Techmeme
November 8, 2018, 10:30 PM

Top News

Sundar Pichai / The Keyword:
Google says it will make arbitration optional for individual sexual harassment claims, provide more info about investigations, expand training, and more  —  At Google we try hard to build a workplace that supports our employees and empowers them to do their best work.
David Gelles / New York Times:
Sundar Pichai on the walkout, company culture, and how, China aside, Google already operates in countries with censorship laws like “right to be forgotten”  —  Growing up in India, he slept on the floor of a house without a refrigerator.  Today, the chief executive …
Google Walkout For Real Change:
Google walkout organizers say Google made progress toward addressing their demands but it must still address systemic racism and discrimination at the company  —  Last week, 20,000 Google employees and TVCs (Temps, Vendors and Contractors) walked out to protest discrimination, racism …
Michelle Castillo / CNBC:
Disney says its new streaming service will be called Disney+ and will launch in the US in late 2019  —  - Disney's new streaming service, Disney+, will be a home for its past titles and original series, including new content from the Marvel and Star Wars franchises.
Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:
Microsoft says it has fixed an issue deactivating licenses on some Windows 10 Pro machines, says update will be automatically applied over next 24 hours  —  Microsoft's back-end activation issues which caused a number of Windows users to get false product-activation-error messages seems to be nearly fixed.
Dan Seifert / The Verge:
Portal and Portal+ review: they work great for video calls using Facebook Messenger, but as general purpose smart displays, they lag behind the competition  —  Facebook's video calling device demands lots of trust for little return  —  It's not often that a new gadget gets announced and I don't immediately want to get my hands on it.
Megan Wollerton / CNET:
Davey Alba / BuzzFeed News:
Amazon staff meeting transcript: AWS CEO Andy Jassy defends Rekognition, says it's the government's duty to help specify regulations for facial recognition tech  —  Amazon executives defended the company's controversial facial recognition technology at an all-hands staff meeting on Thursday …
Christina Farr / CNBC:
Google hires David Feinberg, CEO of health services organization Geisinger, to lead its health initiatives; sources say he will report to AI head Jeff Dean  —  - Feinberg will work to coordinate health care efforts across many groups, including Google Brain, Nest and Google Fit.
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
Check Point: DJI's website and apps had a vulnerability that would have given hackers unfettered access to a drone owner's account, including live video footage  —  It took about six months for popular consumer drone maker DJI to fix a security vulnerability across its website and apps …
Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:
Xiaomi opens its first UK store in London and rolls out the flagship Mi 8 Pro, alongside other products, as it continues its push into Europe  —  Xiaomi marked its official entry into the U.K. today with the launch of the Mi 8 Pro, a smartphone with a 6.21-inch screen, alongside a range of other products …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Amazon makes the Alexa app, previously available on select laptops, available to all Windows 10 users via Microsoft Store  —  Available in the Microsoft Store  —  Amazon is releasing its Alexa app for Windows 10 today.  While the app has been available on select Windows 10 laptops recently …
Jordan Crook / TechCrunch:
YouTube finally arrives on the Nintendo Switch, available to download now, following Hulu  —  Nintendo has sold over 22 million Switch consoles since launch, with plans to sell another 20 million this financial year.  —  That said, Nintendo hasn't seemed too focused on building out its portfolio of non-gaming apps.
Dara Kerr / CNET:
Bird unveils a new feature called Community Mode, which lets people report badly parked and damaged scooters to the company  —  Scooter company Bird is looking for tattletales.  —  It unveiled a new feature on Thursday called Community Mode, which lets people report badly parked and damaged scooters to the company.
More: MashableTweets: @cnetnews and @mcwmThanks:@darakerr

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Shopify's new AI commerce stack  —  Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
Zoho:
Get your favorite apps talking to Zoho Sign with Zapier  —  Your business didn't come together overnight.  It's something you've built, refined, and fine-tuned over time.  Every tool you use has a purpose …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Grit:
How Brands Stay Visible When AI Decides | Profound CEO James Cadwallader
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Lenny's Podcast:
The coming AI security crisis (and what to do about it) | Sander Schulhoff
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Big Technology Podcast:
OpenAI's Potential, Google's Speedy Model, Copilot Hits Turbulence
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:
Why Roomba Died + Tech Predictions for 2026 + A Hard Forkin' Xmas Song
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.
Access:
Betting on reality with Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling
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 10:30 PM ET, November 8, 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

Tyler Cowen / Conversations with Tyler:
Lora Kolodny / CNBC:
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch: