Techmeme
December 31, 2020, 9:10 PM

Top News

Nicole Perlroth / New York Times:
Microsoft says SolarWinds hackers were able to view some of its source code by hacking into an employee account but were unable to modify code or access emails  —  The hackers gained more access than the company previously revealed, though the attackers were unable to modify code or access emails.
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Ticketmaster agrees to pay a $10M fine after admitting to hiring an ex-CrowdSurge staffer and using his credentials to access the rival ticket seller's systems  —  It used stolen login credentials at a company summit  —  Ticketmaster has agreed to pay $10 million for breaking into a competitors' network.
T.C. Sottek / The Verge:
Adobe ends support for Flash today and will start blocking Flash content from January 12; major browsers will block Flash content from Jan. 1  —  It's the end of the line  —  Adobe scheduled its famous Flash software to end on December 31st, 2020, and today is the day.
Amazon:
Amazon plans to acquire podcast network Wondery, which will join Amazon Music  —  We've signed an agreement to acquire Wondery, a top-rated podcast creator and producer that entertains and educates listeners.  —  We're pleased to announce that Wondery—an innovative podcast publisher …
Lauren Hirsch / New York Times:
Source: Amazon's acquisition of Wondery values the podcasting company, which began in 2016, at roughly $300M  —  The deal, valued at $300 million, is the latest in a string of acquisitions as streaming platforms expand beyond music and video.  —  Amazon is acquiring Wondery …
Daniel Victor / New York Times:
Obituary of FarmVille, which is closing on Thursday but lives on in its growth-hacking techniques that are being imitated by everything from Instagram to QAnon  —  The game, a phenomenon a decade ago, is shutting down on Thursday.  But its legacy — for better and for worse — carries beyond gaming.
Pei Li / Reuters:
Report: Apple removed 46K+ apps, including 39K games, from its China App Store on Thursday, as it set a year-end deadline for game publishers to get a license  —  HONG KONG (Reuters) - Apple removed 39,000 game apps on its China store Thursday, the biggest removal ever in a single day …
Ben Lovejoy / 9to5Mac:
Report: 10 ex-members of Apple's supplier responsibility team say it avoids or delays removing suppliers guilty of labor violations when doing so hurts business  —  A new report today claims that Apple is reluctant to ban suppliers found guilty of labor violations, and can take years to do so, even in the most serious of cases.
CoinDesk:
Binance says US users will not be able to deposit or trade XRP beginning January 13, joining Coinbase and several other exchanges in delisting or suspending XRP  —  Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is suspending XRP trading for its customers effective next month.
Nick Statt / The Verge:
Gadget trade-in site Gazelle, one of the longest running used smartphone buyers in the US, says it will end its core trade-in program on February 1, 2021  —  The company's long-running trade-in program will end on February 1st, 2021  —  Gazelle, one of the longest-running used smartphone buyers in the US …
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
Researchers: NSO Group used location data from thousands of unsuspecting people while pitching its COVID-19 contact-tracing tech to governments and journalists  —  Researchers say NSO's use of real data “violated the privacy” of thousands of people.  —  Spyware maker NSO Group used real …

Sponsor Posts

Command Line:
Introducing Microsoft-Decision-1, our model for fast decision-making  —  Our new model delivers top performance in latency and quality on structured decision tasks to outperform other models.
Will Reed:
The best sales leaders aren't job hunting.  Here's how to reach them without months of cold outreach.  —  Our team came from Box, Square, and Brex, so we already know the GTM leaders worth meeting.
Zoho:
Zoho Books now supports CT600 & Final Accounts Filing as an add-on in the FREE plan  —  Managing end-of-year filing for limited companies in the UK is often expensive and multi-layered.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:
Meta & Microsoft's Claude Slowdown, His Agent Leaked His Banking Info, Don't Bully Your AI
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Sources:
Qualcomm's CEO on the coming AI phone supercycle
Candid conversations with the leaders shaping what's next in AI and the broader tech industry. Hosted by Alex Heath, who has covered Silicon Valley for more than a decade.
Subscribe to Sources.
The Upstarts Podcast:
Bringing Back Mammoths And Building Noah's Ark 2.0 | Colossal's Ben Lamm
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.
Great Chat:
The launch industrial complex
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Larry Ellison's Media Ambitions & Kevin Roose on AI's Biggest Gamble
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
Training Data:
Google's AI Infrastructure Chief, Amin Vahdat, on the Physics & Economics of Frontier AI
Sequoia Capital partners host conversations with leading AI builders and researchers to develop a deeper understanding of the evolving technologies and their implications.
Subscribe to Training Data.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 9:10 PM ET, December 31, 2020.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Wired:

Earlier Picks

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Nathaniel Popper / New York Times:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: