Techmeme
July 19, 2018, 12:35 PM

Top News

The Information:
Siri cofounder Tom Gruber and Apple's head of search Vipul Ved Prakash have left the company after John Giannandrea was named as the leader of the Siri Group  —  Tom Gruber, one of the original Siri cofounders, has left Apple, where he was recently the head of Siri's Advanced Development group …
Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:
Leaked internal Apple document states that 2018 MacBook Pro keyboard includes a membrane to prevent debris from entering butterfly key mechanism  —  In an internal document distributed to Apple Authorized Service Providers, obtained by MacRumors from multiple reliable sources …
Kara Swisher / Recode:
Mark Zuckerberg clarifies his comments about Holocaust deniers on Facebook: “I absolutely didn't intend to defend the intent of people who deny that”  —  The Facebook founder has attracted controversy for how the social network deals with content that is offensive to many, such as Holocaust denying.
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Facebook says it has begun removing misinformation that contributes to violence on its site, will review text and images in partnership with local organizations  —  The policy was used for the first time last month in Sri Lanka  —  Hours after CEO Mark Zuckerberg spurred history by defending …
Kara Swisher / Recode:
Bloomberg:
Sources give more details on Google's Fuchsia OS, which now has 100+ engineers working on it and aims to underpin all Google's gadgets from IoT to Pixel  —  - More than 100 engineers are working on skunkworks Fuchsia OS  — New software could replace current systems in next five years
Alex Davies / Wired:
Alphabet's Loon signs its first commercial agreement to work with Telkom Kenya to provide internet in central Kenya starting next year  —  IT'S BEEN A big week for Loon.  Just eight days ago, it was one of Alphabet's moonshot projects, launching antennas attached to giant balloons into the stratosphere to beam internet down to Earth.
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook says it will begin proactively locking accounts of those under 13 on Instagram and Facebook, after report showed relaxed attitude by moderators  —  Facebook and Instagram will more proactively lock the accounts of users its moderators suspect are below the age of 13.
Marshall Allen / ProPublica:
Investigation: the health insurance industry is working with data brokers to collect “lifestyle” details on hundreds of millions of Americans to predict costs  —  To an outsider, the fancy booths at last month's health insurance industry gathering in San Diego aren't very compelling.
Davey Alba / BuzzFeed News:
Despite repeated requests, Spotify does not let users block followers to deal with harassers and says a block feature is not in its current road map  —  When Meghan, a 26-year-old bookseller in Boston, left her boyfriend after months of emotional abuse, she made every effort to cut him out of her life.
Danny Crichton / TechCrunch:
Intelligent budgeting app Even raises $40M Series B led by Khosla Ventures, bringing total raised to $50.5M  —  The working class of the United States doesn't get many breaks these days.  It's not just a function of low pay and long hours, but also the incredible uncertainty of income …
More: Bloomberg, Forbes, and PE Hub BlogThanks:@drs650
Drew Harwell / Washington Post:
Investigation shows Google Home and Alexa struggle to understand Indian, Chinese, and Spanish accents compared to accents from across America  —  THE ACCENT GAP  —  We tested Amazon's Alexa and Google's Home to see how people with accents are getting left behind in the smart-speaker revolution.
Eric Geller / Politico:
Survey of election security in 50 US states shows vulnerabilities persist ahead of midterms as only 13 of 40 respondents said they would buy new voting machines  —  Most states aren't planning to use federal funds to make major election upgrades before November.

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Tom Warren / The Verge: