Techmeme
April 12, 2020, 1:25 AM

Top News

The Verge:
Apple and Google announce a joint effort to introduce iOS and Android APIs in mid-May for opt-in Bluetooth-based COVID-19 contact tracing  —  A huge step forward in the fight against COVID-19  —  Apple and Google announced a system for tracking the spread of the new coronavirus …
More: The Keyword, Ars Technica, New York Times, Forbes, Washington Post, Electronic Frontier Foundation, TechCrunch, Wall Street Journal, joekent.nyc, NPR, New York Times, Wired, Vox, International Business Times, Philip Elmer‑DeWitt, Bloomberg, Reuters, BBC, NBC News, Axios, Inc42 Media, Towards Data Science, Social Media Today, coinspeaker.com, MediaNama, The Hacker News, ZDNet, Six Colors, TidBITS, Aldo's Notes, MacStories, Seeking Alpha, Variety, Ubergizmo, Nikkei Asian Review, ACLU, kottke.org, Techdirt, Newser, Threatpost, PYMNTS.com, The New Consumer, New York Post, MacRumors, TalkAndroid.com, TechSpot, Digital Trends, FierceWireless, The Daily Hodl, Michael Tsai, ExtremeTech, BetaNews, ProgrammableWeb.com, Fortune, Macworld, Mashable, SiliconANGLE, Stacey on IoT, BuzzFeed News, Gizmodo, Droid Life, IDG Insider Pro, Pocketnow, Thurrott, Pocket-lint, AppleInsider, Liliputing, The Next Web, Daring Fireball, Daring Fireball, Wccftech, Politico, iPhone Hacks, Android Police, Apple Must, AppAdvice.com, BGR, and The Irish Times
Moxie Marlinspike / @moxie:
[Thread] Moxie Marlinspike explains how Apple and Google's contract tracing framework will work in practice  —  First look at Apple/Google contact tracing framework: 1) Once a day, your device derives a new key ("daily tracing key"). 2) It uses that to derive a new “proximity ID” every time your device's bluetooth address changes (15min), which is broadcast to nearby BT sensors. 1/10
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Mary Ann Azevedo / Crunchbase News:
Research tracking tech startup layoffs across the world since March 11 finds 204 startups have laid off 16,229 employees, nearly doubling between April 2-8  —  On Thursday, the U.S. Labor Department reported some staggering figures: the number of unemployment claims filed between March 15-April 4 surged to 16.8 million.
Johana Bhuiyan / Los Angeles Times:
Instacart is paying workers about the same to do 2-3 orders at a time as it does for one order as demand rises during the pandemic, interviews and receipts show  —  Dina W. did her last job for Instacart on March 20.  Before the coronavirus outbreak, Dina could easily avoid doing …
New York Times:
Experts say social distancing directives, likely to continue in some form after the COVID-19 crisis, could prompt various industries to accelerate automation  —  Broad unease about losing jobs to machines could dissipate as people focus on the benefits of minimizing close human contact.
Washington Post:
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced experts to reframe the debate about screen time, at least temporarily, as devices become portals to employment and education  —  Go ahead, look at your phone and tablet.  Much of it is necessary.  Even the frivolous stuff.  —  We're on Zoom calls six hours per day.
Justin Phillips / San Francisco Chronicle:
SF mayor caps commissions for food delivery startups to 15% during the pandemic; startups say the cap will raise customer fees, hurt delivery people's income  —  As struggling San Francisco restaurants pin their hopes of staying open on delivery and takeout orders, city officials have stepped …
Taylor Lorenz / New York Times:
Strip club dancers and promoters are hosting virtual pop-up strip clubs on Instagram Live, accepting tips via Cash app and promoting the events on Twitter  —  Going digital may be better for dancers.  —  For the past three weeks, Justin LaBoy, 28, a former professional basketball player …

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