Jonathan Tarud

Jason Fried from Basecamp on advice they got from Jeff Bezos:

People who were right a lot of the time were people who often changed their minds. He doesn’t think consistency of thought is a particularly positive trait. It’s perfectly healthy — encouraged, even — to have an idea tomorrow that contradicted your idea today.

It might surprise some to learn that the world’s second-oldest airline is actually Colombia’s Avianca. It was founded as SCADTA, or Sociedad Colombo Alemana de Transporte Aéreo and its first flight was from Barranquilla to Puerto Berrio in September 1920. The airline changed its name to Avianca – an acronym of Aerovías Nacionales de Colombia – in 1940 when it merged with another acronymized airline named SACO (Servicio Aéreo Colombiano) and its German backers were forced to divest due to World War II. Avianca now includes subsidiaries in several Latin American countries and merged with the Salvadoran carrier TACA, which itself was founded in 1931, in 2009. The combined airline became a member of the Star Alliance in 2012.

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Bloomberg:

The third-largest U.S. wireless carrier unveiled what it claims is a patented customer-service program on Wednesday called Team of Experts. Subscribers who call or message for assistance will be assigned a group of employees to fix the issue.

This might sound like a corporate joke, but the few times I’ve had to interact with T-Mobile support has been via iMessage for business or their in app chat. My experience has been incredible so far.

For now, no matter how good your AI or chatbot is, a well trained human with full authority to get stuff done for you, will outperform any tech out there. Glad they are investing in customer support as a differentiatior.∞Permalink

WSJ reporting:

The social media giant has asked large U.S. banks to share detailed financial information about their customers, including card transactions and checking account balances, as part of an effort to offer new services to users.

This sounds like an all around bad idea. Glad to hear some banks are walking away from these conversations.∞Permalink

Good article from Mike Wuerthele writing for AppleInsider. For those that worry too much:

If you’re still worried about it, don’t sit on your router, and use your speaker function on your iPhone.

You can always buy tons of tin foil.∞Permalink

Kate Conger reporting for Gizmodo:

Google’s unofficial motto has long been the simple phrase “don’t be evil.” But that’s over, according to the code of conduct that Google distributes to its employees. The phrase was removed sometime in late April or early May, archives hosted by the Wayback Machine show.

Being evil is now encouraged at Google?∞Permalink

Isaiah Sarju’s post on HackerNoon:

VPNs are for everyone. This is why.

Yes. End of story. Stop reading and get one. Do it. Now.

Summarizes in relatively simple terms why you do need a VPN, especially if you use any type public Wifi.∞Permalink

The researchers suggest, for example, that graphene could now be used to create new types of superconducting quantum devices for high-speed computing. Intriguingly, it might also be used to prove the existence of a mysterious form of superconductivity known as “p-wave” superconductivity, which academics have been struggling to verify for more than 20 years.

It amazes me how much research is being done on possible comercial applications for graphene. Everything from electronics to structures stronger than steel.∞Permalink