Techmeme
April 22, 2018, 3:55 PM

Top News

Julia Alexander / Polygon:
Valve acquires Firewatch developer Campo Santo, which will be left intact as a team, weeks after CEO said Valve will return to “making and shipping games”  —  Dev team will continue to make its own games  —  Firewatch developer Campo Santo announced today that it's joining Valve.
Alan Boyle / GeekWire:
EarthNow comes out of stealth with backing from Bill Gates, Airbus, and SoftBank, plans to operate a satellite constellation providing real-time video of Earth  —  The latest spinout from Intellectual Ventures, EarthNow, says it's coming out of stealth mode with backing from Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates …
Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal:
A look at the many ways Google harvests user info via Gmail, apps on devices, its Analytics service, more; Google likely knows more about us than Facebook  —  Google gathers more personal data than Facebook does, by almost every measure—so why aren't we talking about it?
New York Times:
How hate speech and misinformation spread on Facebook in developing countries like Sri Lanka, where reputable sources are scarce, leading to real-world violence  —  MEDAMAHANUWARA, Sri Lanka — Past the end of a remote mountain road, down a rutted dirt track, in a concrete house …
Jessica Guynn / USA Today:
Photo-sharing and storage company SmugMug acquires Flickr from Oath, promises to revitalize and maintain Flickr as a standalone service  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Flickr has been snapped up by Silicon Valley photo-sharing and storage company SmugMug, USA TODAY has learned.
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: DOJ has sent subpoenas to the top 4 US mobile carriers and GSMA association over alleged collusion to impede eSIM features for easier carrier switching  —  AT&T, Verizon at center of probe into whether major carriers are making it harder for subscribers to switch providers
Nellie Bowles / New York Times:
Profile of Campbell Brown, Facebook's head of news partnerships; sources say she controls a $90M budget that will pay partners to make original news programs  —  It was another terrible day for Facebook and the company had dispatched Campbell Brown, its head of news partnerships, to do some damage control.
Emilia Petrarca / The Cut:
Two computer-generated Instagram influencers had an orchestrated feud where one “hacked” the other's account and “revealed” she was not a real person  —  If you need any further proof that we're living in The Matrix, here it is.  —  On Tuesday, the Instagram account …
Michael Jordan:
A look at the current state of AI, what “AI” refers to, and how focusing on the “human-imitative” aspects of AI ignores opportunities in other research areas  —  Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the mantra of the current era.  The phrase is intoned by technologists …

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Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:
Is AI Killing Software? — With Bret Taylor
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
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Channels with Peter Kafka:
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Acquired:
The NFL (2026 Update)
Learn the playbooks that built the world's greatest companies - and how you can apply them as a founder, operator, or investor.
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The Talk Show With John Gruber:
'A Mitigated Disaster', With Daniel Jalkut
The director's commentary track for Daring Fireball. Long digressions on Apple, technology, design, movies, and more.
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Grit:
The Safest Dollar on the Internet | Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
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Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Special Edition: Key findings from the Microsoft AI Diffusion Report
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
 

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Earlier Picks

Cade Metz / New York Times: