Techmeme: Investigation: several staff members of the Chan-Zuckerberg family office have made allegations of assault, sexual harassment, and more, against other staff (Business Insider)

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February 29, 2020, 1:50 AM

Top News

Polygon:

Organizers announce that this year's Game Developers Conference has been postponed from March to summer amid COVID-19 concerns — Sony, EA, Activision Blizzard, Unity, and Epic Games have all withdrawn due to COVID-19 concerns — This year's Game Developers Conference has been postponed …

More: GDC, Amazon Web Services, Digital Trends, AnandTech, Daring Fireball, Windows Central, The Verge, AppleInsider, Input, 9to5Google, Bloomberg, IGN, SlashGear, VICE, GamingBolt, CNET, Rock, Paper, Shotgun, iMore, MacRumors, Variety, Kotaku Australia, VentureBeat, CNBC, PC Gamer, Axios, Siliconera, and TechCrunch

Tweets: @unrealengine, @official_gdc, @official_gdc, @jasonschreier, @gamedevworld, @swanvr, @polygon, and @zebedee666

BuzzFeed News:

Apple disables the iOS developer account of Clearview AI for using the Developer Enterprise Program to distribute its app among its reported 2,200+ customers — Apple has disabled the iOS application of Clearview AI — the facial recognition company that claims to have amassed a database …

BuzzFeed News:

Docs show Best Buy and Walmart, alongside ICE, DOJ, and FBI, are among the 2,200+ companies and law enforcement agencies listed as clients of Clearview AI

Bloomberg:

Sources: Elliott Management has taken a “sizable” stake in Twitter, nominated four directors to Twitter's board, and seeks to replace CEO Jack Dorsey — - Elliott has nominated four directors for Twitter's board — Hedge fund has had ‘constructive discussions’ with company

More: CNBC, Input, CNET, Business Insider, and Seeking Alpha

Tweets: @hedgemind, @planefag, @jmgrygiel, @seyitaylor, @lianabaker, @jackhutton, @felixsalmon, @mylesudland, @scottdeveau, @jm77, @business, and @jasonlk

Nicole Wetsman / The Verge:

Amazon restricts employee travel in US, Google restricts travel to Italy, Iran, Japan, and South Korea as a Google employee in Zurich is diagnosed with COVID-19 — A Google employee in Switzerland has a confirmed case of the virus — Google is preventing employees from traveling to Italy …

More: Business Insider, New York Times, Reuters, CNBC, BetaKit, TechCrunch, Engadget, Protocol, BuzzFeed News, Input, CNET, GeekWire, Tom's Guide, TechRepublic, Seeking Alpha, Yahoo Finance, Android Central, MacRumors, The Seattle Times, and IT Management

Tweets: @jonostrower, @tristanghill, @howroute, @wandrme, @robaeprice, @whatthebit, @garyleff, @robaeprice, and @endgameww3

Sean Endicott / Windows Central:

Microsoft adds productivity features to Cortana, drops consumer skills including music, connected home, and third-party skills in the upcoming Windows 10 update — Cortana is converting to a productivity assistant, meaning Cortana skills are on the way out. — What you need to know

More: Windows Experience Blog, ZDNet, Yahoo Finance, Windows Central, TechSpot, Pocket-lint, SiliconANGLE, Input, SlashGear, OnMSFT.com, Ars Technica, MSPoweruser, The Verge, Thurrott, Neowin, Windows Central, and Yahoo Finance

Tweets: @jezcorden, @maryjofoley, and @zacbowden

DL Cade / PetaPixel:

Facebook says its 3D Photos feature, which retroactively converts 2D photos to 3D using neural nets, now works on photos taken with single-lens cameras — Facebook just expanded 3D photo posting to phones that don't actually capture depth data. Using the magic of machine learning …

More: Facebook AI, VentureBeat, Input, Social Media Today, MSPoweruser, TechCrunch, Business Insider, Engadget, SlashGear, CNET, and The Verge. Tweets: @scobleizer

Dan Primack / Axios:

Bernie Sanders introduces a bill that would tax stock options at vesting, not at exercise, for those making $130K+ and vesting $100K+ worth of stock per year — 'Sens. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) introduced legislation that would tax nonqualified stock options at vesting …

More: Wall Street Journal, Senator Sanders's Feed, and CNBC

Tweets: @danprimack, @crtinch, @reedgalen, @rationalwalk, @patrickmchenry, @adamnash, @gordonshumway66, @chetansharma, @richardrubindc, @mattocko, @_tessr, @chandrarsrikant, @paddycosgrave, @dintersmith, @sundeep, @zck, @chetfaliszek, @cyantist, and @rsg

Margaret Harding McGill / Axios:

FCC proposes fines of $91M for T-Mobile, $57M for AT&T, $48M for Verizon, and $12M for Sprint for sharing customers' location information with outside parties — The Federal Communications Commission proposed fines totaling more than $200 million against the nation's biggest wireless carriers …

More: Federal Communications …, Ars Technica, Krebs on Security, CNET, Wired, TechCrunch, Associated Press, Protocol, Yahoo Finance, MacRumors, CNN, AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, Phone Scoop, GeekWire, TmoNews, Washington Post, and The Daily Dot

Tweets: @josephfcox, @fcc, and @josephfcox

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Facebook to start rolling out a redesign for Messenger next week that removes the Discover tab, reorients the People tab around Stories, and hides chat bots — Chat bots were central to Facebook Messenger's strategy three years ago. Now they're being hidden from view in the app along with games and businesses.

More: The Next Web, Gizmodo, Social Media Today, The Verge, Business Insider, Engadget, Ubergizmo, and Pocket-lint

Tweets: @joshconstine, @gustaf, @searchmartin, @jacobschulman, @shiraovide, @caseynewton, @caseynewton, @mattnavarra, and @daveleeft

Josh Dzieza / The Verge:

In warehouses, call centers, and elsewhere, intelligent machines are managing humans, and they're making work more stressful, grueling, and dangerous — In warehouses, call centers, and other sectors, intelligent machines are managing humans, and they're making work more stressful, grueling, and dangerous

More: Wired. Tweets: @gregpak, @bigzaphod, @janelytv, @gothamgirlblue, @mattdpearce, and @iainthomson

Business Insider:

Investigation: several staff members of the Chan-Zuckerberg family office have made allegations of assault, sexual harassment, and more, against other staff — Presidencia de la República Mexicana; Anthony Quintano; Kauai Police Department; Samantha Lee/Business Insider

More: The Daily Beast. Tweets: @robaeprice, @beckpeterson, @businessinsider, @robaeprice, and @beckpeterson. Thanks:@shonaghosh

Bloomberg:

TikTok, with 145M US downloads, claims Chipotle-sponsored #boorito hashtag had 3.9B views; Captiv8: hashtag campaigns cost ~$150K, homescreen takeover $50K/day — Popular creators are paid to promote hashtags as mobile video app develops more targeting tools for advertisers

Tweets: @sarahfrier, @reckless, @blakereid, @venkatananth, @hkesvani, @walldo, @slpng_giants, @thekarachikid, @nkjemisin, @hshaban, @mickeyg77, @unclegrambo, @raaleh, @gbaroth, @joshelman, @ckolderup, and @mattnavarra

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From Mediagazer

Alex Ritman / Variety:

In Channel 4's 2025 Alternative Christmas Message, Jimmy Kimmel said “tyranny is booming” in the US and, on his ABC suspension, “We won, the president lost”

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Trump says Stephen Colbert is a “pathetic trainwreck” and “CBS should, ‘put him to sleep,’ NOW”, after CBS aired a Late Show rerun in which Colbert mocked Trump

Rebecca Rubin / Variety:

Disney crosses the $6B milestone at the box office for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic; no other studio has managed to reach $6B since 2015

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More News

Todd Bishop / GeekWire:

Accolade, provider of a health care platform for employees to manage benefits, files to raise up to $100M in IPO; PitchBook: Accolade is valued around $620M

