New ten-part series on surveillance & corruption from creator of Aaron Swartz doc

Brian Knappenberger, the documentarian who created The Internet's Own Boy, a beautiful documentary about Aaron Swartz, has announced a new ten-part documentary series called "Truth and Power," which will show on Pivot. (more…)

Outdoor Advertising Is The New Black

Big cities like San Francisco and New York are digital meccas, home to many of the world’s largest technology startups — and to hordes of smartphone-toting, app-using consumers. But when it comes to making a name for themselves, many of the companies hoping to influence these techie urbanites are going decidedly analog. In these cities, and others, it’s hard to miss the… Read More

Hillary Clinton's logo accidentally puts Rosa Parks in the back of a bus

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke Tuesday on the anniversary of Rosa Parks' Dec. 1, 1955 arrest for refusing to give her bus seat to a white passenger.

The event sparked the boycott of Montgomery buses by black Americans to protest segregated seating. But Clinton, the current frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, also marked the occasion with a special logo on her social media accounts.

It did not go over well on Twitter, where users suggested that Parks is seemingly seated at the back of an H-shaped bus.

.@HillaryClinton's design team honored Rosa Parks today by moving her to the back of the buspic.twitter.com/eIYnVQ9uPa

— George Scoville (@stackiii) December 1, 2015 Read more...

More about Hillary Clinton, Rosa Parks, Us World, Politics, and Us

Can you pass this personal financial literacy test?

Standard & Poor’s, Gallup, the World Bank, and George Washington University gave a five-question test on personal financial concepts to 150,000 people in more than 140 countries. Only 33% of people passed by demonstrating competency in three out of the four topics covered: risk, inflation, interest, and compound interest. Here's the quiz:

1. Risk Diversification:
Question: Suppose you have some money. Is it safer to put your money into one business or investment, or to put your money into multiple businesses or investments?

2. Inflation:
Question: Suppose over the next 10 years the prices of the things you buy double. If your income ALSO doubles, will you be able to buy less than you can buy today, the same as you can buy today, OR more than you can buy today?

3. Numeracy and Comparison (Debt):
Question: Suppose you need to borrow $100. Which is the lower amount to pay back: $105 or $100 plus three percent?

4. Interest Compounding (Saving):
Question: Suppose you put money in the bank for two years and the bank agrees to add 15 percent per year to your account. Will the bank add MORE money to your account the second year than it did the first year, or will it add the same amount of money both years?

5. Interest Compounding (Saving and Numeracy):
Question: Suppose you had $100 in a savings account and the bank adds 10 percent per year to the account. How much money would you have in the account after five years if you did not remove any money from the account?

Roll over to see the answers: 1. Multiple; 2. Same; 3. $100 plus three percent; 4. More; 5. 161.05

More about the survey here: "One of the Most Extensive Measurements of Global Financial Literacy Research to Date" (MHFI)

And Quartz has an online version of the quiz here: "Two-thirds of the world can’t pass this basic financial literacy test. Can you?"

Video about the survey:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woTC6AyRXSo

How to get 2GB of free data on Verizon right now

If you're a Verizon Wireless customer, Black Friday came a week early.

Verizon subscribers with an eligible plan can receive 2GB of data for free as part of the company's "Thanksgetting" promotion.

See also: Verizon's trademark red swoop becomes a sad, shrunken check mark

Starting right now, qualifying customers can get 1GB of free data on their current billing cycle and 1GB of data on their next cycle.

Get ready for #Thanksgetting. Get 1GB of free data. Get streaminghttps://t.co/6CVrmaYs1z

— Verizon (@verizon) November 19, 2015

Just visit this page to claim your free data. Click "Get it now" in the middle of the page, log into your account and follow the instructions. Read more...

More about Mobile, Verizon, and Tech

Hot 'Jeopardy!' contestant Tom just doesn't give a sh*t

Throughout most of its history, Jeopardy has been known for its brains rather than its brawns

Until Monday night, that is, when a mysterious, chiseled stranger named “Tom” appeared, causing an uproar on Twitter.

During Final Jeopardy, Tom Flynn was confronted with a tough clue. Instead of hazarding a guess, effortlessly cool Tom responded with a simple "What."

See also: 'Jeopardy!' mastermind Matt Jackson loses in classiest way possible

It wasn't the easiest Final Jeopardy — he was asked to identify the first music CD ever mass-produced in the U.S. (correct response: Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA) — but it was his utter lack of enthusiasm (and delightful lack of punctuation) that brought joy to Tom fans everywhere Read more...

More about Models, Jeopardy, Watercooler, Conversations, and Watercooler Humor

Bravery Is At The Heart Of Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurs looking for a pivot or an idea sometimes ask me “what’s hot now?” That’s the wrong question! What’s hot now is too late for you if your dreams are to be a world-changing entrepreneur: You need to create what will be hot years from now. Read More

eBay Q3 Earnings Beats Expectations Following Its Split From PayPal

eBay reported its third-quarter earnings today — its first as a separate company from PayPal — and beat investor expectations with earnings of 43 cents per share and $2.1 billion in revenue. Investors were looking for $2.09 billion in revenue and earnings of 40 cents per share. Read More

Lisbon’s Startup Scene Heats Up At Our TechCrunch Meetup

This week we held the first ever TechCrunch Lisbon Meetup and Pitch-off at a rooftop bar over-looking this beautiful, ancient city which in the last few years has been coming to life as a vibrant startup hub in this part of southern Europe. Thanks to the good offices of local accelerator Beta-i and a bar stacked by Android market startup Aptoide, around 200 people turned up to hear the pitches… Read More