Techmeme
January 12, 2013, 5:20 PM

Top News

Anne Cai / MIT's The Tech:
Aaron Swartz commits suicide  —  Computer activist Aaron H. Swartz committed suicide in New York City yesterday, Jan. 11, according to his uncle, Michael Wolf, in a comment to The Tech.  Swartz was 26.  —  “The tragic and heartbreaking information you received is, regrettably, true,” …
Cory Doctorow / Boing Boing:
RIP, Aaron Swartz  —  To the extent possible under law, Cory Doctorow has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to “RIP, Aaron Swartz.”  —  Update: Go read Lessig: “He was brilliant, and funny.  A kid genius.  A soul, a conscience, the source of a question I have asked myself a million times: What would Aaron think?
Alex Stamos / Unhandled Exception:
The Truth about Aaron Swartz's “Crime”  —  I did not know Aaron Swartz, unless you count having copies of a person's entire digital life on your forensics server as knowing him.  I did once meet his father, an intelligent and dedicated man who was clearly pouring his life into defending his son.
Tweets: @alexstamos
Jim Finkle / Reuters:
Oracle Corp to fix Java security flaw “shortly”  —  (Reuters) - Oracle Corp said it is preparing an update to address a flaw in its widely used Java software after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security urged computer users to disable the program in web browsers because criminal hackers are exploiting a security bug to attack PCs.
Eric Slivka / MacRumors:
The Verge:
The Verge Awards: the best of CES 2013  —  This is not about revenge.  This is about justice.  This is the best of CES 2013.  —  We came, we saw, we got lost in a virtual world.  And now we're back.  The show that was supposed to be the last of the biggest — the end of the best …
Steven Millward / Tech in Asia:
Tencent Responds in Case of Apparent WeChat Censorship  —  The evidence.  —  Yesterday we broke the story of how WeChat, the world's biggest Whatsapp-style messaging app, was apparently censoring words that are deemed “sensitive” on the Chinese web right now.
Douglas MacMillan / Business Week:
Groupon CEO Andrew Mason Fights to Keep His Job  —  After Andrew Mason founded Groupon (GRPN) in 2008, companies like Google (GOOG) and LivingSocial rushed to imitate the daily deal business he created.  Less than five years later, the allure of discounted spa packages and wine-tasting classes has faded.
Mg Siegler / TechCrunch:
The Boy Who Cried Facebook Phone  —  In The Lord of the Rings, when Sauron's forces capture Gollum, they torture him in Mordor but are only able to get two things out of him: “Shire” and “Baggins”.  Over the past few days, we've had similar frustrations in trying to track down the content …
Chris O'Brien / Los Angeles Times:
Fred Wilson hints that Twitter is profitable  —  Thursday night, I responded to a tweet by Howard Lindzon, chief executive and co-founder of Stocktwits, about newspapers and Twitter.  That prompted a reply from Union Square Ventures' Fred Wilson, who was an early Twitter investor and former board member.

Sponsor Posts

Clay:
Turn any GTM idea into reality  —  Clay helps GTM teams combine AI agents, enrichment, and intent data to move faster and turn insights into action.
Soxton:
AI-powered law for startups  —  Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better.  We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts.  Join the waitlist for early access!
Zoho:
Introducing our new Branding feature  —  Imagine this: You're hosting a high-stakes webinar, pouring hours into perfecting your content and line-up.  People start registering, but your generic registration page feels …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Access:
How deepfakes became a $4B business, with Synthesia's Victor Riparbelli
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Great Chat:
Is building in public over?
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
The Nick, Dick and Paul Show:
Side Effects May Include...(Wellness Industry Pt. 2)
Nick Bilton, Dick Costolo, and Paul Kedrosky pull back the curtain on AI, startups, and the future rushing toward us, all with healthy dose of irreverence.
Subscribe to The Nick, Dick and Paul Show.
Big Technology Podcast:
AI's Research Frontier: Memory, World Models, & Planning — With Joelle Pineau
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Hard Fork:
Moltbook Mania Explained
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Special Edition: Key findings from the Microsoft AI Diffusion Report
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 5:20 PM ET, January 12, 2013.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Earlier Picks

Eric Slivka / MacRumors: