CRAIN’s SF: California affordable housing crisis may not be fixable

YOUR NEWS FOR THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 2017

California affordable housing crisis may not be fixable

State lawmakers can pass all kinds of bills aimed at building more affordable housing. But they can’t repeal the fundamental law of supply and demand for desirable land, and land costs are what really drive up housing prices. Land costs are what really drive up housing prices and make homeownership increasingly beyond the reach of so many Californians. Rentals are virtually impossible, too, in attractive regions along the coast, especially San Francisco.(L.A. Times)

Google’s 5-minute quiz checks for clinical depression

Google, the Mountain View search giant, has just launched a tool for mobile devices that, with a one-word search and a couple of clicks, connects you to a clinically certified questionnaire that can tell you if it appears you have clinical depression. (Silicon Beat)

Study: Big companies not protecting against phishing

A study of top companies in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia has found a majority have not yet implemented Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance protections designed to protect against phishing attacks. (SiliconANGLE)

Uber books record revenue and rider numbers in Q2

Despite a seemingly never ending stream of negative publicity, ridesharing giant Uber Technologies Inc. has continued to go from strength-to-strength both in terms of revenue and rider numbers in the second quarter.(SiliconANGLE)

WPP will barely grow this year

Blaming spending cuts from major consumer packaged-goods marketers who provide 30 percent of its revenue, the world’s largest holding company, WPP, slashed its full-year forecast today to miniscule growth of zero to 1 percent. In a call with U.S. analysts, CEO Martin Sorrell cited a “trifecta of digital disruption, zero-based budgeting and active investors” that is pressuring ad spending from major consumer packaged-goods marketers in particular.(Ad Age)

For some craft brewers, sales are tapping out

Some of the country’s biggest craft brewers are struggling with falling sales, hurt by a glut of competitors crowding retail shelves and moves by megabrewers to scoop up some of their rivals.His company’s retail-store sales were off 7.5 percent this year as of July 16, according to Beer Marketer’s Insights. After years of strong gains, American craft brewers are now bracing for a shakeout. (Wall Street Journal)

Cargill takes stake in non-traditional meat producer

Cargill Inc. is betting you won’t always need cattle to make hamburgers. The Wayzata-based agricultural conglomerate has invested in Memphis Meats Inc., a startup developing technology to grow meat from self-reproducing animal cells. The stake marks the first investment by a traditional meat company in the nascent “clean meat” sector, where startups are creating products they say are better for the environment than meat derived from traditional feedlots and slaughterhouses. (Twin Cities Pioneer Press)

Small business’ struggle to find qualified employees, report

Driven by a positive outlook on the economy, small business owners nationwide are still wanting to hire new employees, but they say they’re struggling to find candidates properly prepared for the jobs they’re needing to fill. That’s among the prime takeaways from the MetLife and U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Index for the third quarter of the year, a report released Wednesday. (Business Journals)

IIHS: Blind spot detection, other safety tech reduce crashes

Lane departure warning and blind spot detection systems significantly prevent crashes, according to two new IIHS studies. Single-vehicle, sideswipe and head-on crashes are reduced 11 percent if the vehicle is outfitted with lane departure warning systems, IIHS found. The rate of injury-inducing crashes decreases 21 percent with the technology. The lane departure warning study included crashed General Motors, Honda, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru and Volvo vehicles produced between 2009 and 2015.(Automotive News)

#Hashtag10: A Look Back At The 10 Tags That Shaped Advertising

Twitter gave birth to the hashtag, but it has since become part of the broader online vernacular. Hashtags are as essential to advertising as jingles and taglines — they’ve jumped from one screen onto the next in TV ads and even appear in print. The hashtag has #transcended. (Ad Age)