Network Support Blog

Shannon Liao / Washington Post: An interview with Kate Edwards, a geographer and consultant who helps video game companies better reflect international cultures and geopolitics in their games  —  Kate Edwards works to foresee blind spots — and help companies steer clear.  —  In “Stray,” the adorable cat video game that's become … https://bit.ly/3JlnJWz

Gizmodo: Investigation: 32 US brokers are selling overlapping datasets with ~2.9B profiles of people pegged as “actively pregnant” or “shopping for maternity products”  —  Gizmodo identified 32 brokers selling data on 2.9 billion profiles of U.S. residents pegged as … https://bit.ly/3OMswSi

Rest of World: Inside China's $16B virtual influencer industry, as motion capture actors complain of hard working conditions powering their avatars four to five hours per day  —  Hidden behind the perfect faces of China's $16 billion virtual celebrity industry is an angry, overworked labor force. https://bit.ly/3bhshAL

Matt Burgess / Wired: How Tor is fighting Russia's efforts since December 2021 to block the anonymous browser, such as by using Telegram to share details of volunteer-run Tor bridges  —  Russia has been trying to block the anonymous browser since December—with mixed results.  —  For years, the anonymity service Tor … https://bit.ly/3vpkgjZ

Nikkei Asia: A look at the supply chain resilience myth, as efforts to replicate the chipmaking process inside single countries or regions reveal and exacerbate bottlenecks  —  TAIPEI — In the sweltering Asia summertime of mid-June, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. urgently dispatched a team … https://bit.ly/3cUkY2z

Cal Newport / New Yorker: Chasing TikTok's success and leaving behind the protection of hard-to-replicate, large social graphs could end the lengthy dominance of platforms like Facebook  —  Facebook is trying to copy TikTok, but this strategy may well signal the end of these legacy platforms. https://bit.ly/3Jm8lt5

Rieko Miki / Nikkei Asia: The US and Japan plan to open an R&D center for 2nm chips in 2022 and start mass production in 2025, to establish secure supply chains amid tensions over Taiwan  —  Economic and diplomatic chiefs to discuss supply chains at 2+2 meeting Friday  —  Taiwan hosts the lion's share … https://bit.ly/3cOWqYG

Joanna Glasner / Crunchbase News: A look at the rise and fall of Bird, now a penny stock with a public market cap under $140M, as valuations in the scooter rental sector collapse  —  Almost exactly five years ago, the scooters came.  That's when Bird, the first unicorn in this once sizzling startup sector, launched its inaugural scooter-sharing service. https://bit.ly/3JwYLUB

Mark Bergen / Bloomberg: How Modi's government is increasingly skirting India's own internet rules to crack down on free speech and dissent on social media, under a “fake news” pretext  —  Sandeep Ravindranath, an Indian filmmaker, posted his latest work to YouTube in May. The video … https://bit.ly/3OGkydn

Eric Geller / Politico: The US Secret Service is exploring disabling iMessage on employees' phones, since its E2E encryption may have led to the loss of January 6 texts  —  The Secret Service is considering turning off employees' ability to send iMessages on their work-issued iPhones, hoping to head off repeats … https://bit.ly/3Bsf5Up

Yogita Khatri / The Block: A July 2022 proposal deck shows that Babel Finance lost 8K BTC and 56K ETH, worth $280M+, in proprietary trading of customer funds, as it seeks to raise money  —  - Babel Finance lost 8,000 BTC and 56,000 ETH in proprietary trading with customer funds, according to a restructuring proposal deck obtained by The Block. https://bit.ly/3vpwNE4

Anthony Boadle / Reuters: Brazilian prosecutors ask WhatsApp to delay its Communities feature launch in Brazil until January to avoid spreading misinformation around the October election  —  Brazilian prosecutors on Friday called on messaging platform WhatsApp to delay the launch in Brazil of its new feature called … https://bit.ly/3oHqvfy

Annie Massa / Bloomberg: An interview with Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev on the company's post-IPO stock plunge, catering to its most active users, job cuts, reining in expenses, and more  —  A relaxed vibe envelops Robinhood Markets Inc.'s California headquarters, where employees stroll in pairs around a lush courtyard of cacti … https://bit.ly/3Q1C90g

