Techmeme: As the use of biometric data for identification grows, security experts worry about data theft (Anne Eisenberg/New York Times)

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December 31, 2013, 4:15 AM

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Jay Hathaway / Daily Dot:

The NSA has nearly complete backdoor access to Apple's iPhone — The U.S. National Security Agency has the ability to snoop on nearly every communication sent from an Apple iPhone, according to leaked documents shared by security researcher Jacob Appelbaum and German news magazine Der Spiegel.

More: Forbes, Gigaom, Gizmodo, The Next Web, Engadget, Why PrivacySOS.org?, Zero Hedge, AppleInsider, SlashGear, iPhone Hacks, MacRumors, iPhone in Canada Blog, iDownloadBlog.com, App Advice, FITSNews, Business Insider, iMore, Cult of Mac and Gigaom

Tweets: @dailydot, @ashk4n, @patr1ck and @mattetti

Michael Dearing / Harrison Metal:

The NSA and the Corrosion of Silicon Valley — I believe the people who work at the NSA are patriots. They devote their considerable intellects to preserve, protect, and defend the people of the United States. I wish their patriotism + brainpower would do the same for the US Constitution.

Tweets: @ryanspoon, @semil, @erickschonfeld and @ceciliakang

Russell Brandom / The Verge:

The NSA's elite hackers can hijack your Wi-Fi from 8 miles away

More: LeakSource, The Register, Engadget, Threatpost, ExtremeTech, dailywireless.org, Techdirt, Spiegel Online and Spiegel Online. Tweets: @pbump

Eric P. Newcomer / The Information:

YC's Paul Graham: The Complete Interview — Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham isn't your typical startup guru. For eight years he's been at the helm of what's now the industry's most prominent accelerator and a lightning rod for frustrations with entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley.

More: Inc.com. Tweets: @ericnewcomer

Paul Graham:

What I Didn't Say — A quote from an “interview” with me …

More: Uncrunched, the build, SAMBIDDLE, VentureBeat, Lost Control, TechCrunch and Daring Fireball

Tweets: @dalmaer, @qhardy, @danprimack, @mathewi, @jessicalessin, @vosmek, @binarybits, @stevenlevy, @jason, @mathewi, @mattyglesias, @mathewi, @mat and @arrington

See also Mediagazer

jessica lessin:

On The Information and How We Operate

Sam Thielman / Adweek:

Netflix Knocks a Dollar Off Its SD Streaming Service for New Users — Netflix has cracked down on password sharing this year (the streaming service has a $12-per-month plan if you want to stream on four devices simultaneously), but it looks like there's a new tier to its pricing plan …

More: The Verge, Mashable, Engadget, TechCrunch, GeekWire, Pulse 2.0, Ars Technica, Lifehacker, SlashGear, BestTechie, TechnoBuffalo, The Next Web, Gotta Be Mobile, Yahoo! News and Business Insider. See also Mediagazer

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

73% Of U.S. Adults Use Social Networks, Pinterest Passes Twitter In Popularity, Facebook Stays On Top — Facebook may be currently facing question marks over how well it's faring with younger users, but among those over 18 in the U.S. it remains the social network king.

More: Pew Internet, CNET, Reuters, The Technology Chronicles, AllTwitter, SlashGear, BuzzFeed, Marketing Pilgrim, Nextgov, VentureBeat, Ubergizmo, NBCNews, Gigaom, The Switch, Marketing Land, The Next Web, Forbes, Business Insider and Inc.com

Leo Mirani / Quartz:

Social media is not a zero-sum game and Facebook isn't going anywhere so get used to it — This has been a particularly rich year for internet hoaxes, but no less rich for the hoax's less malicious but equally damaging cousin: the inaccurate report that goes viral on social media before the accurate version has a chance to catch up.

More: The Conversation, Forbes, UCL Social Networking …, Gigaom, Washington Post, BBC, Pew Internet, Business Insider and We Are Social. See also Mediagazer

John Chen / CNBC:

BlackBerry CEO: we're focused on enterprise services, messaging, growing QNX adoption — BlackBerry CEO: Here's our new strategy — By: John Chen, executive chair and CEO of BlackBerry — It's been easy for competitors to promote negative stories about BlackBerry, focusing on the business of the past.

Mat Honan / Wired:

I, Glasshole: My Year With Google Glass — An anecdote: I wanted to wear Google Glass during the birth of our second child. My wife was extremely unreceptive to this idea when I suggested it. Angry, even. But as we got a bit closer to the date, she began to warm to it and eventually landed somewhere …

More: Guardian, Daring Fireball, CNET and Yahoo! News

Tweets: @counternotions, @benthepcguy and @benbajarin

Thanks:@mat

Chris Vallance / BBC:

Cash machines raided with infected USB sticks — The thieves focused on high value notes to minimise the time they were exposed — Researchers have revealed how cyber-thieves sliced into cash machines in order to infect them with malware earlier this year.

More: Daily Dot

Florian Mueller / FOSS Patents:

Nokia wins German patent injunction against all HTC Android devices including the One series — The New Year's Eve fireworks kicked off a day early at the Munich I Regional Court, where Judge Dr. Matthias Zigann just handed Nokia a Germany-wide patent injunction against all HTC Android devices …

More: focustaiwan.tw, Engadget, My Nokia Blog, WMPoweruser, Phandroid, Android Beat, AndroidHeadlines.com, PhoneArena, TechSpot, Electronista, pocketnow.com, Windows Phone Central and Android Central

Adi Robertson / The Verge:

All jacked in and nothing to play: chasing the perfect VR game — A little over a year after appearing on Kickstarter, Oculus has turned the far-fetched '90s science fiction of virtual reality into a wildly successful prototype device: the Oculus Rift. As of this writing, you can snipe enemies in virtual reality with Team Fortress 2.

Sean Hollister / The Verge:

Virtual reality check: why controllers haven't caught up to the Oculus Rift

Aimee Groth / Quartz:

Zappos is going holacratic: no job titles, no managers, no hierarchy — Zappos is known for its zany corporate culture. The company's Q4 “All Hands” meeting in November was aptly-themed “Gone Wild”: one female employee voluntarily climbed into a case filled with tarantulas to win a $250 gift card.

More: Inc.com, Rands in Repose and Harold Jarche

Tweets: @chadfowler, @abatalion, @gotwalt, @lessien, @qz and @mobial

Tom Warren / The Verge:

Eric Schmidt makes 2014 predictions, says mobile has won — While he's not busy writing instructions on how to lead a tech company or guides for switching from iPhone to Android, Google chairman Eric Schmidt has taken some time out to provide Bloomberg TV with his predictions for 2014.

More: Engadget, GeekWire, VentureBeat, BetaNews, Mashable, 9to5Google, the build, BGR, Ubergizmo, SlashGear and 9to5Google. Tweets: @jasonwstein

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