Techmeme
January 1, 2021, 7:35 PM

Top News

Nicole Perlroth / New York Times:
Microsoft says SolarWinds hackers were able to view some of its source code by hacking into an employee account but were unable to modify code or access emails  —  The hackers gained more access than the company previously revealed, though the attackers were unable to modify code or access emails.
T.C. Sottek / The Verge:
Adobe ends support for Flash and will start blocking Flash content from January 12; major browsers will block Flash content from Jan. 1  —  It's the end of the line  —  Adobe scheduled its famous Flash software to end on December 31st, 2020, and today is the day.
@larsiusprime:
[Thread] As a promised replacement for Flash, HTML5/JS is still in the stone age as a newbie-friendly animation/graphics-first authoring toolset  —  To this day, I am super mad at all the people who put for the codswallop that HTML5 was this perfect replacement for Flash. It's been 10 years since “Thoughts on Flash” was published and HTML5 STILL doesn't (in actual practice) replicate what mattered about Flash.
Siva Vaidhyanathan / New Republic:
Criticism of Facebook must move beyond content moderation issues; the effort to invent and invest in public cultural institutions should be our focus instead  —  Every day, a Twitter account run by Kevin Roose, a technology reporter for The New York Times, posts a list of the top 10 sources …
Max Zimmerman / Bloomberg:
NYSE says it will delist three Chinese companies, China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom, on January 7 to comply with a US EO imposing restrictions  —  The New York Stock Exchange said it will delist three Chinese companies to comply with a U.S. executive order that imposed restrictions …
Daniel Victor / New York Times:
Obituary of FarmVille, which closed on Thursday but lives on in its growth-hacking techniques that are being imitated by everything from Instagram to QAnon  —  The game, a phenomenon a decade ago, is shutting down on Thursday.  But its legacy — for better and for worse — carries beyond gaming.
Wall Street Journal:
Top nine streaming services to end 2020 with combined US subscribers up 50%+ YoY; US households now subscribe to 3.1 services on average, up from 2.7 in 2019  —  From Hulu to Disney+, largest streaming services are expected to end the year with 50% more U.S. subscribers
Katie Paul / Reuters:
Rob Leathern, Facebook's chief of advertising integrity who handled ad products around sensitive subjects, says he left the company on December 30  —  (Reuters) - Facebook Inc's chief of advertising integrity, who handled the company's ad products around sensitive subjects such as politics …
Reuters:
Huawei removes and then reinstates Tencent games on its app store after a dispute over revenue sharing; source: Huawei insisted on receiving a 50% cut  —  HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) - Tencent's online games were removed and then reinstated on Huawei's app store on Friday in a dispute over revenue sharing by the Chinese companies.
Ben Lovejoy / 9to5Mac:
Report: 10 ex-members of Apple's supplier responsibility team say it avoids or delays removing suppliers guilty of labor violations when doing so hurts business  —  A new report today claims that Apple is reluctant to ban suppliers found guilty of labor violations, and can take years to do so, even in the most serious of cases.
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Ticketmaster agrees to pay a $10M fine after admitting to hiring an ex-CrowdSurge staffer and using his credentials to access the rival ticket seller's systems  —  It used stolen login credentials at a company summit  —  Ticketmaster has agreed to pay $10 million for breaking into a competitors' network.
Lauren Hirsch / New York Times:
Source: Amazon's acquisition of Wondery values the podcasting company, which began in 2016, at roughly $300M  —  The deal, valued at $300 million, is the latest in a string of acquisitions as streaming platforms expand beyond music and video.  —  Amazon is acquiring Wondery …
Amazon:

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Transform ML Experimentation with Tangle  —  Save months of compute time with Tangle, built by Shopify.  Try this open-source platform to simplify ML workflows, ensure reproducibility, and seamlessly share with collaborators.
Zoho:
Contract Signed.  Project Ready.  Tasks Created.  —  Every project begins with a promise; a contract that outlines the deliverables, the timelines, and the terms.  But for most businesses …
Bitrix24:
Bitrix24 powers the next generation of high-performing businesses  —  Chat, projects, CRM, and automation — all in one place.  Replace dozens of tools so your team moves faster, collaborates smarter, and grows effortlessly.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Access:
Is Roblox making the internet better or worse? We asked the CEO
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Lenny's Podcast:
Why LinkedIn is turning PMs into AI-powered "full stack builders" | Tomer Cohen (LinkedIn CPO)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Great Chat:
Code red: our favorite tech rivalries
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
Big Technology Podcast:
How An AI Model Learned To Be Bad — With Evan Hubinger And Monte MacDiarmid
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
PBS Lost a Billion Dollars. Now what? With CEO Paula Kerger
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 7:35 PM ET, January 1, 2021.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:

Earlier Picks

Wired:
Pei Li / Reuters:
CoinDesk: