Techmeme: How collaborative social blocking could bring sanity to social networks (Glenn Fleishman/Boing Boing)

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August 13, 2014, 3:45 PM

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James Bamford / Wired:

Edward Snowden is extensively interviewed in Moscow by NSA whistleblower James Bamford — Edward Snowden: The Untold Story — I am staying at the Hotel Metropol, a whimsical sand-colored monument to pre-revolutionary art nouveau. Built during the time of Czar Nicholas II …

More: Ars Technica, Wired, Techdirt, Associated Press, PC Magazine, Business Insider, PC World, Wall Street Journal, The Verge, Gizmodo, The Hill, NEWS.com.au, Electronista, Gigaom, Washington Post, Tech Times, Engadget, ITProPortal, SlashGear, TIME, Hit & Run, Guardian, BuzzFeed, Softpedia News, Nextgov, TODAY, Globe and Mail, GamePolitics blogs, netzpolitik.org, TechPresident, and The Awl

Tweets: @darth, @glynmoody, @joemfbrown, @ggreenwald, @jayrosen_nyu, @zeynep, @runasand, @ggreenwald, @jtes and @a_greenberg

Thanks:@srikardr

Kim Zetter / Wired:

NSA developing “MonsterMind” system to autonomously block and retaliate against cyberattacks — Meet MonsterMind, the NSA Bot That Could Wage Cyberwar Autonomously — Edward Snowden has made us painfully aware of the government's sweeping surveillance programs over the last year.

More: The Verge and Engadget. Thanks:@emilydreyfuss

Andy Greenberg / Wired:

Snowden: I Left the NSA Clues, But They Couldn't Find Them — If the NSA still doesn't know the full extent of the greatest leak of secrets in its history, it's not because of Edward Snowden's attempts to cover his tracks. On the contrary, the NSA's most prolific whistleblower now claims …

Dustin Volz / National Journal:

Snowden: The NSA Caused a Massive Internet Blackout in Syria

Daniel Cooper / Engadget:

Amazon introduces its $10 mobile card reader, Local Register, and undercuts Square and PayPal transaction fees — Amazon undercuts Square and PayPal with its own mobile card reader — Square's grand plan to democratize credit card payments has inspired a clutch of imitators, the latest of which is Amazon.

More: Amazon.com, YouTube, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, Re/code, Computerworld, Gigaom, GadgeTell, Wired, The Next Web, CNET, New York Times, Reuters, VentureBeat, Guardian, AppleInsider, Electronista, The Verge, Gotta Be Mobile, US News, WebProNews, GeekWire, MacRumors, Gizmodo, Android Central, internetretailer.com and Gizmodo UK

Tweets: @jyarow, @harper, @monkbent and @counternotions

Jason Del Rey / Re/code:

Amazon Goes After Square in the Way It Knows Best: Pricing — Amazon unveiled its long-awaited credit card reader on Wednesday, pitting it against Square and other companies in the battle to provide small businesses with an easier and cheaper way to accept credit card and debit card purchases.

More: Wall Street Journal

Jim Cowie / Renesys:

Internet Touches Half Million Routes: Outages Possible Next Week — There was minor consternation in Internet engineering circles today, as the number of IPv4 networks worldwide briefly touched another magic “power of 2″ size limit. As it turns out, 512K (524,288 to be exact …

More: BGPmon, ZDNet, Ars Technica, SiliconBeat, DSLreports, Wired, Business Insider, Nux!, ExtremeTech, The Register, SiliconANGLE, ITProPortal and Xenophilia

Tweets: @dakami, @howiegoing and @renesys

Ryan Lawler / TechCrunch:

Uber integrates turn-by-turn navigation for drivers, lets riders select destination pre-pickup — Uber Adds Turn-By-Turn Directions To Its Driver App — There's no doubt that Uber has made many of our lives more convenient, by enabling passengers to hail a ride via mobile app.

More: Uber Blog, Feld Thoughts, Engadget, Fortune, GeekWire, 9to5Google, The Next Web, PC Magazine and GadgeTell

Victor H. / PhoneArena:

Samsung launches Galaxy Alpha, 4.7 inch, metal frame, octa-core, $689 off-contract, arrives September — Samsung Galaxy Alpha is now official: metal-made and the thinnest Galaxy yet — After months of endless leaks, rumors and speculations, the Samsung Galaxy Alpha has finally gone official.

Roy Goldenberg / Globes Online:

Taxi hailing app co GetTaxi raises $150m — The company will expand services to European cities beyond its existing operations in London, Moscow and St. Petersburg. — Taxi hailing app company GetTaxi has raised $150 million in a huge financing round. The company has yet to name …

More: Mashable, London Evening Standard, Bloomberg, VentureBeat, PE Hub Blog and Tech.eu

Eugene Kim / Business Insider:

Google, HP in partnership talks to make Google Now a tool for searching company information — Google Is Chasing Apple's Mega Deal With IBM — Google is in talks with HP to make a bigger push for Android in the enterprise. — According to The Information, Google's Android unit …

More: The Information, 9to5Mac, Gigaom, TechCrunch, MacRumors, BGR, PC World, 9to5Google, Engadget, Droid Life, Cult of Mac, Android Central, Pocketnow, ZDNet and The Next Web

Nick Summers / The Next Web:

Foursquare brings its Swarm check-in app to Windows Phone — As promised, Foursquare is bringing its Swarm app to Windows Phone. The app, which allows users to check-in, organize events and see how far away their friends are, should be available to download now in the Windows Phone Store.

More: Windows Phone, The Verge, iMore, TechCrunch, Windows Blog, Softpedia News, WebProNews, MSDN Blogs, WMPoweruser and The Foursquare Blog

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

Facebook launches cross-device reporting for ads, lets marketers track users across mobile apps and the Web — Facebook today launched a new feature for advertisers: cross-device reporting for ads. In short, marketers can now see where users saw an ad and where they converted, across mobile apps and the Web.

More: Facebook, AdExchanger, Marketing Land, Search Engine Land, Inside Facebook, AllFacebook, GeekWire, TechCrunch, Marketing Pilgrim, WinBeta and WebProNews

Kara Swisher / Re/code:

Programming startup Famo.us raises $25M for easy to use JavaScript framework for mobile apps — Programming Startup Famo.us Gets $25 Million to Make JavaScript More Famous — Famo.us, an unusual programming startup that allows users to make nifty mobile apps using JavaScript …

More: VentureBeat. Tweets: @jasoncosta

Kaylene Hong / The Next Web:

WeChat climbs to 438 million monthly active users, closing in on WhatsApp's 500 million — Tencent published its earnings today for the second quarter of 2014, revealing a new milestone for its WeChat messaging app: it has risen to 438 million monthly active users, up from 396 million the previous quarter.

Eva Dou / Wall Street Journal:

Boosted by WeChat, Tencent's Net Profit Rises 59%

More: Re/code, Tech in Asia, Associated Press and Bloomberg

Kurt Wagner / Re/code:

Instagram appoints Facebook's James Quarles as Global Head of Business and Brand Development — Instagram Hires New Ad Chief — Instagram is ready to make some money. — Facebook Regional Director James Quarles has been tapped as Instagram's new Global Head of Business and Brand Development, according to a Facebook spokesperson.

More: TechnoBuffalo. Tweets: @mikeisaac

Elyse Betters / Pocket-lint:

Polaroid Cube is a tiny camera that records 1080p video and is ultra rugged — Polaroid has launched a new camera that can fit into your pocket and shoot full 1080p HD video. It can even withstand a tumble and some water. Originally unveiled at CES 2014, the new Polaroid Cube measures less …

More: Engadget, NBC News, Mashable, Geek.com, Business Insider, Tom's Guide, Electronista and Softpedia News

Glenn Fleishman / Boing Boing:

How collaborative social blocking could bring sanity to social networks … The wisdom of crowds isn't always that smart. We've all seen mobs emerge online, or read uninformed Wikipedia entries that are the work of many idiotic hands. Where crowds help online is when you find your own particular gang …

More: Gigaom. Tweets: @wcullen65, @boingboing, @elmo_keep, @iroc and @glennf

Ron Miller / TechCrunch:

Lookout Lands $150M To Bring Mobile Security Product To Enterprise — Lookout, a mobile security product that to this point has been mostly geared towards consumers, announced today they had snagged $150M in Series F funding to begin focusing on enterprise customers.

More: SiliconBeat, Re/code, New York Times, Gigaom, Wall Street Journal, VentureBeat, FierceMobileIT News, PE Hub Blog, Fortune, CNET, SecurityWeek and silicontap.com

Stacey Higginbotham / Gigaom:

Electric Imp nets $15M to push Wi-Fi for the industrial internet — Electric Imp, which is inside many connected devices from Quirky's products to fun Budweiser promotional gear, has raised $15 million to tackle the industrial internet as well. — Electric Imp, a startup that builds Wi-Fi modules …

More: TechCrunch and PE Hub Blog

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Shift Is Developing A Debit Card That Lets You Spend Digital Currency, Loyalty Points And Regular Money — In the San Francisco Bay Area and elsewhere in the world, 100 people are testing out a debit card that lets them pay with bitcoin and ripple, and, in the future, regular money and loyalty points.

More: Engadget, Electronista, CoinDesk and Y Combinator Posthaven

Jason Del Rey / Re/code:

Alibaba Strikes Deal to Boost Windfall From Potential Alipay IPO — Alibaba Group, the monstrous Chinese Internet company, has inked a deal that gives it more options for profiting from the future success of China's Alipay payments company, according to a regulatory filing.

More: G 4 Games, TheStreet.com, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and New York Times

Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:

AdStage Raises $6.25M To Bring Its Cross-Network Ad Platform To The Masses — AdStage, a startup whose co-founder and CEO Sahil Jain said he plans on “bringing a real SaaS model to the ad tech space,” is announcing that it has raised a $6.25 million Series A.

More: Wall Street Journal, VentureBeat, AdExchanger, Inside Facebook, CMSWire.com, Marketing Land and PE Hub Blog

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