Techmeme: In a hearing with US lawmakers, ex-SolarWinds CEO blamed an intern for the “solarwinds123” password leak discovered in 2019 that had exposed a SolarWinds server (CNN)

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February 27, 2021, 7:30 PM

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CNN:

In a hearing with US lawmakers, ex-SolarWinds CEO blamed an intern for the “solarwinds123” password leak discovered in 2019 that had exposed a SolarWinds server — FireEye CEO on how the SolarWinds hack was discovered — Washington (CNN)Current and former top executives …

Sarah E. Needleman / Wall Street Journal:

Profile of Roblox, which outsources game development to its own players and says more than 300 of such developers earned $100K+ in 2020, ahead of its March IPO — The company runs a free social platform with videogames made by its own players. Its stock-market debut will test investor appetite …

Tweets: @youfoundsam_rbx, @onelinders, @saraheneedleman, @neddesmond, and @saraheneedleman

Chris Dixon / Andreessen Horowitz:

NFTs are great for creators because they remove intermediaries, enable granular price tiering, and eliminate customer acquisition costs by making users owners — In his classic 2008 essay “1000 True Fans,” Kevin Kelly predicted that the internet would transform the economics of creative activities:

More: TechCrunch and Lifehacker

Tweets: @bhorowitz, @andrewchen, @skupor, @sytses, @rainforestbook, and @naithanjones

Arielle Pardes / Wired:

An ecosystem of startups, features, and tools has sprung up around Clubhouse, and some, like the Clubhouse analytics tool Direcon, are already monetizing — A wave of startups, features, and tools has sprung up around the popular audio app. And some are looking to cash in.

Tweets: @snackfight, @fredhoch, and @laurengoode

Andrew Liszewski / Gizmodo:

Genealogy tracker MyHeritage releases Deep Nostalgia, a Live Photo-like feature for old photos, which uses AI to show subjects prepping for their portrait — It's hard to feel connected to someone who's gone through a static photo. So a company called MyHeritage who provides automatic AI …

More: MyHeritage, PCMag, Boing Boing, The Next Web, Input, TechCrunch, DesignTAXI, and BBC

Tweets: @henshaw, @karpathy, @myheritage, @rachelmetz, @debarghya_das, @brendankeefe, @stearnslab, @stearnslab, @dannydutch, @grady_booch, @bucphs, @kriswilliams, and @claudiastellar

Financial Times:

Sources: UK is preparing to announce a new tech visa and a £375M fund, with matching VC funding, to be made available to some promising tech startups — Up to £375m of state funds to be matched by venture capital and made available for promising companies

More: Engadget. Tweets: @martinsfp, @pickardje, @sam_l_shead, @willschoebs, and @vanwatt

Marguerite Reardon / CNET:

Mississippi is using some of its $1.2B COVID stimulus on high-speed broadband, which could make it one of the most connected states in the US within six years — Mississippi could become a broadband giant. … When Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and lawmakers in the Mississippi legislature got $1.2 billion …

Tweets: @maggie_reardon and @rogerwcheng

Andrew Jacobs / New York Times:

Critics say the policies of Amazon, Google, and Facebook from the early days of the pandemic to restrict the sale of medical-grade masks are now outdated — Scientists are urging Americans to upgrade their face coverings. But Amazon, Google and Facebook restrict the sale of medical-grade masks.

More: The Verge. Tweets: @nytimes, @nytnational, and @abraarkaran

NBC News:

Google, Salesforce, and Microsoft are having mixed results in building statewide vaccination sign-up websites, due to difficulties in integrating county systems — As the nation takes on one of the largest logistical challenges in history with the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccination program …

Tweets: @digiphile, @cfarivar, and @digiphile

Cade Metz / New York Times:

How Anduril and other startups are building military ready, self-piloted drones, away from Silicon Valley, where such projects have become politically untenable — While much has been made of tech's unwillingness to work with the Pentagon, start-ups are still plumbing the industry's decades-long ties to the military.

Tweets: @william_fitz, @awinston, @jessedamiani, @diu_x, @puiwingtam, @jathansadowski, @cademetz, @carissaveliz, @comfortablysmug, @elkeschwarz, @steveklabnik, and @cnbcjosh

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Facebook's NPE division launches BARS, a TikTok-like app for rappers to create and share their raps using professionally created beats, in closed beta — Facebook's internal R&D group, NPE Team, is today launching its next experimental app, called BARS. The app makes it possible for rappers …

Cecilia D'Anastasio / Wired:

Sources detail Google's troubles with game development as the company couldn't stomach the complicated creative process amid Stadia's poor streaming numbers — The tech giant hired 150 game developers for Stadia Games and Entertainment, only to lay them all off. Sources say it never gave the studios a chance.

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From Mediagazer

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:

The US Treasury has denied credentials to specific reporters from The New York Times, WSJ, and Bloomberg for the G20 finance meeting in Asheville

Sam Levine / The Guardian:

DHS is using customs summonses, which need no judge's approval, to get journalists' records, even in cases where there is no connection to customs issues

Elliott Davis / The Hill:

Trump says NBC News host Kristen Welker will be reported to the FCC “for rebuke or punishment” after she talked about his “mixed” endorsement results

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More News

Meaghan Tobin / Rest of World:

Experts say lessons marketed by digital education platforms like Byju's and Yuanfudao are more an innovation in test-prep delivery than in learning outcomes

Tweets: @cengizyar, @restofworld, @frankcatalano, @telliotter, @aape, @decka227, @restofworld, @restofworld, @anupkaphle, @restofworld, and @lmatsakis

Tage Kene-Okafor / TechCrunch:

Interview with co-CEO of Jumia, whose stock is up 3,000%+ in the last year, on African e-commerce, the company's path to profitability, and more

John Beck / Rest of World:

Social media platforms are struggling with how to handle ISIS-related fundraising campaigns, which are often slipping through by disguising as humanitarianism

Tweets: @anupkaphle, @anupkaphle, @iethics, @restofworld, @restofworld, @charles_lister, @restofworld, @restofworld, @restofworld, and @restofworld

Todd Feathers / VICE:

Some schools and organizations are abandoning exam monitoring software made by Proctorio amid a barrage of complaints from students over privacy

Tweets: @motherboard, @fightfortheftr, @eff, @zenalbatross, and @hypervisible

John D. McKinnon / Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Biden admin plans to allow a Trump-era rule in March enabling Commerce Dept. to ban tech business transactions with China it deems security threats

Tweets: @michaelxpettis and @niubi

Bloomberg:

Sources: Robinhood is planning to confidentially file for an IPO as soon as next month

More: Crowdfund Insider. Tweets: @daniburgz, @cgasparino, @alexcutler247, @newsynick, @katie_roof, @fxhedgers, and @fedporn

Earlier Picks

Justine Calma / The Verge:

Google is sharing data about distortions in light waves passing through its undersea cables with seismologists to help them detect earthquakes

More: Science. Tweets: @aparanjape and @quinnypig

Bloomberg:

The SEC suspends trading of 15 lesser-known stocks after suspicious social media promotion raised concerns that their stock prices were artificially inflated

More: U.S. Securities …, Finbold, Reuters, Reuters, and New York Post

Tweets: @bennpeifert, @menakadoshi, @parrilladiego, @mukund, @warrendavidson, @petermccormack, @excellion, and @warmoth

Marlow Stern / The Daily Beast:

Advanced deepfakes of Tom Cruise are going viral on TikTok, with the account deeptomcruise amassing 200K+ followers in a few days

Cecilia Kang / New York Times:

FCC approves a $50/month high-speed internet subsidy for low-income households and a one-time discount of up to $100 on a computer or tablet for eligible homes

More: Federal Communications Commission, Input, The Verge, FCC, Liliputing, The Hill, Newser, CNN, SlashGear, TechSpot, CNET, KnowTechie, Cord Cutters News, and Washington Post

Tweets: @frankpallone, @novellogab, @axios, @novellogab, @fcc, @frankcatalano, @senangusking, @rizzn, @jrosenworcel, @geoffreystarks, @darian314, @annielowrey, and @ericklinenberg

Vignesh Ramachandran / Stanford News:

Researchers identify causes for Zoom fatigue: intense close-up eye contact, constantly seeing own reflection, reduced mobility, and increased cognitive load