Bloomberg: By stepping away from Ant Group, Jack Ma escapes Beijing's scrutiny; Ma has been seen traveling Europe after disappearing from public view for almost two years  —  Jack Ma is taking a weeks-long tour in Europe after largely disappearing from public view for almost two years … https://bit.ly/3Jdi8Sp

Pete Schroeder / Reuters: US banking regulators order Voyager Digital to cease and desist from making “false and misleading” claims that its customers' funds were insured by the FDIC  —  U.S. banking regulators have ordered crypto firm Voyager Digital to cease and desist from making “false and misleading” … https://bit.ly/3vnFA9L

Caitlin Harrington / Wired: A look at Apple's union-busting campaign, as some retail workers ask management to stop inflicting “traumatic” pressure on other workers trying to unionize  —  Workers are calling on management to stop inflicting “traumatic” pressure on other workers trying to unionize. https://bit.ly/3zeEVIM

Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch: Instagram's new feature Dual copies BeReal's front and back camera capture quirk, but misses that people like BeReal because it's non-addictive by design  —  BeReal is all about friends and habits — not the algorithm  —  We know the drill: Snapchat adds the Stories feature, Instagram nabs it. https://bit.ly/3vnu4eG

Bloomberg: As advertisers struggle with Reels, Meta tries to ease them into the format, including, sources say, by encouraging them to test their video ads on TikTok first  —  Reels — the short videos that Facebook and Instagram are pushing — are getting more popular, parent company Meta Platforms Inc. says. https://bit.ly/3S6OUsn

Sara Fischer / Axios: Sources: Meta begins telling its ~50 US news partners that the company will not renew its three-year deals from 2019 to pay for content in Facebook's News Tab  —  Meta on Tuesday began telling its news partners in the U.S. that the company no longer plans to pay publishers for their content … https://bit.ly/3OAP4oU

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg: Sources: Apple has hired Luigi Taraborrelli, who was most recently Lamborghini's head of chassis and vehicle dynamics, to work on its self-driving electric car  —  Apple Inc. has enlisted one of Lamborghini's top car-development managers in a sign that it's stepping up work … https://bit.ly/3cNnE1V

Bloomberg: Crypto exchange FTX US is expanding its no-fee stock trading service to all US users, including non-crypto investors, and plans to offer options trading next  —  Crypto exchange FTX US is expanding its no-fee stock trading service to all US users, including non-crypto investors … https://bit.ly/3S9H4xW

Ashley Capoot / CNBC: Etsy reports Q2 revenue up 10.6% YoY to $585M, vs. $556M est., and net income down 25.6% YoY to $73.1M; stock up 5%+ after hours  —  - Etsy shares jumped more than 15% in after-hours trading on Wednesday after the company's second quarter earnings beat on top and bottom lines.  —  Josh Silverman, CEO of Etsy https://bit.ly/3zDoqaD

Abner Li / 9to5Google: Google delays phasing out third-party cookies in Chrome to H2 2024, after deferring the plan from 2022 to 2023, citing the need for more Privacy Sandbox tests  —  Google was originally planning to get rid of third-party cookies in its browser by 2022, but that was later pushed back to 2023. https://bit.ly/3oBG1t8

Jason Schreier / Bloomberg: Interviews with 20+ people detail GTA developer Rockstar's attempts to change its “boys' club” workplace culture, starting in 2018, after complaints and burnout  —  In the summer of 2020, after a police officer killed George Floyd, Rockstar Games quietly shelved a mode of play … https://bit.ly/3zbSB7w

Hannah Murphy / Financial Times: Sources: Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal has become more vocal and aggressive internally; ex-executive: “Twitter is willing to go to war” to make the Musk deal happen  —  The $44bn takeover of Twitter has been punctuated by public clashes between two executives with wildly differing styles … https://bit.ly/3ySWAaa

Caitlin Harrington / Wired: Tech companies' offer to help employees sidestep abortion bans does not cover gig workers, temporary workers, and subcontractors, deepening the workplace divide  —  Google, Amazon, and others will help permanent staff seek out-of-state care.  But their many contractors remain shut out. https://bit.ly/3nNe5lL

Andrew Mendez / TechCrunch: SpaceX debuts Starlink Maritime, a yacht-focused satellite internet service with speeds up to 350 Mbps, for $5K/month and a $10K one-time hardware fee  —  Having conquered orbit, SpaceX's next venue seems to be the high seas, through a special yacht-focused sub-brand of its satellite internet service called Starlink Maritime. https://bit.ly/3nMY2Ez

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch: Traba, a jobs board for workers to find shifts at fulfillment centers and event venues, has raised a $20M Series A led by Khosla at a $120M post-money valuation  —  Traba, a jobs board designed to help entry-level workers find available shifts at fulfillment centers and event venues … https://bit.ly/3uwL3ur

Adi Robertson / The Verge: Meta plans to stop requiring Facebook IDs to log into Quest devices starting in August 2022 and will roll out “Meta accounts” for new and existing Quest users  —  They'll require a Meta account instead  —  Meta is introducing a new account system for its virtual reality headsets … https://bit.ly/3OQ45Ek

Benjamin Pimentel / Protocol: Binance.US names ex-Acorns CFO and COO Jasmine Lee as its CFO, as the company prepares for an IPO in the next two to three years  —  Binance.US has named a new CFO, sending a strong signal that the crypto company is gearing up to go public.  Jasmine Lee, who previously served as CFO … https://bit.ly/3yO3OMl

Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer: In a joint advisory, the FBI, CISA, and Treasury Department warn North Korea-backed hackers are using Maui ransomware against healthcare organizations  —  The FBI, CISA, and the U.S. Treasury Department issued today a joint advisory warning of North-Korean-backed threat actors using Maui ransomware … https://bit.ly/3P9dypR

Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times: Blizzard's Mike Ybarra says it is committed to relaunching BlizzCon in 2023, after pausing plans for the fan-focused event in 2022 amid a harassment lawsuit  —  Mike Ybarra is a man chosen to lead in a historic moment.  —  His Blizzard Entertainment has been singled out as a symbol … https://bit.ly/3bWCFhe

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg: Sources: rugged Apple Watch planned for 2022 will have a larger, ~2" shatter-resistant screen, non-aluminum metal case, workout tracking improvements, and more  —  Apple Inc. plans its largest smartwatch display to date, a bigger battery and a rugged metal casing as part … https://bit.ly/3P4bijE

Joe Rossignol / MacRumors: Apple announces Lockdown Mode in iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS Ventura to protect against “highly targeted cyberattacks” by disabling features, apps, and more  —  Apple today announced a new Lockdown Mode coming to the iPhone, iPad, and Mac with iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS Ventura. https://bit.ly/3nF7auZ

James Vincent / The Verge: Meta open sources its AI translation model, which works across 200 languages, as part of its ambitious R&D project to create a “universal speech translator”  —  Meta's ambition to build a ‘universal translator’ continue  —  Social media conglomerate Meta has created … https://bit.ly/3yllOMT

Javier Espinoza / Financial Times: Sources: Amazon will share more data with rivals and offer buyers a wider choice of products to assuage EU antitrust regulators, concluding a three-year probe  —  Agreement set to give more information to online platform's third-party sellers and close two probes https://bit.ly/3yo0l5K

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch: Voyantis, which develops AI-powered tools to help marketing teams predict a customer's lifetime value, emerges from stealth with a $19M seed  —  Voyantis, a startup developing tools to estimate a customer's lifetime value, today emerged from stealth with $19 million in seed funding from Target Global … https://bit.ly/3RoFk3M

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch: UK signs its first data sharing deal post-Brexit, with South Korea, allowing organizations in the two countries to transfer data without restrictions  —  Six years on from the referendum where the United Kingdom voted to leave the EU, the country is announcing its first international data sharing deal … https://bit.ly/3yTHvFn

