Techmeme: FCC: smartphone theft a problem with 3.1M stolen in 2013, but new security measures helped (Matt Novak/Gizmodo)

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December 7, 2014, 1:55 PM

Top News

Anna Fifield / Washington Post:

North Korea denies hacking Sony but calls the breach a ‘righteous deed’ — TOKYO — North Korea has denied hacking Sony Pictures' computer systems in retaliation for its movie “The Interview,” which revolves around a plot to assassinate North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un.

More: New York Times, The Verge, Hollywood Reporter, Business Insider, Rolling Stone, Guardian, BBC, Gizmodo, WSJ, NBC News, Agence France-Presse and Re/code

Reuters:

North Korea's cyber war cell Bureau 121 employs 1800 hackers who are considered military elite — In North Korea, hackers are a handpicked, pampered elite — (Reuters) - Despite its poverty and isolation, North Korea has poured resources into a sophisticated cyber-warfare cell called Bureau 121 …

More: TechnoBuffalo, CNET, Wall Street Journal, Engadget and ZDNet. Tweets: @hg_masters

Malini Menon / Reuters:

Indian police arrest Uber driver who allegedly raped passenger, will take legal action against company for failing to run background checks — Uber cab driver in India arrested after suspected rape — (Reuters) - Indian police on Sunday arrested an Uber cab driver suspected of raping …

More: CNET, Uber Blog, VentureBeat, Guardian, BBC, Wall Street Journal, PandoDaily, BuzzFeed, NDTV News and Quartz

Seth Fiegerman / Mashable:

Aliens in the valley: The complete and chaotic history of Reddit — For months leading up to his resignation, Yishan Wong looked beat down. Employees say he was noticeably stressed and no longer enjoying his work. One business associate who stopped by the office in October thought Yishan …

Tweets: @mashable, @cmdrtaco, @sfiegerman and @mikeisaac. Thanks:@sfiegerman

Jack Marshall / Wall Street Journal:

Google study finds 56.1% of display ad impressions it served never appeared on screen — 5 Viewability Findings From Google — Online marketers are increasingly opting to pay only for “viewable” ad impressions — those that actually display on users' screens, rather than ones that appear …

More: Think with Google, Quartz, DoubleClick Advertiser, BizReport, Research-live.com, CBS News, Business Insider, ExchangeWire.com, The Drum and Marketing Land

Tweets: @hoofnagle, @jtemple, @leeodden and @mdudas

Carmel DeAmicis / Gigaom:

Secret struggles after clamping down on bullying; CEO teases dramatic revamp coming next week — What's happening with Secret? — Secret, the anonymous messaging app that captured the attention of Silicon Valley in the months after its January launch, is struggling.

More: PandoDaily. Tweets: @jyarow and @davidbyttow

Matt Novak / Gizmodo:

FCC: smartphone theft a problem with 3.1M stolen in 2013, but new security measures helped — 59% of robberies in San Francisco involve the theft of a smartphone — Thefts involving smartphones are on the rise according to a new FCC study. In 2013, 3.1 million Americans had their smartphones stolen.

More: TechnoBuffalo, Cult of Mac, Washington Post and Consumerist

Vauhini Vara / New Yorker:

Freedom House report: Internet freedom declined in 36 of 65 countries studied this year — The World Cracks Down on the Internet — In September of last year, Chinese authorities announced an unorthodox standard to help them decide whether to punish people for posting online comments that are false …

More: Freedom House, Washington Post, Business Recorder, Sputnik, TodaysZaman, The Register, Trakin' the india …, American Journalism Review, Tom's Hardware Guide, Reason, U.S. News, Voice of America, RT and TechPresident

Tweets: @patrickbeuth, @violetblue, @conradhackett and @antonnewcombe

Zack Whittaker / Fortune:

A look at possible outcomes between EU Commission and Google; splitting off search unlikely — Could Europe really break up Google? A look at what's possible—and likely — Europe's elected elite want to break up Google. The technology giant, known for its web search engine but offering …

Thanks:@zackwhittaker

Scott Rosenberg / Backchannel:

Why tech giants create new programming languages, and how Go and Swift reflect their creators — My Computer Language is Better than Yours — Go and Swift take another step up the programming-language ladder … Google has Go, first conceived in 2009. Facebook introduced Hack last spring.

Tweets: @itod, @joshuajberk, @stevesi, @pedromelo, @mattcutts and @olivier_poitrey

Liam Tung / ZDNet:

IBM's Watson Analytics enters public beta — Summary:IBM has made it cognitive analytics package more widely available. — IBM has launched the public beta of Watson Analytics, its set of cloud-based predictive and analytics tools. — The move to public beta for Watson Analytics …

More: Gizmodo, The Next Web, CMSWire, PR Newswire, InformationWeek, Computerworld, WebProNews and eWeek

Harry McCracken / Fast Company:

DeviantArt launching first official iPhone and Android apps, reveals new logo and website revamp — With Its New App, DeviantArt Finally Has A Mobile Place For Those 65 Million Monthly Visitors — With 65 million unique visitors a month sharing, exploring, and discussing artwork of all sorts …

More: Design Week, DeviantArt and Empty Lighthouse Magazine. Thanks:@mariedomingo

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