Techmeme: A nonprofit is fighting illegal logging via a treetop monitoring unit that uses AI to detect sounds of chainsaws recorded and uploaded by used cellphones (Mike Ives/New York Times)

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October 19, 2019, 5:01 PM

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Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:

Researchers find malware operators are now using steganography techniques to hide malicious code in WAV audio files — Steganography malware trend moving from PNG and JPG to WAV files. — Two reports published in the last few months show that malware operators are experimenting with using WAV audio files to hide malicious code.

More: Symantec, Cylance Blog, Boing Boing, BleepingComputer, The Next Web, and CoinGeek

Tweets: @ushadrons, @binitamshah, @virusbtn, @holisticinfosec, and @notameadow

Andy Greenberg / Wired:

A behind-the-scenes account of a cyberattack that disrupted the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics, which was tied to a specific unit of Russia's GRU — How digital detectives unraveled the mystery of Olympic Destroyer—and why the next big attack will be even harder to crack.

Tweets: @a_greenberg, @securitybeard, @matonis, @a_greenberg, @nxthompson, and @a_greenberg

Bloomberg:

Seven US lawmakers, including Wyden, Cruz, Ocasio-Cortez, and Rubio accuse Apple of “censorship of apps” at the “behest of the Chinese government”, in a letter — - Cruz, AOC, others ask Apple to reinstate HK map app it pulled — Apple CEO discussed consumer rights with Chinese regulator

More: Reuters, The Verge, MacRumors, 9to5Mac, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden …, iMore, Fortune, TechCrunch, Financial Times, The Mac Observer, Engadget, CNET, Business Insider, The Hill, AppleInsider, Cult of Mac, MacDailyNews, and CNBC

Tweets: @markgurman and @anderscorr

Nikhilesh De / CoinDesk:

MediaLab, a holding company that owns the Whisper app, buys Kik messenger from Kik Interactive, which now focuses on development of Kin cryptocurrency — The Kik messaging platform has been bought by MediaLab, a holding company which operates Whisper and a number of other apps, the company announced Friday.

More: kik.com, TechCrunch, CNN, BetaKit, InsideBitcoins.com, iMore, 9to5Mac, Coinspeaker, Engadget, Cointelegraph, The Verge, and Slashdot

Tweets: @kik, @kricoyll, @octogoddess, @satisfysarah, @ted_livingston, @kik, and @kin_foundation

Melanie Ehrenkranz / OneZero:

A look inside a community of hackers who tinker with Kindle e-readers to disable Amazon's tracking, circumvent file format restrictions, install games, and more — And installing ‘Zork’ while they're at it — t's easy to make the case for a Kindle. It's portable, you can read it in the dark …

Tweets: @dlberes, @medium, and @mvzelenks

Taylor Lorenz / New York Times:

How TikTok is making inroads into US schools, as students create TikTok clubs to riff on the latest memes, and shoot videos on Newton's Laws for extra credits — Teens love the app, and now it's getting the stamp of approval with teacher-approved clubs. Did school just get ... fun?

Tweets: @caseynewton, @moonalice, @nytstyles, @hwise29, @taylorlorenz, @taylorlorenz, and @taylorlorenz

MIT Technology Review:

A game made with a real world dataset of defendants shows the shortcomings of COMPAS, an AI-powered risk assessment tool used in the US criminal legal system — The US criminal legal system uses predictive algorithms to try to make the judicial process less biased. But there's a deeper problem.

Tweets: @_karenhao, @marylgray, @ledataminer, @varoonmathur, @ainowinstitute, @techreview, @jason_pontin, and @hiphination

New York Times:

Zuckerberg gives a full-throated defense of Facebook as a champion of free expression and defends Facebook policy to opt out of fact-checking political ads — In an address at Georgetown University, the Facebook chief executive called for more free speech — not less …

More: Columbia Journalism Review, Axios, Wired, The Guardian, Facebook, Washington Post, 9to5Mac, Wall Street Journal, The Verge, TechSpot, CNET, South China Morning Post, MIT Technology Review, Fortune, Slate, Inc42 Media, TechCircle, Fast Company, and Coinspeaker

