WEEKLY REVIEW  |  May 18, 2017

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TECH

Microsoft and the UN team up to predict and fight human rights abuses.

Microsoft is giving a $5 million grant to the UN Human Rights Office to support new technology. One of the updates will be a “Rights View” dashboard that will use data and cloud computing to track potential human rights issues globally in real time.

Google acquires VR comedic geniuses.

Owlchemy Labs is no small fish in the VR world. With hits Job Simulator and Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality, the game studio is quite a success—so much so that Google recently acquired them. We personally can’t wait to see what this team cooks up.

I/O so far.

As we write this, Google I/O 2017 is only one day in. But here’s everything the Internet knows so far: startling stats on users, an even smarter Google Assistant (now available on iPhone too), free calling from Google Home, and even more. Read all the news on The Verge.

MARKETING

Will Fyre Festival be the death of influencer marketing?

Influencer marketing has blown up in the past couple years. But will the flop known as Fyre Festival change that? Kendall Jenner, Emily Ratajkowski, and Bella Hadid, among others, were paid a large amount to post about the festival, but as soon as things went awry the posts were deleted. Experts say this event may just force influencers and brands to take a step back and truly partner together, not just pay and go away.

Getting the most out of AdWords.

Do your search campaigns meet your goals? Are you doing the best you can with your spend? Can you customize your bids even more? Our own Cindy Chou gives you the top five commonly ignored AdWords optimization techniques.

DESIGN

Apple’s food obsession continues.

Sure the company has always been food-inclined. It’s in the name. But internally, they have a food innovation: a pizza box. They patented the circular pizza box (with airholes to avoid sogginess in the crust) seven years ago. It’s available at existing Apple campuses and at their new one, too.

Body wash shaped like us.

Dove has been championing real beauty for 60 years, but they continue to innovate how they show their inclusivity. Now their packaging reflects their campaign too. Dove celebrates the many shapes and sizes of beauty, and they’re bringing it to life with their body wash bottles—in seven shapes and sizes.

INFLUENCERS

Hacking creativity.

You’ve heard the adage “let it come to you,” but is that how creativity has to happen? Carl Richards argues that it doesn’t. “Don’t wait around for creativity to come to you on accident. Be creative on purpose,” he writes. And he knows. For seven years he’s written a column and sketched for the New York Times.

Twitter’s co-founder retweets.

Or rather, he returns to Twitter. Biz Stone is filling his old role to “guide the company culture.” Twitter hasn’t grown the past two quarters, so his return brings with it hope that he can revitalize the company to what it was when it started—or at least better than the current situation.

EVENTS

The Weekend Report.

Start the weekend wholesomely on Friday by watching Moana with free popcorn, face painting, and glow sticks in the Presidio. Or opt for something a little more unique: free comedy and wine in a Berkeley mattress shop. Then spend your Saturday on an adventure with the San Francisco Midnight Mystery Ride before you gear up for Bay to Breakers on Sunday—SFGate has discounted tickets!

AND JUST FOR FUN

Accents trip up AI.

If you were at I/O or joined in via live stream, you might’ve seen the AI mix-up known as Dr. Panera. Basically, AI is handy but isn’t perfect. Watch these people with accents try to interact with Siri, Alexa, and Google.


“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.”

Benjamin Franklin