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August 17, 2020, 5:00 AM
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WeSmirchTop News
| Charlie Warzel / New York Times: |
While social media platforms did not create QAnon, they helped it go mainstream via recommendation systems designed to prioritize engagement — A supporter of the dangerous conspiracy theory is most likely headed to Congress. The social media platforms have some soul-searching to do.
More:
NBC News, Daring Fireball, and The Message Box
Tweets: @brandyzadrozny, @seanzevran, @heathercampbell, @marklittlenews, @webfoundation, @joncoopertweets, @scabiosabb, @chetfaliszek, @mehdirhasan, @john_sipher, @ericwilson, @cameronwilson, @nytopinion, @benjhaisch, @sangyeh, @juliacarriew, @dabeard, @nytopinion, @nytopinion, @loudmouthjulia, @justinhendrix, @lauraakeiter, @tonyromm, @hshaban, @oneunderscore__, @drewharwell, @hshaban, @cwarzel, @pkafka, @cwarzel, and @oneunderscore__
| Florian Mueller / FOSS Patents: |
A look at the similarities and differences between Epic's lawsuits against Apple and Google from an antitrust law perspective — This is already my fourth post in three days on Epic Games v. Apple and Google. For your convenience, here are the headlines (and links to) to the previous three posts:
More:
Ars Technica. Tweets: @topjohnwu, @matthewstoller, @timsweeneyepic, @competitionprof, and @amelnychuck
| Nick Statt / The Verge: |
With its ban on cloud gaming services and now the removal of Fortnite, Apple is at the risk of losing a generation of young, game-loving smartphone owners — Apple has always had a complicated relationship with the game industry, but this month that relationship slid into a bitter …
More:
CNN, Daring Fireball, Laptop Mag, FOSS Patents, Reuters, OneZero , Daring Fireball, Axios, dexerto.com, Wall Street Journal, Daring Fireball, Pocketnow, and PC Gamer
| Nick Statt / The Verge: |
More:
Firstpost Tech, XDA Developers, and GameSpot
Tweets: @benedictevans, @timsweeneyepic, @timsweeneyepic, @stkaison, @timsweeneyepic, @timsweeneyepic, @mellowonline1, @zck, @timsweeneyepic, @_chuckyc, @timsweeneyepic, @juliemuncy23, @timsweeneyepic, @timsweeneyepic, @s8mb, @firstadopter, @neilcybart, @jordanmorgan10, @reneritchie, @timsweeneyepic, @leonlush, @tailosivetech, @minovskyarticle, @durov, @therikeys, @jimsterling, @slasher, @stevekovach, @alexhern, @jstoff, @aydenpanhuyzen, @charlesarthur, @tnkgrl, @gregorymcfadden, and @gameovergreggy
| Jamie Smyth / Financial Times: |
Google warns Australians that the government's proposal to make it pay for news content would put user privacy at risk, threaten free Search and YouTube results — Internet group has also paused licensing deals with outlets due to proposed regulation — Google has warned …
More:
Google, The Guardian, 9to5Google, ZDNet, CNBC, Official Google Australia Blog, Mashable, Neowin, and TweakTown News
| Steve Yegge: |
Steve Yegge, an ex-Googler who wrote a searing critique decrying Google's lack of innovation, lambasts Google's approach to deprecation of its Cloud APIs — God dammit, I didn't want to blog again. I have so much stuff to do. Blogging takes time and energy and creativity that I could be putting …
Tweets: @lkanies, @erikhellman, @harper, @hsivonen, @djspiewak, @phunt, @migueldeicaza, @uberbrady, @joschi83, @gergelyorosz, @fakebaldur, @neurobashing, and @jevakallio
| Shannon Liao / CNN: |
US military says its members stream on Twitch to become “relatable to a new generation”, but the recruitment tactic is under criticism from gamers and lawmakers — New York (CNN)The United States military needs to attract Gen Z, the oldest of whom are now in their late teens and early 20s …
Tweets: @shannon_liao and @therealcliffyb
| Oscar Williams-Grut / Yahoo Finance: |
Filing: Revolut lost £106.5M in 2019, up from £32.8M in 2018 while revenue grew 180% YoY to £162.7M and the number of customers grew from 3.5M to 10M — Senior City Correspondent, Yahoo Finance UK … Hotly tipped banking startup Revolut lost £100m ($131m) …
Tweets: @oscarwgrut
| Rebecca Heilweil / Vox: |
A look at Remark Holdings, supplying 100+ Chinese schools, and a Las Vegas school, with AI-powered thermal imaging tech to monitor COVID-19 safety compliance — This fall, AI could be watching students social distance and checking their masks. — Thousands of schools nationwide will not be reopening this fall.
More:
Wall Street Journal and Fast Company
Tweets: @motosolutions, @shannonmattern, @abromeed, @hypervisible, @wsjtech, @rondeibert, @re_sieber, and @startpage
| Dan Primack / Axios: |
As schools adopt remote learning or hybrid reopening models, US students face a laptop shortage, particularly of low-cost Chromebooks popular at K-8 schools — American students are facing a shortage of laptops, particularly low-cost Chromebooks popular in K-8 schools … | Mark Townsend / The Guardian: |
UK-based counter-extremist group, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, says Facebook's algorithm “actively promotes” Holocaust denial content — Facebook's algorithm “actively promotes” Holocaust denial content according to an analysis that will increase pressure on the social media giant … | Parmy Olson / Wall Street Journal: |
As companies start using AI-software to detect race or ethnicity, often as part of market research, researchers worry it will fuel bias and discrimination — When Revlon Inc. wanted to know what lipstick women of different races and in different countries were wearing, the cosmetics giant didn't need to send out a survey.| Amit Katwala / WIRED UK: |
Tens of thousands of UK high school students were downgraded from teacher estimates by an algorithm that replaced exams, affecting university applications — Even with the late changes, GCSE and A-Level results still highlight the flaws in a biased education system
More:
The Guardian, Sky News, Sky News, BBC, and BBC
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