Techmeme
August 9, 2013, 9:00 AM

Top News

Tony Romm / Politico:
Apple's Tim Cook, tech execs meet with Barack Obama to talk surveillance  —  President Barack Obama hosted Apple CEO Tim Cook, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, Google computer scientist Vint Cerf and other tech executives and civil liberties leaders on Thursday for a closed-door meeting about government surveillance, sources tell POLITICO.
Jonathan Allen / Reuters:
NSA to cut system administrators by 90 percent to limit data access  —  The National Security Agency, hit by disclosures of classified data by former contractor Edward Snowden, said Thursday it intends to eliminate about 90 percent of its system administrators to reduce the number of people with access to secret information.
James Temple / The Technology Chronicles:
Kashmir Hill / Forbes:
Email Company Reportedly Used By Edward Snowden Shuts Down Rather Than Hand Data Over To Feds  —  When Edward Snowden emailed journalists and activists in July to invite them to a briefing at the Moscow airport during his long stay there, he used the email account “edsnowden@lavabit.com” according to one of the invitees.
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Silent Circle Preemptively Shuts Down Encrypted Email Service To Prevent NSA Spying  —  “We knew USG would come after us”.  That's why Silent Circle CEO Michael Janke tells TechCrunch his company shut down its Silent Mail encrypted email service.  It hadn't been told to provide data to the government …
Reuters:
Exclusive: BlackBerry open to going private, sources say  —  (Reuters) - BlackBerry Ltd is warming up to the possibility of going private, as the smartphone maker battles to revive its fortunes, several sources familiar with the situation said.  —  Chief Executive Thorsten Heins …
Roger Cheng / CNET:
T-Mobile's John Legere: The most dangerous man in wireless  —  The CEO has vowed to shake up the status quo — and he's managing to do just that, all while posting T-Mobile's highest customer growth in four years.  —  T-Mobile CEO John Legere makes several big announcements in New York City during its big press event in July.
More: GeekWire, TechSpot, AndroidGuys and CNETTweets: @dbfarberThanks:@joan_e
Ina Fried / AllThingsD:
Stuart Miles / Pocket-lint:
Nexus 7 2 release date UK: Asus confirm 28 August  —  The Nexus 7 2, or 2nd generation Nexus 7 as it is also known, will launch in the UK on 28 August, Asus has confirmed to Pocket-lint.  The UK release date comes just one month after the US launch, but ahead of previous suggestions by retailers in the UK...
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Time Warner CEO Says Having Game Of Thrones As ‘Most Pirated’ Is ‘Better Than An Emmy’  —  Because it's so popular — and so pirated (in part because you can't view it legally online if you're not an HBO subscriber via cable/satellite) — the question of Game of Thrones and piracy is a story that just never dies.
More: The VergeTweets: @n_is_een
Kevin C. Tofel / GigaOM:
Why Google Glass costs $1,500 now and will likely be around $299 later  —  If the $1,500 price tag for Google Glass is a budget buster for you, don't give up hope just yet.  When the wearable gadget arrives on the consumer market it could cost as little as $299 according to Topology Research's Jason Tsai …
John Koetsier / VentureBeat:
Promoted tweets boost offline sales by 29%, Twitter says (and it'll show you how)  —  Promoted tweets drive sales, Twitter said today.  And not just for web retailers — they're talking ice cream and razors and toothpaste.  —  In addition, the company announced a new program for brands …

Sponsor Posts

Soxton:
Fast, affordable law for startups  —  Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better.  We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts.  Join the waitlist for early access!
F5:
Accelerate AI Adoption at F5's AI Virtual Summit  —  Learn how to architect, secure, and scale AI for production with real-world insights from industry leaders on June 23.  Register now to save your spot.
Zoho:
Zoho Mail wins the SE Labs Security Award 2026 for Enterprise Email Security Service  —  When email security works well, nobody notices it.No one starts their day appreciating the phishing email that never reached their inbox.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Grit:
Why 80% of the Fortune 100 Chose Qualtrics | Ryan Smith
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Lenny's Podcast:
The hidden pattern behind successful products | Mark Pincus (founder of Zynga)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Big Technology Podcast:
SpaceX's IPO Triumph, Anthropic's Fable Fumble, OpenAI's Price War
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Access:
A top iPhone app developer reacts to Apple's new Siri
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Hard Fork:
'Hard Fork' Live, Part 1: Satya Nadella and Cindy Cohn
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
AI's Mythos Moment: Rishi Sunak on preparing governments for AI
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 9:00 AM ET, August 9, 2013.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Earlier Picks

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web: