Techmeme: NSA's current CTO allowed to work 20 hours per week for former director Keith Alexander's cybersecurity startup (Reuters)

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October 17, 2014, 11:55 PM

Top News

Guardian:

Guardian responds to Whisper's denials, stands by its claims, urges media and users to keep pressing Whisper — Whisper: the facts — Executives from the anonymous social media app have dismissed as a ‘pack of lies’ the Guardian's revelation that they track users. But the evidence is clear

Jonathan Zdziarski:

Whisper iOS app collects user location within 100 meters, data could be fuzzed server-side — Preliminary Findings on Whisper — At the suggestion of @kashhill, I did a brief analysis of the Whisper iOS application, which appears to be at the height of controversy with respect to user privacy.

More: SocialTimes, ReadWrite, Daring Fireball, The Daily Dot, iPhone in Canada Blog, Guardian, InvestorPlace, Gizmodo, Inquirer, Telegraph, HOTforSecurity, BBC and Upstart Business Journal

Tweets: @neetzan, @bartongellman, @lorenzofb, @jamesrbuk and @ashk4n

Mathew Ingram / Gigaom:

Whisper's Neetzan Zimmerman says the Guardian's coverage deliberately misrepresents how the service works

More: Guardian, The Daily Dot and Valleywag

Tweets: @danprimack, @mathewi and @jayrosen_nyu

See also Mediagazer

Snapchat:

Snapchat ads to roll out this weekend, will appear as a single ad in “Recent Updates” for US users, never in personal communications — Advertising on Snapchat — This weekend we're placing an advertisement in “Recent Updates” for Snapchatters in the United States.

More: VentureBeat, CNET, Business Insider, PC World, BuzzFeed, Forbes, Valleywag, Re/code, SlashGear, Tech Times, Wall Street Journal, Marketing Land, Gigaom, MobileSyrup.com, Fortune, Los Angeles Times, PC Magazine, The Next Web, Mashable and TIME

Tweets: @cityofthetown, @dmac1, @scottmaustin, @mikeisaac and @tomkrazit

Thanks:@orbuch

Reuters:

NSA's current CTO allowed to work 20 hours per week for former director Keith Alexander's cybersecurity startup — Exclusive: NSA reviewing deal between official, ex-spy agency head — (Reuters) - The U.S. National Security Agency has launched an internal review of a senior official's part …

More: Guardian and The Hill. Tweets: @csoghoian, @dangillmor, @emptywheel and @timothys

Rolfe Winkler / Wall Street Journal:

Google's VP of engineering for Android is now also overseeing Chrome OS's engineering team, pointing to a possible convergence of the OSes — Executive Change Is Latest Hint of Chrome-Android Marriage — A management shift inside Google points to the possibility that the company's two operating systems will come together.

More: PC World, ZDNet, SlashGear, Tech Times, 9to5Google, SiliconANGLE, CNET, The Verge, Android Police, Engadget, Electronista and Re/code

Tweets: @wsjd and @scottthurm

Andy Greenberg / Wired:

After raising $600K, Anonabox Privacy Router project is suspended by Kickstarter for misleading funders, investors' pledges will be canceled — Kickstarter Freezes Anonabox Privacy Router Project for Misleading Funders — All August Germar asked for was $7,500 to fund his privacy-focused router project.

More: Wired, Washington Post, Globe and Mail, Crowdfund Insider, Quartz, VPN Creative, Raw Story, Business Insider, bit-tech.net, SlashGear and PSFK

Tweets: @devicemag, @marciahofmann, @runasand and @kennwhite

Juli Clover / MacRumors:

iFixit Tears Down New Retina iMac, Internal Layout Largely the Same as Prior Generation — Though the new iMac with 5K Retina display was just released yesterday, iFixit has already acquired and disassembled one of the new machines, giving us a look at what's underneath the iMac's ultra thin display.

More: iFixit, iMore, Gizmodo, Engadget, The Next Web, 9to5Mac, AppleInsider and SlashGear

Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:

After More Than Two Years, Google Finally Releasing New “Pirate Update” To Fight Piracy — In August 2012, to stem accusations that it doesn't do enough to fight piracy, Google released what's known as the Pirate Update, a system that penalized sites deemed to be violating copyright laws.

More: Google Public Policy Blog, Search Engine Land, Gigaom, Engadget, TorrentFreak, Techdirt, Search Engine Land and Marketing Land. See also Mediagazer

Zac Hall / 9to5Mac:

Bose headphones and speakers no longer available from Apple Online Store — It was reported last week that Apple would soon stop selling Bose headphones and speakers at its Apple Store locations. Previously, a variety of Bose headphones and speakers were demoed at each Apple Store location and available for purchase there and online.

More: The Verge, Re/code, TechnoBuffalo, Redmond Pie, Gizmodo, Ubergizmo, Business Insider, App Advice, Consumerist, TIME and Electronista

Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:

Google releases Android 5.0 Lollipop SDK and Nexus preview images — As promised, Google today released the full Android 5.0 Lollipop SDK, along with updated developer images for Nexus 5, Nexus 7 (2013), ADT-1, and the Android emulator. The latest version of Android isn't available just yet …

More: Android Developers Blog, ReadWrite, The Next Web, The Register, eWeek and Android Police

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Tumblr launches a free, Yosemite-exclusive desktop app, available in the Mac App Store — Tumblr Debuts Its First Desktop App On The Mac App Store — On the heels of the release of Apple's new Mac OS, OS X Yosemite, blogging platform Tumblr has just rolled out its first official desktop application …

More: Tumblr Staff, VentureBeat, MacRumors, Gizmodo, iDownloadBlog.com, SlashGear, The Next Web and Engadget

Jason Del Rey / Re/code:

Amazon Fresh launches in New York, starting with Brooklyn's Park Slope area, for Amazon Prime members — Amazon Confirms It Will Deliver Fresh Groceries in New York City — Amazon's grocery delivery business is launching in New York City on Friday, the company said …

More: TIME, The Verge, TechSpot, PandoDaily, Consumerist, DailyFinance.com, TechCrunch, CNET, TechnoBuffalo, Mashable, Ubergizmo, WebProNews, bizjournals, Reuters, Gothamist, SlashGear, GeekWire and Engadget. Tweets: @chadwickmatlin

Chris Long / Facebook:

Facebook says it's actively monitoring “paste” sites with stolen credentials to warn its users who use the same passwords — Keeping Passwords Secure — The Facebook Security team has always kept a close eye on data breach announcements from other organizations.

More: AllFacebook, Ubergizmo, Tech Times, Inside Facebook, Gigaom, Threatpost, Gizmodo UK, SlashGear and Business Insider

Martin Peers / The Information:

HBO's standalone online streaming service likely won't be less than pay TV retail price of $15/month — HBO's Online Pricing Trap — HBO's broadband service looks doomed even before it starts. — While HBO hasn't disclosed details, pricing of the new broadband offering most likely …

More: BGR, CNET, MacDailyNews, WebProNews and Business Insider. Tweets: @reneritchie

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