Techmeme
October 12, 2013, 12:40 AM

Top News

Google:
Terms of Service update  —  We are updating the Google Terms of Service.  The new Terms will go live on November 11, 2013 and you can read them here.  —  Because many of you are allergic to legalese, here's a plain English summary for your convenience.  —  We've made three changes:
New York Times:
Google updates ToS allowing inclusion of users' names, photos and comments in web ads  —  Google Sets Plan to Sell Users' Endorsements  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Google, following in Facebook's footsteps, wants to sell users' endorsements to marketers to help them hawk their wares.
Kashmir Hill / Forbes:
How To Opt Out Of Google's Plan To Sell Your Endorsements To Advertisers  —  Google announced Friday that it is “pulling a Facebook.”  Google is making a change to its terms of service that will allow it to monetize the reviews, comments and “+1″s its users have doled out around the Web.
Ina Fried / AllThingsD:
Apps on iPhone 5s Crashing at Twice the Rate as on Other iPhone 5 Models  —  Whenever there is a new operating system, it's not surprising to see apps crash at a somewhat higher rate, given all the changes.  —  But one of the interesting things in Apple's latest iPhone transition …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
iPhone 5S users report ‘Blue Screen Of Death’ reboots  —  Apple's latest iPhone 5S has an unexpected feature: the Blue Screen Of Death (BSOD).  While it's typically an error found on older Windows PCs, a number of iPhone 5S users are reporting random reboots on their handsets following a BSOD.
Eric Schmitt / New York Times:
C.I.A. Warning on Snowden in '09 Said to Slip Through the Cracks  —  WASHINGTON — Just as Edward J. Snowden was preparing to leave Geneva and a job as a C.I.A. technician in 2009, his supervisor wrote a derogatory report in his personnel file, noting a distinct change in the young man's behavior …
Mercury News:
Apple's new headquarters: Exclusive images of Cupertino plan  —  The Mercury News was given an exclusive look at a model of Apple Computer's circular new corporate headquarters, proposed to be built on a 175-acre plot of land bounded by North Wolfe Road and East Homestead Road.
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Yahoo Acquires Bread, Will Shut Down The URL Shortener That Earned You Money  —  Yahoo has just acquired Bread, a 2.5 year old startup that had raised $3.5 million [Update: and we hear was low on cash and shopping itself around to several companies].  Bread let people make money or generate donations by designing interstitial ads.
Reuters:
Sony to focus on Europe and Japan smartphone markets, leaves US and China for the future  —  Without grand plans for China, U.S., Sony set to lag in smartphones  —  (Reuters) - Kazuo Hirai's plan to restore Sony Corp to lasting profitability rests in large part on its smartphones leapfrogging rivals …
Brad Molen / Engadget:
AT&T to streamline traditional voice plans in favor of Mobile Share on October 25th  —  AT&T is planning to axe its traditional monthly calling and data plans for new customers — both individual and family — in favor of the network's latest shared data options, Engadget has learned …
Wall Street Journal:
Microsoft CEO Search Reveals Board Rifts  —  Directors Have Approached at Least Two Microsoft Executives and Eight Outsiders, Including Ford's Mulally.  Microsoft Corp.'s MSFT +1.10% search for a new chief executive is exposing divisions of opinion among directors over the 38-year-old company's …
More: SlashGear
Dan Primack / Fortune:
Exclusive: Kleiner Perkins makes major changes  —  Memo reveals slimmed-down investment committee.  —  FORTUNE — Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is making some major changes to its early-stage investment practice, Fortune has learned.  —  The venerable VC firm this week sent a memo …
Joan E. Solsman / CNET:
Broadcasters petition Supreme Court in Aereo fight  —  Television broadcasters Friday petitioned the US Supreme Court to get involved in their fight against Aereo, the online service that streams their over-the-air programming to its paying members.  Aereo, which is backed by IAC Chairman Barry Diller …
John Koetsier / VentureBeat:
TorSearch launches to be the Google of the hidden Internet  —  Nov. 12 - 13, 2013  —  The newest search engine in the world is hidden in the shadows of the Internet, but it shines a light on those shadows that ordinary search engines like Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo can't.
Joe Mullin / Ars Technica:
Lavabit's appeal: We're actually not required to wiretap our own users  —  The message greeting visitors to lavabit.com.  —  Ladar Levison shuttered his 10-year-old secure e-mail business in August, citing cryptic threats from the government.  Last week, the documents in his case were unsealed …

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Featured Podcasts

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Google's AI Infrastructure Chief, Amin Vahdat, on the Physics & Economics of Frontier AI
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Brian Crecente / Polygon:
Ryan Gallagher / Guardian: