Techmeme
April 19, 2020, 2:50 PM

Top News

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Instagram founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger launch Rt.live, an up-to-date tracker of how fast COVID-19 is spreading in each US state  —  Instagram founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger have teamed up to launch their first product together since leaving the Facebook mothership.
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Spontaneous social apps that let users join video, voice, and chat rooms on a whim have become popular under lockdowns, like exclusive voice chat app Clubhouse  —  Forget the calendar invite.  Just jump into a conversation.  That's the idea powering a fresh batch of social startups poised …
James Batchelor / GamesIndustry.biz:
Pokémon Go developer Niantic names its current board member Megan Quinn as COO; Quinn was most recently a general partner at VC firm Spark Capital  —  Former employee leaves position at Spark Capital to return to Pokmon Go developer  —  Niantic has appointed a new COO — and it's a familiar face for the firm.
Ian Walker / Kotaku:
Riot launches one of the biggest bug bounty programs in gaming, offering up to $100K for finding security flaws in its controversial Vanguard anti-cheat system  —  Riot has posted one of the biggest—if not the biggest—bounties in gaming, offering people up to $100,000 if they can find …
Benedict Evans:
COVID-19 has accelerated the adoption of tech and ecommerce that will impact the lives of people who aren't online, especially in the developing world  —  At the beginning of this year (which now feels like 100 years ago), I gave a presentation on macro trends in tech, at an event in Davos.
J. Edward Moreno / The Hill:
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signs an executive order allowing people to get a marriage license remotely and letting clerks perform ceremonies over video  —  New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed an executive order Saturday allowing New Yorkers to obtain marriage licenses and perform ceremonies remotely.
David Streitfeld / New York Times:
Profile of Stacy Mitchell, the driving force behind Athena, a coalition of ~50 labor, small business, and social justice groups aiming to curb Amazon's power  —  Stacy Mitchell knew that taking on a trillion-dollar company would be a lopsided fight.  But the pandemic has not only made Amazon more essential.
Kaitlyn Tiffany / The Atlantic:
The idea that the pandemic has made the internet better is tempting but premature, as major platforms struggle to adapt to a surge in activity and new use cases  —  The weekend before bars and restaurants closed in New York, I sat on the ground in the park with three friends in a creepy circle …
Susan D'Agostino / Quanta Magazine:
Profile of and Q&A with pioneering computer scientist Donald Knuth, who is still writing his magnum opus The Art of Computer Programming, which he began in 1962  —  For pioneering computer scientist Donald Knuth, good coding is synonymous with beautiful expression.

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