Techmeme: A look at the flood of “fancam” Kamala Harris videos and memes on short-form video platforms, echoing the “meme armies” that backed Donald Trump's campaigns (Washington Post)

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July 26, 2024, 12:15 PM

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Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:

Binarly: UEFI Secure Boot is completely compromised on 200+ device models sold by Acer, Dell, Gigabyte, Intel, and Supermicro due to a cryptographic key leak — Keys were labeled “DO NOT TRUST.” Nearly 500 device models use them anyway. — In 2012, an industry-wide coalition of hardware …

More: Binarly Research, XDA Developers, Tom's Hardware, BleepingComputer, SC Media, TechRadar, Hackaday, PC Gamer, WinBuzzer, and SecurityWeek

Mastodon: @nazgul@infosec.exchange, @somebitslinks@tech.lgbt, @misty@digipres.club, @kennwhite@mastodon.social, @acdha@code4lib.social, and @dangoodin@infosec.exchange

X: @e__soriano, @binarly_io, @vermaden, @agarri_fr, @nikolajschlej, and @plumferno

Forums: r/hardware, r/technology, Lobsters, and Ars OpenForum

Kevin Okemwa / Windows Central:

X activates a default setting that gives it permission to train Grok AI on user's posts; the setting can be turned off on the web but not in the mobile app — X's new experience is automatically set to opt-in and uses your data to train its Grok AI model. — When you purchase through links …

More: TechCrunch, ZDNET, X, Engadget, 9to5Mac, PCWorld, Gizmodo, AppleInsider, The Decoder, Benzinga, and iPhone in Canada Blog

X: @easybakedoven, @toadpacshakur, @bentossell, @sirjamesa12, @_alialkhatib, @internethippo, and @drewmcweeny

Associated Press:

The US DOJ indicts a North Korean hacker, still at large, for his alleged role in the Andariel group's cyberattacks on US hospitals, NASA, and military bases — A North Korean military intelligence operative has been indicted in a conspiracy to hack into American health care providers …

Clare Duffy / CNN:

Kamala Harris, who began her career in the Bay Area and was involved in Biden's pro-tech actions like the CHIPS Act, sees a surge of support from tech donors — New York CNN — — With Vice President Kamala Harris the front runner to receive the Democratic Party's nomination for president …

More: The Block, CNBC, NBC News, Wired, Semafor, New York Times, and Wired

X: @bgarlinghouse, @vkhosla, @vkhosla, @teddyschleifer, @reidhoffman, @laurengoode, @vkhosla, @levie, and @mattturck

Washington Post:

A look at the flood of “fancam” Kamala Harris videos and memes on short-form video platforms, echoing the “meme armies” that backed Donald Trump's campaigns — A grassroots network of TikTok creators, energized by the new likely Democratic nominee …

More: The Guardian, Deadline, NBC News, and Financial Times

Threads: @drewharwell, @firerock31, and @thecultureofme. Mastodon: @ernie@writing.exchange

X: @drewharwell, @jeffjarvis, @rafalhill, @rachelvand, and @ustazaduktura. LinkedIn: Simon Owens

Forums: r/democrats and r/politics

See also Mediagazer

Bloomberg:

How TikTok is trying to fend off a potential US ban via ad campaigns, funding creators' lawsuits, and spending $6M on lobbying in H1 2024, vs. $3.5M in H1 2023 — - Lobbying, lawsuits and ad campaign are deployed to fight law — Popular app seeks to avoid US ban over its Chinese ownership

X: @jamietarabay

Epic Games:

Epic plans to bring its mobile games to AltStore on iOS in the EU, and remove its games from the Galaxy Store to protest Samsung blocking sideloading by default — We are fast approaching a quantum leap in Epic's efforts to bring our games to players on mobile devices.

More: HotHardware, Gizmodo, Android Police, Game Developer, MacRumors, Cryptopolitan, Eurogamer.net, Android Authority, iMore, PocketGamer.biz, Android Headlines, The Indian Express, SamMobile, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, O'Grady's PowerPage, Gizchina.com, GamesIndustry.biz, Benzinga, MacStories, GSMArena.com, iDownloadBlog.com, BGR, Neowin, Cult of Mac, and Reuters

Mastodon: @viticci@mastodon …. X: @timsweeneyepic, @timsweeneyepic, @altstoreio, and @hikosaemon

Forums: r/AltStore, r/apple, r/Games, r/Android, and MacRumors Forums

Julie Bort / TechCrunch:

A decade-old drama between David Sacks and Parker Conrad has blown up into a fight on X over VC behavior, drawing in Paul Graham and other Silicon Valley names — A decade-old drama involving VC David Sacks and Rippling founder Parker Conrad over their previous company Zenefits has blown …

More: Newcomer, Cautious Optimism, Silicon Valley Business …, Fortune, The Information, and Protos

Threads: @benedictevans. Bluesky: @mack70d.bsky.social. X: @paulg, @parkerconrad, @eastdakota, @davidsacks, @jjacobs22, @ericbahn, @chamath, @ericnewcomer, @devahaz, @paulg, @ericnewcomer, @davidsacks, @pitdesi, @pitdesi, @sqs, @crystalpepsi, @shaunmmaguire, @shonaghosh, @pjux, @denehyxxl, @beyang, @ryanrneu, @t3dotgg, @dj_curfew, @davidsacks, @laurenbalik, @davidsacks, @mwseibel, @davidsacks, @nikitabier, @realchrisrufo, @davidsacks, @teddypowday, @pjux, @davidsacks, @bcmerchant, @mwseibel, @paulg, @jdionnecomedy, @mahaniok, @davidsacks, and @davidsacks. Forums: r/bayarea

Angel Au-Yeung / Wall Street Journal:

Inside JD Vance's VC career: five years, two firms before co-founding Narya, investing in AppHarvest, which faced lawsuits and filed for bankruptcy, and more — Five years, three firms, two SPAC deals and a bankruptcy are the hallmarks of his stint in the tech industry

More: MarketWatch, Fast Company, Financial Times, and Blood in the Machine. Threads: @coloradotravis

Michal Lev-Ram / Fortune:

A profile of, and interview with, Sequoia Managing Partner Roelof Botha on increasing Sequoia's focus on AI investments, staying politically neutral, and more — At the crown of Roelof Botha's otherwise perfectly coiffed, light-brown head of hair, there's a small patch that's gone completely white.

Threads: @paul_rietschka

Reuters:

Canalys: China's smartphone shipments rose 10% YoY in Q2, with Huawei's shipments up 41% YoY; Apple's market share in China dropped from 16% in Q2 2023 to 14% — Apple's smartphone shipments in China fell by 6.7% in the second quarter of 2024, as the tech giant faced intensifying competition …

Arjun Kharpal / CNBC:

An interview with Samsung's mobile chief TM Roh on the Galaxy AI push, monetizing AI, future products in foldables and mixed reality, and more — In a swanky downtown Paris hotel, Samsung Electronics' mobile boss sat behind a suite of the tech giant's latest products, ranging from foldable smartphones …

Amy Edelen / Phoenix Business Journal:

The US Commerce Department says it signed a nonbinding preliminary agreement with Amkor for a CHIPS Act award consisting of $400M in grants and $200M in loans — Facility expected to create 2,000 jobs when in full operation within three years — The U.S. will award Amkor Technology Inc. $600 million …

More: NIST, DatacenterDynamics, Benzinga, Tom's Hardware, Bloomberg, eeNews Europe, Amkor Technology, and Reuters

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From Mediagazer

Reuters:

Sources: Nick Bilton hired TV production consultant Kelly Funke, to help manage his 60 Minutes transition, and a 24-year-old operations manager, Nick De Lucca

Ted Johnson / Deadline:

WSJ asks a judge to toss out Trump's revised defamation lawsuit over its Jeffrey Epstein letter story, saying it is a “re-package” of claims already dismissed

Lucas Manfredi / The Wrap:

Fubo and NBCUniversal reach a deal ending a months-long blackout, with NBCU's Spanish-language networks available Wednesday, English-language networks later

More News

Joyce Lee / Reuters:

SK Hynix announces plans to invest roughly $6.8B through 2028 on a chip plant in Yongin, South Korea, including a “mini-fab” to process 300mm silicon wafers

More: Blocks and Files, Investopedia, Benzinga, The Korea Herald, TweakTown, TechPowerUp, and CNBC

Patrick Sisson / Bloomberg:

As xAI builds a supercomputer in Memphis, many locals are wary of its benefits, and environmental advocates are puzzled over its potential effects

Katie Roof / Bloomberg:

Self-driving startup Applied Intuition raised $300M+ as part of a secondary deal that allowed shareholders and employees to sell shares in the $6B company

