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☆ The 10 Best Wayfair Deals to Shop This Presidents Day
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

By Madeline DiamondPlenty of Presidents Day deals are live right now at Wayfair. Keep reading for our top picks from Wayfair‘s Presidents Day sale; we’ll be updating throughout the week to help you stay on top of the latest deals. They’re all on sale right now, but the best deal is on the rose gold version, which is currently discounted to just $80. A comfortable desk chair (that isn’t an eyesore) is a great place to start, especially while standout options are on sale for Presidents Day. Plus see our guide for more tips on shopping for an ergonomic desk chair.

Clearing your iPhone's app cache can also free up extra storage space. How to clear the cache, history, and cookies in Firefox on iPhoneFirefox has its own cache, which you can quickly clear in the browser's Settings page. Tap Clear Private Data and then confirm you want to do this by tapping OK.To free up the most space, select all the options in the Clear Private Data section and then tap Clear Private Data. Make sure that all the options you want to clear are selected and then tap Clear now. To free up the most space on your iPhone, select all the options and then tap Clear now.

[1/2] The Epic Games logo, maker of the popular video game "Fortnite", is pictured on a screen in this picture illustration August 14, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/Illustration/File PhotoNEW DELHI, Feb 14 (Reuters) - U.S. firm Epic Games is challenging Google in an Indian tribunal for not complying with some portions of an antitrust directive, alleging that the tech giant is not hosting the gaming company's app store on Google's Play Store app. Maker of the popular video game "Fortnite", Epic operates its own app store, Epic Games Store, that offers games and other apps for download. The company claims in the filing it is "exploring launching" the Games Store app on Google Play Store and has been "adversely affected" by Google not complying with the CCI order. Epic is known for campaigns against Apple (AAPL.O) and Google for charging high app store commissions.

☆ Microsoft pushing you to set Bing and Edge as your defaults to get its new OpenAI-powered search engine faster is giving off big 1990s energy
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | Shona Ghosh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Microsoft was once king of computing, with more than 90% market share. Microsoft has integrated some OpenAI deep-learning technology into Bing, its ailing competitor to Google, so that the search engine can answer questions in a more nuanced way. And rather than just returning a list of results, Bing will present the information in a more useful way. What is less futuristic is Microsoft's maneuvering to juice its own market share as much as possible. Microsoft is juicing Bing's market share right now Shona Ghosh/InsiderAt present, Bing's share of the search market is a mere 3%, according to data firm Stat Counter.

☆ We're concerned about Alphabet’s ad-based business model due to AI competition and the DOJ's lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Paulina Likos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

It's Alphabet (GOOGL) versus Microsoft (MSFT) in artificial intelligence — and after decades of owning search, Google finds itself looking over its shoulder. The back-to-back decline last Wednesday and Thursday in Alphabet stock was the biggest two-session losing streak since March 2020. "The quality of large AI models is highly dependent on quality of data," and Google search has a huge lead given usage of Search, Chrome and Android, Jefferies analysts argued. "It is tough when you have the Justice Department saying you have a monopoly and when you have the monopoly being destroyed at the same time by Microsoft," Jim said. Alphabet's business is largely run off ads and there's a growing possibility that the improved capabilities of Bing could attract at least some users away from Google search.

☆ Why Apple, Google, Microsoft passkeys should soon replace your own passwords
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( Barbara Collins | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

"Passkeys are an example of what security should be: seamless and invisible to the end user," said Moriarty. Avoiding human error, and hackersFrom a safety standpoint, passkeys are much more secure than passwords for a number of reasons. Even worse, choosing simple passwords (think "abc123" or "password") creates the perfect target for hackers to easily access individuals' accounts. Google began rolling out passkey support for Chrome on Android, Windows and macOS in December 2022. The only potential disadvantage to using passkeys happens if a user loses the secondary device they use to gain access to their accounts.

☆ Apple and Google have a symbiotic deal: ChatGPT will pressure the former to evaluate this relationship
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Thomas Maxwell | Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Google has long benefited from a costly deal to be the default search engine on Apple devices. On top of the Apple deal, Google controls Android and Chrome, with roughly 71% and 65% of the smartphone and browser markets, respectively. Based on its understanding of Google's deal with Apple, Bernstein believes that a 3-year default search deal is coming up for renewal later this year. It's unclear whether Apple would want to change the default search engine to Bing, but it's always had a contentious relationship with Google. Apple's services business, which includes the search deal, was a bright spot in the company's most recent earnings report.

☆ Exclusive: French adtech firm Criteo in new bid to sell itself-sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Milana Vinn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Investment bank Evercore Inc (EVR.N) is advising Criteo on the process, the sources added. Criteo declined to comment, while an Evercore spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The sale process for Criteo will likely pique the interest of buyout firms that have shown strong interest in audience measurement and analytics companies. Criteo collects data through partnerships with companies, ad agencies and brands, and earns money by charging advertisers when consumers click on personalized ads. In response, Criteo has been investing in its fast-growing retail media business, which involves partnering directly with the websites of retailers.

☆ Explainer: Bard vs ChatGPT: What do we know about Google's AI chatbot?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Feb 7 (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) and rival Microsoft (MSFT.O) are once again locked in a race to rule the internet zeitgeist after the Google owner launched "Bard" in answer to AI chatbot sensation ChatGPT. The artificial intelligence service could change how consumers search for information or create content on command and free up time for white-collar workers. The services that Google's Bard and ChatGPT would offer are similar. Microsoft and Google plan to embed AI tools to bolster their search services Bing and Google Search, which account for a big chunk of revenue. Bard draws on information from the internet, while ChatGPT has access to data until 2021.

☆ Microsoft packs Bing search engine, Edge browser with AI in big challenge to Google
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Jeffrey Dastin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Microsoft is staking its future on AI through billions of dollars of investment as it directly challenges Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google. “This technology is going to reshape pretty much every software category," Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella told reporters in a briefing at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington. On Monday it unveiled a chatbot of its own called Bard, while it is planning to release AI for its search engine that can synthesize material when no simple answer exists online. PRACTICAL USESAt the event, Mehdi demonstrated how the AI-enhanced search engine will make shopping and creating emails much easier. For the quarter ending Dec. 31, Alphabet reported $42.6 billion in Google Search and other revenue, while Microsoft posted $3.2 billion from search and news advertising.

☆ Microsoft’s Bing finally has a chance to take a bite out of Google with ChatGPT. But it has to move fast.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Microsoft finally announced a new ChatGPT-enhanced Bing that can challenge Google's search dominance. But while ChatGPT pushes Microsoft and Bing forward, Google has been aggressively reminding everyone that it's been doing the AI thing for a long time. Microsoft has to move fast to keep its advantageBing has consistently been a distant second to Google Search for decades. Still, with its sizable war chest and long history with developing AI in-house, Google appears ready for a fight. In much the same manner as Microsoft's master plan, Google plans to bring ChatGPT to its own suite of software, including Gmail and Google Docs.

☆ How to snag discounts through Beni, an online shopping tool that hunts for resale deals on Poshmark, eBay, and The RealReal
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Danni Santana | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Beni, a browser extension, helps shoppers curate resale listings while browsing retail sites online. BeniShoppers are required to download the Beni extension on Google Chrome or Safari. Then, they must enable the extension while shopping online to view resale listings. "So let's say you find a Patagonia jacket that you really love, we'd show you 20 jackets often that are exactly the same from places like eBay or The RealReal," Pinner said. In return for real-time listings data, Beni markets new resale items to customers as they shop outside of their platforms.

☆ Google staff sent each other memes about layoffs to console each other and created spreadsheets to track firings, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Google employees created spreadsheets to keep track of who was laid off, CNBC reported. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet and Google, told staff in a memo he took "full responsibility for the decisions that led us here." Following the announcement, Google employees demanded answers from executives about how the layoffs were determined, CNBC reported. It included the caption: "The sad thing is, I actually thought you were different," next to Google's logo, CNBC reported. Google staff have submitted questions on the company's Q&A system called Dory, CNBC reported.

☆ An Apple a day could keep the layoffs away
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

For many tech workers, however, this Lunar New Year was tainted with layoff anxiety. Apple is the only Big Tech company that hasn't conducted sweeping layoffs recently. Apple has long been a lone wolf among its Big Tech peers. The chart above shows how more tech workers were laid off in January 2023 than during the first half of 2022 combined. Read four of the memos in full here, from Google Chrome, Google Cloud, Google UK, and its Europe, the Middle East, and Africa offices.

☆ Google employees scramble for answers after layoffs hit long-tenured and recently promoted employees
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Google employees are scrambling for answers from leadership and from colleagues as the company undergoes a massive layoff. On Friday, Alphabet -owned Google announced it was cutting 12,000 employees, roughly 6% of the full-time workforce. Some of the laid-off employees had been long-tenured or recently promoted, raising questions about the criteria used to decide whose jobs were cut. The company provided an FAQ for the layoffs, which CNBC has seen, but employees have complained that it doesn’t give much detail on many answers. The scramble highlights the challenges Google could face in maintaining a supportive and productive company culture for its restive workforce of more than 160,000 full-time employees.

☆ Google vows to cooperate with India antitrust authority after Android ruling
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Aditya Kalra | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

India's highest court has said a lower tribunal - where Google first challenged the Android directives - can continue to hear the company's appeal and must rule by March 31. Hoping to block the implementation of the CCI directives, Google had challenged the CCI order in the Supreme Court by warning it could stall the growth of the Android ecosystem. There it was fined for putting in place what the Commission called unlawful restrictions on Android mobile device makers. In Europe, Google made changes later including letting Android device users pick their default search engine and said device makers will be able to license the Google mobile application suite separately from the Google Search App or the Chrome browser. Some analysts say Google will now need to make similar changes in India to comply with directives.

☆ Read the memo Google's Android and Chrome boss sent to staff as the company lays off 12,000 employees
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Monica Melton | Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

What makes Google really special is its people — all of you — so it's sad to be saying goodbye to some of our wonderful teammates. It'll take some time for us to absorb and process today's news; I know I'm still processing things myself. You've heard us talk about our key P&E strategies and themes — User Delight, Better Together, Developer Experience, DEI, and Privacy & Compliance. Of course, as a company, we will support those impacted as best we can; we already sent a separate email directly to employees in the U.S. who are affected. I know many of you likely have questions; please plan to join the company town hall on Monday.

A father spent most of the weekend in jail after his young boy was seen on security video waving a loaded handgun around an Indiana apartment complex, authorities said Monday. At first, the boy moves rapidly to a staircase and points the gun down its slope for a beat, the video shows. Officers responding to the report of the boy with a gun were being recorded for immediate broadcast on "On Patrol: Live" on cable network Reelz. The neighbor said she looked through her front door peephole and saw the boy standing above with the gun held behind his back. A woman with the same last name as the suspect lives in a separate apartment, according to the report.

☆ Google's cookie crumbles
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Dave Smith | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Google's cookie concept crumbles. Google's been testing a bunch of cookie-less proposals since 2020. Unfortunately, the web standards body W3C rejected Google's Topics API proposal, saying it maintains "the status quo of inappropriate surveillance on the web." In other news:A Tesla car dealership in Maplewood, Minnesota. The coolest electric cars hitting the streets this year.

This story is part of Select's New & Notable column, where we highlight our favorite product launches, major sales, what we're buying and some of our latest recommendations and advice. This week, we’ve highlighted Harry’s new razor handle, Parachute’s Spanish-inspired leather chair, Starface’s latest pimple patches, a new towel collection from Onsen and more. Starface, a Select favorite pimple patch brand, launched Micro-Cloud pimple patches. The towels are made from Turkish-grown aegean cotton and come in four sizes: Bath sheet, bath towel, hand towel and face towel. New users who purchase a Fiture mirror between Jan. 1 and Jan. 31 can get a one-year membership for free.

☆ One of Google's big plans to replace third-party cookies just hit a huge setback that it might not recover from
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Google's plan to replace third-party tracking cookies with new tech has hit another snag. A W3C group has rejected Google's Topics API proposal, saying it won't adequately preserve user privacy. The W3C rebuke marks the latest in a series of snags in Google's effort to kill off third-party cookies. However, other browsers like Apple's Safari and Mozilla's Firefox already block third-party cookies as privacy features. The company has its own commercial priorities and the commitment to the CMA that it can't remove third-party cookies until new features provide an adequate replacement.

☆ A document circulated by Googlers explains the 'hidden force' that has caused the company to become slow and bureaucratic: slime mold
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

An internal Google document laid out a theory for why the company has become so slow. Komoroske compared Google's bottom-up organizational structure to a slime mold: single-cell organisms that can work independently but also form together to create a larger network. "Google is basically a slime mold," wrote Komoroske, placing Google on a sliding scale from top-down to bottom-up structures. The last update on the internal document was made in 2019. "I believe they are not specific to any one context, but rather emerge inherently any time there are individuals with autonomy who care deeply," wrote Komoroske.

NEW DELHI, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Google has been jolted after the Indian antitrust authority sought changes to how it markets its Android system, which powers 97% of smartphones in the world's second biggest mobile market. * Google should not impose any curbs in India on the practice of "sideloading", or downloading apps without using its app store. * Competitors and app developers should not be denied access to the programming interface of Google Play services, the underlying software system that powers Android devices. This directive is meant to ensure compatibility between apps on Play Store and third-party app stores based on Android variants, the antitrust authority has said. * The CCI asked Google not to restrict makers of Android smartphones from developing other devices, such as tablets or TVs based on modified versions of Android.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) in October fined Alphabet Inc-owned Google (GOOGL.O) $161 million for exploiting its dominant position in Android, which powers 97% of smartphones in India, and asked it to change restrictions imposed on smartphone makers related to pre-installing apps. "Google will be required to make far-reaching changes to the Android mobile platform which has been in place for the last 14-15 years." Google licenses its Android system to smartphone makers, but critics say it imposes restrictions like mandatory pre-installation of its own apps that are anti-competitive. The CCI in October ordered Google to not prohibit un-installing of its apps by Android phone users in India -- currently, one can't delete apps such as Google Maps or YouTube from their Android phones when they come pre-installed. "No other jurisdiction has ever asked for such far-reaching changes based on similar conduct," Google said in its court submissions.

Parafin, launched in 2020, works with so-called platform partners, or companies that other small businesses sell their products through. All the cofounders knew was that they wanted to build technology that would help small businesses. And they may not get their first contract payment from the government for as long as 120 days," Reed, the startup's CEO, told Insider. Helping small businesses manage their taxesComplYant's founder Shiloh Jackson wants to help people be present in their bookkeeping. HoneyBookWhile countless small businesses have been harmed by the pandemic, self-employment and entrepreneurship have found ways to blossom as Americans started new ventures.

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