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April 2024

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Google Digitises Delhi’s Historic ‘Baolis’

by Loknath Das
written by Loknath Das

Google Digitises Delhi’s Historic ‘Baolis’

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Google announced the project ‘Baolis of Delhi – Stepping into Step Wells’
  • It features baolis constructed between 1210-1540 with their virtual tours
  • The photographs can be viewed on the website, iOS and Android apps

As Delhi’s historical stepwells lie in ruins with the ongoing urbanisation drive, a new initiative seeks to preserve seven baolis across the city.

The baolis which were once a major source of water for civilisations that sprung up around them, are being digitised by The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) in collaboration with Google.

Titled “Baolis of Delhi – Stepping into Step Wells”, the project features baolis constructed between 1210 – 1540 and offers a virtual tour of the structures through specially curated photographs.

“The effort would help to reach out to more people and provide them information about the architectural heritage of our city.

“By reaching out to more and more people we are creating public awareness which is the first step towards conservation,” Swapna Liddle, Convenor of INTACH’s Delhi chapter, told PTI.

With over 20 baolis spread across the city, most of these structures, Liddle said, have been neglected due to lack of awareness among people.

Besides documenting the popular stepwells – Agrasen Ki Baoli in Lutyens and the baoli at Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah, the project also introduces the lesser known baolis along with interesting narratives around them.

Viewers will also get a virtual experience that enables them to have a look at the reservoirs which no longer have public access.
These include the baoli at Feroz Shah Kotla and Purana Qila among others.

The photographs can be viewed on the website – Google Art and Culture (GAC), and also on the corresponding application on both iOS as well as Android.

Talking about the need for collaborating with governments for initiatives to conserve historical structures, Liddle noted how a baoli in Dwarka is being restored by the Delhi government.

“We need to work in collaboration. The INTACH Delhi Chapter in fact has had a very fruitful partnership with Delhi government through which we are studying and restoring several heritage structures for the Delhi State Department of Archaeology,” she said.

When asked why only seven baolis were shortlisted for the project, Liddle said, the material picked up by Google was part of tourist literature and not a comprehensive list.

Simon Rein, programme manager – India, GAC said that the initiative is inclined towards making India’s rich heritage and culture more accessible to people at home and abroad.

“It stems from Google’s broader mission to organise and make information about world heritage more accessible to people. We want to enable users to discover artworks in new ways and help the cultural sector make the most of the digital opportunities,” he said.

[“Source-ndtv”]

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Tech Update

Paytm Pre-GST Sale Kicks Off Tomorrow With Offers on Mobiles, Laptops, and More

by Loknath Das
written by Loknath Das

Paytm Pre-GST Sale Kicks Off Tomorrow With Offers on Mobiles, Laptops, and More

HIGHLIGHTS
Paytm’s Pre-GST Sale kicks off Tuesday
The three-day sale to see discounts on several products
Cashback offers of up to Rs. 20,000 available on TVs, laptops
Paytm Mall, Paytm’s recently announced e-commerce unit, has announced a three-day long Pre-GST Sale where consumers can get big cashback on the purchase of products like televisions, laptops, and more.

Under the Pre-GST Sale, Paytm Mall will be offering up to Rs. 20,000 cashback on the purchase of select products. The dedicated page for the sale is up already, and it confirms that the sale will begin midnight. The three-day Paytm sale begins on Tuesday, and will end on Thursday.

The Paytm Pre-GST Sale will include products like televisions, consumer durables, laptops and DSLRs at up to Rs. 20,000 cashback. The sale will also see discounts on ACs and refrigerators as well. The details of the products on sale will be revealed during the sale. The dedicated page hints that Paytm’s Pre-GST Sale will have discount on televisions from brands like LG, Samsung, and Sony. In terms of laptops, consumers can expect Apple, Dell, and Lenovo laptops on offer.

Paytm also claims that few lucky consumers can be eligible to win an iPhone 7 with a shopping of minimum Rs. 1,000 during the Pre-GST Sale. Though, there isn’t much detail about the terms and conditions of the offer as of now.
Additionally, other products such as Bluetooth speakers, footwear and accessories will be sold at up to 50 percent off with additional 25 percent cashback, the company says. The Paytm Pre-GST Sale also lists cashback of up to Rs. 10,000 on the purchase of smartphones, though only Oppo and Micromax smartphones seems to be on offer as of now. You can wait for few more hours to see the offerings under the sale.

The all-new Paytm sale offer has been announced for retailers to clear out inventory ahead of the new tax rates being effective. Announcing the sale, Paytm in a press note said that it will host over 6,000 retailers across over 500 brands as part of the Paytm Pre-GST sale
[“Source-ndtv”]

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Internet

Industroyer Malware Can Shut Down Electricity Distribution Systems

by Loknath Das
written by Loknath Das

Image result for Industroyer Malware Can Shut Down Electricity Distribution Systems

HIGHLIGHTS
Industroyer malware can shut down electricity distribution systems
It may also be behind one-hour shutdown of power to Kiev
It’s said to be the most powerful threat to appear since Stuxnet
Hackers have developed powerful malware that can shut down electricity distribution systems and possibly other critical infrastructure, two cyber-security firms announced Monday, with one report linking it to Russia.

Slovakia-based ESET said the malware is the most powerful threat to appear since Stuxnet, the hacking tool used to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program believed developed by US and Israeli intelligence.

ESET said the malware, which it dubbed Industroyer, may be behind the one-hour shutdown of power to the Ukraine capital Kiev last December.

The company said Industroyer’s potent threat is that it works using the communication protocols designed decades ago and built into energy, transportation, water and gas systems around the world.

Making use of these poorly-secured protocols, Industroyer can take direct control of electricity substation switches and circuit breakers, giving hackers the ability to shut down power distribution and damage equipment.

The malware is the “biggest threat to industrial control systems since Stuxnet,” ESET said, without indicating who was behind it.

But in a separate report on the same malware Monday, a second cyber-security company, Dragos, tied it to a Russian hacker group called Sandworm which has been linked to the Russian government.
Dragos gave its own name to the malware, “CrashOverride,” and said it is only the second-ever malware deployed for disrupting physical industrial processes, after Stuxnet.

“CrashOverride is not unique to any particular vendor or configuration, and instead leverages knowledge of grid operations and network communications to cause impact,” Dragos said.

“In that way, it can be immediately re-purposed in Europe and portions of the Middle East and Asia.”

In addition, it said, the malware could be adapted “with a small amount of tailoring” to render it potent against the North American power grid.

It said that the malware can be applied to work at several electricity substations at the same time, giving it the power to create a widespread power shutdown that could last for hours and potentially days.

Dragos said it had “high confidence” the malware was behind the power outage in Kiev on December 17.
[“Source-ndtv”]

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Internet

Verizon Completes Yahoo Deal, Marissa Mayer Steps Down

by Loknath Das
written by Loknath Das

Verizon Completes Yahoo Deal, Marissa Mayer Steps Down

HIGHLIGHTS
Deal ends Yahoo’s 21-year history as a publicly traded company
CEO Mayer will walk away with a compensation package worth $125 million
About 2,000 Yahoo and AOL workers are expected to lose their jobs
Verizon has taken over Yahoo, completing a $4.5 billion deal (roughly Rs. 28,956 crores) that will usher in a new management team to attempt to wring more advertising revenue from one of the Internet’s best-known brands.

Tuesday’s closure of the sale ends Yahoo’s 21-year history as a publicly traded company. It also ends the nearly five-year reign of Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, who isn’t joining Verizon. She will walk away from Yahoo with a compensation package currently worth about $125 million (roughly Rs. 804 crores), including her severance pay and stock awards that will be fully vested with the deal’s completion.

Yahoo’s email and other digital services such as sports, finance and news will be run by Tim Armstrong, who has been running AOL since Verizon bought that company for $4.4 billion two years ago. Armstrong will now be CEO of a new Verizon subsidiary called Oath, which will consist of Yahoo and various AOL services.

About 2,000 Yahoo and AOL workers are expected to lose their jobs as Verizon trims expenses and eliminates overlapping positions.

“Now that the deal is closed, we are excited to set our focus on being the best company for consumer media, and the best partner to our advertising, content and publisher partners,” Armstrong said.

Verizon won’t be getting Yahoo’s prized stakes in two Asian internet companies, Alibaba Group and Yahoo Japan. Those will belong to a newly formed company called Altaba, which also will inherit Yahoo’s $8 billion in cash and any money that might have to be paid in various shareholder lawsuits filed against Yahoo leading up to the sale.

The suits include complaints tied to computer hacking attacks that stole personal information from more than 1 billion Yahoo user accounts in 2013 and 2014 but weren’t disclosed until last year. The fallout from the digital intrusions forced Yahoo to give Verizon a $350 million discount on the initial sale terms reached last July, causing the deal to be delayed by several months.
Altaba’s stock will begin trading next week under the ticker symbol “AABA.” Yahoo’s stock will trade through Friday.

Verizon is counting on the combination of Yahoo and AOL to build a strong third alternative in a rapidly growing digital advertising market that is currently dominated by Google and Facebook.

But Yahoo’s ad revenue has been falling for most of the last decade. The company lured Mayer away from Google in 2012 in hopes of reversing the decline, but she couldn’t pull it off despite investing billions in acquisitions aimed at making Yahoo a bigger player in the mobile advertising market.

By the end of last year, Yahoo’s annual revenue after subtracting ad commissions had shrunk to $3.5 billion, a 35 percent drop from its 2008 peak. By comparison, Google’s revenue last year totaled $73 billion, after subtracting ad commissions.

Despite the company’s struggles, Yahoo’s stock more than tripled while Mayer was CEO, creating more than $30 billion in shareholder wealth.

But most of those gains stemmed from Yahoo’s stake in Alibaba, a Chinese e-commerce company whose fortunes have soared while Yahoo faded. The Alibaba investment was engineered 12 years ago by Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang in what is now widely regarded as one of the savviest deals in internet history.

Yahoo’s stock performance is the main reason most shareholders haven’t complained too loudly about Mayer’s lavish compensation package.
[“Source-ndtv”]

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Blogging

How I Turned Engineers Into Bloggers With 50,000 Views

by Loknath Das
written by Loknath Das

How I Turned Engineers Into Bloggers With 50,000 Views

B2B marketing writers are not boring — they are bored. In the rat race for SEO, clicks and visibility, they’re pressured to write at a relentless pace. Consequently, they sacrifice clarity to jargon, experience to corporate-speak, the personal for the impersonal. In most cases, they don’t even put a name on the byline. Most B2B content out there is “Nothing” by No One.

Not surprisingly, marketers struggle to capture the passion, expertise, and experiences of their organization. The alternative is to mobilize your entire team — engineers, designers, HR, salespeople, and marketers — into an army of bloggers.

B2B content normally sterilizes the human experience. Companywide blogging restores it. When you liberate employees to write what they care about, the content can build your brand. Excited people tend to write exciting stuff.

That’s what I discovered at my company JotForm. 10 years ago, I started blogging. Whether I attracted readers or not, writing was intrinsically valuable. The blog became a place to untangle ideas. It was the mental equivalent of putting data into a graph. When I took the unstructured information from my brain and organized it in a meaningful form, I discovered its real essence. You don’t really know what you know until you attempt to communicate it.

You could come up with dozens of reasons why I shouldn’t ask my team members to blog. Aytekin, it’s a waste of their time – programmers should program and designers should design. Aytekin, who wants to read long blog posts these days? Aytekin, why not just keep that stream of mini-posts rolling through your Facebook and Twitter feeds? If you ask, who’s going to take up the challenge of blogging anyway?

Here’s my response: Who better to write about programming than programmers? Who better to talk design than designers? When experts on the ground share their craft with passion, people not only want but demand the details.

Sure, social content is easier, but it’s ephemeral. The social feed is like a fashion runway where all the models speed walk. And to the last objection, have you ever asked your employees to write? When I did, it went better than expected. Here’s what worked:

  • Ask people to brainstorm ideas from their day-to-day experiences. The internet is already full of opinions and tips divorced from knowledge. When your colleagues just write about what they’re doing, ‘smart’ ideas emerge naturally.
  • Make it concrete. Employees will all struggle with the same question: What should I write about? I ask them to pitch me three ideas, and I choose the most compelling one. That condenses an infinite list of possibilities into one, defined assignment.
  • Promote craftsmanship. Most B2B content is unusable. Often, you can’t implement the tips without buying the company’s product. Instead, ask your team to write about how they approach their craft. Specifically, tell your people to write what they want to read.
  • Beware the 4-1 Rule. If you encourage four employees to write blog posts by a particular deadline, one person is going to do it. That’s what I’ve observed, anyway. If you want six blog posts, bring it up to 24 people.
  • Let marketing handle edits and revisions. They will help your team members overcome the anxiety of writing with proper grammar, syntax, etc. Leave redlines to the pros.
  • Repeat winning themes. We find that readers gravitate towards similar types of articles. Some have chalked up more than 50,000 views. I’d label them under the following meta-topics:
    • Here’s something difficult I accomplished, and here’s how I did it.
    • Judgment call: Why you should do A or use B
    • Lessons learned: What X taught me about Y

Blogging builds your company brand by unveiling its human nature. In a competitive market, buyers can’t distinguish between products easily. They can, however, differentiate between the thoughts and personalities of the sellers.

Thus, blogging is a way to earn not just mindshare but trust and appreciation as well. It gives you a local, personal feel in an otherwise global, impersonal technology market. The process is also rewarding. Telling stories has been good for trust-building, morale, and teamwork.

Personally, I want to learn what the world’s most talented people know. So be generous. Spare a bored marketer, and let all of your employees share their passion.

[“Source-smallbiztrends”]

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News Update

A Nolan Carroll Suspension Could Actually Be A Blessing In Disguise For Dallas

by Loknath Das
written by Loknath Das

Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Let’s be clear and say that any suspension is a bad suspension. It’s not like the order is executed, a player is suspended, and anybody with a rooting interest in said player high-fives.

That being said, there’s a lot to unpack when it comes to suspensions. The obvious is that you’re without the suspended player for a period of time, but there are a few more layers to this onion.

Get hypothetical with me and pretend that Dallas Cowboys CB Nolan Carroll is suspended for his recent arrest. What would that cause? Panic? Uproar? How about a calm mind that processes the ripple effect it has on the team and how that might be a potentially beneficial thing?

Unfortunately for Cowboys fans we’re all-too-familiar with defensive players being suspended to start the season; however, this means that we’re well-versed in all of the intricacies of them. Should Nolan Carroll indeed be suspended for, let’s say, four games… he would not count against the Dallas Cowboys 53-man roster for the first quarter of the season.

This has been interesting along the defensive line every season with suspensions belonging to Greg Hardy and DeMarcus Lawrence, but the cupboard was pretty bare behind them in that position group. Nolan Carroll is different in that there are a lot of spicy options in the secondary as we enter the season:

2017 Dallas Cowboys Secondary

Player Position Chances Of Making 53-Man Roster
Chidobe Awuzie CB Lock
Robert Blanton S Fringe
Anthony Brown CB Lock
Nolan Carroll CB Lock
Kavon Frazier S Lock
Jeff Heath S Lock
Byron Jones S Lock
Jourdan Lewis CB Lock
Leon McFadden CB Fringe
Jeremiah McKinnon CB Doubtful
Orlando Scandrick CB Lock
Sammy Seamster CB Doubtful
Jameill Showers S Doubtful
Duke Thomas CB Doubtful
Marquez White CB Fringe
Xavier Woods S Lock

As you’ll see there are a Tony Romo nine number of projected (projected by me obviously but I know you agree 100% don’t worry) locks to make the 53-man roster, five cornerbacks and four safeties. This is obviously lumping Carroll in with the locks.

It was when I was reading Tom Ryle’s OTAs breakdown that I remembered this list, and the amount of fringe guys on it.

Nolan Carroll’s expected suspension may actually work to the team’s advantage.

We still are waiting for official word from the league on disciplinary action stemming from Carroll’s DWI arrest, but that seems almost certain. While having to rely on rookies is not ideal, that would open snaps for Chidobe Awuzie, Jourdan Lewis, and Marquez White. That could be important, especially for White. Awuzie and Lewis will make the roster if healthy, but White has a much bigger challenge as a sixth-round pick. If he can rise to the challenge while getting some playing time in Nolan’s absence, he can do himself a world of good. All three can benefit from getting on the field more than they would otherwise. We just have to hope they won’t have rough debuts.

If you’re buying my locks then you’re one safety short of matching 2016’s initial 53-man rosterin terms of cornerbacks and safeties. The Cowboys may choose to use that spot on an extra cornerback due to Chidobe Awuzie’s position flexibility, or maybe things will get really wild and they’ll use it to carry Darrelle Revis, who Dez Bryant is recruiting to Dallas by the way.

Maybe you want that extra DB to be Marquez White. Or perhaps you really want Leon McFadden on this team. Who knows, maybe there are more Robert Blanton loyalists than we all fully realize. If Nolan Carroll is suspended then for four weeks you can have two out of three (or someone who plays a different position entirely) while you make up your mind even more.

The silver lining behind a would-be Carroll suspension isn’t just in terms of delaying making up your mind who you want. Football is obviously a game where players get hurt constantly. Remember how badly the secondary was hit by injury last season?

The sooner the Cowboys can lock up playoff possibilities, the sooner they can start resting players, starting with Scandrick. The Cowboys secondary has been hard hit by injury this season, getting them all healthy before the playoffs start would be a huge bonus. It doesn’t sound like Scandrick will be 100%, but a few weeks of rest could certainly help.

Of the nine projected locks we have here, are you fully confident that no one will sustain any kind of injury in the first four weeks? Wouldn’t it be somewhat of a luxury to keep Nolan Carroll on ice and drop him back in in Week 5?

The Cowboys might already be without David Irving for the first four weeks – we all still wait official word on that front – but it’s not like they’re playing anybody that instills supreme fear in us that Carroll would quell:

  • Week 1: New York Giants and Eli Manning… granted Odell Beckham Jr., Brandon Marshall, and Sterling Shephard are very dangerous.
  • Week 2: at Denver Broncos and Trevor Siemian… bring it on.
  • Week 3: at Arizona Cardinals and Carson Palmer… did he get younger over the offseason?
  • Week 4: Los Angeles Rams and Jared Goff… King Joffrey lasted longer than King Goff.

Am I alone in that it sounds pretty not-so-bad for Carroll to miss these games? The Cowboys would benefit in having an extra month of time to figure out exactly how they want to construct the rest of the roster, and Carroll would be a guaranteed healthy player come Week 5. I like those odds.

[“Source-smallbiztrends”]
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Blogging

Poldark is back and we’re live blogging the whole darn thing as episode 1 of season 3 begins

by Loknath Das
written by Loknath Das

Image result for Poldark is back and we're live blogging the whole darn thing as episode 1 of season 3 begins

He’s been gone too long and we’re a little giddy with excitement that our Ross is about to be back on our screens.

So excited, in fact, that we’ve only gone and started a live blog about the return of series 3 so we can all watch it together in some sort of 18th-century-meets-21st-century wormhole.

We’ll be relaxing on the sofas of Cornwall Live HQ, shop-bought popcorn in one hand and a bottle of mead in the other, ready to see what happens with the Captain after the dramatic finale of series 2.

We’ll have to put our snacks and tipple down quite regularly though because we plan on doing quite a lot of typing to give you our thoughts on it during the episode itself.

You can leave comments on the link to this article on our Facebook page (we’ll be sharing a post there at 8.45pm) so we can see what you think too and have some kind of back and forth through the platforms of technology.

While you’re waiting for it all to get going, make sure you’ve caught up with what happened in series one and two.

And we’ve all got a feature about what to expect from the new series.

And if you really need to be put in the mood: Steamy Poldark series three trailer released by the BBC and there is a shirtless scene

[“Source-smallbiztrends”]

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Internet

Amazon Lent $1 Billion to Merchants to Boost Sales on Its Marketplace

by Loknath Das
written by Loknath Das

Amazon Lent $1 Billion to Merchants to Boost Sales on Its Marketplace

Amazon has stepped up lending to third-party sellers on its site who are looking to grow their business, a company executive said in an interview on Wednesday.

The e-commerce giant has doled out more than $1 billion (roughly Rs. 6,432 crores) in small loans to sellers in the past 12 months, compared with more than $1.5 billion it lent from 2011 through 2015, said Peeyush Nahar, vice president for Amazon Marketplace. Sellers have used the money to expand their inventory or discount items on Amazon, he said.

Boosting sales for third-party merchants is lucrative for Amazon, which takes a cut of transactions on its site.

It also has made a business out of handling more leg work for sellers, too. They pay Amazon to fulfill their orders and boost their placement in search results, without which sellers might struggle to grab shoppers’ attention.

More than 20,000 small businesses have received a loan from Amazon and more than half of those have taken a second loan from the company, it said.

Loans range from $1,000 to $750,000. Sellers have said interest rates are between 6 percent and 14 percent.

Rivals, including eBay and Wal-Mart Stores, now are doubling down on their marketplace businesses, but loans may help keep sellers close to Amazon’s orbit.
“We do tell them it’s to help them grow on the Amazon Marketplace,” Nahar said.

Traditional lenders shied away from small merchants after the 2008 financial crisis, which created an opening for other sources of financing. While this exposes Amazon to additional credit risk, the company has near real-time data on sellers’ businesses and access to their customer reviews, which are helpful in deciding whether to make a loan.

The loan program is invitation-only.

Amazon has issued loans to sellers in the United States, United Kingdom and Japan.

The company has said it would expand to other countries where it operates marketplaces, such as Canada, France and China. On the rollout’s timing, Nahar said, “Stay tuned.”

 

 

[“source-gadgets.ndtv”]

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Gadgets News

Moto G5S Plus, Moto Z2 Force, Moto X4 Price in India Leaked, Tipped to Launch Soon

by Loknath Das
written by Loknath Das

Moto G5S Plus, Moto Z2 Force, Moto X4 Price in India Leaked, Tipped to Launch Soon

Lenovo brand Moto just recently launched its Moto Z2 Play smartphone with Moto Mods support in India. However, the company plans to release three more smartphones into the market before the end of summer, a fresh leak hints. It claims Moto G5S Plus, Moto X4, and Moto Z2 Force are all launching in India real soon, and the prices of all the three smartphones at launch have also been tipped.

Tipster Andri Yatim has taken to Twitter to reveal that the Moto G5S Plus, Moto X4, and Moto Z2 Force are all launching in India this summer. The big USP of all the three devices will be the dual camera setup at the back. The tipster claims that the Moto G5S Plus will be priced at Rs. 17,999, the Moto X4 will be priced at Rs. 20,999, and the Moto Z2 Force will be priced at Rs. 38,999. There is no tangible timeline as to when all the smartphones will launch, except for the vague summer release, but all the smartphones are launching in India soon, according to the tipster.

The Moto G5S Plus has been leaked on several occasions in the past hinting at an imminent launched. Leaks reveal that the smartphone may sport a dual camera setup, a front flash, and a round-shaped Home Button. Some of rumoured specifications of the Moto G5S Plus include 5.5-inch full-HD display, octa-core processor, and Android 7.0 Nougat.
Moto’s new ‘X’ series is also expected to get an addition with the Moto X4, however, this is the first time the device has been tipped anywhere. We know very little about this device as of now. The Moto Z2 Force image leaks in the past tip a similar design to the recently launched Moto Z2 Play and will come with support for Moto Mods as well. However, the big difference will be the dual camera setup at the back.

The Moto Z2 Force is expected to sport a ShatterShield screen and feature support for Gigabit LTE. As Gigabit LTE is currently supported only by Snapdragon 835 SoC, the Moto Z2 Force will feature the aforementioned processor if not a newer variant.

 

 

[“source-gadgets.ndtv”]

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Tech Update

Uber Said to Be Considering Placing CEO Travis Kalanick on Temporary Leave

by Loknath Das
written by Loknath Das

Uber Said to Be Considering Placing CEO Travis Kalanick on Temporary Leave

The board of Uber was meeting Sunday to consider placing the CEO of the ride-hailing company on leave, according The New York Times and other news outlets.

The Times reported that three people with knowledge of the matter have confirmed that Uber’s board was meeting to consider recommendations from a law firm hired to review Uber’s corporate culture and that the board may decide to put CEO Travis Kalanick on temporary leave.

The newspaper said its sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak for Uber.

Uber has been rocked by accusations that its management has fostered a workplace environment where harassment, discrimination and bullying are left unchecked.

Uber spokesman Matt Kallman said that he wasn’t sure the company would make a statement after the meeting.

Reuters and the tech blog Recode reported the board meeting earlier. The Wall Street Journal also was citing unnamed sources about the meeting.

Uber has hired the law firm of former Attorney General Eric Holder to review policies and recommend changes. A report by his firm, Covington & Burling, was expected to be made public soon.

Uber announced last week that it fired 20 employees for harassment problems.

Under CEO Kalanick, Uber has shaken up the taxi industry in hundreds of cities and turned the San Francisco-based company into the world’s most valuable startup. Uber’s valuation has climbed to nearly $70 billion.

But Kalanick has acknowledged his management style needs improvement. The 40-year-old CEO said earlier this year that he needed to “fundamentally change and grow up.”
In February, former Uber engineer Susan Fowler wrote on a blog that she had been propositioned by her boss in a series of messages on her first day of work and that superiors ignored her complaints. Uber set up a hotline for complaints after that and hired the law firm of Perkins Coie to investigate.

That firm checked into 215 complaints, with 57 still under investigation.

Uber has been plagued by more than sexual harassment complaints in recent months. It has been threatened by boycotts, sued and subject to a federal investigation that it used a fake version of its app to thwart authorities looking into whether it is breaking local laws.

Kalanick lost his temper earlier this year in an argument with an Uber driver who was complaining about pay, and Kalanick’s profanity-laced comments were caught on video.

In a March conference call with reporters after that incident, board member Arianna Huffington expressed confidence that Kalanick would evolve into a better leader. But Huffington, a founder of Huffington Post, suggested time might be running out.

He’s a “scrappy entrepreneur,” she said during the call, but one who needed to bring “changes in himself and in the way he leads.”

The board meeting comes fresh on personal tragedy in Kalanick’s life. His mother was killed in late May after the boat she and her husband were riding in hit a rock. Kalanick’s father suffered moderate injuries.

The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that Chief Business Officer Emil Michael is planning to resign as soon as Monday.

The company has faced high turnover in its top ranks. In March, Uber’s president, Jeff Jones, resigned after less than a year on the job. He said his “beliefs and approach to leadership” were “inconsistent” with those of the company.

In addition to firing 20 employees, Uber said Tuesday that it was hiring an Apple marketing executive, Bozoma Saint John, to help improve its tarnished brand. Saint John most recently was head of global consumer marketing for Apple Music and iTunes.

 

 

 

[“source-gadgets.ndtv”]

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