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January 4, 2021, 9:35 AM
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| Megan Rose Dickey / TechCrunch: |
A group of over 200 Google and Alphabet workers have announced their plan to form a union, open to both employees and contractors — A group of more than 200 Google and Alphabet workers have announced their efforts to form a union. With the help of Communication Workers of America Union's Campaign … | New York Times: |
Executives of the Alphabet Workers Union say discrimination and harassment continue and the company cracks down on those who are to speak out — Our company's motto used to be “Don't be evil.” An organized work force will help us live up to it. — Ms. Koul and Mr. Shaw are, respectively …
More:
Engadget, Alphabet Workers Union, Axios, VentureBeat, Mercury News, Reuters, CNBC, and The Economic Times
Tweets: @gigworkersrise, @balkissoon, and @alphabetworkers
| The Verge: |
Samsung announces its Galaxy Unpacked event will be held on January 14, where it's expected to unveil the Galaxy S21, S21 Plus, and S21 Ultra — Ring in 2021 with Samsung's latest smartphones — Samsung will officially be announcing its latest lineup of Galaxy flagship phones … | Elian Peltier / New York Times: |
A British judge rules against extraditing Julian Assange to the US, which has accused him of violating the Espionage Act, citing mental health concerns — The WikiLeaks founder, who is currently jailed in Britain, had been indicted in the United States on 17 charges of violating the Espionage Act.
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Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, The Guardian, BBC, TechCrunch, CNET, The Verge, Gizmodo, CNN, Associated Press, CNBC, Financial Times, Reuters, SecurityWeek, Al Jazeera, Variety, and NBC News
| 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.
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BIG by Matt Stoller, Wall Street Journal, Protocol, Federal Computer Week, The Verge, The Overspill, CNN, PYMNTS.com, Engadget, Slashdot, Axios, and Bloomberg
Tweets: @binarybits, @nickconfessore, @hatr, @dangillmor, @brianmfloyd, @timbray, @wsj, @matthewstoller, @matthewstoller, @elissabeth, @privacyde, @denbrots, @sparksjls, @bloombergme, @robert_spalding, @ericgeller, @jamesschamus, @georgikantchev, @pgroth, @grantstern, @anniejacobsen, @file411, @shashj, @ericgeller, @zcohencnn, @marquardtglobal, @bwjones, @biannagolodryga, @rad_atl, @apolyakova, @anneapplebaum, @nicoleperlroth, @nicoleperlroth, @nytimes, @biannagolodryga, @mollymckew, and @stengel
| Gabrielle Coppola / Bloomberg: |
Aeva, a lidar company started by two Apple engineers, says it is raising $200M at a ~$3B valuation from a Hong Kong-based hedge fund ahead of reverse merger — - Deal values Aeva around $3 billion ahead of reverse merger — Volkswagen shareholder Porsche SE is strategic investor
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PR Newswire and MacDailyNews
| 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 …
More:
EYE, TechRadar, Gizmodo, SiliconANGLE, BleepingComputer, and HackRead
Tweets: @sub8u, @binitamshah, @sans_isc, @weldpond, and @artemr
| Taylor Lorenz / New York Times: |
A look at the biggest TikTok trends of 2020, the industries it impacted, the lens it offered on service workers amid COVID-19, and how it shaped US culture — Business, entertainment, news, activism and social connection will never be the same. — It's been well over two years since TikTok arrived …
Tweets: @taylorlorenz, @v_ness, and @taylorlorenz
| 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.
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The Verge, MacRumors, Engadget, BGR India, TechSpot, HotHardware.com News, 9to5Mac, Business Insider, AppleInsider, iLounge, Neowin, iPhone Hacks, iPhone in Canada Blog, Gizmodo, PCMag, appleosophy.com, Michael Tsai, and Pixel Envy
Tweets: @x74353, @dhh, @dhh, @x74353, @dhh, @chrismessina, @lapcatsoftware, @dhh, @bruceqburke, @tomwarren, @krzyzanowskim, @dhh, @lapcatsoftware, @ow, @woodyatpch, @neha_aks, @okonetchnikov, @i0n1c, @craiggrannell, @chronic, @dhh, @ylin_, @ylin_, @starfire2258, @chriswelch, @simianlogic, @atomkirk, @dunglas, @furioursus, @tolmasky, @brockgs, @tolmasky, @dhh, @tolmasky, and @lapcatsoftware
| Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat: |
AMP Robotics, which creates robotics systems that sort recyclable material, raises $55M Series B led by XN, bringing its total raised to $75M — AMP Robotics, a Denver, Colorado-based startup creating robotic systems that sort recyclable material, this morning announced that it has closed …
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FinSMEs
| Jennifer Ouellette / Ars Technica: |
Interview with two anthropologists about combining “pick and trowel” field work with the use of big data to bring a new birds-eye perspective to archeology — Combining traditional “pick and trowel” field work with a sweeping birds-eye view.
Tweets: @rockdocgeoarch
| Hannah M. Mayer / Forbes: |
How GPT-3 may reshape the AI and SaaS space, with OpenAI's commercial API creating a unique dependence on a closed AI model, and empowering “citizen developers” — The global artificial intelligence (AI) community rocked excitedly in their home office chairs in anticipation … Sponsor Posts
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