Techmeme
October 6, 2017, 5:05 PM

Top News

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
AOL is shutting down Instant Messenger (AIM) on December 15 after 20 years  —  The pioneering chat app that taught us to text is pulling the plug.  On December 15th, AOL Instant Messenger will shut down after running since 1997.  AIM dominated online chat in North America at the turn of the century.
Andrés Arrieta / Electronic Frontier Foundation:
Apple's decision to not let users fully disable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in iOS 11's Control Center is bad UI design and compromises user security  —  Turning off your Bluetooth and Wi-Fi radios when you're not using them is good security practice (not to mention good for your battery usage).
Danny Sullivan:
Search Engine Land founder Danny Sullivan is joining Google to serve as a public liaison for search  —  When I retired from search journalism in June, I had no idea what I would be doing next.  I just knew I was ready for a break and something different from what I had been doing for so long.
Sam Byford / The Verge:
Apple reveals new emoji coming in iOS 11.1, including a giraffe, a zebra, a hedgehog, a scarf, a trenchcoat, a baseball cap, and gloves  —  Apple has shown off more emoji characters coming to iOS in the future 11.1 update.  The characters are part of Unicode 10, which added 56 new emoji …
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Freight logistics startup Flexport raises $110M Series C led by DST Global, plans to offer freight financing, buy more warehouses  —  “We're actually out here trying to create value, not just give venture capital money away" says Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen.  “It's counterintuitive.
More: CNBCTweets: @joshconstine
Natasha Bertrand / Business Insider:
Dan Primack / Axios:
Former Zenefits and Yammer CEO David Sacks raising a VC fund, according to SEC filing  —  Former Yammer and Zenefits CEO David Sacks appears to be raising a venture capital fund, according to an SEC filing .  —  Why it matters: Sacks created one tech unicorn in Yammer, which was sold to Microsoft for $1.2 billion.
Francesco Guarascio / Reuters:
European Commission says some banks may be breaching antitrust rules by preventing non-bank competitors from gaining online access to customer account info  —  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission said on Friday it had conducted inspections in some EU states into banks' alleged anti …
Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
Analysis: what we know and do not know about Kaspersky Lab's alleged involvement in NSA contractor's laptop hack  —  The Wall Street Journal just published an incendiary article that says hackers working for the Russian government stole confidential material from an NSA contractor's home computer.
Wall Street Journal:

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's new AI commerce stack  —  Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
Zoho:
Connecting, collaborating, and growing: Zoho Mail 2025 wrap-up  —  Your inbox has been home to a lot this year—quick updates, long threads, approvals, reminders, and the occasional late-night draft you weren't sure about.
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

Great Chat:
The stories we told ourselves in 2025
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.
Grit:
How Brands Stay Visible When AI Decides | Profound CEO James Cadwallader
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Lenny's Podcast:
The coming AI security crisis (and what to do about it) | Sander Schulhoff
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 Potential, Google's Speedy Model, Copilot Hits Turbulence
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:
Why Roomba Died + Tech Predictions for 2026 + A Hard Forkin' Xmas Song
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.
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 5:05 PM ET, October 6, 2017.

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

Politico:
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat: