Techmeme: ConstitutionDAO, which crowdfunded over $40M, loses Sotheby's US Constitution auction to a $43.2M bid from Citadel CEO Kenneth Griffin (Kelly Crow/Wall Street Journal)

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November 20, 2021, 9:30 AM

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Kelly Crow / Wall Street Journal:

ConstitutionDAO, which crowdfunded over $40M, loses Sotheby's US Constitution auction to a $43.2M bid from Citadel CEO Kenneth Griffin — The 53-year-old billionaire paid $43.2 million for the historic document, plans to lend it to Crystal Bridges museum in Arkansas

More: Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, Bloomberg, CNBC, New York Times, PYMNTS.com, Kotaku, Axios, VICE, Protocol, Forbes, The Verge, Gizmodo, Bloomberg, The Block, Quartz, Washington Post, Nexo.io Blog, Slashdot, CNET, Coinspeaker, Blockchain News, Protocol, Bitcoinist.com, Cryptonews, Forkast, BBC, Forbes, Crypto Briefing, and Decrypt

Tweets: @constitutiondao, @sothebys, @sinakian1, @jchervinsky, @alexrkonrad, @nischalshetty, @jason_koebler, @0xmakesy, @noupside, @carnage4life, @grimezsz, @joemccann, @alexisohanian, @cdixon, @cwarzel, @katiedrumm, @cdixon, @joshelman, @chuckrossdc, @dbreunig, @scottmelker, @brycent_, @matt_levine, @iamdcinvestor, @mulligan, @kevinroose, @caseynewton, @levie, @tomgara, @shanegoldmacher, @matt_kohrs, @austen, @willoremus, @matt_kohrs, @apompliano, @jeffjohnroberts, @cnbcnow, @pt, @pbump, @trungtphan, @tomfgoodwin, @steven_ehrlich, @kellycrowwsj, @shiraeis, @katies, @niubi, @cathsimard_, @jason_koebler, @adriyoung, @penllawen, @kevinroose, @bigmagicdao, @mdudas, @riptari, @basedlemahieu, @drgonzo123, @dlberes, @litcapital, @sub8u, @dalmaer, @ishverduzco, @tanayj, @autismcapital, @twitchpluto, @coinbase, @omarabdelb, and @eladgil

Matt Burgess / Wired UK:

DuckDuckGo launches App Tracking Protection for Android, a beta feature that blocks third-party trackers from Google and Facebook — The privacy-focused tech company's latest update promises to block invasive data collection across your whole phone. — At the end of April …

More: Spread Privacy, Forbes, gHacks Technology News, fossbytes.com, Neowin, TechRadar, Fast Company, KnowTechie, Reclaim The Net, ExtremeTech, and Gizmodo

Tweets: @kdzwinel, @davidharbage, @mattburgess1, @duckduckgo, and @duckduckgo

See also Mediagazer

Sean Hollister / The Verge:

The Apple Podcasts app's review score went from 1.8 to 4.6 stars as Apple began prompting users to rate the app, confusing some into rating individual podcasts — Apple Podcasts rises above bad reviews, but at what cost? — You pissed off people by somewhat breaking your app, and they're leaving angry reviews.

More: 9to5Mac, AppleInsider, and MacRumors

Tweets: @keleftheriou, @keleftheriou, @keleftheriou, @bohemiancoast, @sub8u, @keleftheriou, @slightlylate, @starfire2258, and @davewiner

Reuters:

Internal documents describe how Amazon's lobbying helped it kill or undermine privacy protections in more than three dozen bills across 25 US states — The governor of Virginia, Ralph Northam, speaking in 2018 after Amazon picked the state as the site of its new headquarters.

More: Slashdot and Insider

Tweets: @jayedelson, @nicholasvinocur, @reuters, @bing_chris, @brtthnz, @alexandraulmer, @lawrencehurley, and @jldastin

Gillian Tan / Bloomberg:

SoundHound, which offers voice AI tech to companies like Mercedes-Benz, Snap, and Mastercard, is going public via a SPAC merger at a ~$2.1B valuation — - Company counts Mercedes-Benz, Snap, Pandora among customers — Shazam competitor's technology can identify a song via humming

Source: Business Wire. More: Reuters, Dow Jones Newswires, TheStreet, Benzinga, and Silicon Valley Business …

Jordan Novet / CNBC:

Defense Department solicits bids from Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Oracle for cloud contracts; DoD canceled its $10B JEDI contract in July — - The U.S. Defense Department expects to dole out cloud contracts to multiple companies. — The new push comes after Pentagon scrapped its plans …

Source: SAM.gov. More: GeekWire, CRN, Wired, ZDNet, FedScoop, TheStreet, The Register, C4ISRNET, SiliconANGLE, MSPoweruser, TechCrunch, Nextgov, FierceTelecom, Federal Computer Week, and Slashdot. Tweets: @thekenyeung

Zoe Schiffer / NBC News:

Internal memo: Apple affirms that employees have the right to discuss working conditions and pay internally and externally — Following months of internal controversy about how much workers make at one of the highest valued companies in the world, Apple has announced that employees …

More: AppleInsider. Tweets: @wndu, @veenadubal, @ashleygjovik, @lazerwalker, @ashleygjovik, and @mikeycampbell81

Kaitlyn Tiffany / The Atlantic:

A writer created a politically bland Facebook profile to test the app's algorithm for extreme content, and ended up being shown low-quality, clickbait posts — In 2019, a researcher at Facebook conducted an experiment to see whether the platform really has a tendency to send users …

Tweets: @golikehellmachi, @joshtpm, @jbouie, @mckaycoppins, @jaywillis, @golikehellmachi, @golikehellmachi, @jbouie, @tomscocca, @kait_tiffany, @gabrielroth, @saahil_desai, @kait_tiffany, and @kait_tiffany

Steve Knopper / Billboard:

Profile of Berlin-based Ableton, whose music production software changed the way recordings are produced and how DJs perform by eliminating cumbersome equipment — Gerhard Behles and his partners wrote the code that makes modern pop sing — and makes investors drool. But they're not selling.

Tweets: @henrikberggren, @mattetti, @markkilborn, and @edmacovaz

Ryan Broderick / Garbage Day:

Thinkarete Lifestyle, cited by Facebook as Q3's most widely viewed Page in the US, seems to be a barely active drop-shipping scheme with stolen content — Read to the end for a fascinating thread about why music sucks now — Unmasking The Most Viral Page On Facebook

More: The Markup. Tweets: @waxpancake, @corintxt, @juliaangwin, @imbadatlife, @broderick, @llegrarosenberg, and @caseynewton

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From Mediagazer

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:

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