Bloomberg: How Ukraine's Kyivstar mobile network stays operational during Russia's invasion, despite killed employees, seized infrastructure, and relentless cyberattacks  —  Employees killed and displaced, infrastructure seized by force and relentless cyberattacks are only a few of the challenges … https://bit.ly/3ydQOhE

Taylor Nicole Rogers / Financial Times: Survey: 25% of Black American investors owned crypto at the start of 2022, compared to 15% of white investors, making them especially vulnerable to the downturn  —  Higher exposure to digital assets leaves owners vulnerable to downturn  —  The widespread losses caused by the cryptocurrency crash … https://bit.ly/3nFFh5P

Alexander Cornwell / Reuters: Dubai-based digital bank YAP has raised $41M as part of a Series A, and says it plans to expand into Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan, and Ghana  —  YAP, a digital bank in the United Arab Emirates, said on Monday it had raised $41 million in funding and targeted raising another roughly $20 million to finance its expansion plans. https://bit.ly/3bFqVzC

Richard Lai / Engadget: Xiaomi's new 12S Ultra smartphone features a 6.73-inch OLED screen and three rear cameras, including a 50MP main camera with a 1-inch sensor, starting at ~$900  —  Merely six months after its previous flagship launch, today Xiaomi announced a trio of familiar-looking smartphones to mark the beginning of its partnership with Leica. https://bit.ly/3NK1MkT

Asa Fitch / Wall Street Journal: After a pandemic frenzy to buy laptops and other gadgets, Intel, Nvidia, Micron, and others suggest crypto mining, PC gaming, and smartphone demand is weakening  —  Intel and Nvidia are among the semiconductor makers warning of rockier times ahead after two years of surging demand https://bit.ly/3OLbZif

Financial Times: Legal experts say a Japanese antitrust court ruling could have wider implications, including forcing large tech platforms to open up their algorithms  —  Legal experts suggest case related to recommendations site Kakaku.com could have broader implications  —  Japanese legal experts … https://bit.ly/3bPnIh6

Sarah Butler / The Guardian: Amazon launches a “micromobility” hub in Hackney, London with a fleet of e-cargo bikes and on-foot delivery staff to replace thousands of van deliveries  —  Online retailer opening ‘micromobility’ hub in Hackney as part of efforts to cut carbon emissions https://bit.ly/3AteEIX

Dan Milmo / The Guardian: Chainalysis: NFT sales totaled just over $1B in June 2022, a 12-month low since June 2021 when sales were $648M; sales reached a peak of $12.6B in January 2022  —  Sales of non-fungible tokens totalled just over $1bn in June, compared with peak of $12.6bn in January https://bit.ly/3bNvBDw

Justin Ling / Wired: A look at national security concerns around modern cars filled with cameras and sensors, as a Chinese town bans Teslas during a communist party conclave  —  Putting sensor-packed Chinese cars on Western roads could be a privacy issue.  Just ask Tesla. China's Electric Dream https://bit.ly/3IbGyLg

Pew Research Center: Survey: experts split on the likely evolution of an immersive metaverse by 2040, worry about the dominant platforms building it, and expect more useful AR/MR  —  Hype?  Hope?  Hell?  Maybe all three.  Experts are split about the likely evolution of a truly immersive ‘metaverse.’ They expect … https://bit.ly/3nDJZkK

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg: As Apple ramped up Mac chip investments, improvements in its other chips slowed down; sources: Apple Watch Series 8 may be able to tell if users have a fever  —  When it comes to Apple's chip advancements, the company's iPhone and watch are taking a back seat to the Mac. https://bit.ly/3bMfHJA

Chris Gilliard / Wired: ML-powered surveillance systems will never eliminate the risk of school shootings in the US, no matter how expansive and intricate those systems become  —  The failure is not only in the spurious systems, but in the belief that more data can improve them.  —  If we are to believe the purveyors … https://bit.ly/3R5yoZ2

Todd Bishop / GeekWire: Q&A with Microsoft President Brad Smith on assistance for employees seeking abortion, labor and employment reforms, pending antitrust regulation, and more  —  Brad Smith, like many in tech and the broader world, thought 2022 might bring a bit of a break.  Halfway through, the reality has been anything but. https://bit.ly/3OE3mpJ