Tweets: @mathewi, @berniceking, @mattyglesias, @natesilver538, @karaswisher, @sarahfrier, @kantrowitz, @natesilver538, @ewarren, @ekp, @noupside, @mathewi, @hawleymo, @balajis, @balajis, @davidakaye, @sivavaid, @histoftech, @profgalloway, @kenklippenstein, @albertwenger, @dseetharaman, @danpfeiffer, @parkermolloy, @doncheadle, @netw3rk, @natesilver538, @oneunderscore__, @slpng_giants, @maddow, @justinhendrix, @profcarroll, @natesilver538, @nickconfessore, @pinboard, @normative, @ewarren, @reckless, @epirkova, @timkarr, @vanitaguptacr, @sifill_ldf, @marcoarment, @mikeisaac, @tonyromm, @noupside, @jeffiel, @cwarzel, @benedictevans, @mmasnick, @esaagar, @oneunderscore__, @mikeisaac, @karaswisher, @kevinroose, @mikeisaac, @sarahfrier, @fakeryanmills, @garrethhanley, @miad, @teddyamen, @migueldeicaza, @cwarzel, @benthompson, @zeynep, @heatherkelly, @netw3rk, @frankluntz, @dloesch, @popeguilty, @ryanqnorth, @andizeisler, @karaswisher, @brianstelter, @kristenclarkejd, @bakari_sellers, @anildash, @mollymckew, @hunteryharris, @film_girl, @max_read, @profcarroll, @anildash, @hshaban, @karaswisher, @juliacarriew, @parmy, @slpng_giants, @juddlegum, @sruhle, @matthewstoller, @ashleyfeinberg, @ashleyfeinberg, @sarahfrier, @wongmjane, @kadhimshubber, @joshconstine, @rosenbergerlm, @adamweinstein, @profcarroll, @juddlegum, @wsj, @esaagar, @can, @joshconstine, @karaswisher, @mikeisaac, @dbfarber, @kurtwagner8, @hshaban, @daveleebbc, @kurtwagner8, @kurtwagner8, @kurtwagner8, @sarahfrier, @karaswisher, @ceciliakang, @karaswisher, @kimmaicutler, and @qwongsj

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From Mediagazer

Paul Glynn / BBC:

HarperCollins UK drops children's author and comedian David Walliams following allegations of inappropriate behavior toward young women

Ken Vogel / @kenvogel:

Politico ends its print edition after 19 years, as its early reliance on print ad revenue fades and its audience relies more on digital platforms

Nicholas Henriquez / New Yorker:

The New Yorker has digitized its full archive covering 100 years, including covers and adding upgraded search capabilities; subscribers get unlimited access

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More News

Mike Ives / New York Times:

A nonprofit is fighting illegal logging via a treetop monitoring unit that uses AI to detect sounds of chainsaws recorded and uploaded by used cellphones

Tweets: @jeffdean, @tfadell, @natcapcoalition, @kickstarter, @julianrademeyer, @digiphile, and @brianbehlendorf

Lukas I. Alpert / Wall Street Journal:

Facebook reaches licensing deal with News Corp to feature headlines from WSJ, NY Post, and others in a coming news tab; sources: WaPo, BuzzFeed News, BI also in

More: Engadget, Neowin, and Seeking Alpha

Tweets: @jason_kint, @dicktofel, and @pleasesaveour

Earlier Picks

Bijan Stephen / The Verge:

Imgur says it will no longer support communities associated with NSFW Reddit subreddits because they've put Imgur's “user growth, mission, and business at risk”

Tweets: @jmktvshow

Jillian D'Onfro / Forbes:

Data analytics startup Sisu emerges from stealth with $52.5M Series B led by NEA, with a16z and Green Bay participating, bringing its total raised to $66.7M

More: GlobeNewswire News Room and Business Insider

Tweets: @itunpredictable, @komichiewa, @sachinrekhi, @davidnotdave, and @bryce

Nikhilesh De / CoinDesk:

After buying Poloniex in 2018 for $400M, Circle spins it out into Polo Digital Assets, backed by an unnamed Asian firm, says it won't serve US customers anymore

More: The Block, The Poloniex blog, Circle blog, Cointelegraph, Crowdfund Insider, The Merkle Hash, Bitcoinist.com, CryptoGlobe, NewsBTC, Decrypt, Crypto Briefing, and The Block

Tweets: @poloniex, @poloniex, @theblock__, @jasonklau, @jamestodaromd, @icodrops, @mdudas, @theblock__, @fintechfrank, and @fintechfrank

Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:

The second beta of macOS Catalina 10.15.1 contains icons possibly depicting the widely rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro with slightly thinner bezels

More: iMore, Pocketnow, BGR, Pocket-lint, Appleosophy, AppleInsider, Tom's Guide, TechSpot, Digital Trends, MSPoweruser, 9to5Mac, Cult of Mac, The Verge, iPhone in Canada Blog, iPhone Hacks, MacDailyNews, SlashGear, iDownloadBlog.com, and Daring Fireball

Tweets: @markgurman, @elkmovie, @markgurman, @elkmovie, @elkmovie, @markgurman, @ryan, and @rsgnl

Otillia Steadman / BuzzFeed News:

Sex workers say Instagram keeps taking down accounts, giving confusing guidelines and explanations; Facebook blames moderators' interpretation of guidelines

More: Filed. Tweets: @o_tilli_a, @lucysweetkill, @ejeremy, @fark, @fancentrotribe, @buzzfeednews, @buzzfeednews, @adam22, @katienotopoulos, @o_tilli_a, @o_tilli_a, and @o_tilli_a