Techmeme
December 18, 2014, 6:10 PM

Top News

Richard Bilton / BBC:
BBC investigation finds Apple repeatedly not meeting its supply chain standards on workers' hours, ID cards, dormitories, work meetings and juvenile workers  —  Apple ‘failing to protect Chinese factory workers’  —  The undercover reporter filmed workers falling asleep on 12-hour shifts
John Biggs / TechCrunch:
Sony Pictures' internal systems still haven't fully recovered, forcing some employees to work with decades-old tech  —  Sony Pictures Employees Now Working In An Office “From Ten Years Ago”  —  It's been different for everyone," she said.  She was upbeat, optimistic …
Dave McNary / Variety:
Kim Zetter / Wired:
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Secret is relaunching as a faster anonymous social network with chat  —  Talk to any of Secret's 15 million users in just two taps  —  When Secret launched in February, it quickly became the most talked-about new social network in Silicon Valley.  Like other '"anonymish" social networks …
Katie Benner / Bloomberg View:
Jawbone delays UP3 fitness band release until after holidays, offers discounts to preorderers  —  Jawbone's Missing Christmas  —  If you wonder how long the market can support richly valued startups, and what sorts of corporate stress might test investor enthusiasm, look no further than Jawbone …
Amar Toor / The Verge:
Amazon launches Prime Now for Prime subscribers in New York City: one hour delivery of select items costs $7.99, two hour delivery is free  —  Amazon brings one-hour delivery to New York City with Prime Now  —  Service rolls out in select areas of Manhattan today, with other cities coming in 2015
Kyle Russell / TechCrunch:
EyeEm Launches Open Edits, Letting You See How Pros Edit Their Photos  —  Photosharing startup EyeEm has launched version 5.0 of their mobile app on iOS and Android, bringing a slew of changes to their editing system that make it easier to get your photos looking like the shots curated from professionals.
Craig Timberg / Washington Post:
Critical vulnerabilities in SS7 telephony protocol found; tested techniques can decrypt cell phone calls and texts  —  German researchers discover a flaw that could let anyone listen to your cell calls.  —  German researchers have discovered security flaws that could let hackers …
More: GizmodoTweets: @csoghoian
Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
Longtime Internet Explorer leader Dean Hachamovitch is leaving Microsoft  —  Dean Hachamovitch is leaving Microsoft.  And yes, of course, there is an IE shirt associated with this milestone, too.  The longtime Internet Explorer leader, who led the efforts to modernize and revitalize Microsoft's web browser …
More: LearningThanks:@mnickelsburg
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
WordPress 4.1 arrives with new default theme, distraction-free writing mode, Vine embeds, and more  —  WordPress.org today launched WordPress 4.1, which adds a slew of new features to help you “focus on your writing” with the blog management tool.  You can download the new release now from WordPress.org/Download (6.4MB).
Cyrus Farivar / Ars Technica:
US telcos can operate in Cuba as part of new reform, White House says  —  As part of a surprise move to normalize relations between the United States and Cuba, the White House announced that it would be “initiating new efforts” to help the island nation access the Internet.

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Shopify: Revolutionizing Commerce with Winter Edition '26  —  Over 150+ new features transform how merchants build, design, and grow—with technology that amplifies creative vision.
Zoho:
Email fatigue is real: Here's how smart email tools help you regain control  —  Picture this: It's Monday morning.  You walk into the office feeling energized and ready to take on the week.
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.

Featured Podcasts

Lenny's Podcast:
Why humans are AI's biggest bottleneck (and what's coming in 2026) | Alexander Embiricos (OpenAI Codex Product Lead)
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.
Big Technology Podcast:
OpenAI's 2026 Priority, Disney's AI Play, Datacenter Buildout Trouble
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.
Hard Fork:
Australia Kicks Kids Off Social Media + Is the A.I. Water Issue Fake? + Hard Fork Wrapped
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:
Why the next AI frontier is phone calls, with Beside CEO Maxime Germain
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Great Chat:
So what happens after AGI?
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 6:10 PM ET, December 18, 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.

More News

Earlier Picks

Dawn Chmielewski / Re/code: