Information Age

IPO Highflyer Hits Sidewalk After Smart Money Bails Out

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on IPO Highflyer Hits Sidewalk After Smart Money Bails Out

The IPO scene is sizzling: 25 pre-IPO startups, dogged by puny revenues and hefty losses, have “valuations” from $1 billion to $10 billion. But post-IPO debacles, even in the immensely hyped Cloud and Big Data sector, are already hitting the sidewalk.

Cracks In The Tech Bubble (That Doesn’t Exist)

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Cracks In The Tech Bubble (That Doesn’t Exist)

It’s “a technology everyone is going to have,” said a Bay Area real estate broker as he explained why realtors use drones to shoot aerial videos of high-end properties. And it’s illegal. But no one is going to be able to stop it, he implied.

We Are Sleepwalking Towards A Cashless Society

by Don Quijones •  • Comments Off on We Are Sleepwalking Towards A Cashless Society

By Don Quijones: Governments are seeking to reduce cash transactions. The reasons are obvious: as most countries struggle to rein in public spending, governments are frantically surveying their surroundings for anything of value to steal or pawn.

Hang On Tight: ‘Merger Monday,’ Which Died in 2008, Is Back

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Hang On Tight: ‘Merger Monday,’ Which Died in 2008, Is Back

I thought we’d never see “Merger Monday” again, the concept. But now, the unthinkable happened, the zombie phrase has walked back into the scene. Like in the bubble days of 2007: the big numbers were there, the deal exuberance, the craziness, the hoopla.

But Wait … The PC Industry Hopes That It Hasn’t Lost Hope Yet

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on But Wait … The PC Industry Hopes That It Hasn’t Lost Hope Yet

Signs of the entire industry in a heap of trouble are everywhere. Rumors just bubbled up that Dell would axe 25% of its global sales staff – over 9,000 souls. HP is sacking 34,000. PC shipments, including laptops, have been awful for three years in a row.

US Judge Whacks At NSA: Pandemic Phone Spying on Americans ‘Almost Certainly’ Violates Constitution

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on US Judge Whacks At NSA: Pandemic Phone Spying on Americans ‘Almost Certainly’ Violates Constitution

It finally happened: a federal judge ruled that the NSA’s ravenous “metadata” collection of phone calls made in, to, or from the US violated the Fourth Amendment ban on unreasonable searches. What’s worse, the judge said: it hadn’t even prevented a single terrorist attack.

Unleash the lawyers! Mounting Costs Of NSA Scandal To Bleed US Tech For Years

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Unleash the lawyers! Mounting Costs Of NSA Scandal To Bleed US Tech For Years

Blowback: What’s rising for US tech companies like a pile of fuming manure? The costs of working hand-in-glove with the NSA to build a seamless, borderless, indiscriminate spy dragnet. Now add an all-American cost to the pile: class-action lawsuits.

Silicon Valley Frenzy: Big Bucks, Big Data, and Spying

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Silicon Valley Frenzy: Big Bucks, Big Data, and Spying

The government spy-services marketplace, part of Big Data, is juicy. Investors clamor to get in on it. Scores of startups have sprung up. The hottest one is Palantir. Its valuation jumped 50% in three months – to $9 billion! Its technologies, designed for the CIA to track terrorists, have transitioned to track you and me.

Microsoft Protests NSA Taps (I Hear The Crinkly Sounds Of A Bag Being Pulled Over My Head)

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Microsoft Protests NSA Taps (I Hear The Crinkly Sounds Of A Bag Being Pulled Over My Head)

That the NSA might have tapped into Microsoft’s “cloud” services, along with Google’s and Yahoo’s, turned into a publicity nightmare. Now Microsoft, which collaborates tightly with the NSA and other agencies on a host of projects, counter-attacks. With very mixed results.

Why Bitcoin Is Such Dizzying Fun

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Why Bitcoin Is Such Dizzying Fun

Even as the world was still desperately trying to figure out what exactly Bitcoin is, it was inducted into the Wall Street hype factory today by an analyst who touted it as the best thing since sliced bread – just when all heck was re-breaking out.