X: @appliedint

Denver Business Journal:

Florida-based IntelePeer, which develops software to help businesses automate customer contact centers using AI, raised $140M in equity and debt

More: Coverager, IntelePeer, and Refresh Miami

Bloomberg:

FTC's Lina Khan says open-weights AI models can promote competition and “liberate startups from the arbitrary whims of closed developers and cloud gatekeepers”

Kali Hays / Fortune:

Memo: Jack Dorsey plans a Block restructuring to remove business unit silos and group staff by function and warns that it may feel “disruptive or uncomfortable”

Sam Sabin / Axios:

CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz says 97% of Windows sensors are back online, about a week after CrowdStrike shipped a faulty update that bricked 8.5M Windows PCs

More: Tech Monitor, PCMag, Moneycontrol, Wall Street Journal, 9to5Mac, WinBuzzer, Barron's Online, Neowin, BBC, Bloomberg, Benzinga, Reuters, Cyber Daily, CNBC, CRN, and SC Media

Mastodon: @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social. Bluesky: @marypcbuk.bsky.social

Spencer Soper / Bloomberg:

Amazon says a judge has dismissed a Washington state case, alleging that Amazon exposed warehouse workers to injuries, for lack of evidence

Earlier Picks

Ashley Gold / Axios:

Anthropic says it does not support California's AI safety bill and suggests changes, including a shift from “pre-harm enforcement” to “outcome-based deterrence”

More: WinBuzzer

Jake Rudnitsky / Bloomberg:

Russia says it will throttle YouTube download speeds on computers by 70% by the end of next week, as “a consequence of the anti-Russian policy of the host”

More: Reuters, The Record, NV, Interfax, and Politico. X: @kyivindependent

Chris Welch / The Verge:

Sonos CEO Patrick Spence apologizes for Sonos' redesigned app, which launched in May to widespread criticism, and promises biweekly app updates through the fall

More: Sonos, HotHardware, PCMag, T3, Music Ally, The Ambient, Forbes, TechRadar, PhoneArena, Tom's Guide, iMore, Mashable, and TechIssuesToday.com

X: @sonos, @darrenwaters, and @jonjones

Forums: r/apple and r/sonos

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:

Meta says WhatsApp now has more than 100M MAUs in the US and that more than 50% of WhatsApp users in the country have an iPhone; WhatsApp has 2B+ MAUs globally

More: WhatsApp Blog, PCMag, Thurrott, Forbes, The Verge, GSMArena.com, Android Authority, Cult of Mac, iMore, PYMNTS.com, CNBC, WABetaInfo, 9to5Mac, and Bloomberg

Threads: @juliaboorstin and @mwi.invest

X: @rihardjarc and @benbajarin

Kylie Robison / The Verge:

OpenAI unveils SearchGPT, a GPT-4-powered search tool that can organize links and summarize its findings, limited to 10K users but eventually coming to ChatGPT

More: HotHardware, The Atlantic, Tech Monitor, Gizchina.com, CCN.com, The Hindu BusinessLine, TechSpot, Android Authority, Scripps News, The Economic Times, Metaverse Post, Cybernews.com, WHDH-TV, CNBC, Laptop Mag, TechCrunch, MySmartPrice, Tech Funding News, The Hindu, Business Standard, London Evening Standard, Daily Mail, Tom's Guide, Financial Express, Dataconomy, AIM, WinBuzzer, Wccftech, MSPoweruser, TestingCatalog, Computerworld, The Indian Express, The Rundown AI, Nairametrics, The Guardian, Hindustan Times, Phandroid, 9to5Mac, Deadline, The Register, Livemint, Business Today, 9to5Google, BetaNews, Washington Post, NewsBytes, Australian Financial Review, OSnews, GSMArena.com, Search Engine Roundtable, Financial Times, SiliconANGLE, Wired, TechRepublic, Semafor, Fortune, Fast Company, The Cyber Express, Bitcoin Insider, and Wall Street Journal

Threads: @rourkery, @navneetalang, and @kylie.robison

X: @sama, @openai, @americanburnerr, @sama, @samhouston, @abacaj, @garymarcus, @mparakhin, @kayjebelli, @lewis_crofts, @ianzelbo, @edludlow, and @kyliebytes. LinkedIn: Emil Protalinski

Forums: r/artificial, r/OpenAI, r/StockMarket, r/ValueInvesting, r/singularity, and r/technology