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Bain Capital Ventures, the venture capital division of the eponymous Boston-based investment firm, said it has raised a new $1 billion fund to invest in startups, adding to a year of big-dollar fund-raising by tech investors.

Democratic U.S. Representative David Cicilline, expected to become the next chairman of House Judiciary Committee's antitrust panel, said on Wednesday that Facebook Inc cannot be trusted to regulate itself and Congress should take action.

Cisco Systems Inc beat analysts' estimates for quarterly revenue and profit on Wednesday, as the network gear maker benefited from demand for its routers and switches as well as growth in newer areas of focus such as software.

These days, even your teddy bear might be out to get you. 

As the inevitable creep of "smart" features and products continues to turn everything from your refrigerator to your thermostat into a connected device, it's worth taking a moment to consider just what you're giving up in exchange for this wannabe Jetsons future. Thankfully, Mozilla has done a lot of that work for you with a new guide dedicated to just how insecure many smart devices are. 

It's right in time for the end-of-year shopping season, meaning you have no excuse to buy your parents one of these potentially compromised electronic gadgets as a holiday gift. And, if you send them the guide, they won't have an excuse for buying you one, either.  Read more...

More about Smart Homes, Iot, Smart Devices, Mozilla, and Tech

Community first, eh?

A New York Times report published Wednesday is full of bombshells about how Facebook has handled (and mishandled) its last two years of turmoil. Amidst allegations of pettiness and tales of public relations coups, the report reveals how hard Facebook tried to remain in the good graces of politicians, even at the expense of the "transparency" and "community" it champions.

Notably, on more than one occasion, Facebook chose to appease and avoid confrontation with Republican politicians, rather than take aggressive action to combat Russian and Trumpian propaganda. 

SEE ALSO: Mark Zuckerberg ordered staff to use Android phones after Apple CEO criticized company, report claims Read more...

More about Facebook, Russia, Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg, and Trump

Acai berries are slightly smaller than grapes, although look fairly similar. The trees that they grow on are found in the Amazon Basin, particularly in Brazil. Acai berries have been consumed by various indigenous peoples of South America for thousands of years, but recently have become popular and fashionable throughout the world as a health supplement. However, […]

Dilbert readers - Please visit Dilbert.com to read this feature. Due to changes with our feeds, we are now making this RSS feed a link to Dilbert.com.

A raft of profit warnings from Apple Inc suppliers this week has fueled investor concerns that iPhone sales, in terms of volume, have hit a wall that could spell trouble for the company's plans to make services its main pillar of growth.

London's low emission traffic zone has modestly reduced residents' exposure to diesel engine pollution, but the better air quality has not brought improved lung health among the capital's children, research found on Wednesday.

Cornershop, a Latin American grocery delivery app being acquired by Walmart, plans to expand into Canada early next year as a test market for the United States, an executive for the three-year-old mobile app said.

Grocery delivery startup Instacart raised an extra $271 million in November from investors including U.S. hedge fund Tiger Global Management, bringing its latest round of fund raising to $871 million, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Most internet challenges are bad, but Dog Cheese is good.

Dog Cheese, since you asked, is a fun game where you throw a piece onto your dog and see what happens. There are very few rules: the cheese must land on the dog, certainly, but we understand that what occurs next is outside your control.

Dog Cheese appears to have begun with the following tweet from Matthew Elias, which reads: "Fuck beer pong, we playin dog cheese." Agreed!

SEE ALSO: 11 gifts for fancy dogs with weirdly human names

Now, lots of people — and dogs, and the occasional cat — are playing Dog Cheese. Soon it will be more popular than beer pong. Just kidding, but what if it was? Would be cool. Read more...

More about Twitter, Memes, Social Media, Culture, and Web Culture

Several prominent investors put fresh money to work in Apple during the third quarter even as they sold out of other high-flying tech companies, betting the iPhone maker's stock would keep rising as strong growth overshadowed rising trade tensions between the United States and China.

Tech CEOs, beware: If you piss off Mark Zuckerberg, he might order his employees to stop using your company's products.

The Facebook founder was reportedly so enraged by criticism from Apple CEO Tim Cook that he personally instructed executives to stop using iPhones in favor of Android devices.

SEE ALSO: How to completely delete Facebook from your life

That's one revelation from a new bombshell report from the New York Times, which details the social network's many failures to properly address Russian interference in the 2016 election and subsequent privacy concerns raised by critics. But the incident highlights just how personally Facebook's founder took the criticism from Apple CEO Tim Cook. Read more...

More about Tech, Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook, and Tech

Uber Technologies Inc said on Wednesday that growth in bookings for its ride-hailing and delivery services rose 6 percent in the latest quarter, the third quarter in a row that growth has remained in the single digits after double-digit growth for all of last year.

Read more...

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(Reuters Health) - Infants who don't sleep through the night don't seem to be at higher risk for cognitive or motor development problems, a Canadian study suggests.

(Reuters Health) - Surgeries in poorer countries can become dangerous when electrical power goes out, as it often does.

It was a sad day in the world when Toys 'R' Us officially closed it's doors in the U.S. For all we know it could come back in one form or another someday, but it probably won't be the same and neither will Geoffrey. (Poor Geoffrey.)

But if you're looking for a new one-stop toy shop, especially with the holidays around the corner, Amazon is here to fill the void, with plenty of deals ahead of Black Friday to help you out. (It's worth noting that Walmart also has a killer selection of toys and is looking to pick up the slack that Toys 'R' Us has left behind."

SEE ALSO: Toys that give kids a head start in STEM without screen time Read more...

More about Toys, Black Friday, Mashable Shopping, Shopping Amazon, and Mashable Deals

Trivia time: Which is bigger?

1. The amount of money the U.S. government spent on K-12 education in 2017

or....

2. The amount of money Americans spent on holiday shopping in 2017

Prepare to let out a big, fat "yikes." In 2017, the U.S. budget for education was $69.4 billion. Meanwhile, Americans spent a whopping $1 trillion on holiday shopping between Black Friday and Cyber MondayThat's enough money to send 8.3 million people to a 4-year college. Enough to buy every San Fransisco resident an apartment. Enough to literally purchase Apple. 

What we're saying is: That's a lot of dough.

Of course, giving and receiving gifts is awesome and makes you warm and fuzzy inside — no one is disagreeing with that. And we are the last ones to weigh any objections to spending money and getting good deals wherever we can find them. But there's also a dark cloud hovering over that ginormous pile of cash we'e spending. In 2016, 60% of all online sales went to 10 of the biggest retailers, none of which has a proactive social mission. Welp. Read more...

More about Social Good, Gift Guide, Mashable Shopping, Shopping Solo, and Gift Guide 2018