Gongol.com Archives: February 2016

Brian Gongol


February 4, 2016

Computers and the Internet Google parent company Alphabet announces earnings

Alphabet had $75 billion in revenues in 2015, with $67 billion of that coming from advertising. Only $448 million in revenues came from "other bets" -- their category for Calico, Google Fiber, Google Ventures, Google X, and Nest -- and that category lost $3.5 billion. Turns out, it's expensive to lay that much fiber-optic cable. Why they don't just buy proven, profitable businesses and find ways to make them more profitable is a mystery. The "science projects" are sexy and headline-grabbing, but from an investment perspective, there may be smarter choices to be made.

Business and Finance Many people don't understand their student loans

Literacy comes in many forms: Conventional literacy with the written word, of course, but also numeracy...and functional literacy with science, technology, and economics. If we're sending 18-year-olds out into the world with high-school diplomas and not adequately preparing them for those "other" literacies, then we're in trouble.

News Psychographics are influencing the 2016 election

Senator Ted Cruz may be making the most progress with them thus far...to the detriment of the health of the Republican Party.

Computers and the Internet Now Yahoo may be reconsidering putting itself up for sale

Verizon is being kicked around as a possible buyer

Computers and the Internet NSA worries that quantum computers will overwhelm security

And for what it's worth, they're not just a security issue. Massive changes in computing capacity and strategy could easily overturn some big business models -- like, for instance, Google's.

Business and Finance Toyota to shut down the Scion brand

The cars will simply become Toyotas


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