Techmeme: The tragedy of Ethiopia's internet: an instrument of surveillance, and only 3.7% have access (Justin Lynch/Motherboard)

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February 8, 2016, 6:10 AM

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Casey Newton / The Verge:

Twitter's algorithmic timeline is like expanded version of “while you were away” feature, according to users testing it; opt-out is available — Here's how Twitter's new algorithmic timeline is going to work — Twitter went into an uproar Friday after a BuzzFeed report …

Jack Dorsey / @jack:

Jack Dorsey responds to #RIPTwitter, links Twitter's identity with real-time, doesn't deny an algorithmic feed but says there was no plan to launch next week — Hello Twitter! Regarding #RIPTwitter: I want you all to know we're always listening. We never planned to reorder timelines next week.

Tim Bradshaw / Financial Times:

Sources: Google to release Gear VR-like headset this year compatible with a broad range of smartphones, embed VR technology into Android OS — Google pushes further into world of virtual reality — Google is developing a new virtual-reality headset for smartphones, and adding extra support …

More: Digital Trends, The Verge, CNET, GamesIndustry.biz, Pocketnow, VentureBeat, Engadget, Mashable, Silicon Republic, Ubergizmo, Business Insider, 9to5Google, SiliconANGLE, VRFocus, VRScout, Fone Arena, PC Magazine, ZDNet and PhoneDog.com. Tweets: @abatalion

Danny Sullivan / Marketing Land:

Hashtags included in 45% of Super Bowl ads; Facebook or Twitter mentioned in only 5% of ads — Hashtags In Super Bowl Ads Dropped Slightly To 45% In 2016 — As with last year, social networks were rarely mentioned, with Twitter and Facebook tied in our count.

More: iPhone Hacks, SiliconANGLE, CNET and Re/code. Tweets: @chrismessina. Thanks:@dannysullivan

Chris Velazco / Engadget:

Canonical announces first Ubuntu tablet, the BQ Aquaris M10, features Convergence, letting it act like PC when connected to keyboard, mouse, display, on sale Q2 — Ubuntu's first tablet doubles as a desktop, goes on sale in Q2 — Remember that time Spanish device maker BQ started promoting a new …

More: Ubuntu Insights, The Verge, The Next Web, The Register, ZDNet, CNET, PCWorld, Liliputing, TechnoBuffalo and Geek.com

Justin Lynch / Motherboard:

The tragedy of Ethiopia's internet: an instrument of surveillance, and only 3.7% have access — The Tragedy of Ethiopia's Internet — Nafkot Nega thinks journalists are terrorists. When I visited him and his mother, Serkalem Fassil, at their tiny apartment in the outskirts of Washington …

Tweets: @lpolgreen, @smith_jeffreyt, @sallyhayd, @thebanderson, @ilana_u and @pschwartzstein

Dieter Bohn / The Verge:

Amazon and other retailers should stop selling cheap USB-C cables with faulty wiring that can damage laptops, and instead demand certification for these cables — USB-C cables are playing Russian Roulette with your laptop — Over the past year or so, one of the biggest tech stories …

More: Amazon.com, MyBroadband, Benson Leung, The Register, Engadget, Android Authority, AppleInsider, Laptop Mag, FierceCIO News, Tech Insider, CNET and ZDNet. Tweets: @tha_rami

Glyn Moody / Ars Technica UK:

GCHQ's data-mining techniques revealed in new Snowden leak — Shhh! Top Secret—don't pass it on... (credit: GCHQ) — A “Data Mining Research Problem Book” marked “top secret strap 1” has been leaked that details some of the key techniques used by GCHQ to sift through the huge volumes …

More: Boing Boing, Motherboard, iTnews and Conspicuous Chatter. Tweets: @thegrugq

Mark Suster / Fortune:

Upfront survey of VCs: 91% expect valuations do go down in the first half of 2016, 62% say their portfolios are cutting costs — The State of Venture Capital — There are a lot of data points that one can use to get a sense of the venture capital markets, including the number of startup financings and the level of VC fundraising.

More: SlideShare. Tweets: @davemcclure and @davepell

Sarah Tavel:

“Uber for X” services must be more convenient than incumbents and more importantly, cheaper — Taking the wrong lesson from Uber — The last few years, it's become cliche for startups to describe themselves as “Uber for X”. With Uber as the north star, the mobile phone became the …

Tweets: @joshelman

Johana Bhuiyan / BuzzFeed:

Inside the “anti-Uber alliance” and how Grab (formerly GrabTaxi) is fighting for dominance in Southeast Asia's ride-hailing market — Grab, Uber, And The Battle For Southeast Asia — Grab (formerly GrabTaxi) is battling Uber in a little-talked-about but densely populated market and winning — for the moment, anyway.

Tweets: @buzzfeedben. Thanks:@fwd

New York Times:

Investors are willing to buy into Morgan Stanley's fund for indirect Uber equity without seeing financial details for company — Deal Shows Investors Are Willing to Make a Blind Bet on Uber — A deal about to close on Wall Street illustrates just how much some investors are willing to give …

More: The Verge, BloombergView.com, Fortune, GeekWire and Business Insider

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