|
February 8, 2019, 7:40 AM
|
Mediagazer
memeorandum
WeSmirchTop News
| Jeff Bezos: |
Jeff Bezos publishes letters from National Enquirer owner AMI that he says show threats to publish his nude photos unless he stops probing AMI's reporting — Something unusual happened to me yesterday. Actually, for me it wasn't just unusual—it was a first. I was made an offer I couldn't refuse.
More:
New York Times, The Verge, Inquirer, The Verge, The Guardian, GeekWire, HuffPost, Business Insider, Bloomberg, CNET, The Atlantic, BBC, Bloomberg, The Register, Washington Post, Gizmodo, USA Today, Geek.com, SiliconANGLE, The Seattle Times, Ars Technica, Vox, Android Central, Boing Boing, The Daily Beast, Firstpost, WRAL TechWire, and CNBC
Facebook: Bill Ritter. Tweets: @jeffbezos, @ryanhuber, @nickwingfield, @hypatiadotca, @ronanfarrow, @yashar, @devinwenig, @jimrutenberg, @yashar, @matt_levine, @pkafka, @yishan, @rmac18, @donnarapado, @lexnfx, @michaeldweiss, @alexstamos, @caseynewton, @davepell, @alexia, @jenniferjjacobs, @nichcarlson, @bradheath, @rachelwalexande, @ksadjadpour, @alexeheath, @karaswisher, @robertmaguire_, @yashar, @emathieustar, @caseynewton, @sarahkendzior, @drbluman, @anildash, @benjaminwittes, @panzer, @pierre, @brandyljensen, @kathrynw5, @caseynewton, @hels, @nycsouthpaw, @nycsouthpaw, @bradheath, @sriramk, @dangillmor, @waltshaub, @therickwilson, @mrbromwich, @alexrkonrad, @nycjim, @tomgara, and @bradheath
| Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet: |
Google warns about two iOS zero-day vulnerabilities that hackers have been actively exploiting; the vulnerabilities have been fixed in iOS 12.1.4 update — iOS users are advised to update to iOS 12.1.4; release which also fixes infamous FaceTime bug. — A Google top security engineer …
More:
Apple Support, Inquirer, Forbes, SecurityWeek, iPhone Hacks, The Hacker News, Pocketnow, Digital Trends, 9to5Mac, The Register, CNET, Threatpost, Softpedia News, TidBITS, and Tom's Guide
Tweets: @benhawkes, @iblametom, @stroughtonsmith, and @edbott
| Zac Hall / 9to5Mac: |
Apple releases iOS 12.1.4 with a fix for the Group FaceTime bug, says a security audit of FaceTime revealed a bug in Live Photos on FaceTime, which it has fixed — Apple has turned its Group FaceTime feature back on following the release of iOS 12.1.4 for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
More:
The Verge, BBC, Engadget, TechCrunch, BuzzFeed News, CNBC, MacRumors, MacRumors, Engadget, O'Grady's PowerPage, AppleInsider, AppleInsider, Business Insider, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Macworld, BleepingComputer, and MacRumors
Tweets: @jacknicas and @robotodd
| The Moscow Times: |
Report: Google pulls government-banned sites from Russian search results, blocking ~70% of sites blacklisted by Russia's communications regulator Roskomnadzor — Google has started to remove certain entries from its search results in Russia in compliance with long-standing demands from the authorities …
More:
vedomosti.ru, Inquirer, BuzzFeed News, Beyond Search, CNET, TASS, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, RT, and Meduza.io
Tweets: @baekdal and @rj_gallagher
| Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat: |
Amazon joins Microsoft in expressing support for regulating facial recognition tech, offers guidelines for the “responsible use” of the technology — Amazon supports the creation of a “legislative framework” covering facial recognition technology.
More:
Amazon Web Services, Bloomberg, CNN, ZDNet, Wired, Vox, BiometricUpdate, PYMNTS.com, and GeekWire. Tweets: @jlkoepke
| Johana Bhuiyan / Los Angeles Times: |
Investigation finds that Amazon at times uses tips earned by contracted drivers of its Flex program to cover their promised base pay — Amazon at times dips into the tips earned by contracted delivery drivers to cover their promised pay, a Times review of emails and receipts reveals.
More:
Bloomberg, Engadget, The Digital Reader, Boing Boing, and KTLA
| Paul Sawers / VentureBeat: |
Google unveils Adiantum, a new form of encryption for data on lower-end smartphones and other devices with insufficient processing power — Google officially unveiled a new form of encryption today, designed to secure data stored on lower-end smartphones and other devices with insufficient processing power.
More:
Google Online Security Blog, The Keyword, Wired, SiliconANGLE, bit-tech.net, The Hacker News, TechCrunch, Firstpost, Fossbytes, Phandroid, Neowin, and ZDNet. Tweets: @wired
| Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch: |
Apple says it has notified app developers to remove code that lets them record how a user interacts with their apps without explicit user consent — Apple is telling app developers to remove code that allows them to effectively record how a user interacts with their iPhone apps …
More:
Wired, Avast EN, The Verge, IT PRO, Gizchina, Pocket-lint, Mashable, International Business Times, PYMNTS.com, The Mac Observer, Softpedia News, Engadget, Gizmodo, CNBC, SlashGear, MacRumors, iPhone in Canada Blog, iPhone Hacks, MSPoweruser, and ExtremeTech
Tweets: @steved3, @zackwhittaker, and @panzer
| Jason Hiner / CNET: |
Google Fiber to shut down in Louisville on April 15 after an experimental “nanotrenching” technique to deploy fiber in trenches only two inches deep, failed — Google's trick to more rapidly and cheaply deploy its super-speedy Google Fiber project has hit a wall …
More:
Google Fiber Blog, The Verge, Droid Life, Pocketables, TechRepublic, TechSpot, SlashGear, Android Authority, Android Police, Business Insider, 9to5Google, CNBC, and TechCrunch
Tweets: @uncleramrod, @marcusgreenwdrb, @lcburch, @snicklefritz35, @chetfaliszek, @ryson, @karlbode, @ocdtrekkie, @markennis, and @christopherotts. Thanks:@rogerwcheng
| Kurt Wagner / Recode: |
Facebook says it has restructured its “youth team” of 100+, will increase its investment in Messenger Kids, and that the meme app LOL will be shuttered — Facebook is restructuring its “youth team,” shutting down its new teen meme app LOL, and doubling down on Messenger Kids.| Brendan Nyhan / Medium: |
Research comparing 2016 and 2018 suggests Facebook's efforts to limit the reach of fake news are working, but the platform's scale remains an alluring target — After the shock of the 2016 presidential election, many Americans found psychological refuge in a simple explanation for why Donald Trump won: “fake news.”
More:
Nieman Lab. Tweets: @brendannyhan, @brendannyhan, @kevinbankston, @pcunliffejones, @holden, @notjessewalker, and @alexstamos
| Google Open Source Blog: |
Google says it is open sourcing ClusterFuzz, a tool it developed to automate bug detection in software via fuzzing, which has found 16K+ bugs in Chrome — Fuzzing is an automated method for detecting bugs in software that works by feeding unexpected inputs to a target program.
More:
VentureBeat and TechCrunch
| Anna Hensel / VentureBeat: |
Facebook says it has 7M+ advertisers and 90M+ small businesses using its products, will soon allow businesses to respond to Instagram messages from Facebook — Facebook took another step today towards unifying its family of apps by announcing that businesses will now be able to receive … | Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge: |
After Twitter lost monthly active users for the past three quarters, the company will stop disclosing the number from Q2, will report daily active users instead — Twitter's monthly user count has fallen for three quarters in a row, so to address the issue, Twitter has decided to stop announcing how many users it keeps losing.
More:
The Economic Times
| Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch: |
More:
Recode, CNBC, Twitter, Social Media Today, The Nokia Blog, Twitter, PYMNTS.com, and AdExchanger
| Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: |
T-Mobile President says the company won't develop its own streaming TV bundle, will instead help with discovery and billing for existing subscriptions — T-Mobile doesn't want to compete with other carriers or teleco's by developing its own “skinny bundle” of streaming TV channels …
More:
YouTube, The Streamable, Android Authority, AppleInsider, Android Police, TmoNews, and 9to5Mac
| Dana Hull / Bloomberg: |
Self-driving car startup Aurora raises $530M, led by Sequoia, with Amazon, T. Rowe Price, and others participating, valuing the company at more than $2.5B — The self-driving startup Aurora Innovation Inc. has raised $530 million from a group of investors led by Sequoia Capital …
More:
TechCrunch, Aurora Blog, SiliconANGLE, The Verge, Digital Trends, PYMNTS.com, CNBC, Index Ventures, Telegraph, USA Today, Mashable, and CNET
| Manish Singh / VentureBeat: |
News aggregator Nuzzel sold to Scroll, which is building a news subscription service; Nuzzel founder Jonathan Abrams and COO Kent Lindstrom to leave the company — News aggregator Nuzzel has found a new home and leadership and is undergoing some product changes.
More:
Scroll Blog, TechCrunch, and Nieman Lab
Tweets: @arctictony, @alexeheath, @mattmcgee, and @annehelen
| Olivia Zaleski / Bloomberg: |
Sources: on-demand delivery startup Postmates has confidentially filed for an IPO and could be valued at more than $1.85B — - Company could be valued at more than $1.85 billion in IPO — Postmates working with JPMorgan and Bank of America on listing
More:
Postmates, SiliconANGLE, Reuters, TechCrunch, PYMNTS.com, and Business Insider. Tweets: @techcrunch
| Julia Boorstin / CNBC: |
Tim Armstrong is launching a new firm, the dtx company, to invest in and showcase direct-to-consumer startups via large scale real world pop-up events around US — - It's called “the dtx company” and will invest in direct-to-consumer product companies and launch “experiences” in parts of the U.S. that are underserved.| Dami Lee / The Verge: |
Spotify's new Terms of Service, which go into effect on March 1, will give Spotify the authority to immediately terminate accounts that use ad blockers — Cracking down on ad blockers — Spotify is now explicitly banning ad blockers, as stated in an updated Terms of Service policy sent out today.| BBC: |
Germany orders Facebook to stop combining data from WhatsApp, Instagram, and third-party sites with data in a user's main Facebook account without their consent — Germany's competition authority has told Facebook it can only continue gathering so much data about users from beyond its app and website if it gets individuals' consent.
More:
Bundeskartellamt, New York Times, The Verge, The Next Web, SiliconANGLE, Gizchina, Bloomberg, The Guardian, Naked Security, Bloomberg, Wired, Geek News Central, Social Media Today, Boing Boing, Financial Times, Adweek, Recode, TechCo, Mashable, FutureSin, iPhone in Canada Blog, and CNBC
Tweets: @henryfarrell, @zeynep, @matthewstoller, @bopinion, @martintisne, @matthewstoller, @ashk4n, @ceciliakang, @dorait, @orariccardo, @johnnyryan, @hadas_gold, and @mattnavarra
| Nicholas Megaw / Financial Times: |
Sources: SoftBank's Vision Fund to invest $440M in UK online banking startup OakNorth, valuing it at ~$2.8B — SoftBank's Vision Fund is set to invest $440m in British banking start-up OakNorth, according to two people close to the deal, in what will be the largest ever European fintech fundraising.
More:
City A.M., The Times & The Sunday Times, NASDAQ.com, and Reuters
Tweets: @arashmassoudi and @ft
Sponsor Posts
Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro — Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
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.
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:
Enhancements to Zoho Writer's automation flow designer: New PDF operations, password protection, and more — Once we rolled out the automation flow designer in Zoho Writer's merge templates …
Enhancements to Zoho Writer's automation flow designer: New PDF operations, password protection, and more — Once we rolled out the automation flow designer in Zoho Writer's merge templates …
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.
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
The Talk Show With John Gruber:
'A Naughty Citizen', With Quinn Nelson
The director's commentary track for Daring Fireball. Long digressions on Apple, technology, design, movies, and more.
Subscribe to The Talk Show With John Gruber.
Big Technology Podcast:
2025 In Review, 2026 Predictions — With Reed Albergotti
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.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Podcast Pioneer PJ Vogt's Second Act: Less Budget, More Control
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.
BG2 Pod:
AI Enterprise - Databricks & Glean
Open-source podcast on all things tech, markets, investing, and capitalism, hosted by Brad Gerstner.
Subscribe to BG2 Pod.
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.
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 7:40 AM ET, February 8, 2019.
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.
From Mediagazer
Todd Spangler / Variety:Sara Fischer / Axios:
Rebecca Rubin / Variety:
Upcoming Tech Events
More News
| Charlie Osborne / ZDNet: |
More:
SiliconANGLE, BGR, Phandroid, SlashGear, MSPoweruser, Firstpost, NDTV Gadgets 360, Fortune, The Register, and Inquirer
Earlier Picks
| Stephen Nellis / Reuters: |
More:
Tom's Guide, InvestorPlace, MacRumors, Patently Apple, Philip Elmer-DeWitt, Apple Must, Telecoms.com, BGR, VentureBeat, and iPhone in Canada Blog
Tweets: @horwitz, @greengart, and @benbajarin