Techmeme
November 26, 2018, 7:25 AM

Top News

Carole Cadwalladr / The Guardian:
UK parliament seizes documents, first obtained in a US civil case, allegedly shedding light on Facebook policies that led to the Cambridge Analytica scandal  —  Parliament has used its legal powers to seize internal Facebook documents in an extraordinary attempt to hold the US social media giant …
CNET:
The best Cyber Monday 2018 deals on phones, fitness trackers, smart speakers, streaming devices, and more, from Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Amazon, and others  —  Cyber Monday is almost upon us and that means deals, deals, deals.  Some are good, some are bad — here are the best of them.
Ava Kofman / The Intercept:
AC Global Risk, a startup that touts Apple, Facebook, Palantir, and Google as clients, claims it can assess one's “risk level” via a 10 minute yes/no voice Q&A  —  Is it possible to tell whether someone is a criminal just from looking at their face or listening to the sound of their voice?
Daniel Oberhaus / Motherboard:
How Lenny, a chatbot made in 2009 to troll telemarketers, has gained a cult following and now gets ~300 calls/day, averaging almost ten minutes per call  —  Lenny is a decade-old chatbot designed to troll telemarketers that has developed a cult following online.  It's remarkably convincing, but is it actually effective?
Paul Vigna / Wall Street Journal:
Ohio treasurer's office launches OhioCrypto.com, enabling local businesses to pay taxes with bitcoin; payments are processed and converted to dollars by BitPay  —  State backs technology that has garnered lots of hype but failed to gain traction as a form of payment
Nathaniel Popper / New York Times:
Low fees and high interest rates are allowing VC-funded “neo-banks” like Chime, Aspiration, Empower, and Varo to compete with the big consumer banks in the US  —  SAN FRANCISCO — After the financial crisis 10 years ago, unhappy customers were expected to flee the megabanks for smaller competitors.
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Interview with Atari CEO Frederic Chesnais on how the company has returned to profitability and paid off its debt ahead of a planned console launch in 2019  —  When Fred Chesnais took over the legendary Atari company in 2013, the new owners had about $34 million (30 million euros) in debt and about $1 million in revenue.

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Featured Podcasts

Hard Fork:
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Betting on reality with Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour
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Lenny's Podcast:
The new AI growth playbook for 2026: How Lovable hit $200M ARR in one year | Elena Verna (Head of Growth)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
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Channels with Peter Kafka:
"Neither Side Is Used to Losing." Lucas Shaw on What's Next for Netflix and Paramount in the Battle for Warner Bros.
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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.
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More News

Mike Dudas / The Block:
Nathan Vardi / Forbes:
John P. Carlin / Politico:

Earlier Picks

Kara Swisher / New York Times: