Techmeme
May 8, 2019, 3:35 PM

Top News

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
To curb tracking, Google says anti-fingerprinting tech is coming in Chrome and devs must explicitly opt-in for cookies that are meant to be used across sites  —  Google today announced a major new initiative around its Chrome browser that will, in the long run, introduce significant changes …
New York Times:
At Google I/O, Sundar Pichai pitched privacy for everyone, going against the company's history of data collection, one week after a similar push from Facebook  —  MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Google, the company that may know the most about our digital lives, is now preaching the gospel of privacy.
Johana Bhuiyan / Los Angeles Times:
Uber and Lyft drivers are planning a 24-hour strike in at least 10 cities in the US to protest against unfair pay ahead of Uber's much-anticipated IPO  —  It was a protest that dealt Uber its biggest blow.  When taxi drivers in New York City rallied against President Trump's travel ban in 2017 …
Nikhilesh De / CoinDesk:
Binance says hackers accessed some user API keys, 2FA codes, and stole 7,000 bitcoins worth ~$41M; it will use its Secure Asset Fund for Users to cover the loss  —  Hackers stole more than 7,000 bitcoin from crypto exchange Binance, the world's largest by volume, the startup reported Tuesday.
Reuters:
Tencent pulls the test version of blockbuster game PUBG in China and shifts users to a similar “patriotic” game that has government approval to generate revenue  —  SHANGHAI/HONG KONG (Reuters) - Tencent Holdings Ltd on Wednesday shut down its test version of global blockbuster …
Theodore Schleifer / Vox:
Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg, popular with some of Silicon Valley's wealthiest donors, has five fundraising events in the Bay Area this week  —  Inside the tech network that is trying to turn a small-town mayor into a fundraising dynamo.  —  The two 30-somethings drove …
Rani Molla / Vox:
Experts say apps like Nextdoor and Ring's Neighbors give people a false sense that the US crime rate is worsening even as violent crime reaches record lows  —  Why people are socializing more about crime even as it becomes rarer.  —  Violent crime in the US is at its lowest rate in decades.
Patricia Hernandez / Polygon:
Kids who play Fortnite as free “default” characters are often bullied, insulted, and sometimes ostracized by peers, causing pressure to purchase skins  —  The stigma of being a default  —  In a private school where tuition is high, students can bicker about clothes, shoe brands, cellphones, or video games.
Washington Post:
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley introduces a bill banning “loot boxes” and pay-to-win schemes in games aimed at those under 18  —  Video games popular among kids would be prohibited from offering “loot boxes” or randomized assortments of digital weapons, clothing and other items …
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sources: Google's paid music services, YouTube Music and Google Play Music, have passed 15M subscribers, far behind Apple's 50M+ and Spotify's 100M+  —  - Figure includes users of YouTube Music and Google Play Music  —  Google's paid music services have eclipsed 15 million subscribers …
More: Thurrott
Janko Roettgers / Variety:
Google to replace its “Works with Nest” program this summer with “Works with Google Assistant”, which would give vetted partners access to customer data  —  As Google is further integrating the Nest brand, it is also introducing some significant changes to the way Nest products will work.
Wolfie Zhao / CoinDesk:
Bitmain's internal bitcoin mining operations are generating 88% less computing power than a month ago, suggesting it has drastically cut its own mining capacity  —  Bitmain's internal bitcoin mining operations are generating 88 percent less computing power than a month ago, suggesting that the industry giant has cut back on capacity.

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More News

Matthieu Faou / WeLiveSecurity:

Earlier Picks

Jeffrey Van Camp / Wired:
Dieter Bohn / The Verge: