Techmeme: Fan tokens issued by Manchester City and other soccer clubs have proven to be a disappointment for hopeful fans, with prices quickly losing steam within days (Ignacio Olivera Doll/Bloomberg)

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April 18, 2022, 10:01 AM

Top News

The Citizen Lab:

Investigation finds 65+ people were targeted by Pegasus and Candiru, including Catalans, likely by Spanish authorities, and details a new iOS zero-click, HOMAGE — Key Findings — The Citizen Lab, in collaboration with Catalan civil society groups, has identified at least 65 individuals targeted …

Tweets: @jordiborras, @citizenlab, @citizenlab, @citizenlab, @peterwsinger, @citizenlab, @jsrailton, @saskiabricmont, @junqueras, @citizenlab, @citizenlab, and @citizenlab

Ronan Farrow / New Yorker:

An in-depth investigation into the global commercial spyware industry, led by Israel's NSO Group, as Citizen Lab finds Pegasus infected a device in UK's No. 10 — The inside story of the world's most notorious commercial spyware and the big tech companies waging war against it.

More: The Citizen Lab. Tweets: @jsrailton, @jsrailton, @ronanfarrow, @jsrailton, @rondeibert, @benhammersley, @nighatdad, @judithflanders, @jordisolef, @sheelahk, @jsrailton, @anujsrivas, @rondeibert, and @jordiborras

Emma Roth / The Verge:

Report: Microsoft is working on a program to let select brands advertise within free-to-play Xbox games, such as on a billboard, and won't take a revenue cut — The ads supposedly wouldn't disrupt gameplay — Microsoft is reportedly working on a program that will let brands showcase …

Source: Insider. More: XDA Developers, BetaNews, Kotaku, TechCircle, KnowTechie, MSPoweruser, AdExchanger, Video Games Chronicle, Tom's Guide, Mobile Dev Memo, and The Economic Times

Tweets: @patrickcoffee, @giga_bob, @alexhern, @jerrycap, @seyitaylor, @linuswilson, @eric_seufert, and @rishialwani

See also Mediagazer

Michael McSweeney / The Block:

Beanstalk, a credit-focused stablecoin protocol using Ethereum, was exploited for ~$182M in various crypto assets by someone who had amassed governance tokens — Beanstalk, a credit-focused stablecoin protocol built on Ethereum, was exploited Sunday morning.

Reed Albergotti / Washington Post:

Experts say open sourcing Twitter's algorithm will not increase transparency because recommendation engines are complex and use an immense fire hose of data — Conservatives have long claimed discrimination by the social network, but there's no one algorithm that could prove it, researchers say

Tweets: @nbashaw and @hypervisible

Mike Masnick / Techdirt:

Musk's free speech definition is utter nonsense and his suggestions for Twitter completely ignore decades of content moderation iteration on social platforms

More: Washington Post, Livemint, Financial Times, The Overspill, Interconnected, Wccftech, The Economic Times, TheStreet, VentureBeat, The Dig, howardlindzon.com, On my Om, afrotech.com, iPhone in Canada Blog, Financial Times, and Insider

Tweets: @chrisjbakke, @dswillner, @yishan, @yishan, @ericnewcomer, @seedsforbidden, @emileifrem, @pt, @44, @alecmuffett, @shoq, @mark_dow, @kfury, @vishwanathsarng, @mmasnick, @yishan, @kdbyproxy, @szhang_ds, @yishan, @willpapper, @bill_gross, @eaton, @yishan, @ekp, @waitbutwhy, @karaswisher, @infrahumano, @karaswisher, @andrewbostom, @bretweinstein, @pmarca, @caugustelliott, @asemota, @alison_claire, @mscott, @om, @davidsacks, @jkosseff, @anildash, @nateafischer, @mariosundar, @emptywheel, @mmasnick, @davidsacks, @brij, @jimvandehei, @prairielaura, @ousfourita, @kudeki, @gullikyro, @akurjata, @bborrman, @katebevan, @eddie1perez, @verba_et_vertus, @marklittlenews, @eddie1perez, @ewankirk, @mehdirhasan, @tedcruz, @rebeccaforwa, @techemails, @tbskyen, @mmasnick, @kateconger, @goldman, @samifathi_, @carlquintanilla, @ngrossman81, @dbfarber, @sarthakgh, @mmasnick, @arrington, @repdarrellissa, @susanlitv, @evacide, @hansmahncke, @frankluntz, @karlbode, @kevinbankston, @jayrosen_nyu, @yishan, and @rabble

Nathan Baschez / Every:

Twitter should not only open source its algorithm but also create a marketplace where anyone can build their own algorithms and use the algorithms others create

More: Social Media Today, Livemint, The Economic Times, and Associated Press

Tweets: @ericnewcomer, @jack, @carnage4life, @ejang, @theaksheffect, @hkanji, @adhutchinson, @nbashaw, @nash076, @carlquintanilla, and @maxkennerly

Kate Kaye / Protocol:

Virtual classroom startup Class is testing Intel's “emotion AI” tech that claims to detect bored, distracted, or confused students, raising privacy questions — When college instructor Angela Dancey wants to decipher whether her first-year English students comprehend what she's trying …

More: TechRadar, IF INTERESTED, and Fossbytes

Tweets: @katekayereports, @hypervisible, @noopkat, @dinabass, @vickerysec, @frankcatalano, @polycrystalhd, @troy_s, @otdderamin, @katemfd, @grady_booch, and @nickpopovich

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:

The iPad needs a “pro” mode when the device is connected to a keyboard and a trackpad, with Mac-like multitasking, a proper desktop, and more for advanced users — Ahead of Apple's developers conference, here's how I suggest fixing its iPad software conundrum: a “pro mode” …

More: MacDailyNews, ExtremeTech, 9to5Mac, Benzinga, 9to5Mac, AppleTrack, Forbes, and The Register

Tweets: @jeffnolan, @stevecla, @drravipateljr, @parkerortolani, @pxy, @yoda, @jamwil, and @markgurman

Ignacio Olivera Doll / Bloomberg:

Fan tokens issued by Manchester City and other soccer clubs have proven to be a disappointment for hopeful fans, with prices quickly losing steam within days — As soon as rumors started buzzing that soccer star Lionel Messi would transfer from FC Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain in August …

Tweets: @schuldensuehner, @stacyherbert, @flavionunespt, @carnage4life, and @gossithedog

Reuters:

Didi schedules a shareholder meeting for May 23 to vote on delisting its shares from the NYSE, and reports Q4 2021 revenue of $6.4B, down about 12.6% YoY — Didi Global Inc (DIDI.N) will hold an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on May 23 to vote on its delisting plans in the United States …

More: Winvesta Crisps, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Pandaily, Benzinga, South China Morning Post, Business Wire, Business Wire, and Business Wire

Matt Wirz / Wall Street Journal:

A profile of Eva Shang, whose investment firm Legalist uses AI to fund lawsuits with a stronger chance of winning and has raised $400M in the past six months — Fund manager, startup founder, blogger: Eva Shang is cracking the private debt market. The $400 million she raised in six months says Wall Street is taking notice.

Tweets: @bourreelam and @newley

Financial Times:

A look at the impact of China's crackdown on Xiaomi, which once wanted to compete with Apple and Samsung, as its shares have fallen 50%+ over the past year — In February, Xiaomi founder and chief executive Lei Jun threw down the gauntlet to Apple and Samsung, vowing to make his company …

Tweets: @primroseriordan

Sarah McBride / Bloomberg:

SoftBank's Shu Nyatta and Paulo Passoni, two of three managing partners at its $2B Latin America Fund, said they are leaving to start their own VC business — SoftBank Group Corp.'s Shu Nyatta and Paulo Passoni, two of the three managing partners at the SoftBank Group Corp.'s Latin America Fund …

More: Bloomberg Línea

Rest of World:

A look at adult webcam “monitors” in Colombia who train models and provide tech support; Colombia has the world's second largest camming industry behind Romania — In Colombia, camming monitors train models, translate chats, and provide tech support.

Tweets: @helenliwrites, @alexgonzor, @restofworld, @cengizyar, and @fogginsophie

Sponsor Posts

Subquadratic:

Subquadratic: the LLM built for 12M-token reasoning — SubQ can reason across entire codebases and document sets in one pass with no RAG workarounds. Read how SubQ 1.1 Small holds near-perfect retrieval out to 12M tokens.

Cloudflare:

Cloudflare Connect 2026: The Agentic Conference — Stop preparing for agents. Start running them. 100+ sessions, workshops, and speakers from OpenAI, Arm, and Cloudflare across AI, security, and performance.

Zoho:

The 90-day recognition cliff: Why praise programs fade, and what keeps them alive — Recognition programs often start with enthusiasm. Employees participate, managers share shoutouts, and teams have a new way to celebrate achievements.

IDrive:

Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

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About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 10:01 AM ET, April 18, 2022.

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.

From Mediagazer

Todd Spangler / Variety:

A judge approves Paramount's settlement with 12 state AGs who tried to block its WBD deal, and Paramount tentatively sets October 6 to close the acquisition

Los Angeles Times:

California Governor Gavin Newsom signs a bill that creates refundable tax credits for local news outlets based on the number of journalists they employ

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch is stepping down after 7.5 years to become the CEO and chairman of Mattel; lead independent director Mike Perlis will be interim CEO

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More News

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:

Clipboard Health, an app-based marketplace that matches nurses with open shifts, announces a $50M Series B and $30M Series C at a $1.3B valuation

Miles Kruppa / Financial Times:

Private securities marketplace Forge Global said the prices of startup shares on its platform fell 19.9% in February and March compared to Q4 2021

Tweets: @hkanji and @muradahmed

Bloomberg:

China's National Bureau of Statistics: quarterly chip production dropped 4.2% QoQ in March, the first time since early 2019, amid weaker demand and lockdowns

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:

India-based UrbanPiper, which helps restaurants manage multiple food delivery services, raises a $24M Series B from Swiggy, Zomato, and others

More: Moneycontrol, DealStreetAsia, The Economic Times, and Entrackr

Tweets: @sequoia_india and @alok_says

Alyssa Meyers / Morning Brew:

Spotify's recent Podsights and Chartable acquisitions are raising concerns over the availability of third-party podcast metrics for advertisers and publishers

Tweets: @tgwilson, @calistoker123, and @ryanbarwick

Wall Street Journal:

Data shows e-commerce as a percentage share of all US retail has almost returned to pre-pandemic levels; in March e-commerce dropped YoY as in-store sales rose

Tweets: @d_mccar, @htsfhickey, @kjlabuz, @juokaz, @iiiitsandrea, @stevenpdennis, @neilretail, @aparanjape, @sebasaherrera, and @gopalgautham

Earlier Picks

Jonathan Haidt / The Atlantic:

Social media weakened the social capital, strong institutions, and shared stories that bind democracies, especially after 2009 when virality began to intensify

Amy Feldman / Forbes:

A look at Cambridge-based Lumafield, which designs CT scanners for consumer product companies like L'Oréal, OXO, and Trek Bicycle, and has raised $32.5M

Tweets: @forbes_mena_, @jonbruner, @lux_capital, and @forbes

Reed Albergotti / Washington Post:

Workers at Apple's flagship Grand Central Terminal store in Manhattan start formally collecting signatures to form a union

Rebecca Szkutak / Forbes:

A profile of Anna Fang, CEO of China-based ZhenFund, who has backed 30+ seed-stage startups that became unicorns and 90+ startups that had a successful exit

Tweets: @depappas, @cyantist, @edithyeung, @bgurley, @allraise, and @rebecca_szkutak. Thanks:@alexrkonrad

Tim Higgins / Wall Street Journal:

A look at Apple's yearslong effort to design its own silicon to replace Intel chips in Macs, including an interview with Hardware Technologies SVP Johny Srouji

More: MacRumors, iDownloadBlog.com, AppleInsider, iThinkDifferent, iPhone in Canada Blog, 9to5Mac, and Philip Elmer‑DeWitt

Tweets: @aaronwall, @reneritchie, @ravi_711, @leokelion, @mattlynley, @hkanji, @fmbutt, @pocarles, @onelinders, and @brianmcc

Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:

GitHub says an attacker used stolen OAuth user tokens issued to Heroku and Travis-CI to steal private repository data from dozens of organizations including npm

Source: The GitHub Blog and Heroku Status. More: Metacurity, KazukiLabs NewsBites, Security Affairs, Slashdot, HackRead, Bob's Newsletter, iTnews, and The Hacker News

Tweets: @malwarejake, @githubsecurity, @nikcharlebois, @campuscodi, @jot, @rstephens, @jacobian, @marypcbuk, and @quinnypig