More: US Securities and Exchange Commission, Accolade, and Nasdaq. Tweets: @rock_health. Thanks:@cskuhlman

Alex Blake / Digital Trends:

Developers say Mac Catalyst is great for providing mouse and window support for iPad apps and porting simpler apps but struggles with complicated ones

Tweets: @matt_on_tech and @stevesi. Thanks:@smashdawg

Sarah Tavel:

The competition between GrubHub, DoorDash, Postmates, and UberEats illustrates the importance of expanding supply and focusing on growth over profits

More: Financial Times. Tweets: @teddyschleifer, @bwertz, @trengriffin, @carnage4life, @hkanji, @robindchnt, and @garrytan

Jason D. Rowley / Crunchbase News:

Analysis of 15K+ funding rounds raised by 12K+ startups shows seed rounds getting bigger: 3M+ rounds were 7.8% of total in period 2015-17, and 17% for 2018-20

Tweets: @crunchbase

Ryan Browne / CNBC:

A profile of Stripe and Y Combinator-backed digital bank Monzo, which has $1.6B+ in customer deposits, 3.8M customers, and says 40K are signing up every week

Tweets: @ryan_browne_ and @theryanford. Thanks:@ryan_browne_

Kyle Bradshaw / 9to5Google:

Google Stadia's APK shows Stadia may get a free tier, offer users a free trial for Stadia Pro, and add features like YouTube streaming, family sharing, and more

More: The Verge, The Next Web, Android Headlines, BGR, Thurrott, and Yahoo Finance

Julia Alexander / The Verge:

YouTube community guidelines report: 5M+ videos and 2M+ channels were removed between Oct. and Dec. 2019; ~109K video removals were appealed and ~23K reinstated

More: Engadget. Tweets: @stokel, @mattnavarra, and @loudmouthjulia

Earlier Picks

Washington Post:

Officials say ICE has run facial recognition searches on millions of Maryland drivers' photos without court approval; activists fear searches target immigrants

Tweets: @profcarroll

Jeffrey Dastin / Reuters:

Amazon says it has barred 1M+ products from sale in recent weeks that had inaccurately claimed to cure or defend against the coronavirus

More: Vox, Input, Wired, TechSpot, Gizmodo, KnowTechie, New York Post, The Verge, CNET, and ZDNet

Tweets: @aaronwall, @alimhaider, @slpng_giants, and @ddayen

Bloomberg:

Inside the fight that Carl Icahn-backed Xerox is waging to perform a hostile takeover of HP and its printer business, a feud potentially worth at least $35B

Tweets: @damianburns, @bw, and @josheidelson

Maggie Miller / The Hill:

Senate passes bill that bans the government from purchasing Huawei and ZTE equipment, funds small telecoms to replace equipment; bill heads to Trump for signing

More: Politico, Engadget, Tom's Hardware, and Gizmodo

Tweets: @frankpallone, @aqanoncorea, and @benktallmadge

Maddie Stone / OneZero :

Researchers argue that fear of rising data center usage, accounting for 1% of global electricity demand, is overblown and will be offset by improved efficiency

More: Science, USA Today, Engadget, Wired, and TechRadar.com

Tweets: @dianaurge, @nytimestech, @tech_journalism, @natbullard, @jg_environ, @jgkoomey, and @themadstone

Let's Encrypt:

Let's Encrypt says it has issued 1B free TLS certificates on around 192M unique domains in the four years since its launch

More: The Hacker News. Tweets: @doctorow, @glenngabe, @umengineering, @patrickbeuth, @gcluley, @troyhunt, and @stshank

Dieter Bohn / The Verge:

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra review: 120Hz screen is nice and battery life is good but the main camera often acts like a first-gen product with first-gen problems

More: The Korea Herald, Wall Street Journal, The Verge, Android Police, Android Headlines, KnowTechie, Engadget, Android Authority, TechSpot, Wired, and CNET

Tweets: @wired, @jdolcourt, @techninjaspeaks, @imjustsayingjc, @reckless, @backlon, @reckless, @saschasegan, @raywongy, @richdemuro, @raywongy, and @backlon