Techmeme: Google researchers found a watering hole attack in August exploiting a macOS zero-day and targeting Hong Kong pro-democracy sites; Apple patched on September 23 (Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai/VICE)

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November 12, 2021, 12:05 PM

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Hannah Murphy / Financial Times:

In internal memo, Andrew Bosworth says he wants the metaverse to have “almost Disney levels of safety” but that moderation at scale “is practically impossible” — Internal memo from Andrew Bosworth lays out the scale of the challenge

Tweets: @mshannahmurphy, @matthewfederman, @peterwsinger, @somebadideas, @minimaxir, @alexweprin, @karlbode, @counternotions, @markdistef, @malcolmmoore, and @oliviasolon

Peter Kafka / Vox:

Meta made over 21 acquisitions in the past three years, per PitchBook, including at least four VR startups in 2021; sources say it paid $500M+ for Within

More: The Information, Insider, CPO Magazine, and Quartz

Tweets: @mattjmcd, @pkafka, @pkafka, @anildash, and @pkafka

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / VICE:

Google researchers found a watering hole attack in August exploiting a macOS zero-day and targeting Hong Kong pro-democracy sites; Apple patched on September 23 — “The nature of the activity and targeting is consistent with a government backed actor,” the Google researchers say.

Source: The Keyword. More: Wired, Objective-See's Blog, CyberScoop, schneier.com, iPhone Hacks, cybernews.com, ZDNet, SecurityWeek, iThinkDifferent, The Hacker News, iTnews, The Overspill, The Record, AppleInsider, and PCMag

Katie Silver / BBC:

Alibaba's annual Singles Day event sees slowest ever sales growth of 8.5% YoY since it was launched in 2009, but customer spending still hit a record $84.5B — Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba's Singles Day is known for being the world's biggest online shopping extravaganza.

More: CNBC, AppleInsider, PYMNTS.com, PingWest, Reuters, MacDailyNews, iPhone Hacks, The Guardian, CNN, Wall Street Journal, and Reuters

Andrew Perrin / Pew Research Center:

Survey: 16% of US adults, including 43% of men aged 18 to 29, say they have invested in, traded, or used a cryptocurrency — The vast majority of U.S. adults have heard at least a little about cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ether, and 16% say they personally have invested in …

More: CNET, TechSpot, and BitcoinExchangeGuide

Tweets: @brianroemmele and @pewresearch

Politico:

A look at the relationship between Frances Haugen and anti-tech lobbying group Reset, which has guided her EU tour — As soon as Frances Haugen landed in Europe, she was given the VIP treatment. She met senior officials in Paris, Berlin and London. She testified to lawmakers in Brussels.

Tweets: @markscott82, @webdevlaw, @agstrait, @fabiochiusi, @carolinegreer, @quinnypig, @kaminskimk, @kkomaitis, @f_kaltheuner, @emmalbriant, @webdevlaw, @nicholasvinocur, and @leconcurrential

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Spotify acquires audiobook distributor Findaway and says it expects the deal to close in Q4 2021 — In an effort to expand beyond music, Spotify has been investing hundreds of millions to build out its podcasts business. Now the company has set its sights on another form of audio …

Source: Spotify. More: The Verge, Protocol, Axios, Mashable, Android Police, Music Ally, TechRadar, BGR India, Pocketnow, Silicon Republic, Gizmodo, Variety, Tech Xplore, Billboard, 9to5Mac, Good e-Reader, Bloomberg, Engadget, AppleInsider, and Hollywood Reporter

Tweets: @mignano, @stockthoughts81, @goblinwriter, @adamlukas17, @dcseifert, @martinsfp, and @sarthakgh

See also Mediagazer

Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:

Instagram is testing paying $10,000+ in bonuses to select creators posting Reels, as part of a bonus program announced in July — Instagram really wants you to post Reels — they'll even pay you up to $10,000 for one, if you're lucky. — As TikTok surpasses the 1 billion monthly active users mark …

Source: Instagram. More: The Verge, 9to5Mac, The Verge, BGR India, Bankless Times, iPhone Hacks, Engadget, PhoneArena, SAMAA, and Tubefilter

Tweets: @cowbuttcrunchie, @yayahan, @alex193a, @positivesteven, @_msalhotra, @yayahan, and @erikaheidewald

See also Mediagazer

Pranob Mehrotra / XDA Developers:

Instagram appears to be working on a feature that lets Live creators add moderators to their streams

More: TechCrunch. Tweets: @alex193a

Takashi Mochizuki / Bloomberg:

Under shareholder pressure, Toshiba says it will split into three companies, focusing on infrastructure, tech devices, and memory chips — - Plans 100 billion yen for shareholder returns over two years — Company has endured years of scandals and controversy

More: BBC, Reuters, Yahoo Finance, and Gizmodo

Taylor Hatmaker / TechCrunch:

Discord CEO Jason Citron says the service has no plans to add crypto and NFT tools, following a backlash to an internal concept he shared on Twitter — Discord founder and CEO Jason Citron sought to reassure users Wednesday that the company doesn't have impending plans to shift its business toward NFTs.

Source: @jasoncitron. More: Android Headlines, Ars Technica, Coinspeaker, Blockonomi, Cointelegraph, PC Games Insider, Engadget, Twinfinite, Fortune, Forkast, ZDNet, Gizmodo, PC Gamer, CoinDesk, WeRSM, The Verge, VICE, Bloomberg, Dot Esports, The Verge, PC Gamer, NME, Cointelegraph, and Kotaku

Owen Fernau / The Defiant:

Ethereum Name Service's ENS token hits $1B market cap, just two days after its airdrop in which users received the token for free in their crypto wallets — ENS, the governance token of Ethereum Name Service, hit a market capitalization of $1.1B in early morning trading Eastern Standard Time.

More: ENS Airdrop, Bitcoinist.com, Cointelegraph, and CoinDesk

Tweets: @coinbase, @statelayer, @joshdcaplan, @heromachine_eth, @jakeandbakenft, @stefdelev, @cryptwizz, @lordofthechain, @calicashking, @dappradar, @camirusso, @decryptmedia, and @carnage4life

Mitchell Clark / The Verge:

Amazon will let Prime users on iOS share video clips up to 30 seconds long for some of its content — You can now help Amazon with its marketing if you have iOS — Amazon has announced that it'll let you easily share video clips showing up to 30 seconds of some of its Prime Video content, right from the iOS app.

Source: About Amazon. More: XDA Developers, Pocketnow, Android Headlines, MSPoweruser, iThinkDifferent, iPhone in Canada Blog, Mashable, SlashGear, Digital Trends, TechCrunch, Apple Must, Android Central, and 9to5Mac. Tweets: @mattnavarra

See also Mediagazer

Reuters:

Foxconn beats estimates as Q3 net profit rose 20% YoY to $1.33B and warns its smartphone business revenue could slide more than 15% in Q4 — Taiwan's Foxconn (2317.TW), which assembles iPhones for Apple (AAPL.O), reported a better-than-expected third-quarter profit on Friday …

More: Wall Street Journal, MacRumors, BNN, 9to5Mac, The Economic Times, and AppleInsider

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From Mediagazer

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Trump says Stephen Colbert is a “pathetic trainwreck” and “CBS should, ‘put him to sleep,’ NOW”; earlier CBS aired the Kennedy Center Honors, hosted by Trump

Zachary Leeman / Mediaite:

White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller calls for CBS staff who “revolted” over Bari Weiss' decision to postpone 60 Minutes' CECOT segment to be fired

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Comcast extends Mike Cavanagh's contract through January 1, 2029, and grants a ~$35M performance-based stock package; he's set to become co-CEO in January 2026

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Drew Harwell / Washington Post:

US contract lawyers say remote work surveillance programs, which utilize facial recognition, have become widespread in the industry

Tweets: @drewharwell, @washingtonpost, and @jjvincent

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:

Streamers are seeking out unscripted TV, including documentaries and reality TV, as a cheaper and popular alternative to the prestige shows they first produced

Tweets: @lucas_shaw and @squirealright

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Matt Przybyla / VentureBeat:

CoreWeave, which offers a specialized cloud service for GPU-based workloads, raises $50M led by Magnetar Capital

More: FinSMEs

Reuters:

Turkish delivery startup Getir, which promises 10-minute grocery deliveries, launches in Chicago, and plans to roll out in NYC and Boston by the end of 2021

More: Silicon Canals and PR Newswire

Sandra Upson / Wired:

Profile of CryptoPunks, an NFT project founded by two Canadian developers in 2017, which has reached $1.5B in lifetime sales as NFTs explode in popularity

Tweets: @sandraupson, @carsonated, @artonblockchain, @kimzetter, @wasthatawolf, @artnome, @mitchellfchan, @glichfield, @vince_van_dough, and @cozomomedici

Campbell Kwan / ZDNet:

Biden signs the Secure Equipment Act of 2021, denying FCC licenses to national security threats, effectively banning Huawei and ZTE network equipment in the US

More: Gizmodo, The Hill, Reuters, Silicon Republic, Engadget, and South China Morning Post

Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch:

Chile-based Houm, which uses AI to help users find the optimal rental or sale price of a property based on similar properties nearby, raises a $35M Series A

Tweets: @ycombinator, @levynews, and @bayareawriter

Priya Anand / Bloomberg:

Autonomous driving startup Embark Trucks closes at $8.80 per share in its Nasdaq debut, down 11.4%, after going public via a SPAC merger that valued it at $5.2B

More: SiliconANGLE, FreightWaves, Silicon Valley Business …, and CNBC

Tweets: @sentimentrader and @startupandrew

Earlier Picks

Emily Bary / MarketWatch:

Weave Communications, which offers cloud tools for small business communications, drops 21.7% in its NYSE debut, after raising $120M in its IPO

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Google creates a new Labs team under Clay Bavor, comprising its Area 120 incubator, AR and VR efforts, and Project Starline holographic video booth

More: Road to VR, Android Police, Protocol, SiliconANGLE, and 9to5Google

Tweets: @hunterwalk, @mhbergen, and @msquinn

Wall Street Journal:

A look at Binance, which sources say could be worth $300B if it goes public, as its unfettered, unregulated growth comes to an end amid global scrutiny

More: Bloomberg, Coinspeaker, and Cointelegraph

Tweets: @spencerchen, @ceostroff, @georgikantchev, @jasonzweigwsj, @kowsmann, @alexfrangos, @tomfairless, and @kowsmann

Rebecca Falconer / Axios:

US joins a global cybersecurity partnership launched in 2018 with 80 countries and companies like Google and Microsoft, after declining to sign up under Trump

Source: The White House. More: TechRadar, Washington Post, ZDNet, Engadget, The Register, The Keyword, SecurityWeek, and Slashdot

Tweets: @bradsmi, @vonderleyen, @vonderleyen, @vonderleyen, @kent_walker, @vp, @wilsonstip, @mytechmusings, and @herbieziskend46

Helene Braun / CoinDesk:

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez says the city will give residents a bitcoin yield from staking MiamiCoin

More: Blockworks, CoinJournal, cryptodaily.co.uk, Associated Press, CryptoPotato, Benzinga, Cointelegraph, Bitcoin Magazine, The Hill, The Block, refreshmiami.com, Crypto Briefing, Forkast, Decrypt, and The Information

Tweets: @francissuarez, @johnmoralesnbc6, @thecryptolark, and @silvermanjacob

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:

Universal Music Group says it is creating a “band” called Kingship out of four Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs and plans to feature them in video games, VR, and more

Brian Ashcraft / Kotaku:

Something Awful administrator says founder Richard “Lowtax” Kyanka has died at 45; founded in 1999, SA's influence over the contemporary web has been huge

Source: Something Awful. More: VICE, Newsweek, Boing Boing, PC Gamer, Input, and Engadget

Wall Street Journal:

A look at Elon Musk's preplanned moves for Tesla stock, after it fell 12%+ following his weekend Twitter poll where users voted he should sell 10% of his shares

More: CNET, Forbes, WRAL TechWire, KnowTechie, The Verge, Financial Times, coinspeaker.com, Quartz, BBC, Mashable, fossbytes.com, Bankless Times, Gizmodo, Fortune, The Guardian, New York Times, Insider, TNW, Bloomberg, archive.fast-edgar.com, Cointelegraph, Insider, The Hill, Futurism, and Financial Times

Tweets: @elonmusk, @elonmusk, @elonmusk, @ronwyden, @truth_tesla, @carnage4life, @ryan_browne_, @dealbook, @juddlegum, and @mollyjongfast