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A London-headquartered startup called LOVE, valued at $17 million following its pre-seed funding, aims to redefine how people stay in touch with close family and friends. The company is launching a messaging app that offers a combination of video calling as well as asynchronous video and audio messaging, in an ad-free, privacy-focused experience with a number of bells and whistles, including artistic filters and real-time transcription and translation features.

But LOVEs bigger differentiator may not be its product alone, but rather the companys mission.

LOVE aims for its product direction to be guided by its user base in a democratic fashion as opposed to having the decisions made about its future determined by an elite few at the top of some corporate hierarchy. In addition, the companys longer-term goal is ultimately to hand over ownership of the app and its governance to its users, the company says.

These concepts have emerged as part of bigger trends towards a sort of Web 3.0, or next phase of internet development, where services are decentralized, user privacy is elevated, data is protected and transactions take place on digital ledgers, like a blockchain, in a more distributed fashion.

LOVEs founders are proponents of this new model, including serial entrepreneur Samantha Radocchia, who previously founded three companies and was an early advocate for the blockchain as the co-founder of Chronicled, an enterprise blockchain company focused on the pharmaceutical supply chain.

As someone whos been interested in emerging technology since her days of writing her anthropology thesis on currency exchanges in Second Lifes virtual world, shes now faculty at Singularity University, where shes given talks about blockchain, AI, Internet of Things, Future of Work, and other topics. Shes also authored an introductory guide to the blockchain with her book Bitcoin Pizza.

Co-founder Christopher Schlaeffer, meanwhile, held a number of roles at Deutsche Telekom, including chief product & innovation officer, corporate development officer and chief strategy officer, where he along with Google execs introduced the first mobile phone to run Android. He was also chief digital officer at the telecommunication services company VEON.

The two crossed paths after Schlaeffer had already begun the work of organizing a team to bring LOVE to the public, which includes co-founders Chief Technologist Jim Reeves, also previously of VEON, and Chief Designer Timm Kekeritz, previously an interaction designer at international design firm IDEO in San Francisco, design director at IXDS and founder of design consultancy Raureif in Berlin, among other roles.

Image Credits: LOVE

Explained Radocchia, what attracted her to join as CEO was the potential to create a new company that upholds more positive values than whats often seen today in fact, the brand name LOVE is a reference to this aim. She was also interested in the potential to think through what she describes as new business models that are not reliant on advertising or harvesting the data of our users, she says.

To that end, LOVE plans to monetize without any advertising. While the company isnt ready to explain its business model in full, it would involve users opting in to services through granular permissions and membership, were told.

We believe our users will much rather be willing to pay for services they consciously use and grant permissions to in a given context than have their data used for an advertising model which is simply not transparent, says Radocchia.

LOVE expects to share more about the model next year.

As for the LOVE app itself, its a fairly polished mobile messenger offering an interesting combination of features. Like any other video chat app, you can video call with friends and family, either in one-on-one calls or in groups. Currently, LOVE supports up to five call participants, but expects to expand that as it scales. The app also supports video and audio messaging for asynchronous conversations. There are already tools that offer this sort of functionality on the market, of course like WhatsApp, with its support for audio messages, or video messenger Marco Polo. But they dont offer quite the same expanded feature set.

Image Credits: LOVE

For starters, LOVE limits its video messages to 60 seconds, for brevitys sake. (As anyone whos used Marco Polo knows, videos can become a bit rambling, which makes it harder to catch up when youre behind on group chats.) In addition, LOVE allows you to both watch the video content as well as read the real-time transcription of whats being said the latter which comes in handy not only for accessibilitys sake, but also for those times you want to hear someones messages but arent in a private place to listen or dont have headphones. Conversations can also be translated into 50 languages.

A lot of the traditional communication or messenger products are coming from a paradigm that has always been text-based, explains Radocchia. Were approaching it completely differently. So while other platforms have a lot of the features that we do, I think thatthe perspective that weve approached it has completely flipped it on its head, she continues. As opposed to bolting video messages on to a primarily text-based interface, [LOVE is] actually doing it in the opposite way and adding text as a sort of a magically transcribed add-on and something that you never, hopefully, need to be typing out on your keyboard again, she adds.

The apps user interface, meanwhile, has been designed to encourage eye-to-eye contact with the speaker to make conversations feel more natural. It does this by way of design elements where bubbles float around as youre speaking and the bubble with the current speaker grows to pull your focus away from looking at yourself. The company is also working with the curator of Serpentine Gallery in London, Hans Ulrich-Obrist, to create new filters that arent about beautification or gimmicks, but are instead focused on introducing a new form of visual expression that makes people feel more comfortable on camera.

For the time being, this has resulted in a filter that slightly abstracts your appearance, almost in the style of animation or some other form of visual arts.

The app claims to use end-to-end encryption and the automatic deletion of its content after seven days except for messages you yourself recorded, if youve chosen to save them as memorable moments.

One of our commitments is to privacy and the right-to-forget, says Radocchia. We dont want to be or need to be storing any of this information.

LOVE has been soft-launched on the App Store, where its been used with a number of testers and is working to organically grow its user base through an onboarding invite mechanism that asks users to invite at least three people to join. This same onboarding process also carefully explains why LOVE asks for permissions like using speech recognition to create subtitles.

LOVE says its valuation is around $17 million USD following pre-seed investments from a combination of traditional startup investors and strategic angel investors across a variety of industries, including tech, film, media, TV and financial services. The company will raise a seed round this fall.

The app is currently available on iOS, but an Android version will arrive later in the year. (Note that LOVE does not currently support the iOS 15 beta software, where it has issues with speech transcription and in other areas. That should be resolved next week, following an app update now in the works.)

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LOVE unveils a modern video messaging app with a business model that puts users in control - TechCrunch

The disgraced founder of the blood-testing startup Theranos plans to blame emotional and sexual abuse by her former boyfriend, also a senior executive at the company, at her federal fraud trial beginning next week, according to legal papers published on Saturday.

Elizabeth Holmes, 37, says she is not responsible for decisions she made as head of the company because her mind was impaired by manipulation from Ramesh Sunny Balwani, 56, the chief operating officer of Theranos who faces a separate fraud trial next year.

Holmes and Balwani, who was also the companys president, have both pleaded not guilty to charges they defrauded investors, doctors and patients.

The filing in US district court in San Jose, California, by Holmess lawyers was published on Saturday by NPR. It outlines for the first time her strategy to defend herself against claims she ripped off patients and investors for hundreds of millions of dollars. It says Holmes is likely to take the stand.

The trial, delayed earlier this year by Holmess pregnancy, is scheduled to begin on Tuesday and last several months.

Jurors will hear allegations that Holmes raised more than $700m from investors on claims Theranos invented a revolutionary machine that could conduct hundreds of laboratory tests from a single finger-prick of blood, but was actually using other companies technology for the tests. The company folded in 2018.

This pattern of abuse and coercive control continued over the approximately decade-long duration of Ms Holmes and Mr Balwanis relationship, including during the period of the charged conspiracies, the filing states.

Citing the syndrome known as intimate partner abuse, the lawyers claim: Mr Balwani was controlling with Ms Holmes, that Ms Holmes was isolated by Mr Balwani, that Mr Balwani was combative with Ms Holmes, and that Mr Balwani was often physically present in Ms Holmes office, all tactics that are abuse tactics used by abusers.

Holmes has claimed in previous filings that Balwani was sexually abusive, withdrew affection if she displeased him, controlled what she ate, how she dressed, how much money she could spend, who she could interact with. He also threw hard, sharp objects at her and controlled her sleep, lawyers have said.

But this is the first declaration by Holmess legal team that she plans to use the alleged abuse as a defense of her actions, claiming Balwani was dominating her and erasing her capacity to make decisions. As a result, the attorneys claim, it affected Holmess ability to deceive her victims.

Lawyers for Balwani have called Holmess allegations outrageous, salacious and inflammatory.

Holmes dropped out of Stanford University at 19 and became a star in a startup space dominated by men. She founded Theranos in 2003, with the goal of revolutionizing blood testing. The companys rise and fall became a cautionary tale about the Silicon Valley hype machine.

Theranos received glowing media coverage and raised more than $700m from investors on claims it had invented a machine that could conduct hundreds of laboratory tests from a single prick.

The tests were rolled out in Walgreens stores and Theranos reached a $9bn valuation before it became clear that many of the claims about the supposedly revolutionary blood test were bogus.

The story became the subject of the ABC News true crime podcast, The Dropout.

Excerpt from:
Disgraced Theranos founder will blame abusive ex-boyfriend in fraud trial - The Guardian

BURNABY (NEWS 1130) A fire in Burnaby stirred up some chatter Thursday night, but the fire department confirms it was part of a controlled burn near the Parkland Refinery.

Reports first started coming into CityNews and NEWS 1130 around 11 p.m. of large flames lighting up the night sky and smoke coming from the area north of Capitol Hill, west of Burnaby Heights.

Some people told us the sky was glowing orange and red, almost flashing.

In a statement to us, Burnaby Fire says the flames were in fact part of a control burn at the refinery, adding it got a bit out of hand.

People took to social media with images and video of the fire.

Some shared photos of the flames and glow from across the water, in North Vancouver.

I called 9 1 1 and spoke to NV City Fire Dept (sic) and the glow is coming from Burnaby and the oil refinery. Amazing we can see it, one person wrote.

No injuries have been reported as a result of the fire.

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Burnaby fire near refinery part of controlled burn - News 1130

DENVER, Colo., Aug. 28, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the appointment of Holiday Goodreau, executive director of the LivLyme Foundation and chief executive officer/co-inventor of TickTracker, as co-chair of the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group (Working Group).

Congress established the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group in 2016 as part of the 21st Century Cures Act to provide subject matter expertise and to review federal efforts related to all tick-borne diseases to help ensure interagency coordination and minimize overlap, and to examine research priorities. The focus of the groups effort is the development of a report to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and Congress on the findings and any recommendations of the Working Group for the federal response to tick-borne disease prevention, treatment and research, as well as how to address gaps in these areas. The Working Group is required to submit a report every two years.

It is truly an honor to see caregivers in this leadership capacity as this country and the world continue to fight against tick-borne diseases, said Ms. Goodreau. As my daughter, Olivia, says about her fight against the illness, I was recruited by a tick. In so many ways that same tick recruited me as well, as I continue to advocate for finding a cure and effective treatments for my daughter and the millions of people across the globe suffering from Lyme disease. The work ahead is daunting, but having the support of the federal government, private partnerships, advocacy groups, doctors, scientists, and patients in this fight will surely elevate the conversations and actions that are needed in the fight against tick-borne diseases.

Ms. Goodreau is a part of a new team of Working Group members who were officially sworn in by the Assistant Secretary for Health, Dr. Rachel Levine during the August 26, 2021 meeting.Ms. Goodreau and Linden Hu will co-chair the Working Group, which will produce the third and final report to the HHS Secretary and Congress. The Working Group members are:

New Public Members

Regular Government Employees (Federal Members)

About Holiday Goodreau

Holiday Goodreau is the Executive Director of the LivLyme Foundation whose mission is to provide funding for Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease treatment and research, while delivering tick education and awareness around the globe. She is a co-creator of the free global app, TickTracker, allowing users to report and track ticks in real-time with the use of geo-location, and she is a Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease advocate.

Ms. Goodreau is an inaugural member of the United States Health and Human Services (HHS), Tick-Borne Disease Working Group Access to Care and Patient Support subcommittee. She also serves as a peer reviewer for the Department of Defenses (DoD) Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program for Tick-Borne Disease Research as a consumer advocate and is a board member of the MSIDS (Multiple Systemic Infectious Disease Syndrome) Scientific Research Board in New York. She was selected as a 2019 Fellow for The Gratitude Network, which involved a 12-month leadership development program for those dedicated to serving children and youth.

Ms. Goodreaus advocacy work has led her around the country where she has presented at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Boy Scouts of America, Gates Foundation, Microsoft, Chan Zuckerberg Institute, Stanford University, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Duke University and University of New Haven. In her ongoing efforts to find a cure for her daughters diagnosed Lyme disease in 2011, Ms. Goodreau continues to work for Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease patients and their families through her extensive advocacy work.

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Denver Mom of Chronically Ill Child Becomes First Caregiver - GlobeNewswire

Given the partisan nature of everything, it's no surprise that debates about the unfolding humanitarian tragedy in Afghanistan center on the Biden administration's handlingor most would say, mishandlingof the pull-outof U.S. troops and resulting conquest by the Taliban.

"The debacle of the U.S. defeat and chaotic retreat in Afghanistan is a political disaster for Joe Biden, whose failure to orchestrate an urgent and orderly exit will further rock a presidency plagued by crises and stain his legacy,"wroteCNN analyst Stephen Collinson. The retreat had a troubling "fall of Saigon" air about it, as desperate Afghans clung to departing U.S. fighter jets.

Others blamed the former Trump administration. "This was a consequence of the Trump administration's announcementof a fixed date for total withdrawal," arguedRobert Tracinski in The Bulwark. "This signaledthat the United States had given up and that we would be leaving the Afghan government without support." That, too, makes some sense.

Nevertheless, late-game finger-pointing reminds me of lost hikers arguing about exit trailswhen the problem was heading into the woods in a blizzard. Sure, specific U.S. policies have failed along the way. Writer Bari Weiss, for instance, casts a wide netblaming Bill Clinton's refusal to target Osama bin Laden, George W. Bush's reliance on warlords, and Barack Obama's unwillingness to focus on winning.

The problem is America's fundamental policythe hubristic idea that a government that can't even handle its domestic responsibilities has the wherewithal to rebuild an undeveloped nation. That's a bipartisan delusion, although I'm pleased Trump and Biden finally pulled the plug. Had our War on Poverty succeeded, perhaps one could make a stronger case for intervention. We should know better but rarely learn.

Libertarians long decried endless U.S. military interventions given our understanding of the way the government worksas opposed to its myopic promises. I recall the angry responses The Orange County Register editorial pages received when we opposedthe wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as readers questioned our patriotism for pointing out the obvious. It's too bad it can take decades to be proven right.

The Iraq war made no sense given the dubious connections between Iraq and the 9/11 attacks, but Afghanistan was a hotbed for terrorism. It was a tougher case, but there were alternatives to an outright invasion. But once our leaders start pounding the war drums, there was no reasoning with Americans who insisted that this timeresultswould be different.

It is horrific to watch the Taliban, whose philosophy emanates from the Dark Ages, cement its grip on Afghanistan. The results will betragic indeed. Expect widespread executions of those who cooperated with the Western regime, the relegation of women to the status of chattel, and the re-imposition of Islamic law. But let's not forget the horrific effects of the war and occupation.

"An accurate accounting of the war in Afghanistan must take into account the roughly 2,400 American service members, 3,800 American contractors, 66,000 Afghan security forces, 47,000 Afghan civilians, and others (including journalists and aid workers) who were killed,"explainedEric Boehm in Reason. Then add to that the trillions of dollars in costs.

Reasonalso pointed to a report by the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. SIGAR lamented our shifting goals: "At various points, the U.S. government hoped to eliminate al-Qaeda, decimate the Taliban movement that hosted it, deny all terrorist groups a safe haven in Afghanistan, build Afghan security forcesand help the civilian government become legitimate and capable enough to win the trust of Afghans."

Although it pointed to a few successes, the "Lessons Learned"report documented 140 pages of failures. The best lesson learned, however, is that the United States should not insert itself into these foreign conflicts, should not engage in nation-building, and should limit its interventions to defensive measures that actually protect our nation and its interests. That's what libertarians always have argued.

"Most Americans still want to see some sort of retribution against Osama bin Laden and his far-flung organization,"wrotethe Register's late editorial writer Alan Bock. "But more are wondering if they'll see it anytime soon. The dread word 'quagmire,'has become part of the discourse." He wrote that in 2001and it's hard to say he was wrong.

What should the United States government do now? It should complete the pull-out, keep close tabs on any terrorist networks that could threaten us, and accept as many Afghan refugeesinto the United States as possible. Many of them, especially interpreters, worked with the U.S. military. Welcoming them here is the least we can doand can help prevent a bloodbath.

Former Gen. Colin Powell is known for citing the "Pottery Barn"rule of foreign affairs. "If you break it, you own it." How about the U.S. start following the libertarian rulejust stop playing with other people's pottery?

This column was first published in The Orange County Register.

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Libertarians Correctly Predicted the Afghanistan Fiasco Reason.com - Reason