Think, Thought, Imagine: Daily tech, media & more (12/15/15)
Quick News (read the headlines and you’re done)
Facebook Takes On Angie’s List And Yelp With New Site For Finding Top-Rated Local Businesses - TechCrunch
University Of California Launches $250 Million Venture Fund [everyone’s an investor these days] - TechCrunch
Apple Opens Secret Laboratory in Taiwan to Develop New Screens [secrets secrets are no fun, secrets secrets are for everyone] - Bloomberg
Twitter unleashes Moments in the UK [reminder: Moments is Twitter’s curated view of a “big event” – and this expansion may be an indication it’s doing well in the US] - Cnet
Katy Perry Enters the Celebrity Games Arena with 'Katy Perry Pop', Out Worldwide Now [why interesting: Kim Kardashian’s game was bonkers successful – also, see: Culture section] – touch arcade
Ford’s Autonomous Cars Will Hit California Streets Next Year [Ford recently said they’re a “mobility company,” not a car company, and it’s reflected in this as well as their testing of a ride sharing service in Michigan] – The Verge
Alibaba, Disney Strike Deal to Sell Content System in China [the gist: a streaming service (with a physical device for accessing it) in China, run by Alibaba, with Disney content, called DisneyLife – also allows users to plan visits to Disney theme parks in China] - WSJ
Please Explain (someone's gotta do it)
Slack Aims to Become a Control Panel for Your Job [reminder: Slack is a (mostly) business based chat service used by two million people errday and it’s worth billions of dollars (based on investments) and now they want to become a “platform, ” i.e. have people build apps for work things like filling out silly forms] – NY Times
Look, Listen (and um, learn)
Listen: Songs We Love 2015 [400 (or 31 hours of) songs that can be listened to by category or moods] – NPR Music
Culture (more)
The 100 Best Tracks [#2 is Hotline Bling] - Pitchfork
Men Call Themselves Gamers, But Just As Many Women Play Games [Pew Research did a study – perceptions eh?] – The Verge
Craft Brewers Have to Compete for Beer Cans [shows the changing tastes of beer drinkers (I.e. cans used to be for “cheap beer”)] – NY Times
Industry (we're so Hollywood)
Inside Netflix’s Plan to Boost Streaming Quality and Unclog the Internet [they’re making their process “smarter”] - Variety
Google Trends
View the full list
Adele – announced tour and had an NBC special
Miami Dolphins – lost to the Giants last night
Star Trek Beyond - trailer launched yesterday
Kourtney Kardashian – may be dating Justin Bieber
Jordan Smith – contestant on The Voice
Top YouTube Videos
Watch the Full List
Watch: Our Pick — This Dog Has Rhythm
Watch: the Full Playlist