Techmeme: Inside the small teams at Spotify, Google, and Apple that make tens of thousands of playlists listened to by tens of millions of people around the world (Reggie Ugwu/BuzzFeed)

Open Links In New Tab

Mobile Archives Advertise Site News

July 17, 2016, 9:15 PM

Top News

Georgia Wells / Wall Street Journal:

Facebook shows little progress in diversity report, blames lack of available talent — Many observers say talent pipeline isn't primary factor — Facebook Inc. said Thursday that it made meager increases in the number of women and minorities working at the social-network giant …

More: Facebook, Wired, EdTech, thejournal.com, Tech Times, USA Today, Engadget, AOL, NewCo Shift, Bo Ren, Recode, The Daily Dot, Quartz and Vanity Fair

Tweets: @georgia_wells, @usatoday, @mipsytipsy, @ekp, @puffins, @shanley, @mipsytipsy, @morgandebaun, @kthomas901, @jguynn and @ericajoy

Dare Obasanjo:

How ingrained hiring practices at companies like Microsoft, Google, and Facebook hinder their efforts to diversify their workforces — In the past week or so I've had three instances to reflect on how three major tech companies talk about diversity hiring and their actions.

More: TechCrunch, Dice Insights and SocialTimes

Tweets: @zellyn, @dgolumbia, @rezendi and @anildash

Lizzie Plaugic / The Verge:

Google's diverse emoji for women at work approved by Unicode Consortium — Back in May, Google proposed 13 new emoji meant to better represent women in professional fields, and now 11 of those emoji have been approved by the Unicode Consortium. The new emoji, including a chef, a graduate …

the grugq:

Attempted coup's failure to block internet in Turkey allowed President Erdogan and civilians to organize resistance through FaceTime, Periscope, Facebook Live — Rewriting the rulebook on coups, time to add cyberpower — Mere hours after the putsch in Turkey has failed, it is still too early to understand exactly what went on.

More: BuzzFeed, Reuters, The Register, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, Telegraph, Boing Boing and Mashable

Tweets: @sweis, @swiftonsecurity, @buzzfeedben, @swiftonsecurity, @buzzfeednews, @csoghoian, @zeynep, @zeynep and @digiphile

Thanks:@ravichandrans25. See also Mediagazer

Devin Coldewey / TechCrunch:

Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube were temporarily blocked or slowed in Turkey during military coup attempt

Issie Lapowsky / Wired:

Clinton has assembled a tech team of over 50 engineers and developers for her presidential campaign, while Trump just focuses on using social media — Giving up Google wasn't easy for Stephanie Hannon, if it's easy for anyone. A person can get used to the big salary, cushy perks …

Tweets: @davidgaliel

Aaron Souppouris / Engadget:

Sources: Google is working on a headset with a display that will offer AR features and does not require a phone or computer to power it — Yesterday Recode published an article suggesting Google has killed a VR project that would have directly competed with high-end headsets like the Oculus Rift.

More: The Verge and Digital Trends. Tweets: @espiers

Mark Bergen / Recode:

Google recently shut down project to create high-end standalone VR headset with non-Android OS

More: Pocketnow, Digital Trends, Tech Times, Ubergizmo, SlashGear, ResearchBuzz, ZDNet, 9to5Google, Android Central, Road to VR, PhoneDog.com, Engadget, Android Authority, UploadVR and Android and Me

Keith Naughton / Bloomberg:

Civil Maps, a startup that uses AI software to convert data from sensors on self-driving cars into detailed 3D maps, raises $6.6M seed from Ford and others — Automaker is among participants in $6.6 million seed funding — Civil Maps' system aggregates data from sensors on vehicles

More: VentureBeat, Tech Times, Wired, CNET, Business Wire, Inverse, San Francisco Business Journal, Silicon Valley Business …, Fortune, PE Hub Blog and TheStreet.com

Wall Street Journal:

Obama administration working with foreign governments to let them to serve US tech firms with warrants for email searches and wiretaps — Internet companies could face overseas demands for email searches, wiretaps — The Obama administration is working on a series of agreements …

Tweets: @ijurisdiction and @mbrauchli

Reggie Ugwu / BuzzFeed:

Inside the small teams at Spotify, Google, and Apple that make tens of thousands of playlists listened to by tens of millions of people around the world — When he's choosing your music for you, Carl Chery, 37, is in Culver City, California, sitting at his desk in an office with no signage …

More: NPR. Tweets: @johnpaczkowski, @gkjohn, @trengriffin, @culturite, @marissagmuller, @jingw, @ddoff, @marksussman, @uugwuu and @pocket. Thanks:@johnpaczkowski

Vindu Goel / New York Times:

As Yahoo puts itself up for sale, early employees known as “surfers” recall building the company's directory — SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Back in the mid-1990s, before Google even existed, the world's best guides to the internet sat in Silicon Valley cubicles, visiting websites and carefully categorizing them by hand.

Tweets: @jeffjarvis, @nytimesbits and @nytimesbits

Ben Sisario / New York Times:

In a non-public filing with the US Copyright Royalty Board, Apple proposes simplified flat rate of 9.1¢ per 100 streams in songwriting royalties — In the music industry's streaming battles, the fight extends to even the minutiae of copyright. — Apple, in a government filing on Friday …

More: Pocketnow, Insanely Great Mac, Digital Trends, PhoneArena, Billboard, iPhone in Canada Blog, iMore, MacRumors, BetaNews, iPhone Hacks, The Verge, Engadget, AppleInsider and TechnoBuffalo

Tweets: @pt and @sisario

Sponsor Posts

Soxton:

Fast, affordable law for startups — Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better. We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts. Join the waitlist for early access!

F5:

Accelerate AI Adoption at F5's AI Virtual Summit — Learn how to architect, secure, and scale AI for production with real-world insights from industry leaders on June 23. Register now to save your spot.

Zoho:

Summer '26 release: Zoho SalesIQ enters the era of Agentic Intelligence — Empathy has never been able to scale. Until now.You probably wouldn't have expected a release announcement that has Agentic Intelligence in the title to start with “Empathy.”

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

Training Data:

LIVE: Jensen Huang on Building the Dynamo of the Intelligence Age

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.

Uncapped with Jack Altman:

Mike Volpi from Hanabi Capital

Conversations with people I admire about things I'm genuinely interested in.

Subscribe to Uncapped with Jack Altman.

Channels with Peter Kafka:

Brian Stelter on the 60 Minutes Mess; Nilay Patel on Apple's AI Problem

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.

Invest Like the Best:

Alex Sacerdote - How to Invest Through Technology Cycles

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

Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.

Lenny's Podcast:

Father of the iPod and iPhone on building taste, judgment, and creativity in the AI era | Tony Fadell

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.

Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:

AI's Mythos Moment: Rishi Sunak on preparing governments for AI

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.

Add your podcast here

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 9:15 PM ET, July 17, 2016.

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.