Techmeme: Tech firms competing for talent spawn “workplace coordinators” to manage lavish employee perks (Rachel Feintzeig/Wall Street Journal)

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November 23, 2014, 11:25 PM

Top News

Arik Hesseldahl / Re/code:

Symantec uncovers Regin, a trojan likely built by a nation-state, which has spied on businesses and governments since 2008 — Symantec Uncovers Sophisticated, Stealthy Computer Spying Tool — Computer security researchers at Symantec say they have discovered a sophisticated piece …

More: Symantec Security Response, Fortune, Ars Technica, Computerworld, Engadget, CNET, BBC, Gizmodo, ZDNet, The Verge and BetaNews. Tweets: @michaelreuter

Mark Suster / Both Sides of the Table:

The one big potential Uber scandal concerns employee access to user data, not targeting journalists for opposition research — In Defense of Uber: An Objective Opinion — The story on Uber has been written about ad nauseam, which is why I've been reluctant to weigh in.

More: AVC, Re/code, New York Times, VentureBeat, NPR, The Register, PandoDaily, VatorNews and Mashable

Tweets: @howardlindzon, @hunterwalk, @mathewi, @sarahcuda, @thestalwart, @jason, @msuster, @michaelpilla, @hblodget, @ferenstein, @danprimack, @maringuy, @startupljackson and @mikeisaac

Lane Wood / Medium:

Pando founder Sarah Lacy's allusions to physical threats distort media narrative on Uber scandal

Glenn Greenwald / The Intercept:

The US Congress won't limit the NSA: individuals, courts, and other nations must step up — Congress Is Irrelevant on Mass Surveillance. Here's What Matters Instead. — The “USA Freedom Act”—which its proponents were heralding as “NSA reform” despite its suffocatingly narrow scope …

More: Politico, Boing Boing and Gawker

Tweets: @jamesjoaquin, @restore_the4th and @ggreenwald

Alissa Walker / Gizmodo:

Google and Garmin altered directions to the Hollywood sign on behalf of nearby homeowners to keep tourists away — Why People Keep Trying to Erase the Hollywood Sign From Google Maps — The Hollywood Sign might be one of the most recognizable things on Earth. In Los Angeles, it's also one of the most visible.

More: PC Magazine. Tweets: @dsilverman, @alexbainbridge, @norton_tim and @dannysullivan

Marco della Cava / USA Today:

Apple to donate unspecified “portion” of sales to Global Fund on Black Friday and World Aids Day, partners with developers for (RED) apps and in-app purchases — Apple launches massive two-week (RED) campaign — SAN FRANCISCO — Apple is glowing (RED) for the holidays.

More: Apple, The Verge, AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, MacRumors, BuzzFeed, 9to5Mac, SlashGear and AppleInsider

Tweets: @red, @tim_cook, @pschiller and @reneritchie

Rachel Feintzeig / Wall Street Journal:

Tech firms competing for talent spawn “workplace coordinators” to manage lavish employee perks — Lavish Perks Spawn New Job Category — At Tech Companies, Aim-to-Please Specialists Provide Yoga Classes, Jell-O Shots — From Muay Thai classes to Zen meditation rooms …

More: Business Insider, Inc.com, Fortune and SiliconBeat

Jerome Groopman / New Yorker:

How 3-D printing is revolutionizing medicine — In February of 2012, a medical team at the University of Michigan's C. S. Mott Children's Hospital, in Ann Arbor, carried out an unusual operation on a three-month-old boy. The baby had been born with a rare condition called tracheobronchomalacia …

Tweets: @mfordfuture and @sub8u

Evelyn M. Rusli / Wall Street Journal:

Anonymous messaging app Yik Yak raises $62M led by Sequoia at valuation in low hundreds of millions, adds Jim Goetz to board — Year-Old Yik Yak Draws Big Valuation — Figure for Anonymous-Messaging App Is Said to Be in Low Hundred Millions of Dollars — Yik Yak, the controversial …

Felix Gillette / Businessweek:

Behind PayPal-owned mobile payments app Venmo, which processed $700M in payments in Q3 2014 — Mobile Payment Startup Venmo is Killing Cash — Kristen Geil, a writer for an Internet marketing firm in Chicago, heard about Venmo for the first time two summers ago.

Tweets: @avinash and @kaylatausche

Wall Street Journal:

Samsung considers reorg placing mobile division under co-CEO B.K. Yoon, who oversees TV and home appliance business — Samsung Considering Shake-Up in Management — Co-CEO B.K. Yoon May Assume Leadership of Mobile Division

Greg Sterling / Search Engine Land:

Europeans Have Authority To Seek Google Break Up Though Unlikely To Do So — Break Google up. That's the thrust of a “non-binding” resolution the European Parliament is expected to adopt at some point in the near future, according to a report on Friday from Reuters.

More: PC Magazine and Slate

Ian Urbina / New York Times:

Passwords don't just protect data, they reveal our hopes, dreams, secrets, fears, and memories — The Secret Life of Passwords … Play Videos — Howard Lutnick, the chief executive of Cantor Fitzgerald, one of the world's largest financial-services firms, still cries when he talks about it.

Tweets: @swiftonsecurity, @aldaily, @nytimes, @codinghorror, @ala_lita, @nicoleperlroth, @amiraaah, @megan, @nytmag, @stammy, @digiphile, @ethanz and @nickbilton

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