Real Estate App Tries to Stand Out With Rap Video About Apartment Scams
Master B-Rad, you got the pad (Screengrab: YouTube). With so many real estate apps and sites already out there, how does one stand out? A rap video, obviously. RadPad is a real estate listing app that describes focuses on providing quality photos with each of its listings; it describes itself as “the Instagram meets Craigslist mobile rental marketplace.” In “Here Goes the Neighborhood,” a rap video they bizarrely released yesterday, Master B-Rad sympathizes with those who are still living with mom and dad while warning them of the classic rental scams including catfishing and the bait and switch. Although we know it’s ... → Read More
Betabeat - Friday, June 6, 2014
Everyone wants a piece of Google’s high-speed Fiber network, but the truth is, many cities and communities already have their own fiber networks. They’re just unable to use them. As you might guess, the giant telecom companies — including Time Warner Cable, Verizon and Comcast — are involved here. These are the same companies trying to bully the FCC into creating an “internet fast lane” so web-based companies can pay them more for better service. For the most part, the cable companies have been offering incentives to local governments (mainly just better service) in exchange for non-compete clauses, which disallow ... 
(Wikimedia Commons) “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” — Mark Twain Recently, Karl Taro Greenfeld, a journalist and author, published an op-ed in the New York Times on faking cultural literacy. “It’s never been so easy,” he wrote, “to pretend to know so much without actually knowing anything. We pick topical, relevant bits from Facebook, Twitter or emailed news alerts, and then regurgitate them.”
Good morning! Here’s what you need to know before your first meeting of the day: 1. Vodafone, one of the world’s largest mobile phone groups, has revealed the existence of secret wires that allow government agencies to listen to all conversations on its networks, The Guardian reports. The wires are used in some of the 29 countries in which it operates. Vodafone has published stats about surveillance conducted on its network here. 2. Here’s a brutal report on why Apple was forced to buy Beats: “Apple employees confirmed that management actively ignored iTunes’ streaming competitors, with some managers refusing to ... 
With Clubcast, DJs can broadcast their sets live from thousands of miles away. (Mixify) Imagine going to a club to see a DJ perform live — from 5,000 miles away. Mixify, the online platform that lets you live stream DJs’ EDM tracks, has just introduced Clubcast, a service that lets venues live stream an HD video feed of a DJ’s set directly into their premises. Clubcast works two-ways, meaning not only can club-goers see the DJ, but the DJ can also see his or her audience and gauge their reactions to the music.
Fab is buying a Finnish company that designs and manufactures furniture and then sells it online, reports Re/Code’s Jason Del Ray. Fab confirmed to Del Ray that it signed a term sheet for the cash and stock deal, but didn’t disclose the name of the company or the cost. Del Ray’s sources said that this purchase will likely lead to the creation of a new shopping site that will sell the company’s custom furniture. According to a Fab spokesperson, home furnishings are Fab’s “most profitable business stream.” Although Valleywag just reported that the company was burning as much as $ ... 
