Techmeme
April 19, 2014, 7:15 PM

Top News

Nick Statt / CNET:
Exclusive: Nike fires majority of FuelBand team, will stop making wearable hardware  —  The sportswear company has decided that only software has a future in the company's technology vision.  That means cutting the FuelBand, and those who helped make it.
Rod Boshart / Quad City Times:
Microsoft brings $1.13 billion data center to Iowa  —  DES MOINES — Central Iowa is emerging as an economic magnet for high-tech data centers, state and local leaders declared Friday after plans were unveiled for global computer giant Microsoft to phase in a $1.13 billion regional data center over the next four to five years.
Kara Swisher / Re/code:
What Does the Recent Tech Stock Downturn Mean?  The Truth Is Nobody Knows.  —  In his new book on high-frequency trading, “Flash Boys,” Michael Lewis opens with the very simple premise he gleaned from watching the stock market crash in October of 1987:  —  “If you ever needed proof …
Sam Machkovech / Ars Technica:
Neil Young's music-player Kickstarter closes at $6.2 million  —  Neil Young's trek into high-end gadgetry didn't just stop with launching and promoting the PonoPlayer.  He also apparently installed lasers in his fingers so that he could sign his own limited edition series of the product.
Danny Bradbury / CoinDesk:
Bitcoin Core Developers Weigh in on Side Chain Proposal  —  These days, everyone wants to add new features to the bitcoin block chain, but now one team thinks that it's found a way to do it responsibly - by creating “side chains” that can interact with bitcoin.  —  The process, known as ‘two-way pegging’, has some hefty backing.
Issie Lapowsky / Wired:
How carriers' greed for additional revenue streams almost sabotaged the smartphone kill switch  —  How Greed Almost Sabotaged the Smartphone Kill Switch  —  About one third of robberies in major cities across the country involve the theft of a mobile phone, according to the Federal Communications Commission.
Andrew Cunningham / Ars Technica:
Hands-on with Ubuntu Touch 14.04: Coming along, but miles to go  —  We install it so you don't have to.  Seriously, you probably shouldn't.  —  The last time we installed Ubuntu Touch on anything was about a year ago, shortly after the release of Ubuntu 13.04.

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Sam Altman: