Techmeme: Behind UPS's Christmas Eve Snafu (Wall Street Journal)

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December 27, 2013, 8:30 PM

Top News

Jemima Kiss / Guardian:

Facebook ‘dead and buried to teens’, research finds — Comprehensive European research has found that teens are leaving the service in droves - and the biggest deterrent is their parents — Teens are being put off Facebook by friend requests from their parents Getty

More: Wired, The Technology Chronicles, PC Magazine, ReadWrite, VentureBeat, Telegraph, Forbes, The Next Web, WebProNews, InvestorPlace, ANIMAL, BetaNews, SiliconBeat, Digital Media Wire, CNET, Mashable and Business Insider

Tweets: @qthrul, @nxthompson and @digiphile

Daniel Cooper / Engadget:

Nokia pulls Here Maps from the App Store, blames iOS 7 — In the wake of Maps-gate, Nokia was one of several outfits that rushed to Apple's aid with a navigation app of its very own. A year later, however, and that same offering has been yanked from the App Store before it could send a note to its neighbors.

Om Malik / Gigaom:

Dear Quartz, maybe it's you that needs new glasses and a map. 2013 was not a lost year for tech — If anything, in 2013 it became even more fashionable for some of our fellow scribes and righteous founders to lament the lack of innovation in Silicon Valley.

More: PandoDaily, Gigaom Research and Quartz

Tweets: @paulsingh, @eldon, @katiefehren, @coryhaik, @jayrosen_nyu, @rr, @jeffturner and @jennydeluxe

Thanks:@jeffjohnroberts

John Herrman / BuzzFeed:

The Year Megaplatforms Ruled The Internet

More: Valleywag and The Switch. Tweets: @oliverburkeman, @millie and @anildash

Chris Welch / The Verge:

Target confirms encrypted debit PIN data was stolen during hack — Target has confirmed that encrypted debit card PIN data was stolen as part of the massive hack carried out against the retailer between late November and early December. The company previously admitted that card numbers …

More: Target Pressroom, NYT Bits, Gigaom, Engadget, Computerworld, TechSpot, Gotta Be Mobile, USA Today, Mashable, Guardian, AllThingsD, Gizmodo, Nextgov, BestTechie, The Next Web, BGR, TechnoBuffalo, Business Insider, SlashGear, WebProNews and Gawker. Tweets: @darylsurat

Wall Street Journal:

Behind UPS's Christmas Eve Snafu — Unexpected Surge in Online Orders Overwhelmed Louisville, Ky., Hub. In the earliest hours of Dec. 24, packages poured into United Parcel Service Inc. 's main air hub in Louisville, Ky. And they were piling up. Employees responsible for sorting packages …

More: Rex Hammock's RexBlog.com and New York Times. Tweets: @sbanjo, @mikemosswtop and @jeff_jordan

Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:

Google Play is giving away ‘Yeezus’ and top singles from 2013 — Google's making it easy to catch up on some of the best music of the year. As part of what it's calling Play Picks 2013, it's offering Kanye West's Yeezus and Chvrches' The Bones of What You Believe free for a limited time …

More: The Technology Chronicles, Betabeat, Phandroid, Electronista, Business Insider, Gigaom and hypebot. Tweets: @caseynewton

Guardian:

NSA mass collection of phone data is legal, federal judge rules — Judge William Pauley noted the dragnet program was ‘controversial but lawful’ and dismissed lawsuit brought by ACLU — A federal judge has ruled that the National Security Agency's mass collection of telephone data is legal …

Chris O'Brien / Los Angeles Times:

Apple to put Carl Icahn's $50 billion stock buyback plan up for vote at next shareholder meeting, advises to vote against it — Carl Icahn stock proposal on ballot for Apple shareholder meeting — Carl Icahn, shown in 2006, wants Apple to increase its stock buyback program.

More: 9to5Mac, Business Insider, AllThingsD, Tech Trader Daily and AppleInsider

Maureen Farrell / MoneyBeat:

After unexplained 5% rise on Thursday, Twitter's stock dropped 13% today — Twitter's Selloff Accelerates: Market Cap Falls By $4 Billion … The drop in shares of Twitter Inc. accelerated near the close of trading Friday, with its stock dropping more than 10%.

More: VentureBeat, Business Insider, Wall Street Journal and SiliconBeat

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Snapchat Downplays Phone Number Matching Hack, Says It's Added New Counter-Measures — Following security researchers publishing a way to match Snapchat usernames to phone numbers, Snapchat has published a skimpy statement making the hack sound impractical and noting “We recently added …

More: Snapchat, ReadWrite, The Verge, Los Angeles Times and Threatpost

David Beren / 9to5Google:

HTC details the Android software update process with one long infographic — Years after Android hit store shelves and even after the lengthy and sometimes arduous update process has been detailed, HTC releases a new infographic taking a look at the whole process from beginning to end.

More: The Register, Ars Technica, Pocket-lint, Daring Fireball, MobileSyrup.com, Droid Life, SlashGear and Yahoo! News

Nick Summers / The Next Web:

Rdio closes Vdio: 'We weren't able to deliver the differentiated customer experience we had hoped for' — Rdio has shuttered Vdio, its on-demand service for buying and renting movies and TV shows. — “We have decided to discontinue the Vdio beta service,” the company said in an email.

More: Vdio Help Center, TechCrunch, Macworld, AllThingsD, BetaNews, SlashGear, CNET, The Verge, App Advice, Engadget and Gigaom. See also Mediagazer

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