Techmeme
July 18, 2021, 2:00 PM

Top News

Guy Rosen / About Facebook:
Facebook says their data shows a 50% decline in vaccine hesitancy among US users, refuting Biden's claim that it's “killing people” by allowing COVID-19 misinfo  —  At a time when COVID-19 cases are rising in America, the Biden administration has chosen to blame a handful of American social media companies.
More: The Guardian, New York Times, CNBC, Insider, CNN, International Business Times, Engadget, The Verge, Reuters, Mashable, Neowin, Social Media Today, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, NBC News, Politico, and New York Times
Carl T. Bergstrom / @ct_bergstrom:
[Thread] The response to Biden from Facebook's VP of Integrity is a textbook example of bluster and obfuscation  —  After Biden's criticism of @Facebook for their inaction on antivax propaganda, @fbnewsroom is going on the offensive. They issued a press release that is a textbook example of bluster, obfuscation, and agnatogenesis. Here's the link. Let's take a look. https://about.fb.com/...
Helen Rosner / New Yorker:
Experts say consent and disclosure are key to the ethical use of synthetic media, amid controversy surrounding Bourdain's deepfake voice in a new documentary  —  The new documentary “Roadrunner” uses A.I.-generated audio without disclosing it to viewers.  How should we feel about that?
Flavia Rotondi / Bloomberg:
An Italian museum is using cameras to monitor people looking at artwork, to define a work of art's “attraction value” and accordingly change museum layouts  —  As Italy's museums and galleries welcome back tourists and try to recoup some of the 190 million euros ($225 million) …
Jason Parham / Wired:
An oral history of Black Twitter, which helped fill a void created by the fizzling out of web forums like BlackVoices, Melanet, and NetNoir in the mid-2000s  —  From #UKnowUrBlackWhen to #BlackLivesMatter, how a loose online network became a pop culture juggernaut, an engine of social justice, and a lens into the future.
Richard Lawler / The Verge:
WhatsApp is testing encrypted cloud backups on Android  —  Read the fine print before you switch it on  —  When you're using WhatsApp your messages are encrypted end-to-end, which means prying eyes can't easily see what's in them as they travel back and forth.
Bloomberg Law:
TurboTax developer Intuit will leave the IRS Free File Program, which drew scrutiny in recent years after an investigation found Intuit hid free-filing options  —  Intuit Inc., the maker of TurboTax, is leaving an IRS program that offers millions of Americans the ability to file their taxes for free.
Allison Johnson / The Verge:
Sony Xperia 1 III review: nice design with a 120Hz display and several manual camera modes, but expensive at $1,300, will get just two years of security updates  —  A good camera system and top-notch features, but it's priced too high to recommend  —  The Sony Xperia 1 III is a great phone that I won't recommend to many people.
Wall Street Journal:
How decision-making by Masayoshi Son, who estimated WeWork would be worth $10T by 2028 and wanted Adam Neumann to be “crazier”, led to WeWork's implosion  —  Adam Neumann and Masayoshi Son pushed WeWork to new heights as they challenged each other to think big and bet billions.

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Featured Podcasts

Lenny's Podcast:
Father of the iPod and iPhone on building taste, judgment, and creativity in the AI era | Tony Fadell
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
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Big Technology Podcast:
Will Apple (Finally) Get AI Right At WWDC?, Anthropic's Worry, Microsoft vs. OpenAI
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
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Hard Fork:
Hot I.P.O Summer + What Is A.I. Doing to Math? + HatGPT
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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The Upstarts Podcast:
Vanta's Christina Cacioppo: The Underdog Turning 'Nonsense' Compliance Into A $4.2B Security Standout
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.
Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.
Great Chat:
Who are the billboards for?
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
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Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
AI's Mythos Moment: Rishi Sunak on preparing governments for AI
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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