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☆ CoinDesk's chief content officer breaks down crypto media's advertising challenges and how he's steering the site through by exploring opportunities in NFTs and Web3
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The incident has led to stress on other crypto companies, including one owned by CoinDesk's parent company. It's all unfolding as media companies fend off cuts and layoffs and an industry-wide slump in advertising revenue, which has seen big crypto companies like Grayscale, Binance, and Coinbase slash their advertising budgets. In an email to Insider, Casey reiterated that the incident does not impact CoinDesk's business. Are you a crypto or media insider with insight to share? Disclosure: Axel Springer is Insider's parent company.

☆ Driving a reimagined customer experience with an AI-powered virtual assistant
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Sponsor Post | Created Ibm With Insider Studios | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Camping World, the number one retailer of recreational vehicles (RVs) globally, understands that providing exceptional customer service is vital to remaining ahead of its competition. There's the retail side, financial services like insurance or goods, and the dealership side," said Saurabh Shah, chief digital officer and chief information officer at Camping World. It connects Camping World customers with a virtual agent, enabling live agents to take over more complex conversations. The two teams went one step further and integrated additional enhancements in the back end that expanded the capabilities of virtual agents handling customer scenarios, improving live agent efficiency and customer satisfaction. As of March 2022, customer engagement increased by 40% and Camping World saw wait times drop down to 33 seconds.

☆ Microsoft's latest data on hacks and why you may need new login, passwords fast
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Cheryl Winokur Munk | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

That's a 74% rise in one year, according to the latest Microsoft Digital Defense Report. But many people still rely on passwords, and don't even use the two-factor authentication now considered critical. "As long as passwords are still part of the equation, they're vulnerable," Joy Chik, Microsoft's vice president of identity, wrote in a September 2021 company blog post. Based on a sample of more than 39 million IoT and OT devices, about 20% used identical usernames and passwords, according to the Microsoft report. Even if a provider doesn't require it to be used, multi-factor authentication is a valuable security tool that's underutilized, according to security professionals.

☆ The story of Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX implosion put crypto news sites like CoinDesk and The Block on the map. Inside their plan to fend off an ad slump and conspiracy theories — and keep winning.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Reed Alexander | Steven Perlberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

Now, crypto media staffers are wondering whether more dominoes falling from FTX could further hurt the industry or cripple their ad revenues. Crypto media kicks into overdriveRoberts said Decrypt's traffic doubled during the first week of the FTX saga. "In general, I think these things are good for crypto media," he said. Stacy-Marie Ishmael, the managing editor for Bloomberg's crypto team, likened burgeoning crypto coverage to 1990s coverage of the Internet. "It's now a situation where the crypto media has egg on their face.

☆ Bob Iger's return to Disney is fueling concern over future CEO succession plan: 'People would struggle to write down three names inside Disney' who could step up
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Lucia Moses | Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Former Disney CEO Bob Iger is back in his old job, in a move that shocked the media world. From cost cuts to streaming to a solid future succession plan, here's what they hope the CEO will tackle. Following the stunning announcement late Sunday night that former Disney CEO Bob Iger would be returning to his old job, the happiest place on earth might actually be Wall Street. "What I like about Bob Iger is Bob Iger has always been direct, he's been honest, he's been willing to make tough choices," Michael Nathanson, a senior research analyst and co-founder of the firm, said in a CNBC interview on Monday. Are you a Disney insider with insight to share about Bob Iger's return?

☆ Russian soldiers are surrendering to Ukrainian drones, Ukraine says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Footage shared by Ukraine's MOD appears to show a Russian soldier surrendering to a drone. Both Ukrainian and Russian forces have claimed to have used drones to advise combatants to surrender. Ukraine has claimed other successes in getting Russian soldiers to surrender, most prominently through its "I Want to Live" hotline, which it says has received more than 3,500 calls. Russia's defense ministry also says it is using drones to ask Ukrainians to surrender, state-controlled news agency TASS reported in early November. Russia's primary use of drones in the fall has been aggressive, deploying Iran-made drones to attack Ukrainian forces — and infrastructure — in swarms, as Insider's Michael Peck reported.

