Techmeme
January 27, 2018, 5:00 PM

Top News

New York Times:
How Devumi uses its 3.5M+ automated Twitter accounts, sometimes based on stolen social identities, to sell followers and retweets to 200K+ customers  —  Everyone wants to be popular online.  —  Some even pay for it.  —  Inside social media's black market.
James Vincent / The Verge:
AI advances are now making automated analysis of live surveillance video possible, presaging useful applications while raising serious questions about privacy  —  What happens when digital eyes get the brains to match?  —  We usually think of surveillance cameras as digital eyes …
Robert Draper / National Geographic:
A deep look at the evolution of visual surveillance technology, where it is headed, and what its continuing rise will mean for security, transparency, privacy  —  London authorities were early adopters of widespread closed-circuit television (CCTV)  —  surveillance after the city was targeted …
Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
YouTube served ads containing Coinhive's cryptocurrency-mining and CPU-draining JavaScript, likely via Google's DoubleClick; Google says ads now blocked  —  Ad campaign lets attackers profit while unwitting users watch videos.  —  YouTube was recently caught displaying ads …
Josh Lovejoy / Google Design:
Google details human-centered UX approach for its Clips camera, says AI for capturing memorable moments was trained with the help of professional photographers  —  Using Google Clips to understand how a human-centered design process elevates artificial intelligence
Nitasha Tiku / Wired:
Diversity advocates inside Google, including queer and transgender staff, say they are being targeted by a small group of coworkers with doxxing and harassment  —  FIRED GOOGLE ENGINEER James Damore says he was vilified and harassed for questioning what he calls the company's liberal political orthodoxy …
Evan Blass / VentureBeat:
Renders of upcoming Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ leak, both look similar to their S8 predecessors  —  EXCLUSIVE:  —  Having opted against what would have been an uncharacteristic debut at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas — in teaser capacity or otherwise …
Theodore Schleifer / Recode:
Sources: a16z and USV, who have cryptocurrency experience, are passing on Telegram's ICO; firms newer to crypto like KPCB, Sequoia, and Benchmark are investing  —  The investors are not who you'd expect.  —  Some of the most prominent investors in cryptocurrency are passing …
Ben Hubbard / New York Times:
Billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, investor in companies including Twitter and Lyft, is released after November arrest amid corruption crackdown  —  BEIRUT, Lebanon — Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, Saudi Arabia's most prominent and flamboyant investor, has been released from detention …
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook will allow fans of game streamers to tip creators a minimum of $3 as part of its new gaming creator pilot program  —  Facebook Live is launching monetization for video gameplay streamers, allowing users to tip creators a minimum of $3 via the desktop site.

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Will Oremus / Slate: