Network Support Blog

Kim Lyons / The Verge: Verizon support advised its users in a now-deleted tweet to “turn on LTE”, which would turn off 5G, to preserve battery life  —  This, despite the carrier's relentless promotion of its 5G network  —  Despite its relentless promotion of 5G phones and the fact that it spent … https://bit.ly/37YnPlB

Liat Kaplan / New York Times: The person behind “Your Fave Is Problematic” Tumblr blog, which listed regrettable actions by celebrities, says she looks back on her blog with shame and regret  —  What was I trying to accomplish with my anonymous Tumblr?  —  If you were on Tumblr in the early 2010s … https://bit.ly/3sBaNSS

Jason Aten / Inc.com: A look at Clubhouse's privacy flaws: room audio is “temporarily” saved for trust and safety purposes, user accounts or personal data can't be deleted, and more  —  Clubhouse was sort of perfectly made for the pandemic.  People aren't going out, and they're desperately searching for social connections and entertainment. https://bit.ly/3kvyNEc

Andrew Jacobs / New York Times: Critics say the policies of Amazon, Google, and Facebook from the early days of the pandemic to restrict the sale of medical-grade masks are now outdated  —  Scientists are urging Americans to upgrade their face coverings.  But Amazon, Google and Facebook restrict the sale of medical-grade masks. https://bit.ly/2MwpwPH

John Beck / Rest of World: Social media platforms are struggling with how to handle ISIS-related fundraising campaigns, which are often slipping through by disguising as humanitarianism  —  Social media platforms are struggling to figure out how to deal with fundraising campaigns that flirt with the boundaries of what's legal. https://bit.ly/3kvVurZ

Drew Harwell / Washington Post: Public docs show that ICE used private database run by Thomson Reuters with 400M+ names, addresses, and utility service records to pursue immigration violations  —  Government agencies increasingly are accessing private information they are not authorized to compile on their own https://bit.ly/3bM9vO3

Marlow Stern / The Daily Beast: Advanced deepfakes of Tom Cruise are going viral on TikTok, with the account deeptomcruise amassing 200K+ followers in a few days  —  FOR THE LOVE OF XENU  —  Be afraid.  Be very afraid.  —  Three days ago, a TikTok account going by @deeptomcruise began posting video clips … https://bit.ly/2ZS7SJr

Cecilia Kang / New York Times: FCC approves a $50/month high-speed internet subsidy for low-income households and a one-time discount of up to $100 on a computer or tablet for eligible homes  —  The money, aimed at low-income households, is part of an effort to bridge the access gap to broadband connectivity amid the pandemic. https://bit.ly/3aXljOA

Tom Warren / The Verge: Microsoft confirms it has fixed a five-hour Xbox Live outage which prevented some users from signing in or making purchases  —  Microsoft's gaming network went down worldwide  —  Microsoft's Xbox Live service went down for more than five hours today, preventing users from signing in to the service. https://bit.ly/3bFx37h

Cameron Faulkner / The Verge: Facebook is rolling out an opt-in feature, allowing “Hey Facebook” to be used as a wake word for its Portal displays and Oculus Quest platform  —  Available on Portal smart displays and rolling out on Oculus Quest headsets  —  Facebook has introduced a new “Hey Facebook” … https://bit.ly/37OFyfg

Megan Graham / CNBC: Facebook launches a TV, radio, and digital ad campaign in support of personalized ads called Good Ideas Deserve to be Found, ahead of Apple's IDFA changes  —  - Facebook is launching a new ad campaign called “Good Ideas Deserve to be Found,” which makes a case for personalized advertising. https://bit.ly/3uyTOCI

Maggie Fitzgerald / CNBC: GameStop shares closed up nearly 104% on Wednesday, halting twice for volatility; GameStop said on Tuesday its CFO will resign; stock up 80%+ after hours  —  - GameStop announced Tuesday that its chief financial officer Jim Bell will resign on March 26.  — Sources familiar … https://bit.ly/2ZL83WK

Mitchell Clark / The Verge: iRobot, which makes Roomba vacuums, says a software update to fix issues with i7 and s9 models will take several weeks, after users reported them acting “drunk”  —  Users have reported their robotic helpers acting ‘drunk’  —  iRobot, maker of the robotic Roomba vacuums … https://bit.ly/3st3LiW

Khari Johnson / VentureBeat: Katana Graph, which helps businesses analyze and manage unstructured data at scale, raises $28.5M Series A led by Intel Capital  —  Katana Graph, a startup that helps businesses analyze and manage unstructured data at scale, today announced a $28.5 million series A round led by Intel Capital. https://bit.ly/3qRJ14g

Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab: Facebook's Australia news ban shows tech giants don't mind giving up money to appease regulators and business, but will not give up control over platforms  —  [Warning: Violent and gruesome metaphor ahead.]  —  In The Usual Suspects (1995), there's a scene in which the true extent … https://bit.ly/3pPGrdR

Natasha Mascarenhas / TechCrunch: Filing: Reddit, which announced a $250 million Series E earlier this month, has added over $116M to the financing event  —  Reddit, which announced a $250 million Series E earlier this month, has added over $116 million to the financing event, upping the round's most recent total to $367 million, according to a new SEC filing. https://bit.ly/2ZJmyuf

Gene Park / Washington Post: Sony says it's developing a VR headset for the PlayStation 5 that will be much less cumbersome than its current PS VR setup, but the device won't launch in 2021  —  The PlayStation 5 will have its own virtual reality headset, however, consumers may face ongoing difficulties obtaining a PS5 console given a supply chain shortfall. https://bit.ly/3qO4pY6

Sean Highkin / Bleacher Report: NBA Top Shot, a marketplace for NBA video highlights, says it has 50K+ users and sales of $60M+ since Oct.; its owner Dapper Labs reportedly just raised $250M  —  In the third quarter of a regular-season game against the Houston Rockets last February, LeBron James broke away … https://bit.ly/37HolUS

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: Spotify will launch an audio advertising marketplace, the Spotify Audience Network, and plans to offer podcasts on its self-serve ad platform Spotify Ad Studio  —  Spotify provided more details today about how it plans to monetize its investments in podcasts. https://bit.ly/2NTfcS1

Anton Troianovski / New York Times: Russian officials are trying to lure people onto social networks tied to the government, in an attempt to keep dissent from going viral at moments of crisis  —  The Kremlin has constructed an entire infrastructure of repression but has not displaced Western apps.  Instead, it is turning to outright intimidation. https://bit.ly/3dAwE8X

Wall Street Journal: Sources: Toast, a cloud-based restaurant management software provider, is planning an IPO that could value it at ~$20B; in Feb. 2020 it was valued at $4.9B  —  Toast taps Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase to underwrite a possible listing later this year  —  Toast Inc. is planning … https://bit.ly/2NjQHhh

Shoshanna Solomon / The Times of Israel: Israel-based Earnix, which helps banks and insurers provide personalized real-time offers to clients, raises $75M at a $1B pre-money valuation  —  Funds raised will help startup access new markets, finetune software that helps banks and insurers offer clients personalized pricing and products https://bit.ly/3bsmTXB

Andrew Thurman / Cointelegraph: Synthetix, which develops a DeFi protocol for trading derivatives, raises $12M after three VC firms purchased its native tokens directly from its DAO treasury  —  As the community debates VCs participating in DAOs, Synthetix welcomes three new community members https://bit.ly/2NsScth

Sheldon Chanel / The Guardian: Facebook's Australia ban is acute for people in places like Fiji, who rely on phone plans with cheap Facebook access as going to news websites costs more data  —  Media experts fear that communities reliant on the site for information will suffer significant impact https://bit.ly/3bqM2BZ

Eric Benjamin Seufert / Mobile Dev Memo: Apple's app tracking transparency pushes publishers like Zynga to acquire or build their own ad tech, creating first party walled gardens that Apple can't touch  —  , Apple is diminishing the ability for advertising to be personalized by limiting the use of third-party data for that purpose. https://bit.ly/2Npi89k

Shen Lu / Protocol: An ex-ByteDance employee recounts the inner workings of the company's complex content moderation system and the role of China's internet censorship policies  —  This is the story of Li An, a pseudonymous former employee at ByteDance, as told to Protocol's Shen Lu. https://bit.ly/3qEZMQ2

Tyler Sonnemaker / Insider: Internal email: Mailchimp CEO tells staff that “we have work to do” on pay equity and inclusion, after company denied allegations of bias from engineer who quit  —  - Mailchimp CEO Ben Chestnut said the company has “work to do” on pay equity.  — Chestnut's email to employees followed … https://bit.ly/3qDxbKY

Wall Street Journal: Sources: IBM is exploring a sale of its IBM Watson Health business, which has roughly $1B in annual revenue and isn't currently profitable  —  Business has roughly $1 billion in revenue and isn't profitable, sources say  —  International Business Machines Corp. is exploring a potential sale … https://bit.ly/37x3oMl

Ashley Carman / The Verge: Sweden-based podcast host and ad network Acast says it is acquiring RadioPublic; RadioPublic's podcast app will remain live and its team will stay in the US  —  It already claims to be the biggest everywhere else  —  Acast, a podcast host and ad network, is looking to improve its tech and broaden its reach. https://bit.ly/2MalsVg

Makena Kelly / The Verge: Thursday's House Committee hearing focused very little on social media's role in the GameStop squeeze and instead focused on Robinhood's influence  —  A Redditor, a FinTech bro, and two hedge fund managers walk into a hearing room  —  This story is part of a group of stories called https://bit.ly/3sbEycH

Damien Cave / New York Times: As news disappears from Facebook in Australia, while leaving plenty of conspiracy theories, many Australians are outraged but remain divided over what to do  —  The social network's decision to block journalism rather than pay for it erased more than expected, leaving many outraged and debating what should happen next. https://bit.ly/3s7zKoK

Monica Chin / The Verge: Razer Book 13 review: the 16:10 touch display is great for multitasking and integrated graphics performance is very good but feels clunkier than competition  —  Business on the lid, party in the keyboard  —  For years, Razer has made some of the best gaming laptops on the market. https://bit.ly/3pzhO4G

Karl Bode / VICE: FCC launches the Broadband Data Task Force to collect data and develop more precise maps of US broadband availability, which currently rely on ISP-provided data  —  You can't fix a problem you don't understand.  And for decades the US has refused to accurately measure the full scope of US broadband market failure. https://bit.ly/2ND2Ai4

William Easton / About Facebook: Ahead of proposed media law, Facebook says it's banning Australians from sharing/viewing news and all users from sharing from and viewing Australian news Pages  —  In response to Australia's proposed new Media Bargaining law, Facebook will restrict publishers and people in Australia from sharing … https://bit.ly/3baXTEa

Peter Smith / Blockchain.com: Blockchain.com raises $120M growth round from Moore Strategic Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and others and says 65M wallets have been created  —  Today we're excited to share that Blockchain.com has closed on a strategic financing round, securing $120M from some of the world's leading macro investors. https://bit.ly/3u71Kuu

Wall Street Journal: A hacker claims to have stolen and posted files from global law firm Jones Day on the dark web; Jones Day says a file-sharing company it used was compromised  —  Firm disputes network breach, says its file-transfer company was compromised  —  A hacker claims to have stolen files belonging … https://bit.ly/2OCjX2O

Ben Schoon / 9to5Google: LastPass Free users must choose between mobile or computers for unlimited device access starting March 16; email support limited to paid plans starting May 17  —  One of the most attractive features of the popular password manager LastPass is that, if you choose to, you can use it pretty effectively without paying a dime. https://bit.ly/3jVnwwE

The Economic Times: Amazon partners with Foxconn to establish its first device manufacturing line in India, operational later this year, to make Fire TV sticks locally  —  Bengaluru: Amazon.com Inc. is setting up its first device manufacturing line in India to make Fire TV sticks locally.  The facility will become operational later this year. https://bit.ly/3qqB8SZ

Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet: Trend Micro details an unpatched remote code execution bug in the Android version of SHAREit, an app with 1B+ Play Store downloads that lets users share files  —  The vulnerabilities impact SHAREit, an app used for sharing files between users and their devices. https://bit.ly/3akw794

Adi Robertson / The Verge: Parler says it is now accessible for existing users and will accept new signups starting next week, announces Tea Party activist Mark Meckler as interim CEO  —  An Amazon suspension shut it down in January  —  The alternative social network Parler has reopened after a month offline. https://bit.ly/3dgjcGZ

Annie Musgrove / Tech.eu: London-based Solidatus, which helps clients like HSBC and Citi visualize, manage, and monetize their data, raises £14M Series A led by AlbionVC  —  Solidatus, a London-based data lineage and metadata management company, is today announcing it has raised £14 million in Series A funding. https://bit.ly/3amTgI1

Annie Musgrove / Tech.eu: Libeo, a French startup that lets SMEs easily process invoices and B2B payments, raises €20M Series A and says it is processing €100M annually  —  Libeo, a French fintech software that simplifies invoices and payments for SMEs, has closed a €20 million Series A round … https://bit.ly/3b4dfKJ

Devin Coldewey / TechCrunch: Germany-based Lengoo, which offers customised AI-powered translation service to enterprise clients, raises $20M Series B  —  Most people who use AI-powered translation tools do so for commonplace, relatively unimportant tasks like understanding a single phrase or quote. https://bit.ly/37hR3M6

Rest of World: Inside “PGM” Facebook groups, the largest of which has 160,000+ members, where Brazilians collect, share, and memorialize the accounts of the recently deceased  —  Long before the Covid-19 pandemic, Brazilian Facebook users were gathering to memorialize total strangers. https://bit.ly/3rU9WN2

Angel Au-Yeung / Forbes: Following Bumble's IPO, CEO and founder Whitney Wolfe Herd, who is 31, became the youngest female CEO ever to take a company public in the US  —  [Update 7 pm ET: Whitney Wolfe Herd ended the day Thursday with a net worth of $1.5 billion based on Bumble stock closing at $70.55.] https://bit.ly/37cNAhw

Cade Metz / New York Times: Examining the links between the Rationalist community, with Slate Star Codex blog as its epicenter, and influential leaders in tech, including OpenAI's founders  —  Slate Star Codex was a window into the psyche of many tech leaders building our collective future.  Then it disappeared. https://bit.ly/2N3xIHw

Scott Chipolina / Decrypt: A look at Valuables, a service from crypto company Cent that lets users sell their tweets as non-fungible tokens in exchange for Ethereum  —  A new platform that lets users buy and sell tweets has already seen $270,000 in offers.  Here's how it works.  —  Individuals are now buying … https://bit.ly/3jO0UOQ

Conor Hale / FierceBiotech: Hyperfine Research raises $90M Series D from GV, Nextrans, Axiom Associates, and others for its portable AI-powered MRI scanner  —  Hyperfine Research has raised $90 million to scale up the commercial rollout of its wheeled, bedside MRI scanner in the U.S. and abroad, following its debut last year. https://bit.ly/2NofLmV

Matt Day / Bloomberg: Amazon sues NY state AG, seeking to prevent her from penalizing Amazon for alleged retaliation against staff and failures in its safety response to the pandemic  —  - Covid-19 worker safety claims are federal matters, Amazon says  — Company has been at odds with AG since firing worker activists https://bit.ly/376d14s

David Pierce / Protocol: Interview with Vimeo's CEO Anjali Sud, who oversaw the streaming service's transition to a B2B SaaS company offering tools for making videos  —  Anjali Sud's first day as Vimeo CEO was an eventful one.  Not only was she standing in front of the company as its new leader, she was telling them that things were about to change. https://bit.ly/373VWZ1

Dave Michaels / Wall Street Journal: Sources: federal prosecutors are talking to social media companies to find out whether market manipulation fueled the rise of stocks like GameStop and AMC  —  Justice Department has subpoenaed information from Robinhood Markets, others  —  WASHINGTON—Federal prosecutors … https://bit.ly/373kYHC

Kerry Flynn / CNN: Staffers at Medium in editorial, engineering, design, and product units say they're unionizing; a majority of about 140 employees signed union cards with CWA  —  New York (CNN Business)Gawker Media made history five years ago for being the first digital news company to ratify a union contract … https://bit.ly/3qhthay