Interesting Links: April 25, 2019

Business, News, Science, Technology, or whatever gets my attention.

Straight from my RSS feed:

Ten links and micro-summaries from my 1000+ daily headlines. I filter them so you don't have to.

1. IT sales star wins $600k lawsuit against Oracle in Qatar – but can't collect, because the Oracle he sued suddenly vanished - As told in this article, a former Oracle sales rep is blocked from receiving his judgment after a 4 1/2 year legal battle because Oracle Systems Limited stopped doing business in Qatar, and shifted its assets to Oracle (QFC) Systems LLC. An attorney is quoted, saying, "It does appear to be Oracle's modus operandi to systematically deny people commission they have earned... We have seen this in our cases and others have brought forward their own issues in separate actions or public forums. This is not simply a one-off." The claimant is investigating whether he can enforce the judgement against Oracle America in the US.


2. View Ads, Get BAT: Brave Delivers on ICO Promise of Paid Web Browsing - Brave ads went live on April 24. Except that my own Brave browser payments to publishers have been stalled since their January browser upgrade, so I remain suitably skeptical and will not be holding my breath.


3. The 'Amazon Effect' Is Changing Online Price Competition—and the Fed Needs to Pay Attention - Amazon's pricing two characteristics by retail competitors that are relevant to the fed. First, Amazon's competitors become more responsive to price changes, updating their own prices more and more quickly. Second, the prices become more uniform across diverse geographic locations. These characteristics may also give insights into the changing ways that the overall economy responds to the Federal Reserve's interest rate changes.


4. STEEM Disney could soon own two crypto exchanges - According to @nederbog, Disney is involved in negotiations for a $13.2 billion deal to own NXC, which is a partial owner of the South Korean Korbit exchange and a full owner of Bitstamp, which is licensed in New York State (@nederbog will receive 5% of this post's payout).


5. Samsung is working on its own blockchain and might launch its own cryptocurrency - Details are light, but an anonymous source says that Samsung is experimenting with an Ethereum based ERC-20 based token, and if the experiments are successful, the company may even launch their own token. The Samsung Galaxy S10 comes with a cryptocurrency wallet and support for dapps, so it would not be a surprising directoin.


6. 'They think they are above the law': the firms that own America's voting system - A small number of companies supply voting equipment for all states, but their hardware and algorithms are proprietary trade secrets, so it is difficult for the public to understand the technology. Additionally, these firms have a history of errors and corresponding lack of transparency. Concerns are heightened by the fact that a firm with ties to a Russian oligarch purchased one of Maryland's main system vendors during 2015. The article focuses on federal legislation to solve this problem, but does not note that technology and transparency solutions can also be implemented by the states, and it doesn't mention the possibilities for blockchainh/t OSNews


7. We Need New Ideas for Fighting Alzheimer’s - After spending hundreds of millions dollars searching for a cure for Alzheimer's, the record is one of consistent failures. The article lists three lessons that can be learned from this. The obvious one is that, "targeting beta amyloid will not treat Alzheimer’s disease". A more subtle lesson is that, "When everyone starts thinking the same way, start asking yourself why. Either it is an established fact or people find it too risky to question the status quo and think 'outside the box.'" The author argues that the hyperfocus on beta amyloid for Alzheimer's treatment was a case where it has been too risky to challenge the status quo. The final lesson listed is to always ask the question, "Why am I wrong?" Finally, the article argues that a leading alternative research direction for Alzheimer's is neuroinflammation in the brain, caused by a malfunctioning immune system.


8. Samsung Is Delaying the Galaxy Fold After Reports the Foldable Phone Was Breaking - Preorders began earlier this month, and the phone was due to ship Friday, but early reviews reported that the phone was breaking after just days of use. The new roll-out is expected in upcoming weeks, but no date has been set.


9. A Dart in a Boy's Eye May Have Unleashed This Legendary Massacre 350 Years Ago - According to legend, when one boy hit another in the eye with a dart during a game, it launched the "bow and arrow wars". Researchers today believe that another factor may have been competition for food during the "Little Ice Age" where warm temperatures gave way to cold ones in a relatively short period of time. Archaeologists from Scotland have uncovered a site where 28 people were massacred, and the timing and geography are right for the deaths to have been related to the bow and arrow wars. h/t archaeology.org


10. Maybe Life Doesn't Need Water, After All - Amonia, hydrocarbons like ethane and methane, as well as many other substances are alternate possibilities. A 6:37 Youtube video by SciShow Space h/t RealClearScience

    Here is an embed

### About this series

Note: Sharing a link does not imply endorsement or agreement, and I receive no incentives for sharing from any of the content producers.

Thanks to SteemRSS from @philipkoon, @doriitamar, and @torrey.blog for the Steem RSS feeds!

In order to help make Steem the go to place for timely information on diverse topics, I invite you to discuss any of these links in the comments, and/or your own response post.

If you're not on Steem yet, you can follow this account in RSS.