Techmeme: Some power companies in Texas are remotely adjusting the smart thermostats of users enrolled in their energy saving programs to reduce strain on power grids (Matt Dougherty/KHOU-TV)

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June 21, 2021, 3:45 AM

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Ezra Fieser / Bloomberg:

A look at El Zonte, a surfing village in El Salvador dubbed Bitcoin Beach after an anonymous 2019 donation turned it into a controlled alt-currency experiment — An anonymous donor turned a tiny Pacific coast town without a bank into the world's biggest Bitcoin experiment. Up next: the entire country.

Matt Dougherty / KHOU-TV:

Some power companies in Texas are remotely adjusting the smart thermostats of users enrolled in their energy saving programs to reduce strain on power grids — Some said they didn't know their thermostats were being accessed from afar until it was almost 80 degrees inside their homes.

More: Android Police, The Verge, BGR, Gizmodo, Insider, USA Today, AppleInsider, and Click2Houston.com

Tweets: @dellcam, @film_girl, @stealthygeek, @karlbode, @arvindpawan1, @elpasotimes, @erratarob, @apoorv_bh89, @vickerysec, @natebeachw, @grantstern, @nuclear94, @jgamblin, @phil_lewis_, and @mollyjongfast

Rita Liao / TechCrunch:

Amber Group, a Hong Kong-based crypto finance startup that provides trading and asset management services, raises $100M Series B at $1B pre-money valuation — More mainstream venture capital firms are jumping on the crypto bandwagon as investors increasingly consider bitcoin an investable asset …

More: CNBC, Forkast, CoinDesk, Bloomberg, and Cointelegraph. Tweets: @_annabellehuang

Brian Heater / TechCrunch:

Wristcam, which makes a $299 Apple Watch band with a camera capable of taking 4K images and recording 1080p video, raises $25M led by Marker LLC — Last week word got out that Facebook was taking another big step into first-party hardware with the planned launch of its own smartwatch.

Tweets: @brianfagioli and @daniel_duan. Thanks:@vscpr

Dr. Ian Cutress / AnandTech:

Interview with Jim Keller, a chip expert lauded for his work at AMD and Apple, on ARM vs x86 vs RISC-V, managing 1,000 people at Intel, and plans at Tenstorrent — I've spoken about Jim Keller many times on AnandTech. In the world of semiconductor design, his name draws attention …

Tweets: @iancutress, @anandtech, @0xcats, and @hkanji. Thanks:@anandtech

Alan Suderman / Associated Press:

Tax experts say that ransomware victims' ransom payments are probably tax deductible in the US, unless they were paid by an insurance company — As ransomware attacks surge, the FBI is doubling down on its guidance to affected businesses: Don't pay the cybercriminals.

Tweets: @mikko, @thegrugq, @gossithedog, @sosowski, @xamat, and @thegrugq

Wall Street Journal:

Analysts say the dominance of TSMC, which makes ~92% of the world's most sophisticated chips and 60% of chips used in cars, poses risks to the global economy — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s dominance poses risks to the global economy, amid geopolitical tensions and a major chip shortage

More: phonearena.com. Tweets: @jasonmillerindc, @zackkanter, @djtgallagher, @jchengwsj, @scottlincicome, and @chinarealtime

Betsy Ladyzhets / MIT Technology Review:

An analysis of the usage of COVID-19 contact tracing apps in 25 US states and DC finds that only 13 have enough usage to benefit from exposure notification — A year ago, engineers built apps to track potential virus exposure. Our research shows the impact has been mixed—but there's still potential.

More: PCMag, Android Police, and 9to5Google

Tweets: @matthew_d_green, @techreview, @malwarejake, @pathcheck_fnd, @charlesmok, @techreview, @jennydove, @fabiochiusi, @techreview, and @techreview

Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal:

Pandemic boosted the “phone-ization” of PCs, which are adopting power efficient CPUs and thin designs, a trend which will accelerate with broader adoption of 5G — Apple is dragging Microsoft, Google and the entire PC industry into the 21st century

Tweets: @parthodasgupta, @mims, @psb_dc, @gregorymbryant, @onelinders, @mims, @dsilverman, and @stevesi

Nicole Kobie / Wired UK:

A look at the evolution of AI chips and where they are headed, as companies like Google, Amazon, Graphcore, and Cerebras look to challenge Nvidia's dominance — NVIDIA's GPUs dominate AI chips. But a raft of startups say new architecture is needed for the fast-evolving AI field

Tweets: @jbonne5, @cerebrassystems, @wireduk, @vickiturk, and @sub8u

Forbes:

Leonid Radvinsky, billionaire owner of OnlyFans, ran sites in the '90s promoting “hacked” porn site passwords, including links promising access to child porn — Associate editor at Forbes, covering cybercrime, privacy, security and surveillance. — I cover the work and wealth of Europe's richest.

Tweets: @blacklodgewhore, @rizzn, @iblametom, @iblametom, @iwantjules, @iblametom, and @alanaevansxxx

Kristen Sinclair / The Verge:

A look at some Twitch streamers using the service to showcase minority languages like Galician, Welsh, Basque, and te reo Māori — Minority languages are often associated with aging rural communities, thought to have fallen out of use or confined to textbooks.

More: Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Tweets: @biliteracyseal, @unaminhkavanagh, @3000twitz, @zacharydiaz, and @xipiryon

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This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 3:45 AM ET, June 21, 2021.

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From Mediagazer

Paul Glynn / BBC:

HarperCollins UK drops children's author and comedian David Walliams following allegations of inappropriate behavior toward young women

Ken Vogel / @kenvogel:

Politico ends its print edition after 19 years, as its early reliance on print ad revenue fades and its audience relies more on digital platforms

Nicholas Henriquez / New Yorker:

The New Yorker has digitized its full archive covering 100 years, including covers and adding upgraded search capabilities; subscribers get unlimited access

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More News

Emma Folts / Los Angeles Business Journal stories:

Eltropy, whose suite allows financial institutions to communicate with customers via text messages, announces $21M investment from K1 as part of its Series A

Source: Eltropy and PR Newswire. More: FinSMEs

Heather Landi / FierceHealthcare:

Brightline, which provides virtual behavioral health therapy for children and teenagers, raises $72M Series B led by GV, bringing its total raised to ~$100M

Source: PR Newswire. More: FinSMEs and hitconsultant.net. Tweets: @gvteam

Omar Faridi / Crowdfund Insider:

Shopping and pay later app nate, which allows users to buy products from any e-commerce store and centralize their purchases, raises $38M Series A

Source: Business Wire. More: Finextra, AlleyWatch, and FinSMEs

Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:

Lingokids, which offers educational games through its “playlearning” app for kids aged 2-8, raises $40M Series C and claims to reach 30M+ families worldwide

Source: Lingokids. More: Kidscreen, Angel News, Pocket Gamer.biz, Tech.eu, and FinSMEs

Tweets: @lingokids, @googlestartupes, @deantak, and @reachfund

Juliet Chung / Wall Street Journal:

Addepar, a provider of wealth management software, raises $150M from D1 Capital Partners at a $2.17B valuation; source: Addepar was valued at ~$1B in November

Source: PR Newswire. More: IBS Intelligence Market News, InvestmentNews, FinSMEs, and Silicon Valley Business …

Tweets: @davidsacks and @addepar

Earlier Picks

Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:

Survey: social media users see the removal of hate speech as more fair than removing profanity, with moderators who removed hate speech seen as more trustworthy

More: Center for Media Management. Tweets: @engagingnews, @iansherr, and @ginammasullo