Dear Jeff Bezos, Here's What I Saw as an Analog Nobody in the Mailroom of the Washington Post  —  While it might seem an awful cliche, the fact of the matter is — if you go back to a time long before the commercial Internet existed, and well before you became so rich that you have $250 million …

Apple Cedes Market Share in Smartphone Operating System Market as Android Surges and Windows Phone Gains, According to IDC  —  Despite beating Wall Street expectations in terms of shipment volumes, Apple's share in the worldwide smartphone operating system market posted a year-over-year decline during the second quarter of 2013 (2Q13).

Groupon Names Eric Lefkofsky Permanent CEO;Q2 Revenue Beats Street  —  The Groupon CEO search is over at the man at the top is a familiar one: co-founder Eric Lefkofsky.  —  The company announced today that he will man the job permanently, after being named co-CEO along with Ted Leonsis when Andrew Mason was fired.

How to Convince Investors  —  (This is one of a pair of essays on fundraising.  The next one, on fundraising tactics, is coming soon.)  —  When people hurt themselves lifting heavy things, it's usually because they try to lift with their back.  The right way to lift heavy things is to let your legs do the work.

The Science Behind the Netflix Algorithms That Decide What You'll Watch Next  —  If you liked 1960s Star Trek, the first non-Trek title that Netflix is likely to suggest to you is the original Mission: Impossible series (the one with the cool Lalo Schifrin soundtrack).

LG G2 vs. Moto X vs. Samsung Galaxy S 4: Battle of the best of Android  —  Last week it was the Moto X. This week it's the LG G2.  Pretty soon it'll be the Galaxy Note 3.  The Android phones just keep on coming, and it's helpful to know how they all compare to one another.

Publishers Object to E-Book Plan for Apple  —  Provisions of Proposal Would Punish Them, They Said  —  Five major U.S. publishers objected to the Justice Department's proposal to limit Apple Inc.'s influence in the electronic-books market, saying it would effectively alter their existing settlements with the U.S. government.

On the Edge of failure: Ubuntu smartphone looks unlikely to reach crowdfunding goal  —  The Edge, a smartphone that runs a mobile edition of the popular desktop OS Ubuntu, will only get made if would-be users pledge $32 million via the crowdfunding site Indiegogo.

Facebook Takes on Twitter by Courting Celebrities, Building Twittery Tools  —  When Channing Tatum wanted to publish the first picture of his new baby in June, he didn't go to People or Us Magazine.  Instead, he posted on his Facebook page.  —  And when Andy Murray won a surprise victory …

Federal judge: Bitcoin, “a currency,” can be regulated under American law  —  In the case of a Texas man accused of massive Bitcoin-based fraud, a federal judge has ruled that bitcoins are “a currency or form of money,” and are therefore subject to relevant US laws.

This Is What It Looks Like When Your Phone Tracks Your Every Move  —  Sure, we know we're being tracked, but now we know what it looks like.  —  Via: board.protecus.de  —  More than ever before, we've become increasingly aware of our technology's ability to monitor our movements.

3 senior BlackBerry executives leaving company  —  Departures come almost 2 weeks after 250 layoffs in Waterloo  —  Almost two weeks after 250 employees were let go from BlackBerry's testing facility in Waterloo, Ont., CBC News has confirmed three senior members of the company will also be leaving.

Slashdot founder Rob Malda on why there won't be another Hacker News  —  When I was a computer science student in college, everyone I knew read Slashdot.  Founded in 1997, the site was dedicated to “News for nerds.  Stuff that matters.”  It featured about a dozen short, user-submitted stories about the technology news of the day.

500px Scores $8.8M Series A From Andreessen Horowitz & Harrison Metal To Build A Photo Marketplace, Expand Consumer Reach  —  500px, the Toronto-based photo sharing service aimed at enthusiasts and pro photographers, has closed on $8.8 million in Series A funding dually led by Andreessen Horowitz …

Google leaves your Chrome passwords unprotected to promote security  —  How would you feel if someone sat in front of your computer and was immediately able to access all of your Chrome passwords?  That's a scenario that is dividing opinion after web designer Elliot Kember called Google's security practices …

Apple Faces Hurdles Attracting First-Time Smartphone Buyers  —  While Apple does extremely well in the global and domestic smartphone markets, they aren't doing as well among first-time smartphone buyers as one might think.  —  A new study paints an interesting picture of the first-time phone buyer and the devices they are choosing.

Apple succeeds on appeal: dismissed ITC patent case against Google's Motorola Mobility alive again  —  The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit just handed down its opinion on Apple's appeal of the ITC's March 2012 dismissal of its three-patent complaint against now-Google-owned Motorola Mobility.

Amazon, Kobo and Sony petition FCC to exempt e-readers from accessibility laws  —  Amazon, Kobo and Sony are petitioning the Federal Communications Commission to permanently exempt e-readers from certain federal accessibility laws for the disabled, arguing that e-readers are barebones devices designed for a single purpose: reading text.

What Happened to Adap.TV's IPO?  —  Adap.TV had filed with the SEC this year to go public, but didn't.  Instead, the company sold to AOL for $405 million.  —  Why not stay independent?  I asked CEO Amir Ashkenazi after the AOL earnings call this morning, and he gave an upbeat answer …