Techmeme
December 17, 2017, 3:30 PM

Top News

Kate Conger / Gizmodo:
After slipping an unexplained promotional plugin for the TV show Mr. Robot into Firefox and angering users, Mozilla will move the extension to its add-on store  —  This week, Mozilla slipped a browser extension that promoted Mr. Robot into Firefox.  The goal was to give Firefox users access …
Chris Velazco / Engadget:
Eve V review: a more affordable, surprisingly worthy Surface Pro competitor designed by its forum community  —  If you've never heard of Eve, I like to think of it as the OnePlus of computers: By ditching middlemen, this 11-person startup found a way to build and sell premium computers at a significant discount.
Felix Salmon / Nieman Lab:
The meteoric rise of bitcoin and difficulty in tracing ownership make disclosures from journalists and the experts they quote even more important  —  2018 will be the year of inadequate bitcoin disclosures.  —  In April 2013, Farhad Manjoo (then at Slate, now at The New York Times) …
Farhad Manjoo / New York Times:
In 2017, big tech platforms began accepting some responsibility for negatively affecting the real world, but questions remain about companies' next steps  —  This was a terrible year for the tech industry.  —  That's an odd thing to say at a time of record growth and profits.
Sucheta Kulkarni / The Keyword:
Google Maps for Android and iOS get a new public transit navigation feature that sends users notifications when they need to get off the bus or train  —  Traveling on a bus or train is the time for you to do your best music-listening, news-reading, and social-media scrolling ... as long as you don't miss your stop.
Ty Pendlebury / CNET:
Google Home Max review: the best-sounding smart speaker yet, but it's too expensive for mass appeal at $399  —  Review Sections  —  Review  —  Prices  — CNET - Audio - Speakers - Google Home Max  —  The Google Home Max is not the first smart speaker to aim for better audio quality …
Wall Street Journal:
Profile of US investment firm Voleon, which has $1.8B under management and has been using machine learning to pick stocks since 2007 with mixed success  —  Voleon is among investors deploying machine learning, a technology in which computers develop trading strategies.  It's harder than it sounds.
Johana Bhuiyan / Recode:
Unsealed letter by attorney of former Uber security employee Richard Jacobs, released in Uber-Waymo trial, claims Uber spied on competitors and employees  —  The letter has been submitted as evidence in Alphabet's lawsuit against Uber.  —  A 37-page letter that details allegations …
Ryan Mac / BuzzFeed:

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Nathan Heller / New Yorker: