Varoufakis accused Mark Zuckerberg of stealing the name “Meta.” Credit: Chatham House/ Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 2.0
Yanis Varoufakis, the former finance minister of Greece, accused Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg of stealing the word “Meta” from a left-wing think-tank.
Posting on Twitter, Varoufakis said: “Hands off our mέta, our Centre for Postcapitalist Civilisation, Mr Zuckerberg. You, and your minions wouldn’t recognise civilisation even if it hit you with a bargepole.”
Hands off our mέta, our Centre for Postcapitalist Civilisation https://t.co/t9aIR0ahSC, Mr Zuckerberg. You, and your minions wouldn’t recognise civilisation even if it hit you with a bargepole pic.twitter.com/aleOplqo12
The Greek politician, a central figure during the debt crisis of 2015, said that Meta is the acronym for the Centre for Postcapitalist Civilisation, a left wing think-tank whose advisory board includes prominent philosophers, economists, film-makers, artists and activists such as Noam Chomsky, Srećko Horvat Brian Eno, Ken Loach and James K. Galbraith.
Varoufakis is also on the advisory board.
Meta says it “works through art and research, argument and poetry, mέta (the abbreviation of the Centre for Postcapitalist Civilisation) to break with a dystopic present to imagine the world anew. “To grasp our present historical moment so as to help radical progressive movements find a path from the emergent dismal postcapitalism to one worth fighting, and living, for,” it adds.
Facebook rebranding brings backlash in social media
Facebook’s announcement of its new name “Meta” on Thursday has has already brought widespread backlash across social media.
The social media Goliath debuted its new corporate name during the company’s annual Connect Conference. Zuckerberg appeared in a video livestreamed by the company explaining that the new name is meant to be a reflection of the company’s new direction in the metaverse:
“We are a company that builds technology to connect. Together, we can finally put people at the center of our technology. And together, we can unlock a massively bigger creator economy.”
Comedians, politicians, and everyday Twitter users have taken to the platform to criticize the company’s move, taking issue with the name itself while also accusing Facebook of attempting to distract from their recent controversies.
“Meta is such a low effort, first draft name that multiple consulting companies definitely got paid millions of dollars to come up with” tweeted comedian Mike Drucker, to over a thousand likes.
The Daily Show’s host Trevor Noah tweeted a doctored clip created by the show that superimposes footage of the Capitol riots onto the Connect Conference live stream where Zuckerberg steps into an “augmented reality.”
TORONTO – Restaurant Brands International Inc. reported net income of US$357 million for its third quarter, down from US$364 million in the same quarter last year.
The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says its profit amounted to 79 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with 79 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue for the parent company of Tim Hortons, Burger King, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs, totalled US$2.29 billion, up from US$1.84 billion in the same quarter last year.
Consolidated comparable sales were up 0.3 per cent.
On an adjusted basis, Restaurant Brands says it earned 93 cents US per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 90 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents US per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Fortis Inc. reported a third-quarter profit of $420 million, up from $394 million in the same quarter last year.
The electric and gas utility says the profit amounted to 85 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 81 cents per share a year earlier.
Fortis says the increase was driven by rate base growth across its utilities, and strong earnings in Arizona largely reflecting new customer rates at Tucson Electric Power.
Revenue in the quarter totalled $2.77 billion, up from $2.72 billion in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Fortis says it earned 85 cents per share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 84 cents per share in the third quarter of 2023.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 82 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
TORONTO – Thomson Reuters reported its third-quarter profit fell compared with a year ago as its revenue rose eight per cent.
The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says it earned US$301 million or 67 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30. The result compared with a profit of US$367 million or 80 cents US per diluted share in the same quarter a year earlier.
Revenue for the quarter totalled US$1.72 billion, up from US$1.59 billion a year earlier.
In its outlook, Thomson Reuters says it now expects organic revenue growth of 7.0 per cent for its full year, up from earlier expectations for growth of 6.5 per cent.
On an adjusted basis, Thomson Reuters says it earned 80 cents US per share in its latest quarter, down from an adjusted profit of 82 cents US per share in the same quarter last year.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 76 cents US per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
