Techmeme
December 31, 2013, 10:35 AM

Top News

Jay Hathaway / Daily Dot:
The NSA has nearly complete backdoor access to Apple's iPhone  —  The U.S. National Security Agency has the ability to snoop on nearly every communication sent from an Apple iPhone, according to leaked documents shared by security researcher Jacob Appelbaum and German news magazine Der Spiegel.
iFixit:
Mac Pro Late 2013 Teardown  —  After making its debut during the WWDC 2013 Keynote, the reimagined, reformulated Mac Pro finally arrived at iFixit's doorstep.  Join us as we turn the (very) Late 2013 Mac Pro inside-out.  Step 1 — Mac Pro Late 2013 Teardown The new Mac Pro has been released …
jessica lessin:
Paul Graham:
Sam Thielman / Adweek:
Netflix Knocks a Dollar Off Its SD Streaming Service for New Users  —  Netflix has cracked down on password sharing this year (the streaming service has a $12-per-month plan if you want to stream on four devices simultaneously), but it looks like there's a new tier to its pricing plan …
Chris Vallance / BBC:
Cash machines raided with infected USB sticks  —  The thieves focused on high value notes to minimise the time they were exposed  —  Researchers have revealed how cyber-thieves sliced into cash machines in order to infect them with malware earlier this year.
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Mat Honan / Wired:
I, Glasshole: My Year With Google Glass  —  An anecdote: I wanted to wear Google Glass during the birth of our second child.  My wife was extremely unreceptive to this idea when I suggested it.  Angry, even.  But as we got a bit closer to the date, she began to warm to it and eventually landed somewhere …
Mike Rose / Gamasutra:
Days of the holiday mobile game gold rush are fading, says new report  —  Although this holiday period saw the biggest spike in mobile app and game downloads to date, the rate at which mobile is growing has slowed significantly, according to a new report from Flurry.
Alex Chitu / Google Operating System:
Schemer, Google's invite-only service for sharing goals, to be discontinued  —  Schemer to Be Discontinued  —  Schemer was launched two years ago as an invite-only service for sharing goals and discussing them with other people.  “A scheme is ‘a secret or devious plan’ (American Heritage Dictionary) …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Eric Schmidt makes 2014 predictions, says mobile has won  —  While he's not busy writing instructions on how to lead a tech company or guides for switching from iPhone to Android, Google chairman Eric Schmidt has taken some time out to provide Bloomberg TV with his predictions for 2014.
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
All jacked in and nothing to play: chasing the perfect VR game  —  A little over a year after appearing on Kickstarter, Oculus has turned the far-fetched '90s science fiction of virtual reality into a wildly successful prototype device: the Oculus Rift.  As of this writing, you can snipe enemies in virtual reality with Team Fortress 2.

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Featured Podcasts

Channels with Peter Kafka:
David Ellison's Paramount-Warner Empire & The Fight That Comes Next
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
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Sources:
Factory CEO on why AGI is already here
Candid conversations with the leaders shaping what's next in AI and the broader tech industry. Hosted by Alex Heath, who has covered Silicon Valley for more than a decade.
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Invest Like the Best:
Noah Shinn - Building Instinct: The Personal Agent
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
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Lenny's Podcast:
The grief, loneliness, and burnout sweeping through the tech industry right now | Molly Graham
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
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Big Technology Podcast:
Meta's Muse Revival, Frontier AI Under Threat, The Rise Of Dopamine Sites
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Great Chat:
Doomers at Dreamforce
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
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More News

Jordan Kahn / 9to5Mac:
Joe Weisenthal / Business Insider:

Earlier Picks

Florian Mueller / FOSS Patents:
bunnie:
John Chen / CNBC: