I donât think that word means what you think it means
[The Hustle]( Thur, Aug 31
If you bite the hand the feeds, prepare to get slapped
Barry Lynn, a researcher at âimpartialâ think tank, the [New America Foundation]( has been fired for a critique of Google he published back in June.
Lynnâs article lauded the European Commission for bringing a [record $2.7B antitrust fine]( against Google and âprotecting the free flow of⦠commerce upon which all democracies dependâ, after finding it had used its search engine to unfairly steer them to its own shopping platform.
Now Lynn, along with his entire 10-person research team, is out of a job.
And according to Lynn, itâs all because Eric Schmidt -- Chairman of Googleâs parent company -- Alphabet (and major New America donor), â[communicated his displeasure]( with the groupâs president, Anne-Marie Slaughter.
Wait, whatâs a âthink tankâ exactly?
A think tank is a âa body of experts providing advice and ideas on specific political or economic problems.â AKA, the thought leaders of thought leaders.
The [Economist]( describes a good t-tank as one that âhelps the policymaking process by publishing reports that are as rigorous as academic research and as accessible as journalism.â
The New America think tank was created to offer âimpartial analysis and pragmatic solutions [for] problems of our 21st-century information-age economyâ -- and their reports have helped shaped policy debates in Washington for nearly two decades.
But theyâre also strongly tied to Schmidt
Schmidt was New Americaâs Executive Chairman until 2016, and his familyâs foundation, along with Google, have [donated over $21m]( to the group since its inception.
The main conference room in DC is literally named the âEric Schmidt Ideas Lab.â Little on the nose there, guysâ¦
Which is why this firing is such a problem
A corporation-backed group influencing federal policies is troubling enough (and frankly, extremely common), but when that group canât even criticize its backer, it presents a real conflict of interest.
New America claims that Lynnâs firing was unrelated to his work. But on his new website, [Citizens Against Monopoly]( Lynn begged to differ: âGoogle flexed their financial power and got our entire team expelled from our think tank,â he wrote.
We understand Schmidtâs frustration at the foundation calling his baby ugly, but itâs Slaughterâs responsibility to protect the academic integrity of her staff (and the foundation) -- and caving to this kind of pressure sets a dangerous precedent.
Please donât fire us from the internet
Letâs just go ahead and CC this to everyoneâ¦
The [Essential phone]( is a pretty little thing, complete with a titanium shell, shatter-proof glass, and a state-of-the-art selfie camera -- and for months, the gadget-hounds who pre-ordered it have been waiting by the window, cursing the mailman.
But last night, the company made a major security snafu thatâs scaring people into mass-cancelling orders: they blasted out an [email asking for customersâ photo IDs]( -- and CCâd everyone on it.
A lot of buzz -- and some logistics issues
In January 2017, Andy Rubin, co-founder of Android announced he was breaking off to start his own hardware company. In May, he announced his first product, the Essential phone, with the promise of creating âan entirely new type of company.â
Essential promised to deliver pre-orders by June, but thanks to a â[trainwreck]( of unexplained delays, orders just started going out at the end of last week.
From bad to worse
Yesterday, a litany of customers -- already pissed about numerous shipping setbacks -- received a questionable email asking for [copies of their photo IDs]( in order to complete the purchases:
Hereâs where things get real bad: every time someone replied with their ID, it went to the entire email list.
Sounds âphishyâ enough to be a scam -- but, according to a phishing [expert]( itâs more likely a âcolossal screw upâ on Essentialâs end due to a technical misconfiguration.
All Essential has offered in way of an explanation is a Tweet that they are â[aware](
[Thanks, guys](
In Keith we trust
In 2016, following Etsyâs [ban]( on âwitch spells,â Penelope Gazin and Kate Dwyer founded [Witchsy]( (NSFW), an online shop for kitschy crafts and risque art (like their â[Harry Pothead]( or âButthole Spiderâ patches),
Itâs not a massive operation, but in their first year, theyâve had $200k in sales, received an investment from Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland, and turned a small profit.
To help them get there, they invented a male co-founder, âKeith Mann,â to sidestep sexism from third parties -- and itâs gotten them some [great press]( in the process.
âListen, girlsâ¦â
Gazin and Dwyer found that when working with (mostly male) developers and designers to build their site, it would often take days to get an email response. And when they did, it was with a condescending tone -- like the developer who started with the salutation, âListen, girlsâ¦â
On the other hand, [Keith Mann]( -- a family man and ex-college football player, according to his fictional backstory -- consistently received prompt, respectful responses that addressed him by name, rather than gender.
New dance, same old song
The phenomenon is reminiscent of an experiment 2 workers (1 male 1 female) at an employment agency ran this year, where they [switched email signatures]( for 2 weeks.
Clients were considerably more difficult and condescending with Martin (writing emails as âNicoleâ), while Nicole (writing emails as âMartinâ) âhad the most productive week of her career.â
As Dwyer says, âthis is clearly just part of this world that weâre in right now.â But that doesnât mean theyâre gonna stop making [Meat Blankets](.
[Oh, Phew](
How to make meetings suck less
Every day in the US, there are an estimated 25m business meetings -- about 99% of them are a complete waste of time, complete with focus-less drivel, disinterested attendees, and stale muffins.
Luckily, there are a few ways to make them a little more engaging.
Amp yourself up by eating a breakfast frog
âIf itâs your job to eat a frog,â Mark Twain once [said]( âitâs best to do it first thing in the morning.â In other words, tackle your most unappetizing task in the morning, pre-meeting, and youâll walk into sit-downs with a spring in your step.
Stop multitasking
A whopping [92%]( of workers admit to multitasking during meetings, including 69% who check their email, and 49% who do unrelated work (re: Facebook). Focus on the people in the room: if youâre not engaged, expect the same from others.
Keep things short and sweet
The best advice for meetings: spend less time in them. There are very few things that warrant a 60-minute chat -- and unfortunately, thatâs the default on most digital calendars. Plan for [shorter meetings]( (think 15 minutes) that are more intensive and focused.
Send prep in advance
Donât be the person who asks for brilliant feedback on the spot: [blind brainstorming]( sessions rarely produce anything valuable. Instead, send out all meeting materials in advance and give people time to formulate thoughts on their own before brain-farting all over the conference room.
[Slightly less sucky](
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This edition of The Hustle was brought to you by
11 hours of damage
Thatâs how long the average American spends blasting their eyeballs with bright screens everyday.
The results are itchy dry eyes, migraines, and to be honest -- a whole lot of bad stuff weâre not even sure of yet. Decreased eyesight in heavy computer users gives doctors reason to believe we might even see our vision go 10 years earlier than before.
We all know itâs a problem, but not one of us does anything about it -- probably because the only solution are those nerdiest-shade-of-yellow âgamerâ glasses.
Protect your eyes in style
[Felix Gray]( is changing the eye protection game with computer glasses that look just like normal ones. Seriously, [look at them](.
Actually, normal is an understatement. These glasses are made from the same premium acetate that Versace uses -- so technically these are like $300 luxury glasses.
They protect your eyes and look like italian fashion wear...probably gonna cost a monthâs paycheck, right?
Nope. These bad boys are [only $95](.
You shouldnât choose between your eyes and your pocket. So if you want to save your vision for all the cool tech thatâll be around when youâre 80, step up your glass game and [get Felix Gray.](
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