Techmeme: Google's mobile game Ingress enables 7M players to create user-generated missions (Dean Takahashi/VentureBeat)

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September 25, 2014, 6:50 PM

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Gail Sullivan / Washington Post:

Social network Ello, which unlike Facebook does not enforce real names, sees rapid growth amid interest from LGBT community — Social network Ello gets boost after Facebook boots drag queens — “You are not a product,” its manifesto declares. It decries social networks that track and record …

More: Betabeat, ReadWrite, Gizmodo, Gigaom, Network World, Valleywag, Medium, Telegraph, Not Your Ex/Rotic, TechCrunch, Business Insider, SFist, PC Magazine, MTV, POPSUGAR, MarketWatch, InvestorPlace, SocialTimes, BetaBoston, Tech Times, PC Magazine and The Independent

Tweets: @twoscooters, @samfbiddle, @eringriffith, @joshconstine and @papapishu

Andy Baio / ello.co:

With its $435K seed funding, Ello is unlikely to sustain its “ad-free” model, and will need to turn a profit

Tweets: @joshconstine, @exiledsurfer, @scottbeale, @sinequanon, @benjaminjackson, @bryce, @mmasnick and @kimcooper

Stephen Hall / 9to5Google:

Motorola Shamu (Nexus 6/X): 5.92" screen, 2560 x 1440 QHD resolution, 498 PPI display, 3,200 mAh battery — Exclusive: This is ‘Shamu,’ Motorola's upcoming Nexus 6/X — Yes, it looks like a Moto X. But it has a 5.9-inch screen. And lowered volume/lock buttons.

The Huffington Post:

FBI discussed marketing of device encryption settings with Google and Apple; director says he's “very concerned” — FBI Director James Comey ‘Very Concerned’ About New Apple, Google Privacy Features — WASHINGTON — FBI Director James Comey said Thursday that he was …

More: Cato Institute, The Register, Wall Street Journal, Slate, 9to5Google, AppleInsider, Re/code, The Verge, iMore, Associated Press, BGR, 9to5Mac, The Hill, MacRumors, Associated Press, Business Insider, Bloomberg and MarketWatch. Tweets: @csoghoian

Juli Clover / MacRumors:

Apple: Bending in iPhone 6 Plus From Normal Use ‘Extremely Rare’, Only 9 Customers Have Complained — Apple has commented on the ongoing complaints about the iPhone 6 Plus bending in user pockets, telling CNBC that the new iPhones include steel/titanium inserts to reinforce stress locations …

More: Wall Street Journal, Re/code, Forbes, Ars Technica, The Next Web, PC Magazine, AppleInsider, Computerworld, 9to5Mac, Gigaom, Washington Post, Engadget, Gizmodo, TechSpot, iMore, BGR, Neowin, VentureBeat, Apfelpage, TechOne3, TIME, GamesIndustry.biz, The Mac Observer, iDownloadBlog.com and Cult of Mac

Tweets: @cnbctech, @cnbctech and @patrickklepek

Dell Cameron / The Daily Dot:

Developer reported iCloud brute-force password hack to Apple in March 2014, months before Celebgate — Apple knew of iCloud security hole 6 months before Celebgate — Apple knew as early as March 2014 of a security hole that left the personal data of iCloud users vulnerable …

More: Ubergizmo, MacDailyNews, TechSpot, TUAW, App Advice, iPhone in Canada Blog, Geeky Gadgets, PandoDaily, 9to5Mac, iDownloadBlog.com, Cult of Mac, Electronista, BGR, Business Insider and MacRumors

Rachel Whetstone / Google Europe Blog:

News Corp says Google makes a platform for piracy, stifles competition, more; Google responds — Dear Rupert — Last week, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp sent an open letter to the European Commission complaining about Google. We wanted to share our perspective so you can judge the arguments on their merits.

Liam Tung / ZDNet:

First attacks using Bash bug discovered in the wild, available patch only a partial fix — First attacks using ‘shellshock’ Bash bug discovered — Summary: Security researchers have found the first malware using the new Bash bug. — Liam Tung — Within a day of the Bash bug dubbed 'shellshock …

More: The Daily Dot, BBC, Information Security, Guardian, Errata Security, Ars Technica, blog.trendmicro.com, Wired, The Register, ReadWrite, Associated Press and Graham Cluley. Tweets: @yinettesys

Robert Graham / Errata Security:

Bash “shellshock” bug is wormable, a quick scan to uncover vulnerable servers has revealed

More: Engadget, Ars Technica, eWeek, blog.trendmicro.com, InfoWorld, The Register, FierceEnterpriseCommunications … and CSO Online Dave Lewis

Robert Graham / Errata Security:

Bash bug as big as Heartbleed

Eric Slivka / MacRumors:

New Mac Mini Finally Coming in October Alongside New iPads? — At just under two years since its last update, the Mac mini seems to have become the forgotten part of Apple's Mac lineup, with a number of fans of the small desktop waiting for any word of a potential update.

More: AppleInsider, 9to5Mac and SlashGear

Kurt Wagner / Re/code:

Hootsuite raises $60M at a $1B valuation, acquires Zeetl to integrate voice calls in social media — Hootsuite Reaches $1 Billion Valuation in Latest Funding Round — Hootsuite, the Vancouver-based startup known for its social media management dashboards, has raised $60 million in new venture funding, CEO Ryan Holmes told Re/code.

More: Hootsuite Media, Hootsuite Social Media …, Marketing Land, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, AllFacebook, VentureBeat, ZDNet, PE Hub Blog, TechCrunch, Techvibes Global News, SiliconANGLE, Fortune, AllTwitter and GeekWire

Aaron Couch / Hollywood Reporter:

Twitter to serve targeted ads for movies, beta testing will begin in the next few months — Twitter to Launch Targeted Ads for Movies (Exclusive) — Studios wanting to advertise an upcoming space epic could target users tweeting about ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ and Groot

More: Marketing Land, TIME, AllTwitter, InvestorPlace and Los Angeles Times. See also Mediagazer

Jason Del Rey / Re/code:

Facebook Is Partnering With Stripe to Power “Buy” Button — Facebook first began testing a “Buy” button within News Feed in July, and payments startup Stripe has been tasked with powering the technology, Re/code has learned. — The “Buy” button, which allows Facebook users to purchase goods …

NPD Group:

US retail PC sales grew 3% in Back-to-School period led by Macs and Chromebooks, after declining 2.5% last year — Apple and Chrome Boost U.S. Retail PC Back-to-School Sales — U.S. consumer retail PC sales grew almost 3 percent during the 10 week Back-to-School period …

More: BGR, TechSpot, PC World, eWeek and 9to5Mac. Tweets: @monkbent

Alyson Shontell / Business Insider:

Sisters who modeled for promotional Snapchat images sue the company, seeking compensation — These 2 Sisters Became ‘The Faces Of Snapchat’ — Now They're Suing Because They Didn't Get Paid — One Snapchat lawsuit ends and another begins. — A few weeks ago, Snapchat settled a lawsuit …

More: TMZ.com, PandoDaily, New York Magazine, MTV and The Independent

Kara Swisher / Re/code:

FWD.us president Joe Green pushed out, Todd Schulte becomes acting president — Joe Green Pushed Out at FWD.us — Joe Green, the president of FWD.us, has resigned from the political organization that is backed by a coterie of tech luminaries, most prominently Facebook CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg.

More: FWD.us

Stacey Higginbotham / Gigaom:

Insteon integrates with Microsoft Cortana for voice control in the home — “Insteon, I'm home!” With those words, an Insteon home automation system and a Microsoft Windows Phone 8.1 handset, you could unlock your doors and turn on your lights. — If you have Insteon gear set up in your home …

More: INSTEON, Wearable World News, SYS-CON MEDIA and SlashGear

Lora Kolodny / Wall Street Journal:

FiveStars Raises $26M to Help Small Businesses Do Loyalty Rewards … FiveStars Inc. raised $26 million to help small businesses offer loyalty rewards programs that are on par with those offered by their biggest competitors, like retail giants Starbucks and Whole Foods Market .

More: Gigaom, TechCrunch, Re/code and VentureBeat

New York Times:

Lenders using tech to track cars of subprime borrowers, disable ignition if payments missed — Miss a Payment? Good Luck Moving That Car — Credit: John Gurzinski for The New York Times — The thermometer showed a 103.5-degree fever, and her 10-year-old's asthma was flaring up.

More: Forbes and TechSpot. Tweets: @katekellycnbc and @keithboykin

Brian Fung / Washington Post:

The FAA is letting Hollywood use drones — and more exemptions are on the way. — The Federal Aviation Administration has taken a big step forward on drones: It's now allowing some filmmakers to operate robotic flying cameras on commercial movie and TV sets.

More: faa.gov, VentureBeat, Re/code, Engadget, CNET, Computerworld, The Verge, The Wrap, Hollywood Reporter, Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, Variety and Deadline. See also Mediagazer

Richard Lawler / Engadget:

DHL Paketkopter drone will deliver medications to small North Sea island beginning this week — DHL will do delivery-by-drone, but only for one tiny European island — While Netflix laughs, Amazon petitions and Google runs tests in New Zealand, DHL is about to actually launch drone delivery for its customers — sort of.

More: Reuters, DHL, The Local, Fortune, Wall Street Journal, Daily Mail, timesofmalta.com, Wired.co.uk, The Verge, UPI and Pocket-lint

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