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4:40 PM ET, July 31, 2011

Techmeme

 Top Items: 
Xinhua News Agency:
Foxconn to replace workers with 1 million robots in 3 years  —  Taiwanese technology giant Foxconn will replace some of its workers with 1 million robots in three years to cut rising labor expenses and improve efficiency, said Terry Gou, founder and chairman of the company, late Friday.
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Another Airbnb Victim Tells His Story: “There Were Meth Pipes Everywhere”  —  This last week we've all watched in horror as the story unfolded about an Airbnb user who had her home ransacked a month ago.  —  Other than the sideshow of us getting dragged into the story, it seemed to be winding down yesterday.
RELATED:
Laura Bly / USA Today:
Plot thickens in Airbnb vacation rental horror story  —  When a San Francisco blogger named “EJ” wrote a riveting account of how she returned from a week-long business trip last month to find that her home had been ransacked and trashed by a paying guest she'd connected with through …
Robert Scoble / Google+:
What we can learn from AirBNB and #ransackgate  —  If you read Techmeme this morning you can see AirBNB is in a deep PR crisis: http://www.techmeme.com/110730/ p4#a110730p4  —  Photo credit, this is Airbnb's CEO, Brian Chesney speaking to Y Combinator's Startup School last year.
Adam Dachis / Lifehacker:
What You Need to Know About the Internet Snooping Bill (and How You Can Protect Yourself)  —  On Thursday, the US House of Representatives approved an internet snooping bill that requires internet service providers (ISPs) to keep records of customer activity for a year so police can review them as needed.
J.B. / Fusible.com:
Apple wins dispute over iPods.com, domain name ordered transferred  —  WIPO Panelist David Cairns has ruled in favor of Apple in a dispute over the domain name ipods.com.  —  Apple filed the complaint at the end of May with the World Intellectual Property Organization.
Discussion: 9to5Mac, AppleInsider and iPodNN, Thanks:fusible
Graham Cluley / Naked Security:
Jake Davis named as suspected hacker Topiary by UK police  —  British police have tonight named the teenager they arrested in Shetland last week, in relation to the LulzSec and Anonymous hacking groups.  —  Jake Davis, 18, will appear in court tomorrow.  —  Davis, reportedly …
Discussion: BBC, The Next Web and Geek.com, Thanks:melissakester
Louis Gray:
Topify to Go Dark as Twitter Claims Another Dev Victim  —  Back in 2009, Topify emerged with detailed Twitter follower notifications, which made the service useful at a time when Twitter's own notifications were text only and didn't provide any information about the user.
David Gelles / Financial Times:
Inside Match.com  —  As president and key engineer, Mandy Ginsberg and Amarnath Thombre have taken the world's biggest dating site to a new level  —  Entering the offices of Match.com is a bit like strutting into a disco.  Coloured lights flash from the ceilings, workers lounge on circular banquettes …
Dan Frommer / SplatF:
Apple lawsuit forces Amazon to stop accepting new “Appstore” apps in Germany  —  Apple's efforts to get Amazon to stop using the word “Appstore” to describe its app store have not been successful yet.  —  But Apple has caused Amazon some trouble in Germany: Amazon has recently stopped accepting …
Adrian Covert / Gizmodo:
Anyone Can Access Microsoft's Massive Location Database and See Where Your Laptop and Smartphone Have Been  —  Microsoft has been going around and building a database of publicly broadcast MAC addresses (along with their corresponding street address) for location services purposes.
Jillian York / Electronic Frontier Foundation:
A Case for Pseudonyms  —  pseu  ·do  ·nym  —noun a fictitious name used by an author to conceal his or her identity; pen name.  —  There are myriad reasons why individuals may wish to use a name other than the one they were born with.  They may be concerned about threats …
RELATED:
Rachel Sklar / Mediaite:
@BarackObama's Lost Followers: A Tempest In A Twitter Teapot  —  Yesterday, President Barack Obama concluded his address to the nation by urging Americans to contact their representatives and urge action on a debt ceiling resolution.  “If you want to see a bipartisan compromise …
 
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 More Items: 
David Edwards / The Raw Story:
Former Bush NSA director calls for ‘digital Blackwater’
BrothaTech / AppScout:
24symbols eBook app for iPad Offers Access to Online Public-Domain Titles
Discussion: The Next Web
Fred / A VC:
30/10/10  —  We see a lot of metrics on web and mobile apps.
Discussion: TechCrunch
Ryan Lawler / GigaOM:
Is Hulu considering ad-free subscriptions?
 Earlier Items: 
Harry McCracken / Technologizer:
A Brief History of Apple Not Buying Things
Discussion: Daring Fireball and iPhone
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Max Tani / Semafor:
Investigation: YouTuber Caleb Chan appears to be behind channels using AI-assisted scripts and paid actors to publish political clickbait targeting Democrats

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Bill Simmons is facing backlash for using OpenAI's ChatGPT to simulate film reviews from the late critic Roger Ebert on his podcast; OpenAI runs ads on the show

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Netflix renews its initial podcast slate, brings in established shows like The Pivot Podcast, and adds new shows from Katt Williams, Stephanie Soo, and more

 
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