☆ Apple invested $450 million in a satellite-powered SOS system. We tested it out
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The free feature promises to let iPhone users contact dedicated dispatchers in emergency situations via satellites when a cell phone network is unavailable. During my test with an iPhone 14 provided by Apple, I attempted to call 911 but was automatically redirected to Emergency SOS via Satellite dispatchers for the purposes of the demo. On Tuesday, Apple will launch the Emergency SOS with Satellite feature for those with an iPhone 14 in the United States and Canada. Apple said because the user may be in a distressed state, a questionnaire helps to gather critical information more quickly. For now, Emergency SOS via satellite only works in English, Spanish, and French, although the dispatchers have professional interpretation services available for many more languages.

☆ Check out the 15-page pitch deck that Legion M, a Hollywood production startup, is using to recruit movie fans as investors for as little as $40
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Startup production company Legion M is crowdsourcing funds and promising to give movie fans greenlight power. Legion M, founded by Paul Scanlan and Jeff Annison, lets investors buy shares for as little as $40. Legion M now has four films in post-production slated to be released in 2023, the cofounders added. Legion MLegion MLegion MLegion MLegion M'A company with a built-in audience for everything it creates'One slide spells out the potential power of one million fan-investors — as consumers, promoters, and predictors of successful projects. Legion MThe Nicolas Cage film 'Mandy' was an early success for Legion MLegion MLegion MLegion MLegion MLegion M says its annual revenue has surpassed $1 millionLegion MLegion MLegion M

☆ Twitter users with 2-factor authentication said they were locked out of their accounts soon after Elon Musk said he was ridding the site of 'bloatware'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Some Twitter users said its two-factor authentication system was temporarily down on Monday. The Washington Post reporter Joseph Menn tweeted that Twitter's two-factor authentication system seemed to have been affected by this. One Twitter user posted on Monday morning that they had not received an SMS after trying to log in to their account using two-factor authentication. Other Twitter users said they also couldn't use the two-factor authentication service via SMS and email. Cybersecurity expert Kevin Beaumont tweeted later on Monday that the service was working again but had been down for around 90 minutes.

☆ I work for an investment bank that's not well known outside of Wall Street. But my work life and paycheck are the envy of my friends at name-brand firms.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Emmalyse Brownstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

But the upperclassmen in the program I looked up to most — and who were at the very top of their classes — were heading to elite boutique firms. Granted, now that I work full-time at my firm I've realized everyone here also kind of hates their lives. I don't think that happens at other banks, it's a much more corporate environment. A common belief is that a smaller firm means smaller deals with smaller companies. A top-notch boutique firm like mine works on huge deals with major companies all the time.

☆ Goldman Sachs just added 80 new members to its exclusive partnership. Here's a rundown of the perks afforded to a group with a 1% acceptance rate.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Dakin Campbell | Emmalyse Brownstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Goldman Sachs just tapped 80 employees to join its newest class of partners. In 2020, Financial News quoted an anonymous former Goldman Sachs executive who described it as an exclusive club that opens doors both inside and outside the bank. "Random people will infer characteristics about you — integrity, commercial acumen, intelligence, teamwork — simply based on the fact that you are, or were, a Goldman Sachs partner," this person was quoted as saying. But they will also get feedback so they can work toward making partner in a future cycle. Do you work at Goldman Sachs or do you have additional details about who will make partner this year?

☆ An exec at Kevin Hart's production company reveals 3 strategies that helped her rise from assistant to VP of TV production in just 4 years
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Tiffany Brown is vice president of television at Kevin Hart's production company, Hartbeat. Brown, one of Insider's Rising Stars of the entertainment business, rose from assistant to VP in a few years. But staying at the assistant level forever wasn't in the cards for Brown, who in 2018 landed a gig as a junior executive at Hartbeat, comedian Kevin Hart's production company. Learn the basics and don't be above paying your dues"The first thing to focus on is doing the assistant job," Brown said. Foster close relationships with industry peers you like and trust"Some of the most important relationships that I have in this industry," Brown said, are the people she rose up with.

