Techmeme: Alienware Alpha Review: A shockingly good tiny PC and console complement (Gordon Mah Ung/PC World)

Open Links In New Tab

Mobile Archives Advertise Site News

December 14, 2014, 1:50 PM

Top News

Businessweek:

Iranian hackers in February remotely accessed and wiped thousands of servers to punish Sands Casino CEO for incendiary comments — Iranian Hackers Hit Sheldon Adelson's Sands Casino in Las Vegas — Most gamblers were still asleep, and the gondoliers had yet to pole their way down the ersatz canal …

Tweets: @razhael, @felixgillette, @abegreenwald, @kevinroose and @csis

Jim Finkle / Reuters:

Exclusive: Iran hackers may target U.S. energy, defense firms, FBI warns

More: SlashGear, The Register, Digital Trends, Tech Times, Gizmodo, Electronista and Engadget

Om Malik:

Why I'm excited about photos, the visual web, computer vision and the far reaching impact of visual sensors — On visual web, a photo is worth more than a 1000 words — Photos, photos and more photos! Photos are the atomic unit of social platforms. Photos and visuals are the common language of the Internet.

More: The Loop. Tweets: @rklau, @jhagel, @colerise, @ryanlawler, @matmullen, @hblodget, @johnolilly, @caseynewton, @om and @om

Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:

Uber pressures regulators by mobilizing riders and hiring vast lobbying network — OUTSIDE IN: A new era of influence — On a Thursday in June, bureaucrats from Virginia's Department of Motor Vehicles made their move against Uber Technologies. The fast-growing ride-for-hire company …

Tweets: @postroz

Gordon Mah Ung / PC World:

Alienware Alpha Review: A shockingly good tiny PC and console complement — AT A GLANCE — Hardware has a shelf life like a gallon of milk. If it sits on the store shelf too long, it ends up getting poured down the drain. — That's ultimately the ugly story behind Alienware's Alpha game console.

More: Shacknews, Gizmodo, Tom's Guide, Engadget, TechCrunch, CNET and PC Magazine

Dan Seifert / The Verge:

Surface tablets on NFL sidelines used solely to replace printouts of plays from stadium cameras — How Surface tablets are changing the way NFL coaches work — Inside Microsoft's $400 million digital gridiron — NFL sidelines are almost always entertaining to watch, but this year …

Bloomberg:

Watershed event in cyberwar: how in 2008 hackers sabotaged a fortified oil pipeline in Turkey — Mysterious '08 Turkey Pipeline Blast Opened New Cyberwar Era — The pipeline was outfitted with sensors and cameras to monitor every step of its 1,099 miles from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean.

Tweets: @i_sidh

Mike Masnick / Techdirt:

Congress passes intelligence bill incorporating key parts of Reagan-era executive order authorizing NSA spying on Americans — How Congress Secretly Just Legitimized Questionable NSA Mass Surveillance Tool — We recently noted that, despite it passing overwhelmingly …

More: National Journal, The Daily Dot, and Newsmax

Ryan Gallagher / The Intercept:

How GCHQ used malware to penetrate Belgium's largest telecom and remain undetected for 2 years — The Inside Story of How British Spies Hacked Belgium's Largest Telco — When the incoming emails stopped arriving, it seemed innocuous at first. But it would eventually become clear that this was no routine technical problem.

More: Maps Mania. Tweets: @buchtan, @headhntr, @shashj, @rj_gallagher and @the_intercept

Adrienne Lafrance / The Atlantic Online:

The Story Behind AOL's Iconic Yellow Running Man — This is the first in an occasional series about abandoned Internet icons. — It was spring of 1997. “Mmmbop” was the pop song of the moment and unlimited access to AOL cost $19.95 a month. Dial-up Internet had finally tipped mainstream.

More: Business Insider. Tweets: @adriennelaf

David Pogue / Yahoo Tech:

Parrot Bebop drone review: $500 drone with exceptional stability, solid video stabilization, built-in acrobatics, simple phone app — Parrot's New Bebop Drone Flies Like an Angel — Once You Learn Its Secrets — I've become a crazyhead about flying drones this year.

Eric Limer / Gizmodo:

Samsung Gear VR: a better, simpler version of the original Rift that lacks content at launch — Samsung Gear VR Review: Hell Yes I Will Strap This Phone to My Face — The Oculus Rift is an awesome virtual reality headset. Google Cardboard is an awesome one too. But what if you could have the best of both?

More: Engadget, Examiner, The Verge and Ars Technica

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Tinder Competitor Hinge Scores $12M To Bring Its Friends-Of-Friends Dating App Abroad — If you want to hook up or judge people for fun, there's Tinder. But if you want to meet someone you could start a relationship with, Hinge is the app for you. Now in 28 cities across the States …

More: Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Betabeat, Medium, BuzzFeed, VentureBeat, PE Hub Blog, Wired, TIME and The Register

Sponsor Posts

Google:

Try Gemini 3 Pro — Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life

Shopify:

Transform ML Experimentation with Tangle — Save months of compute time with Tangle, built by Shopify. Try this open-source platform to simplify ML workflows, ensure reproducibility, and seamlessly share with collaborators.

Zoho:

Contract Signed. Project Ready. Tasks Created. — Every project begins with a promise; a contract that outlines the deliverables, the timelines, and the terms. But for most businesses …

Bitrix24:

Bitrix24 powers the next generation of high-performing businesses — Chat, projects, CRM, and automation — all in one place. Replace dozens of tools so your team moves faster, collaborates smarter, and grows effortlessly.

IDrive:

Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box 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

Big Technology Podcast:

AI Device Wars Heat Up, RIP Metaverse?, Netflix Acquires Warner Brothers

The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.

Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.

Channels with Peter Kafka:

"Hollywood is Truly Freaked Out." Inside the Netflix/WBD Deal with Lucas Shaw

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.

Hard Fork:

OpenAI Calls a 'Code Red' + Which Model Should I Use? + The Hard Fork Review of Slop

The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.

Subscribe to Hard Fork.

Access:

Is Roblox making the internet better or worse? We asked the CEO

A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.

Subscribe to Access.

Decoder with Nilay Patel:

Anthropic's quest to study the negative effects of AI is under pressure

A show from the Verge about big ideas - and other problems.

Subscribe to Decoder with Nilay Patel.

Lenny's Podcast:

Why LinkedIn is turning PMs into AI-powered "full stack builders" | Tomer Cohen (LinkedIn CPO)

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 1:50 PM ET, December 14, 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.