Techmeme: Lyft can survive as #2 by differentiating from Uber on user experience and staying focused just on ride-sharing (Annie Lowrey/New York Magazine)

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July 5, 2015, 8:40 PM

Top News

The Intercept:

New documents show XKEYSCORE, NSA's Google-like tool, collects more data than previously reported including web searches and router configuration information — XKEYSCORE: NSA's Google for the World's Private Communications — Illustrations by Blue Delliquanti and David Axe for The Intercept

More: CoinTelegraph.Com News, Business Insider, TechSpot, Engadget, CNET, Wired and CIO.com

Tweets: @the_intercept, @just_security, @ggreenwald, @emptywheel, @rj_gallagher and @attackerman

The Intercept:

How the NSA's XKEYSCORE system for collecting and searching Internet data works — A Look at the Inner Workings of NSA's XKEYSCORE — Second in a series. Part 1 here. — The sheer quantity of communications that XKEYSCORE processes, filters and queries is stunning.

More: Schneier on Security. Tweets: @micahflee, @maassp and @eff

Mike Isaac / New York Times:

After moderators protested dismissal of a key employee by taking down popular subreddits, Reddit CEO Ellen Pao apologizes for how the transition was handled — Reddit Moderators Shut Down Parts of Site Over Employee's Dismissal — Hundreds of sections of Reddit, the popular online message board …

Dante D'Orazio / The Verge:

Nearly all major subreddits are set to public again after going private in protest — Nearly all major subreddits are back online following Reddit protests — Just a day after a massive revolt tore down parts of Reddit, the site now appears to be mostly back to normal.

More: NPR. See also Mediagazer

Kevin Fitchard / Fortune:

The economics of inflight Wi-Fi: why prices and speeds vary so widely — The crazy economics of inflight Wi-Fi — It's summer time, and that means millions of Americans will soon make their way to airports across the country. An amenity featured on more and more flights these days …

Tweets: @gigastacey and @kfitchard

Ricardo Bilton / Digiday:

Microsoft's ad business withered because it tried to beat Google in search, overspent on aQuantive, and had warring factions in its organization — Autopsy: Why Microsoft's ad business withered — On Tuesday, Microsoft said that it was handing over its ad sales business to AOL …

Tweets: @mattrosoff

Nolan Lawson / Read the Tea Leaves:

Apple is falling behind other browser makers in implementing web standards in Safari — Safari is the new IE — Last weekend I attended EdgeConf, a conference populated by many of the leading lights in the web industry. It featured panel talks and breakout sessions with a focus …

More: Read the Tea Leaves, Six Colors, Kenneth Auchenberg, iMore and Six Colors

Tweets: @donmelton, @philiped, @jessewilson, @ryosukeniwa, @seldo, @kevinmarks, @zeldman, @cdixon and @carnage4life

Annie Lowrey / New York Magazine:

Lyft can survive as #2 by differentiating from Uber on user experience and staying focused just on ride-sharing — Can Lyft pull an Avis? — John Zimmer is one of the two founders of the ride-sharing service Lyft, and on a hazy spring afternoon, he was standing on the top …

Tweets: @ezraklein, @mdudas and @annielowrey

Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:

Apple Pay expected to go live in the U.K. on July 14th, £20+ transactions starting this fall — Apple appears to be planning to enable its Apple Pay iPhone mobile payments service in the United Kingdom on July 14th, according to sources at multiple retailers.

More: TechnoBuffalo, Digital Trends, Redmond Pie, iPhone in Canada Blog, The Verge, Engadget and iMore

Dave Wiskus / Better Elevation:

Apple Music Connect has a clunky uploading interface, lacks standard social networking features for artists — Disconnect — [Update: I got an email from Trent Reznor this afternoon. Apple is aware of the growing pains and is working to address them.] — When Apple announced Connect at WWDC last month, I was excited.

More: The Loop, Daring Fireball, iMore, MacRumors, Apple Music and MacStories

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:

US government lacks a unified approach to address the Internet of Things: dozens of separate agencies and congressional committees conduct piecemeal oversight — What Washington really knows about the Internet of Things — A POLITICO investigation. — President Barack Obama wears …

More: Re/code and Fortune. Tweets: @dsamuelsohn and @digiphile

Jason Koebler / Motherboard:

22 Towns in Massachusetts Are Building Their Own Gigabit Fiber Network — Large swaths of rural Western Massachusetts are about to get gigabit fiber internet after residents in 22 separate towns decided to join a government cooperative designed to bring high speed broadband to places …

More: WiredWest, Engadget, Softpedia News and BetaBoston

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