Techmeme: FCC: smartphone theft a problem with 3.1M stolen in 2013, but new security measures helped (Matt Novak/Gizmodo)

Open Links In New Tab

Mobile Archives Advertise Site News Contact Editors

December 7, 2014, 1:55 PM

Top News

Anna Fifield / Washington Post:

North Korea denies hacking Sony but calls the breach a ‘righteous deed’ — TOKYO — North Korea has denied hacking Sony Pictures' computer systems in retaliation for its movie “The Interview,” which revolves around a plot to assassinate North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un.

More: New York Times, The Verge, Hollywood Reporter, Business Insider, Rolling Stone, Guardian, BBC, Gizmodo, WSJ, NBC News, Agence France-Presse and Re/code

Reuters:

North Korea's cyber war cell Bureau 121 employs 1800 hackers who are considered military elite — In North Korea, hackers are a handpicked, pampered elite — (Reuters) - Despite its poverty and isolation, North Korea has poured resources into a sophisticated cyber-warfare cell called Bureau 121 …

More: TechnoBuffalo, CNET, Wall Street Journal, Engadget and ZDNet. Tweets: @hg_masters

Malini Menon / Reuters:

Indian police arrest Uber driver who allegedly raped passenger, will take legal action against company for failing to run background checks — Uber cab driver in India arrested after suspected rape — (Reuters) - Indian police on Sunday arrested an Uber cab driver suspected of raping …

More: CNET, Uber Blog, VentureBeat, Guardian, BBC, Wall Street Journal, PandoDaily, BuzzFeed, NDTV News and Quartz

Seth Fiegerman / Mashable:

Aliens in the valley: The complete and chaotic history of Reddit — For months leading up to his resignation, Yishan Wong looked beat down. Employees say he was noticeably stressed and no longer enjoying his work. One business associate who stopped by the office in October thought Yishan …

Tweets: @mashable, @cmdrtaco, @sfiegerman and @mikeisaac. Thanks:@sfiegerman

Jack Marshall / Wall Street Journal:

Google study finds 56.1% of display ad impressions it served never appeared on screen — 5 Viewability Findings From Google — Online marketers are increasingly opting to pay only for “viewable” ad impressions — those that actually display on users' screens, rather than ones that appear …

More: Think with Google, Quartz, DoubleClick Advertiser, BizReport, Research-live.com, CBS News, Business Insider, ExchangeWire.com, The Drum and Marketing Land

Tweets: @hoofnagle, @jtemple, @leeodden and @mdudas

Carmel DeAmicis / Gigaom:

Secret struggles after clamping down on bullying; CEO teases dramatic revamp coming next week — What's happening with Secret? — Secret, the anonymous messaging app that captured the attention of Silicon Valley in the months after its January launch, is struggling.

More: PandoDaily. Tweets: @jyarow and @davidbyttow

Matt Novak / Gizmodo:

FCC: smartphone theft a problem with 3.1M stolen in 2013, but new security measures helped — 59% of robberies in San Francisco involve the theft of a smartphone — Thefts involving smartphones are on the rise according to a new FCC study. In 2013, 3.1 million Americans had their smartphones stolen.

More: TechnoBuffalo, Cult of Mac, Washington Post and Consumerist

Vauhini Vara / New Yorker:

Freedom House report: Internet freedom declined in 36 of 65 countries studied this year — The World Cracks Down on the Internet — In September of last year, Chinese authorities announced an unorthodox standard to help them decide whether to punish people for posting online comments that are false …

More: Freedom House, Washington Post, Business Recorder, Sputnik, TodaysZaman, The Register, Trakin' the india …, American Journalism Review, Tom's Hardware Guide, Reason, U.S. News, Voice of America, RT and TechPresident

Tweets: @patrickbeuth, @violetblue, @conradhackett and @antonnewcombe

Zack Whittaker / Fortune:

A look at possible outcomes between EU Commission and Google; splitting off search unlikely — Could Europe really break up Google? A look at what's possible—and likely — Europe's elected elite want to break up Google. The technology giant, known for its web search engine but offering …

Thanks:@zackwhittaker

Scott Rosenberg / Backchannel:

Why tech giants create new programming languages, and how Go and Swift reflect their creators — My Computer Language is Better than Yours — Go and Swift take another step up the programming-language ladder … Google has Go, first conceived in 2009. Facebook introduced Hack last spring.

Tweets: @itod, @joshuajberk, @stevesi, @pedromelo, @mattcutts and @olivier_poitrey

Liam Tung / ZDNet:

IBM's Watson Analytics enters public beta — Summary:IBM has made it cognitive analytics package more widely available. — IBM has launched the public beta of Watson Analytics, its set of cloud-based predictive and analytics tools. — The move to public beta for Watson Analytics …

More: Gizmodo, The Next Web, CMSWire, PR Newswire, InformationWeek, Computerworld, WebProNews and eWeek

Harry McCracken / Fast Company:

DeviantArt launching first official iPhone and Android apps, reveals new logo and website revamp — With Its New App, DeviantArt Finally Has A Mobile Place For Those 65 Million Monthly Visitors — With 65 million unique visitors a month sharing, exploring, and discussing artwork of all sorts …

More: Design Week, DeviantArt and Empty Lighthouse Magazine. Thanks:@mariedomingo

Sponsor Posts

Command Line:

Azure Content Understanding: Building on lessons from a decade of Document Intelligence — What a decade of teaching machines to read real-world documents taught us about what LLMs can and can't do.

Will Reed:

The best sales leaders aren't job hunting. Here's how to reach them without months of cold outreach. — Our team came from Box, Square, and Brex, so we already know the GTM leaders worth meeting.

Zoho:

App Spotlight: TDS 26AS Reconciliation for Zoho Books — Automate 26AS/Form 168 reconciliation, ensuring that mismatches between your 26AS/Form 168 and books are flagged to make ITR filing seamless …

IDrive:

Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Sponsor Techmeme

Featured Podcasts

Channels with Peter Kafka:

How to Run a Political Campaign in the TikTok Era (And How Not To)

Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.

Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.

Sources:

Robinhood's CEO on letting AI trade your money

Candid conversations with the leaders shaping what's next in AI and the broader tech industry. Hosted by Alex Heath, who has covered Silicon Valley for more than a decade.

Subscribe to Sources.

Training Data:

David Silver and Lasse Espeholt of Ineffable Intelligence: A Superlearner for the Age of Experience

Sequoia Capital partners host conversations with leading AI builders and researchers to develop a deeper understanding of the evolving technologies and their implications.

Subscribe to Training Data.

Invest Like the Best:

David Vélez - Building Nubank and the Future of Global Banking

The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.

Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.

Cheeky Pint:

Muse Wonder: Zuckerberg and Wang's $100B AI

Stripe cofounder John Collison interviews founders, builders, and leaders over a pint.

Subscribe to Cheeky Pint.

Lenny's Podcast:

Why every company now needs to think and operate like a lab team | Josh Woodward (Google Labs, Gemini, AI Studio)

Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.

Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.

Add your podcast here

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 1:55 PM ET, December 7, 2014.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.