RSA received $10 million to use backdoored NSA algorithm by default in crypto software BSafe  —  Exclusive: Secret contract tied NSA and security industry pioneer  —  (Reuters) - As a key part of a campaign to embed encryption software that it could crack into widely used computer products …

Protesters vandalize Google bus, block Apple shuttle  —  Gentrification backlash targeting tech firms escalates in San Francisco and Oakland.  —  SAN FRANCISCO — As tech-driven housing costs and evictions soar, anti-gentrification protesters in San Francisco and Oakland …

Avegant Glyph: the virtual reality headset made for the mainstream  —  Part Google Glass, part Oculus Rift — part Beats by Dre  —  Picture it: you're sitting on the plane or in the doctor's waiting room, listening to music on a large, good-looking set of headphones.

Microsoft gifts 20GB of extra SkyDrive storage to Windows Phone users for a year  —  Microsoft is distributing some holiday cheer to Windows Phone owners today with an email inviting them to activate a bonus 20GB of SkyDrive storage.  The bump in cloud storage will be active for a year …

Cards Stolen in Target Breach Flood Underground Markets  —  Credit and debit card accounts stolen in a recent data breach at retail giant Target have been flooding underground black markets in recent weeks, selling in batches of one million cards and going for anywhere from $20 to more than $100 per card, KrebsOnSecurity has learned.

Snapchat for iOS gets a replay option, front camera flash, filters and up to 7 best friends  —  Ephemeral messaging service Snapchat just got an interesting update that adds the ability to replay a message once per day, “flash” your front camera by whiting-out the screen …

Details of the ‘Mega Conspiracy’ Behind Megaupload … Some lively new details arrived today in the long saga of Megaupload, the file-sharing site whose founder, Kim Dotcom, is currently suing the New Zealand police while the U.S. government attempts to extradite him to face charges of criminal conspiracy.

Deals We Lost: Homebrew's Two 2013 Misses  —  When do you officially get christened a “VC?”  Is it when you successfully raise your first dollar or finish the fundraising?  Is it when you write your first check or see your first exit?  With Homebrew, Satya and I both consider ourselves a startup in its “product-market fit” phase.

Amazon Bought GoPago's Mobile Payment Tech And Product/Engineering Team, DoubleBeam Bought The POS Business  —  Last week, we wrote about how Amazon had quietly acquired mobile payments startup GoPago.  Today, some more details about the deal: A source close to the situation confirms …

Intel Robot Puts Touch Screens through Their Paces  —  A robot able to play touch screen games like Cut the Rope can judge whether humans will find a new device responsive.  —  In a compact lab at Intel's Silicon Valley headquarters, Oculus the robot is playing the hit game Cut the Rope on a smartphone.