Techmeme
November 2, 2018, 6:05 PM

Top News

Sam Biddle / The Intercept:
After The Intercept's inquiry, Facebook deletes “white genocide conspiracy theory” as a pre-defined ad targeting category with an estimated 168K users  —  Apparently fueled by anti-Semitism and the bogus narrative that outside forces are scheming to exterminate the white race …
Andrei Zakharov / BBC:
Hackers publish private messages from 81K Facebook accounts and claim to have details from up to 120M accounts for sale; FB blames 3rd-party browser extensions  —  Hackers appear to have compromised and published private messages from at least 81,000 Facebook users' accounts.
Kara Swisher / Recode:
In a wide-ranging interview, Elon Musk discusses his tweeting habits, Tesla's past year, its Navigate on Autopilot feature, full autonomous driving, and more  —  Musk talks about his “excruciating” 2018, fighting with journalists on Twitter, why Tesla won't build an electric scooter and much more.
Nathaniel Popper / New York Times:
Profile of cryptocurrency millionaire Jeffrey Berns who says he has spent $300M to build an experimental community based on blockchain in Nevada  —  A man spent millions on an enormous plot of land near Reno.  Now he wants to build a community based on the blockchain technology introduced by Bitcoin.
Yahoo News:
Sources: in 2011, Iranians used Google search to identify a string of websites the CIA used to communicate with its agents, compromising the CIA's wider network  —  In 2013, hundreds of CIA officers — many working nonstop for weeks — scrambled to contain a disaster of global proportions …
Justin O'Beirne:
A detailed look at Apple's new maps for iOS 12 covering San Francisco and the Bay Area with seemingly better road data than Google Maps but worse location data  —  HAS APPLE CLOSED THE GAP WITH GOOGLE'S MAP?  —  TAP OR CLICK ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE  —  Perhaps the biggest surprise about Apple's new map is how small it is:
Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:
Spotify makes an early version of its Apple Watch app available to a limited number of users via Apple's TestFlight beta testing program  —  Spotify is officially coming to Apple Watch, as the streaming music service today delighted users with an early beta version of the watchOS app through TestFlight.
David McCabe / Axios:
Google says Susan Molinari, its Vice President of Public Policy for the Americas and head of its D.C. office, is leaving next year  —  Google's top U.S. public policy official is stepping down from the role, the company confirmed on Friday.  —  Why it matters: The departure …
More: New York TimesThanks:@dmccabe
Rita Liao / TechCrunch:
Tencent unveils Spectacles-like Weishi smart glasses, available in China from November 11 and named after its own short video sharing app Weishi  —  Some were surprised to see Snap release a second version of its ‘face-camera’ Spectacles gadget, since the original version failed to convert hype into sales.
More: The Verge
IDC:
IDC: 355.2M smartphones were shipped worldwide in Q3 2018, down 6% YoY from 377.8M; Samsung saw a decline of 13.4% and Huawei grew 32.9%  —  According to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, smartphone vendors shipped a total …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Report: live-streaming TV services' viewing hours grew 212% YoY; connected TVs, such as those using devices like Roku or Apple TV, account for 56% of time spent  —  Live streaming TV services, like Sling TV, PlayStation Vue, Hulu with Live TV, and others, are gaining steam in the U.S …
More: Mashable
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Flickr says it will end 1TB storage for free accounts and delete all but the most recent 1,000 photos or videos if users don't upgrade to Pro by February 2019  —  Flickr was purchased in April by professional photo hosting service SmugMug, and today, the first major changes under the new ownership have been announced.
Geoffrey A. Fowler / Washington Post:
Testing of battery life on flagship phones, including iPhone XS and Pixel 3, shows newer phones die faster than older ones, likely due to screen tech like OLED  —  Despite some notable exceptions, many 2018 smartphone batteries can't keep up.  Here's why — and what we can do about it.
Peter Cao / 9to5Mac:
Apple starts rolling out App Store Connect API, which lets developers automate TestFlight tasks like creating groups and adding and removing testers  —  Apple has today started rolling out the App Store Connect API to developers.  Promised back in June of this year, the new API will allow developers …
More: iClarified
BuzzFeed News:
Google workers from Singapore, Japan, Israel, the UK, Ireland, India, and the US staged a walkout to protest the company's handling of sexual harassment  —  Groups of Google employees are staging walkouts at offices across the world in protest at how sexual misconduct allegations are handled by the company.
The Cut:
Stephen Nellis / Reuters:
Apple warns holiday sales may miss Wall Street expectations; Cook says negative forecast due to exchange rates, supply uncertainty, weakness in emerging markets  —  (Reuters) - Apple Inc on Thursday said sales for the crucial holiday quarter could miss Wall Street expectations …
Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:

Sponsor Posts

Clay:
Turn any GTM idea into reality  —  Clay helps GTM teams combine AI agents, enrichment, and intent data to move faster and turn insights into action.
Soxton:
AI-powered law for startups  —  Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better.  We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts.  Join the waitlist for early access!
Zoho:
Your website, your brand: A website building guide for tech partners  —  In a competitive market, trust is what makes businesses choose you and stay with you.  As a tech partner, you can take steps to build …
IDrive:
Geometric Grand Unification — Solving the Hubble Tension & Proton Mass  —  Physics solved?  AI verifies model unifying gravity & particles by deriving constants from vacuum geometry.  Identifies void-driven topology.

Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:
Software In Shambles, OpenAI vs. Anthropic Super Brawl, Amazon's Struggles
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Hard Fork:
Elon Musk's Mega-Merger + We Test Google's Project Genie + What's Next for Moltbook Creator
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Jeff Bezos Used To Be In Love with The Washington Post. What Happened?
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
Cheeky Pint:
Elon Musk on Space GPUs, AI, Optimus, and his manufacturing method
Stripe cofounder John Collison interviews founders, builders, and leaders over a pint.
Subscribe to Cheeky Pint.
Great Chat:
Is building in public over?
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
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.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 6:05 PM ET, November 2, 2018.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Earlier Picks

Jeremy B. Merrill / ProPublica:
Alfred Ng / CNET: