Techmeme
January 1, 2017, 6:00 PM

Top News

Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
FBI-DHS report fails to make a hard case that Russia tampered with US elections, likely because the agencies want to protect methods for detecting hacks  —  US issued JAR billed itself as an indictment that would prove Russian involvement.  —  Talk about disappointments.
Sam Thielman / The Guardian:
FBI-DHS joint report links two Russian intelligence hacking groups to hacks of Democratic Party organizations; experts say report is too little too late  —  Experts say report is too little too late and comes after several others from private sector detailing alleged exploits of groups Fancy Bear and Cozy Bear
David E. Sanger / New York Times:
Andrew E. Kramer / New York Times:
Anil Dash:
Ideas to fix Twitter: show you can ship new features, handle abuse transparently, revamp metrics, understand different user types, and embrace developers  —  Jack asked us for ideas on how to fix Twitter.  A coherent plan for fixing Twitter would make millions of people happier …
Kurt Wagner / Recode:
Jack Dorsey says Twitter is “thinking a lot” about an edit-tweet button, also considering bookmarks, better threading, and multiple interest-based timelines  —  He also wants to know what else you want him to build.  —  You've probably dreamed of directing Twitter's product strategy — well, here's your chance!
Eliot Brown / Wall Street Journal:
PitchBook: old non-tech firms spent ~$10B on VC-backed US startups in 2016, up nearly 2X YoY  —  Silicon Valley upstarts are courted by retail, manufacturing companies seeking new growth  —  In late 2015, a commuter-shuttle startup caught the attention of Ford Motor Co.executive John Casesa …
More: AVC
Agence France-Presse:
French law requiring companies to give workers a “right to disconnect” from work-related messages after work hours goes into effect on January 1  —  From 1 January, workers have ‘right to disconnect’ as France seeks to establish agreements that afford work flexibility but avoid burnout
Eric Newcomer / Bloomberg Technology:
A look at unnoticed tech trends in 2016: rising internet speed, growth of digital currencies, the success of tech M&A, more  —  I'm on a flight home to Macon, Georgia, reading Hillbilly Elegy like much of the rest of Silicon Valley.  I'm trying to figure out how I misread the American electorate so fundamentally.
Joe Mullin / Ars Technica:
Review of appeals court decisions from 2016 that benefited software patent holders and set the bar for software patents after Supreme Court's Alice decision  —  It's harder, but not impossible, for owners of software patents to win cases.  —  In 2014, the US Supreme Court dealt a major blow to software patents.
Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:
Volvo integrates Skype for Business in its 90 series vehicles  —  What do you do when your love of driving conflicts with your deep and abiding love of conference calls?  That's a question Volvo hopes it can finally answer, with the integration of Skype for Business directly into its 90 series cars …
ProPublica:
Facebook buys detailed information from commercial data brokers about users' offline lives but does not disclose it since it is widely available  —  The site shows users how Facebook categorizes them.  It doesn't reveal the data it is buying about their offline lives.

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Alex Kantrowitz / BuzzFeed:

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