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August 15, 2019, 5:20 PM
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Top News

The Keyword:
Google Assistant now lets users create reminders that can be assigned to friends or family, including scheduled time-based or location-based reminders  —  If you're a fellow parent, you probably spend a lot of time coordinating with your partner through on-the-fly conversations, text messages or phone calls.
Elizabeth Lopatto / The Verge:
A close reading of the S-1 of the soap opera that is The We Company, a “tech company” whose mission “is to elevate the world's consciousness”  —  On August 14th, The We Company (the company formerly known as WeWork) filed its mandatory S-1 paperwork to go public, and it's worth reading in full.
Dan Primack / Axios:
WeWork files to raise $1B in an IPO, reports a $904M net loss on around $1.5B in revenue for first half of 2019
Karl Bode / VICE:
Google says data from its new “Password Checkup” Chrome extension shows that 1.5% of all website logins use credentials that have been compromised  —  New ‘Password Checkup’ Chrome extension found 1.5 percent of all website logins use compromised credentials, a figure that's higher for porn websites.
Eugene Kim / CNBC:
Amazon launches a new donations program, called FBA Donations, for third-party sellers to dispose of unsold products stored in its warehouses in the US and UK  —  KEY POINTS  — Amazon is launching a new donations program, called FBA Donations, for third-party sellers that store …
The Information:
Investors and employees of Toptal, a freelancing platform with ~$200M revenue and originally funded by $1.5M in convertible notes, have ended up with no equity  —  Toptal, a service that connects companies with freelance software engineers, is a Silicon Valley success story.
April Glaser / Slate:
Tech companies can do a lot more to protect the identities of people speaking in recordings used to train AI, like shifting the voice or gender of the speaker  —  It turns out that Siri, Alexa, and whatever it is you call Facebook Messenger have been a little loose-lipped with your conversations.
Aric Toler / bellingcat:
A deep dive into Amazon FC Ambassadors program finds 53 Ambassador accounts in seven countries, some of which are using fake identities and recycling accounts  —  On August 14, a Twitter thread that included a small army of “Amazon FC Ambassadors” went viral, bringing to light Amazon's year-long social media brand ambassador program.
Natalie Gagliordi / ZDNet:
Walmart says its online sales grew 37% in Q2, boosted by its four-day July sales event that countered Amazon Prime Day  —  Walmart also gave a nod to its “four-day July sales event” that countered Amazon Prime Day for giving its Q2 e-commerce sales a boost.
Tweets: @benbajarin
Ron Miller / TechCrunch:
Incorta, which aims to optimize data warehousing projects for enterprises, raises $30M Series C led by Sorenson Capital, bringing its total raised to $75M  —  Incorta, a startup founded by former Oracle executives who want to change the way we process large amounts data, announced a $30 million Series C today led by Sorenson Capital.
Laura Parker / GameSpot:
Profile of Microsoft's Executive VP of Gaming Phil Spencer, who has steadfastly advocated for cross-platform play since taking over as head of Xbox in 2014  —  On a warm Saturday in early June, Phil Spencer, the Microsoft executive in charge of Xbox, was helping Keanu Reeves, the movie star …
Andrew Webster / The Verge:
Sega's Genesis Mini, launching September 19 for $79.99, is 55% smaller than the original Genesis, comes with two USB controllers, and has 42 built-in games  —  It's been three years since the breakout success of Nintendo's tiny NES Classic, but the miniature console wars are finally heating up.

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About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 5:20 PM ET, August 15, 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

Washington Post:
Stars and Stripes' publisher Max Lederer, EIC Erik Slavin, and reporter Lara Korte sue the DOD, claiming their firings were retaliatory and broke federal law

Michael Savage / The Guardian:
BBC DG Matt Brittin suggests turning an “iPlayer 2.0” into a YouTube-style site hosting appropriate content from creators with a “public service algorithm”

Andrew Solender / Axios:
Democrats and Republicans are pressuring TV stations in opposite ways over the rates they charge political parties and super PACs for ads after a court ruling

More News

New York Times:
As the 10+ day internet shutdown in Kashmir continues, pharmacists run out of drugs, people can't get cash, and online related businesses close

Earlier Picks

CNBC:
VMware says it is in talks to acquire Pivotal Software for $15 per share in cash, an 80% premium on Pivotal's $8.30 closing price on Wednesday
Colin Lecher / The Verge:
About 200 Google employees sign a petition, saying they “refuse to be complicit” in potential cloud computing work for the US Customs & Border Protection agency
Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:
Google says Course Kit, its toolkit for teachers launched last year, will now be called Assignments and be able to detect plagiarism
Jordan Davis / Facebook:
Facebook simplifies Groups' privacy settings, to public and private; “secret” Groups are now private and hidden, and “closed” Groups are now private and visible
Mariella Moon / Engadget:
AT&T and T-Mobile have started rolling out cross-network call authentication services to protect against spam and spoofed robocalls
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