Techmeme
February 12, 2022, 3:30 AM

Top News

New York Times:
A real life test to secretly follow a person using AirTags, Tiles, and a LandAirSea GPS tracker  —  A vast location-tracking network is being built around us so we don't lose our keys: One couple's adventures in the consumer tech surveillance state.  —  In mid-January, my husband and I were having an argument.
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Cisco recently made a takeover offer worth $20B+ for big data analytics software maker Splunk; the companies aren't currently in active talks  —  Offer was made recently though it isn't clear where things currently stand, according to people familiar with the matter
Grid News:
A review of 80K+ Freedom Convoy 2022 donations reveals a Bangladeshi digital marketing firm was behind two of the biggest Facebook groups promoting the events  —  As American politicians call for stateside convoys, a Grid investigation finds signs that foreign actors, QAnon and hate pervade the movement's support.
Tim Marchman / VICE:
A profile of the couple charged with laundering ~$5B in stolen bitcoin, compiled from sources, filings, databases, documents, and an extensive online record  —  Heather Morgan and Ilya Lichtenstein wanted to be famous.  Now, after being accused of laundering billions of dollars of crypto, they are.
Mishaal Rahman / Esper Blog:
A deep dive into Android 13's new features and changes, including a photo picker, per-app language preferences, Quick Settings tiles, a Hub mode, and UI changes  —  Although Google only just unveiled the final beta release of Android 12L, the feature update for tablets and other large screen devices …
Ron Amadeo / Ars Technica:
Google will wind down Currents, the paid and private Google+ for enterprises, starting in 2023; Google shut down the consumer version of Google+ in April 2019  —  Who remembered that “Google Currents” was still available for businesses?  Anybody?  —  Google+ is dead—again!
Paul Alcorn / Tom's Hardware:
Intel forms a Custom Compute Group to build blockchain hardware and plans to ship cryptocurrency mining chips in 2022; Block, Argo, and Griid are customers  —  Intel has officially entered the cryptomining business.  —  Intel's Raja Koduri penned a blog post that officially announces …
Bloomberg:
A profile of Bolt Financial co-founder Ryan Breslow, who stepped down as CEO of the payments startup in January; sources: he retains a 25% stake worth ~$2.75B  —  Ryan Breslow has managed to alienate some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley.  Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham tweeted …

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Featured Podcasts

The Talk Show With John Gruber:
'A Naughty Citizen', With Quinn Nelson
The director's commentary track for Daring Fireball. Long digressions on Apple, technology, design, movies, and more.
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Big Technology Podcast:
2025 In Review, 2026 Predictions — With Reed Albergotti
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Channels with Peter Kafka:
Podcast Pioneer PJ Vogt's Second Act: Less Budget, More Control
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More News

Wall Street Journal:
Will Parker / Wall Street Journal:

Earlier Picks

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
Jon Porter / The Verge:
Dustin Volz / Wall Street Journal:
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:
Russell Brandom / The Verge: