Techmeme
December 11, 2019, 3:25 AM

Top News

Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Google rolls out Chrome 79 adding security features like notifications for data breaches affecting users' passwords, new phishing prevention tools, tab freezing  —  Chrome 79 also ships with support for predictive phishing, for real-time Safe Browsing detections, and a built-in Password Checkup tool.
Craig Silverman / BuzzFeed News:
Facebook has fired a contractor who was bribed to reactivate banned ad accounts; messages show he agreed to a $5K upfront payment and a monthly retainer  —  A Facebook contractor was paid thousands of dollars in bribes by a shady affiliate marketer to reactivate ad accounts that had been banned due …
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Apple releases more pricing details for Mac Pro, now available to order: maxed-out 4TB model costs $50K+ and wheels are $400, delivering between December 19-27  —  Apple's new Mac Pro became available for purchase today, giving us our first look at all of the available upgrade options and pricing tiers.
Dr. Ian Cutress / AnandTech:
Intel's partner shares chip giant's manufacturing process technology roadmap: 7nm EUV in 2021, then 5nm in 2023, 3nm in 2025, 2nm in 2027, and 1.4 nm in 2029  —  One of the interesting disclosures here at the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) has been around new and upcoming process node technologies.
Ryan Mac / BuzzFeed News:
Facebook says it will not weaken end-to-end encryption, build backdoors into its messaging apps, in response to a letter from US AG and UK, Australian officials  —  Facebook said it would not weaken end-to-end encryption across its messaging apps, despite pressure from world governments …
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
Microsoft is bringing its first Office app to Linux with Microsoft Teams, now in public preview  —  Microsoft today launched Microsoft Teams for Linux in public preview.  No, that's not a typo — Microsoft Teams is indeed the first Office app that the company has ported to Linux.
Kollen Post / Cointelegraph:
DOJ arrests 3 men behind the BitClub Network cryptocurrency mining pool, says it was a Ponzi scheme which defrauded investors of $722M since 2014  —  United States authorities in New Jersey have announced the arrest of three men who are accused of defrauding investors of over $722 million …
Reuters:
How White House veterans helped the UAE build a surveillance unit in 9/11's wake that would go on to target activists and journalists as well as terrorists  —  In the years after 9/11, former U.S. counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke warned Congress that the country needed more expansive spying powers to prevent another catastrophe.
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Apple releases watchOS 6.1.1 and version 13.3 for iOS, iPadOS, and tvOS, with updates to Screen Time, Apple News, support for physical security keys, and more  —  As expected, Apple today has released iOS 13.3, iPadOS 13.3, tvOS 13.3, and watchOS 6.1.1 to the public.
Isaac Stanley-Becker / Washington Post:
Researchers find Facebook's ad targeting tools, which charge less for ads to users already interested in the content, have worsened polarization in US politics  —  For the first time, researchers have demonstrated a skew in the delivery of political ads based on the content of those ads alone.
Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:
Glassdoor: Google and Facebook drop out of top 10 of US “best places to work” list, Google to 11, Facebook to 23; Microsoft only tech giant to jump in rankings  —  - Facebook fell 16 places, Google drops out of the Top 10  — Microsoft one of the only tech giants to jump in the rankings
More: Reuters
Ari Levy / CNBC:
Oracle to move its annual OpenWorld conference from SF to Las Vegas for at least three years, citing SF's high hotel rates; move estimated to cost SF $64M/year  —  - Oracle is moving its annual OpenWorld conference from San Francisco to Las Vegas and it signed a three-year agreement with the Caesars Forum for the move.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Apple Card's interest-free iPhone installment plan goes live, now with 6% back on Apple purchases through December 31  —  Apple is today launching a new feature for Apple Card which allows cardholders to purchase a new iPhone then pay it back over 24 months with no interest.
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
France's proposed copyright law weakens the already inadequate user protections from abusive infringement claims in EU's Copyright Directive  —  France was the most vocal supporter of the EU Copyright Directive's upload filters provisions (originally known as Article 13, but Article 17 in the final version).
Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:
North stops selling its Focals smart AR glasses 14 months after debuting them, says it plans to launch a sleeker version with 10x higher resolution in 2020  —  North, an augmented reality (AR) wearables company backed by Amazon and Intel, has announced that it's pulling its current Focals smart glasses off …
Jonathan Shieber / TechCrunch:
Passport, a permitting, parking, ticketing management, and mobile payments platform for cities, office parks, and campuses raises $65M Series D  —  The big new round of funding for Passport's ticketing and parking management tech proves that software can even disrupt something as mundane and seemingly low-tech as the parking lot.
New York Times:
The UK general election provides new insights into how disinformation spreads online, showing many in the ruling Conservative Party have joined in the practice  —  Foreign meddling was once the most feared source of online deception before critical elections.  Now, some candidates themselves are turning to such manipulative tactics.

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