235,473 URLs that users have requested be removed from search results.

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Top Silicon Valley Investor: Industries with Unions Are Ripe for Disruption

(Ferenstein Wire)—Silicon Valley is coming after unionized industries. A top investor in the Valley, Paul Graham, lit up Twitter, tweeting, “Any industry that still has unions has potential energy that could be released by startups. (I don’t mean in simply paying people less, but rather that industries afflicted by unions are sclerotic so have left lots undone.)”

REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

Silicon Valley Represents an Entirely New Political Ideology

(Ferenstein Wire) – Over the last decade, Silicon Valley has become an extraordinary force in politics, but they’ve bewildered the DC establishment with their bizarre loyalties. Tech titans are the arch nemesis of labor unions on a series of fronts, from high-skilled immigration and the taxi industry to free trade and their aggressive funding of union-less public charter schools.

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Airbnb’s $8M Political Campaign vs. Proposition F

Airbnb has made headlines for reportedly spending a whopping $8,000,000 to defeat a San Francisco proposition to restrict short-term rentals. That translates into roughly $40 per voter of advertising from Airbnb alone, not including supporting tech lobbies.

Airbnb ad in San Francisco

‘Coding Bootcamps’ Give English Majors a Shot in Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley’s “coding bootcamps” are a cottage industry of fast-track private vocational schools for graduates looking to enter the competitive tech industry as software engineers, data scientists, and other in-demand jobs. Many coding bootcamp graduates who hold college degrees in areas notorious for slim earning potential (like English majors) and are now fully employed in the tech industry making a lot more money.

Dev Bootcamp/Flickr

Why the White House Doesn’t Need to Spend $700K on ‘Standing Desks’

The White House reportedly wants to shell out a whopping $700,000 for standing desks. While it’s true that sitting all day long has debilitating health effects and it’s smart business to keep employees healthy, it’s an extraordinary amount of money to pay for something that can be recreated with a free cardboard box.

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Apple Reportedly Avoids $59 Billion in Taxes

Big tech companies are safeguarding billions of dollars in offshore tax havens, according to a new study. Apple alone, the biggest offender, is stashing $181B in revenue with an estimated tax burden of $59.2B. In other words, Apple’s taxes could pay for nearly the entirety of President Obama’s plan for free two-year community college (an estimated $60B).

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Silicon Valley Suddenly Cares About Speaker Fight

(Ferenstein Wire) – The tech industry, now one of the largest private sector lobbying forces in Washington DC, hasn’t had much to say as Republicans scramble to find a new Speaker for the House of Representatives. But now, Congress’s geekiest member, Representative Darrell Issa, is “considering” putting his hat in the ring and has turned heads in the well-heeled tech halls of D.C.

Issa Newsom

Europe Drops the Hammer on Tech Startups over Edward Snowden Leaks

(Ferenstein Wire)—The technology industry is scrambling to understand how it will continue business in Europe, after the continent’s high court struck down a privacy agreement that protected U.S.-based companies operating abroad, known as Safe Harbor.

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Uber Discovers What Happens to Consumers if Surge Pricing Is Regulated

A technical glitch during New Year’s Eve turned out to be an information treasure trove for Uber. Last New Year’s Eve in NYC, the surge pricing algorithms failed and didn’t allow Uber to incentivize more drivers to get on the road with higher pay, just as partygoers rushed to call drivers; only 1 in 4 of users who wanted a driver actually got one.

REUTERS/ROBERT GALBRAITH

Uber CEO Spells Out His Endgame, in 2 Quotes

Since Uber began getting regularly hammered in the press for its aggressive political tactics and potential legal violations, the once outspoken CEO hasn’t given the public much direction about the future of the multibillionaire transportation company.

The Associated Press