Techmeme: Max Levchin on Affirm, his online payments and lending startup, and his focus on data (Biz Carson/Gigaom)

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August 17, 2014, 6:50 PM

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Jon Russell / The Next Web:

Twitter's latest experiment turns favorites into retweets (and it's annoying lots of people) — Twitter is back in experimental mode, but its latest test is annoying people. A sizable number of users are seeing tweets favorited by others in their timeline, just like retweets.

More: Gizmodo, The Verge, iMore, @Margafret, PC Magazine and Business Insider

Tweets: @caseynewton, @jyarow, @boris, @epro, @antderosa, @001010110, @pkafka, @benedictevans, @semil, @hunterwalk, @wondroushippo, @johncolucci, @jazzychad, @ninatypewriter, @jonrussell and @helena

Miguel Helft / Fortune:

Inside ATAP, Google's mobile development group led by former DARPA director Regina Dugan — Google goes DARPA — Regina Dugan loves to tell the story of how she got her current job. It was a little over two years ago, and Dugan, a mechanical engineer by training and an expert in counterterrorism …

More: Navy Times, Business Insider and Tech Times

Tweets: @digiphile, @rcalo, @malbonnington, @erictopol and @dbfarber

Kellex / Droid Life:

Moto 360 listing at Best Buy reveals features and specs, priced at $249 — Moto 360 Shows Up at Best Buy for $249, Outs List of Features — We are expecting to get official Moto 360 launch details when Motorola hosts press at a September 4 event in Chicago, but Best Buy may have gone ahead …

More: PC Magazine, Gizmodo, Engadget, CNET, 9to5Google, The Verge, MobileSyrup.com and SlashGear

Natasha Singer / New York Times:

In the Sharing Economy, Workers Find Both Freedom and Uncertainty — Just after 4 a.m. on a recent Friday, while most of the neighbors in her leafy Boston suburb were still asleep, Jennifer Guidry was in the driveway of her rental apartment, her blond hair pulled back in a tidy French braid, vacuuming the inside of her car.

More: Fast Company, VentureBeat and TechCrunch

Tweets: @megan, @anandwrites, @mattbuchanan, @johnsaveland, @xor and @dtunkelang

Paul Carr / PandoDaily:

Bezos-owned Washington Post now inserting gross Amazon affiliate links into news articles — There's something creepy in this Washington Post piece about Penguin's new “adult” cover for the 50th anniversary edition of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” Well, something else creepy, beyond the weirdly over-sexualized cover itself.

More: Washington Post, PC Magazine, The Digital Reader and TechSpot. Tweets: @mathewi. See also Mediagazer

Biz Carson / Gigaom:

Max Levchin on Affirm, his online payments and lending startup, and his focus on data — The Gigaom Interview: Max Levchin on data, sensors and building the future of finance — Part of the original “PayPal Mafia” and also formerly of Slide, Max Levchin has made a return …

Tweets: @gigaom and @gigaom

Dan Primack / Fortune:

We lack the data needed to show whether venture capital is performing as an asset class — VCs suck (but there's a way you could prove me wrong) — There has been a bunch of Twitter conversation this week about venture capital economics and performance, stemming from an HBR post titled Venture Capitalists …

More: CB Insights and HBR.org. Tweets: @trengriffin, @pmarca, @jimprosser, @felixsalmon, @trengriffin, @felixsalmon, @pmarca and @danprimack

Jeff Minich / Business Insider:

Ex-employee defends Yahoo: Mayer is ignoring legacy ad business to focus on potential growth — A Former Yahoo Employee Defends Marissa Mayer From Her Biggest Critic — Eric Jackson has had a lot to say about Marissa Mayer and Yahoo lately. He's a smart guy, I read his column and think he's generally an astute investor.

Tweets: @aaronklein, @kimbatronic, @jaudrius, @anildash and @karaswisher

Kara Swisher / Re/code:

Investor Eric Jackson pesters Yahoo and its CEO, hoping to attract activist investor or buyer

Ethan Zuckerman / The Atlantic Online:

Ad-supported web led to targeting and surveillance as a default; let's try again, with fees for service — The Internet's Original Sin — Ron Carlson's short story “What We Wanted To Do” takes the form of an apology from a villager who failed to protect his comrades from marauding Visigoths.

More: SlashGear, BuzzMachine, Beyond Search, Forbes, The Verge, Digital Trends, CNET, BGR, Engadget, MacDailyNews, Gizmodo, NEWS.com.au, Gizmodo UK, RT, TechSpot, Tech Times, Business Insider and Joho the Blog

Tweets: @startupljackson, @jayrosen_nyu, @bpm140, @vanessafox, @rianvdm, @metmaven, @sanatanamishra, @danrubin, @theatlantic, @niemanlab, @adriennelaf, @csoghoian, @anildash, @evgenymorozov, @zeynep, @ftrain, @pinboard, @ashk4n and @ashk4n

Thanks:@nethistorypod

Alexis C. Madrigal / The Atlantic Online:

Email is not dying; it's an adaptable, decentralized, open platform that's being unbundled — Email Is Still the Best Thing on the Internet — The gentle, dependable workhorse that everyone relies on and nobody owns — All these people are trying to kill email.

Paul Thurrott / SuperSite for Windows:

With free licensing and new device makers on board, it's too early to write off Windows Phone — It's Too Early to Write Off the Third Smartphone Ecosystem — Thanks to a single smart phone quarterly market share report from IDC, many are suddenly writing off Windows Phone and declaring …

More: Gigaom and BGR. Tweets: @ihnatko

Emily Steel / New York Times:

After first original TV series fall flat, Amazon leans away from data-driven creative approach — For Its New Shows, Amazon Adds Art to Its Data — LOS ANGELES — Joe Lewis, a television executive at Amazon, lies on his stomach on a rumpled bed. Jill Soloway, the Emmy-nominated writer and director …

Tweets: @sriramk, @karaswisher, @emilysteel, @carr2n and @ronmwangaguhung

Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:

Internet Explorer team AMA: no plans for iOS & Android release, rebranding has been considered — Internet Explorer on Android or iOS? Not in Microsoft's current plans — Summary: The cross-platform push may be on at ‘cloud first/mobile first’ Microsoft, but for now …

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