Techmeme
December 19, 2013, 1:55 PM

Top News

Liz Gannes / AllThingsD:
WhatsApp announces 400M active users, aims to “steer the conversation” away from registered users  —  WhatsApp Does a Passive-Aggressive Stats Release to Call Out Others for Bulls**t Metrics  —  There's a big difference between someone signing up for a service, and someone using it on a regular basis.
Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:
Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg Sell Shares, Facebook Stock Price Drops  —  After a nice run on the Nasdaq, Facebook and its CEO are selling a big block of shares.  Wall Street's reaction: We're selling, too.  —  Facebook says it is planning a secondary sale of 70 million shares …
Larry Dignan / ZDNet:
Target confirms breach: 40 million accounts affected  —  Summary: Customer name, credit or debit card number, and the card's expiration date and CVV (the three-digit security code) were breached, the retailer said.  —  Target on Thursday confirmed that its payment card data was compromised …
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Hot mod: Cyanogen raises another $23 million to become the next big version of Android  —  The effort to turn CyanogenMod into the next big mobile operating system just got a big new vote of confidence.  The company announced today that it has raised an additional $23 million …
Andrew Zajac / Bloomberg:
Secret Spy Court Won't Reconsider Phone Data Collection  —  The U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court rejected a request by a civil liberties watchdog group to re-examine an order authorizing the U.S. to collect call data from phone companies.  —  The Center for National Security Studies …
More: The Star OnlineTweets: @gabrielmalor
New York Times:
Mike Deri Smith / BBC:
Porn filters block sex education websites  —  The new filters are designed to block sites unsuitable for children  —  Pornography filters used by major internet service providers are blocking websites offering sex education and advice on sexual health and porn addiction, the BBC has learned.
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Instagram Says First Ad Results Are “Promising” With Recall Up 32%, Shows It Wants TV Brand Dollars  —  Instagram may prove a valuable platform for advertisers.  Instagram released its first results on ads since they began appearing November 1st.  Brands saw average ad recall up 3X …
Rachel King / ZDNet:
Google: Gov't removal requests rise sharply, especially in Turkey, Russia  —  Summary: A Google legal director pointed to a more “worrying trend,” which she specified was the number of removal requests related to political content.  —  Google is one of the few tech companies discovered …
Paul Thurrott / SuperSite for Windows:
Windows Phone Turned the Corner in 2013  —  We're number three.  And no, that doesn't suck  —  2013 was nothing less than a blockbuster success for Windows Phone, which went from industry also-ran to the undisputed third mobile ecosystem, and is poised to challenge iPhone for the number two spot.
Eric Slivka / MacRumors:
Apple's Redesigned Mac Pro Now Available for Online Orders  —  In line with yesterday's announcement, Apple's redesigned Mac Pro is now available for order through the company's online stores.  The Mac Pro currently ships by December 30, though upgraded versions list a non-specific “January” shipping estimate.
Mathew Ingram / Gigaom:
Prismatic wants to build a social network around all of your interests, which is actually a lot harder than it sounds  —  There are social networks all around us these days, from Facebook and Twitter to more targeted networks like Instagram and Path — and new ones seem to be launching every week.
Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:
No One Buys Music on the Web Anymore.  Except When They Buy a Million Beyonce Albums in Five Days.  —  Sales of music downloads, which were supposed to rescue the music business from the decline of the CD, have been flattening for a few years.  Then things got worse: This year, digital sales were down 4 percent through Thanksgiving.
ACLU:
Senate Report Opens a Window Into Hidden World of Data Aggregators  —  Today, the powerful Senate Commerce Committee issued a damning report on the invasive practices of the online data broker industry.  The Committee's report is the result of a year-long investigation targeting nine …
Barbara Lewis / Reuters:
Europe reaches deal on common mobile phone battery charger  —  (Reuters) - Mobile phone makers will have to provide a standard battery charger that can fit any device, including smart phones, under a provisional deal on a new EU law reached on Thursday.  —  Provided the outline agreement …

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