Techmeme
September 17, 2019, 8:30 AM

Top News

Joseph Cox / VICE:
Richard Stallman has resigned as president and director of Free Software Foundation and from MIT's CSAIL over his comments related to Jeffrey Epstein  —  Stallman said the “most plausible scenario” is that one of Epstein's underage victims was “entirely willing.”
Joshua Franklin / Reuters:
WeWork parent says it expects to complete its IPO by the end of the year after shelving plans to launch an investor road show this week  —  Joshua Franklin, Anirban Sen  —  (Reuters) - WeWork owner The We Company said on Monday it expected to complete its initial public offering (IPO) …
Bloomberg:
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Ahead of the planned September 19 release date, Apple Arcade is rolling out to users running beta versions of iOS 13 or iOS 13.1, with 50+ games to play  —  Apple Arcade appears to be rolling out to a handful of users ahead of its planned September 19 release date, based on a few tweets and emails sent to MacRumors.
Devindra Hardawar / Engadget:
Apple Arcade is a no brainer at $4.99/mo., with a strong selection of exclusives and a model that lets devs focus on fun instead of extracting money from users  —  Despite being just $5, Apple Arcade still seems like a tough sell for some gamers, who are already bombarded with other monthly services like Xbox Game Pass.
Nilay Patel / The Verge:
iPhone 11 review: has a terrific battery life and excellent camera, and is the best phone for the average consumer, but iOS 13 is buggy  —  This was not a hard review  —  Video by Becca Farsace, Alix Diaconis, Phil Esposito, Andrew Marino, Grayson Blackmon, William Joel, Owen Grove, and Mariya Abdulkaf
Chris Velazco / Engadget:
iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max review: improved battery life, flexible triple camera system, and great performance, but ultra-wide camera sometimes lacks detail  —  What does it mean for a phone to earn the name “Pro”?  Lots of power, for one.  Usually great cameras.  And software robust enough to handle arduous tasks with ease.
Yahoo News:
Sources: Obama's move in 2016 to expel dozens of Russian diplomats and seize estates was in part due to a brazen Russian operation to breach FBI communications  —  On Dec. 29, 2016, the Obama administration announced that it was giving nearly three dozen Russian diplomats just 72 hours …
Dana Mattioli / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Amazon changed its search algorithm last year to boost items that were more profitable for it, overriding internal dissent from lawyers and engineers  —  The e-commerce giant overcame internal dissent from engineers and lawyers, people familiar with the move say.
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
LastPass fixes a bug in its Chrome and Opera extensions which exposed credentials entered on previously visited websites  —  LastPass has released a fix last week.  Vulnerability details are now public.  Users advised to update.  —  Password manager LastPass has released an update last week …
Gregory Barber / Wired:
AI researchers are beginning to acknowledge and confront the “reproducibility” crisis, which makes it hard for others to replicate the results of AI systems  —  Machine-learning systems are black boxes even to the researchers that build them.  That makes it hard for others to assess the results.
Adam Satariano / New York Times:
A new generation of cameras in the UK that feed into facial recognition software, enabling real-time identity checks, raises new privacy concerns among citizens  —  Facial recognition technology is drawing scrutiny in a country more accustomed to surveillance than any other Western democracy.
Nicole Sperling / New York Times:
A new memoir by Marc Randolph, Netflix's co-founder and first CEO, recounts the entertainment giant's startup days, when DVDs in red envelopes were all the rage  —  SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — Long before binge-watching, the streaming wars and “Netflix and chill,” there were two guys barreling down Highway 17 …

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Earlier Picks

Chris Welch / The Verge:
Steven Melendez / Fast Company:
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Ry Crist / CNET: