Techmeme
January 3, 2021, 12:30 PM

Top News

William C. Gustafson / GitHub:
Developer of Amphetamine says Apple agreed to let the Mac app stay up with its current name and logo, after previously threatening to remove it due to its name  —  Amphetamine is a free app that helps keep your Mac awake.  Amphetamine has been on the Mac App Store since 2014 and it's been downloaded over 432,800 times.
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Researchers: more than 100K Zyxel firewalls and VPN gateways have a hardcoded admin-level backdoor that can grant attackers root access to devices  —  The username and password (zyfwp/PrOw!aN_fXp) were visible in one of the Zyxel firmware binaries.  —  More than 100,000 Zyxel firewalls …
New York Times:
Sources: investigators are checking if SolarWinds was hacked via its offices in Czechia, Poland, and Belarus, where the company moved much of its engineering  —  Those behind the widespread intrusion into government and corporate networks exploited seams in U.S. defenses and gave away nothing to American monitoring of their systems.
Wall Street Journal:
An overview of tech to expect in 2021: better webcams, portable UV sanitizers, “assisted reality” glasses, more subscription services attached to hardware  —  New ways to work, exercise, see the doctor, watch movies and sanitize every surface in sight will continue to proliferate.
Mark Sullivan / Fast Company:
35 tech executives, investors, and experts offer their forecasts on tech trends in 2021, from increased investments in remote work to new data governance models  —  As we come to the end of a crazy 2020, many of us are suffering from COVID-19 exhaustion.  But as two vaccines begin their rollouts …
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Interview with Atari CEO Fred Chesnais on leveraging the Atari brand, including through hotels and virtual clothing, shipping the VCS console, more  —  Under CEO Fred Chesnais, Atari is a company with just 28 employees.  That's pretty small for the oldest brand in video games.
About Facebook:
Facebook says there were 1.4B+ voice and video calls on WhatsApp on NYE 2020 globally, up 50%+ YoY, and 55M+ live streams across Facebook and Instagram  —  Like all of 2020, last night's New Year's Eve was different.  There were fewer crowds celebrating in the streets around the world.
Alice Gledhill / Bloomberg:
Bitcoin crosses $30K to reach an all-time high, after growing almost 50% in December  —  Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency, topped $34,000, just weeks after passing another major milestone.  —  The currency gained as much as 7.8% to $34,182.75, before slipping to about $33,970 as of 3:05 p.m. on Sunday in Singapore.
Karlene Lukovitz / MediaPost:
Parks Associates: 20% of US broadband households currently use ad-supported streaming services and 15% use a freemium service, like Peacock  —  Twenty percent of U.S. broadband households currently use an ad-supported OTT service, and 15% use a “freemium” service, according to Parks Associates research.

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Featured Podcasts

Hard Fork:
The Ezra Klein Show: How Fast Will A.I. Agents Rip Through the Economy?
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
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Great Chat:
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Access:
AI takes over meetings, the SF vs London tech scene, and ethics in media
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
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The Upstarts Podcast:
Harvey's Winston Weinberg: From Law Associate To $11 Billion Legal AI Startup CEO
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
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The Nick, Dick and Paul Show:
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Nick Bilton, Dick Costolo, and Paul Kedrosky pull back the curtain on AI, startups, and the future rushing toward us, all with healthy dose of irreverence.
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Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Everybody Goes Home: How technology is helping prevent wildfires from spreading
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
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More News

Kevin Roose / New York Times:
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Earlier Picks

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Reuters:
Max Zimmerman / Bloomberg: