Believe it or not, we don’t cover every piece of tech news here at SnapMunk. In an effort to keep you apprised of all things relevant in the world of technology and startups, here are some noteworthy tech news items that didn’t get a full column this week but certainly deserve a glance.
Nintendo Market Value Passes Sony Thanks To Pokemon Go. There’s an important lesson here: if you want to dominate the tech industry, send people hunting FOR FAKE MONSTERS. Nintendo, who backed the Pokémon Go game, jumped to a market value exceeding $39 billion this past week and set a record in Japan for the most shares traded in a single day. Mark my words: this is a portent of an augmented, chaotic future. Don’t think it will be long before we see Star Wars, Disney, Warcraft, and a thousands of other brands and games follow suit…
Image via Bloomberg
Leslie Jones Quits Twitter Over Racism, Twitter Responds. Leslie Jones, of Ghostbusters fame, recently quit Twitter after being subjected to a constant stream of vile, racist bile. Seriously. Click the link, look at these tweets and try not to barf. At the center of the controversy was Milo Yiannopoulos, a hardcore conservative tech editor at Breitbart, who fueled the fire. Mr. Yiannopoulos has a long history of hardcore, obnoxious trolling. Thankfully, Twitter finally shut down the King Troll—they permanently banned him from Twitter. Take your racism to the Trump party Mr. Yiannopoulos!
Image via Vulture.com
Brazil Judge Orders WhatsApp Blocked, Then Gets His Ruling Overturned. As we saw in the longstanding battle between Apple and the FBI, leaders really DO NOT like encryption. The brass in Brazil is no exception. A judge ordered the 5 major phone carriers to block WhatsApp due to ongoing frustrations with trying to access the encrypted messages. Thankfully, a Federal Supreme Court judge overturned The Honorable Orwellian Dystopia’s original ruling and WhatsApp has been restored.
Image via Arstechnica
Pokemon Go Players In Bosnia Warned To Stay Away From Minefields. Pro Tip: DON’T PLAY POKEMON GO IN A MINEFIELD. After receiving word that some players were searching for Pokemon monsters in areas potentially containing old mines, authorities were forced to issue a warning. Approximately 120,000 landmines remain undiscovered in the country. I’m 99% sure that, before now, “Pokemon” and the literal use of “minefield” have never occurred in the same sentence. What a time to be alive.
Image via BBC.com
The Last VHS Players To Be Made This Month. I feel like a small, fanny pack-wearing, Walkman-listening part of my soul is dying. The last VHS players ever will be made this month, and then the device will go to that great Radio Shack in the sky. Apparently the last VHS tapes were manufactured in 2008. Now for the crazy part: 750,000 VHS units were sold last year! Let’s all observe a moment of silence.
Image via PCWorld.com
Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments!
Stephen Altrogge is a freelance writer based in Tallahassee, Florida. He writes about tech, marketing, faith, and lots of other things. He’s married to Jen and has three young girls. Every day he consumes more coffee than the entire population of Colombia. He knows more about Star Wars than any respectable man should, and he runs more than any sane man would. He once attempted to eat a 2 pound hamburger in under an hour. He failed.
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Nothing missed from what I can tell. Each week there is a story or two that I didn’t read about making this feature a nice one for me!
I am still in shock about how fast Pokemon Go has taken off. What a weird thing and its not like Pokemon hasn’t been around for a week. Maybe that is why it was so successful. People of all ages know the show and the products and this was just the next step in the process.
Pretty crazy to see where Pokemon Go has people walking to.
I was just thinking the other day if I should get rid of some of my VHS tapes. I cannot believe that VHS players were still being made up to this point. Who is buying them?