☆ Scoop: Andreessen Horowitz beats out Benchmark and NEA to lead Series A funding round for Partiful, the 'Eventbrite for Gen Z'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Ben Bergman | Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Andreessen Horowitz beat out other firms to lead Partiful's series A round, according to sources. Neither the cofounders of Partiful nor Andreessen Horowitz responded to a request for comment. After an intense bidding war, Andreessen Horowitz beat out rival VC firms, including Benchmark and New Enterprise Associates, to lead Partiful's series A funding round, according to three people with knowledge of the financing who were not authorized to speak publicly. Andreessen Horowitz also did not respond to a request for comment. Venture investors, eager to find the next buzzy consumer app, have marveled at Partiful's growth.

☆ Netflix is entering a new era with ads. Here's how marketers and brands could influence the programming you see on the streamer.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Reed Alexander | Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Media experts say forays into ad-based streaming will influence content strategy at Netflix and Disney+. Netflix and Disney+ are readying services with ads to expand their appeal and revenue opportunities amid softening subscriber growth. Netflix's move to add advertising — a reversal of its longtime stance against ads — has been the subject of widespread research. Ultimately, experts predicted, it will take at least a year or two for the influence of advertisers to be felt in the streamers' content mix. Do you work for an entertainment company like Netflix or Disney+?

☆ Shopify's startup investments this year include millions into companies that focus on NFTs, Web3 apps, customer-engagement, and financial services
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

In its press release announcing the new funding, Wati said the investment was Shopify's first in a startup operating in Southeast Asia. The goal is to make Thirdweb's tools available to Shopify merchants who want to bring Web3 products and experiences to their online stores. Shopify recently participated in Gorgias' $30 million Series C round, which valued the startup at $710 million. According to the company, merchants using its technology report a 96% increase in sales on average. Flexport announced it had received a strategic investment from Shopify as part of its $935 million Series E on February 7.

☆ Apple has touted its 'deliberate' hiring amid a tough economy, but insiders say widespread hiring freezes are in place for the year ahead
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Reed Alexander | Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Apple has frozen hiring for roles across corporate divisions at the tech giant, three sources tell Insider. The company has said it will be "deliberate" with recruiting but has not acknowledged halting hires in some departments. Since the summer, Apple has touted its "deliberate" decisions about investment and hiring, including on its most recent quarterly earnings call last week. But three sources with close knowledge of conversations at the company told Insider it has paused almost all hiring. The second source, who has knowledge of multiple high-level conversations inside Apple, agreed that it's experiencing a hiring freeze.

☆ A small group of Goldman Sachs employees are about to get the call of a lifetime
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Dakin Campbell | Emmalyse Brownstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Goldman Sachs, known for being a top Wall Street money maker, is gearing up to invite a select group of employees to join its most exclusive club. Goldman partners are considered the most powerful people at Wall Street's most successful bank for M&A and IPOs. In 2020, Financial News quoted an anonymous former Goldman Sachs executive who described it as an exclusive club that opens doors both inside and outside the bank. "Random people will infer characteristics about you — integrity, commercial acumen, intelligence, teamwork — simply based on the fact that you are, or were, a Goldman Sachs partner," this person was quoted as saying. Do you work at Goldman Sachs or do you have additional details about who will make partner this year?

☆ Two men have been jailed for using 'SIM-swapping' to steal crypto worth $330,000
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Two men were sentenced for operating a nationwide hack scheme and stealing $330,000 in crypto. Eric Meiggs, 24, and Declan Harrington, 22, used an illegal practice known as "SIM swapping." Meiggs allegedly took control of two "OG" social media accounts. In February, the FBI warned it received more than 1,600 SIM swapping reports last year — more than three times the number in 2018-2020 combined. AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon offer additional PIN codes you can require for any transfer or porting of your phone number.

To make a group chat on iPhone, add multiple recipients to the address line of a new message. There's three types of group messages: group iMessage, group MMS, and group SMS. And if a group chat is getting to be too much, you can silence notifications or leave a group chat entirely. Types of group chats on iPhone There are three types of group chats you can create or participate in on an iPhone: Group iMessage. You can choose things like "Roommate Chat", "Family", or you can even add a photo icon to further customize the group chat.

☆ Google is giving Apple a dose of its own medicine. iPhones owners will now get annoying messages that an Android user 'reacted' to their text.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

iPhones exchange messages using iMessage, Apple's proprietary messaging system, but revert to SMS when texting an Android. Text messages sent with RCS would work like iMessages between iPhone users, according to The Verge. For example, like in iMessage, Google Messages users will be able to watch YouTube videos in the app, and can make a calendar event if a date or time is sent in a message. Recently, Apple CEO Tim Cook said he doesn't get a lot of feedback from iPhone users that Apple needs to fix messaging between iPhones and Androids. In legal documents from a 2021 lawsuit between Epic Games and Apple, an Apple executive said "Moving iMessage to Android will hurt us more than help us."

☆ After months of subscriber losses, Netflix is under pressure to prove its ad-supported tier can stop the bleeding. Here's why Wall Street is skeptical ahead of this week's earnings results.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Netflix will report third-quarter earnings Tuesday, and all eyes are on its new ad-supported tier. Wall Street hopes that the streamer's Basic with Ads plan will boost subscriptions and revenue — but some analysts are skeptical. Complicating matters further, analysts at Wedbush Securities warned that the streamer may report hundreds of thousands of additional subscriber losses this quarter. A recent survey conducted by Samba TV with Harris X found that nearly half of current Netflix subscribers said they'd consider simply trading down their existing membership to the forthcoming cheaper service. While the service still counts more than 220 million overall subscribers, Netflix has blamed the losses on increased competition and account sharing.

☆ Following Google, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg takes aim at the green and blue bubbles of Apple's iMessage
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Zuckerberg is trying to put WhatsApp above Apple's iMessage on interoperability and privacy. He posted a photo of a billboard ad from Facebook that jokes about iMessage limitations that make Android messages show up in green bubbles, while iPhone texts appear in blue bubbles. Apple CEO Tim Cook has resisted making iMessage more interoperable with Android phones because the technical difficulties help sell more iPhones. In an update to its iOS, Apple prompted its more than 1.6 billion device users to opt-out of being tracked by apps. It's not the first time Zuckerberg has attempted to come for Apple's business since it enacted its privacy changes.

☆ Meta ratchets up Apple rivalry with ads targeting iMessage
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Meta is targeting Apple 's iMessage in a new advertisement that ratchets up the rivalry between the two companies. SMS messages are stored by wireless cellular carriers. "Our biggest competitor by far is iMessage," Zuckerberg said in a 2018 earnings call. Google wants Apple to adopt RCS, a next-generation text messaging system that replaces SMS messages with new features and improved encryption. Users who text regularly with Android users say that "green bubbles," as SMS messages appear on iPhones, is an inferior texting experience.

☆ Bringing ads to Netflix and Disney+ could shake up the mix of shows and movies at the streaming giants. Here's what it means for Hollywood.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Reed Alexander | Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Media experts say forays into ad-based streaming will influence content strategies at Netflix and Disney+. Netflix and Disney+ are readying services with ads to expand their appeal and revenue opportunities amid softening subscriber growth. Hollywood should pay close attention to what this may mean for selling shows and movies to the entertainment industry's dominant players. Ultimately, experts predicted, it will take at least a year or two for the influence of advertisers to be felt in the streamers' content mix. Do you work for an entertainment company like Netflix or Disney+?

☆ Pfizer exec denies CEO negotiated EU COVID vaccine contract via text message
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FRANKFURT, Oct 10 (Reuters) - A Pfizer (PFE.N) executive with a lead role in negotiating a COVID-19 vaccine bulk supply agreement with the European Commission "categorically" ruled out that the U.S. drugmaker's chief executive agreed the contract via mobile phone text messages. She added that such talks involve far too many people on both sides and take far too long to be conducted via mobile phone texts. The Commission said in June this year that it no longer had the texts, which later drew criticism from the European Union's ombudswoman. The contract signed last year was the biggest ever sealed for COVID-19 vaccines, with the EU committing to buy 900 million Pfizer-BioNTech (22UAy.DE) shots, with an option to buy another 900 million. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Jan Harvey and Susan FentonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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