Techmeme
October 13, 2019, 7:40 PM

Top News

Sheraz Sadiq / KQED:
SF proposes an Office of Emerging Technology to evaluate, issue permits for new devices and services that operate on the city's streets and other infrastructure  —  San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Norman Yee unveiled this week a proposal to create an Office of Emerging Technology …
Makena Kelly / The Verge:
Tencent-owned Riot says its broadcasters shouldn't discuss politics and religion on air; Epic, in which Tencent has a 40% stake, says political speech is OK  —  Epic Games is cool with political speech though  —  On Friday, Riot Games said that League of Legends broadcasters should “refrain” …
Nick Statt / The Verge:
Nicole Carpenter / Polygon:
BuzzFeed News:
Brian Fung / CNN:
Elizabeth Warren targets Facebook's ad policy of exempting ads by politicians from third-party fact-checking by running a Facebook ad with a clear falsehood  —  Zuckerberg says legal battles during a Warren presidency would ‘suck’  —  (CNN)A fresh series of Facebook ads this week …
Matthew Green / A Few Thoughts on Cryptographic Engineering:
Safari on iOS, which only used Google Safe Browsing for malicious site warnings earlier, now says it may also use Tencent Safe Browsing, which can log IPs  —  This morning brings new and exciting news from the land of Apple.  It appears that, at least on iOS 13, Apple is sharing some portion …
Anna Fifield / Washington Post:
Study: Xuexi Qiangguo, a propaganda app developed by China's Communist Party, enables authorities to retrieve messages, photos, contacts, and even record audio  —  Clarification: This article has been updated to clarify that the Cure53 researchers audited only the version …
Noam Scheiber / New York Times:
A book based on labor ideas from the early 20th century has provided a blueprint for workers at Google, Uber, and Kickstarter to organize without a formal union  —  A book based on ideas associated with a labor group from the early 20th century has provided a blueprint for organizing without a union.
Horace He / The Gradient:
ML frameworks in 2019: analysis of AI research papers shows TensorFlow is the platform of choice in industry, but most researchers are now using PyTorch  —  Since deep learning regained prominence in 2012, many machine learning frameworks have clamored to become the new favorite among researchers and industry practitioners.
Columbia Journalism Review:
While tech journalists recently have embraced a watchdog role, they could be even more useful by focusing on solutions rather than palace intrigue and villains  —  In March, when Mark Zuckerberg called for new regulations on internet companies, journalists rightly covered the move with skepticism.
Kaitlyn Tiffany / The Atlantic:
Newsletter platforms like Substack, which recently raised a $15.3M funding round, offer some writers a sustainable business model, but others see a bubble  —  Venture capital has finally come for the least sexy communication style.  —  It's unclear to me whether anyone has ever fallen in love over email …

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Earlier Picks

Rachel Monroe / The Atlantic:
Dustin Gardiner / San Francisco Chronicle:
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission:
Lauren Feiner / CNBC: