Network Support Blog

Matt Levine / Bloomberg: Crypto created a toy financial system and had a toy financial crisis; in order to work in the long run, crypto must prove its real usefulness outside of finance  —  On Oct. 25, Bloomberg Businessweek published “The Crypto Story,” a cover-to-cover issue of the magazine that I wrote about what crypto is and what it all might mean. http://www.techmeme.com/221230/p9?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a221230p9

Ian Johnston / Financial Times: Accounting software maker Sage threatens to turn off UK customers' single-payment licenses on security grounds, forcing them to buy costly monthly subscriptions  —  FTSE 100 group has forced small UK businesses using its accounting services to adopt costly new monthly packages http://www.techmeme.com/221230/p8?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a221230p8

Chris Vallance / BBC: After a hacker demanded $200K to delete data on 400M+ Twitter accounts, Ireland's DPC plans to investigate the “security issue”; Twitter hasn't issued a comment  —  A watchdog is to investigate Twitter after a hacker claimed to have private details linked to more than 400 million accounts. http://www.techmeme.com/221229/p19?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a221229p19

Jonathan Vanian / CNBC: CCS Insight: global shipments of VR and AR devices fell 12%+ YoY to 9.6M in 2022; NPD: US annual sales of VR headsets fell 2% YoY to $1.1B as of early December  —  - Sales of virtual reality headsets in the U.S. declined 2% year over year to $1.1 billion as of early December, according to NPD Group. http://www.techmeme.com/221228/p20?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a221228p20

Geoffrey A. Fowler / Washington Post: Shadowbanning is real and social media sites should be more transparent about it; survey: nearly 1 in 10 US social media users think they've been shadowbanned  —  Elon Musk is right: Social media should tell you when you're shadowbanned  —  Art teacher Jennifer Bloomer has used Instagram … http://www.techmeme.com/221227/p16?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a221227p16

Matthew Field / Telegraph: Source: Magic Leap raised $450M in 2022, across $150M in equity and $300M in debt, giving Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund majority control of the company  —  Saudi Arabia has taken control of US augmented reality company Magic Leap, The Telegraph can reveal, as the company taps up investors for a further $450m. http://www.techmeme.com/221226/p7?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a221226p7

Justin Garrison / Justin Garrison: Stack Overflow's 2022 Developer Survey shows ~40% use a Linux-based system, up from ~25% in 2021 and ~23% in 2018, compared to ~62% for Windows and ~31% for Mac  —  Thanks to the 2022 StackOverflow developer survey we can finally say 2022 was the year of Linux on the Desktop! http://www.techmeme.com/221226/p5?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a221226p5

Financial Times: Internal memo: Xiaomi President Wang Xiang and co-founders Hong Feng and Wang Chuan step down, as the company battles slowing sales amid COVID-19 disruptions  —  China's leading handset maker has suffered Covid disruption at home and regulatory woes abroad  —  Three top executives … http://www.techmeme.com/221226/p1?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a221226p1

Thomas Claburn / The Register: Study: programmers who use AI tools like GitHub Copilot produce less secure code than those who don't while making them believe their code has no safety issues  —  At the same time, tools like Github Copilot and Facebook InCoder make developers believe their code is sound http://www.techmeme.com/221225/p6?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a221225p6

Dhruv Mehrotra / Wired: A look at Flipper Zero, a $200 portable security penetration testing tool for hackers of all levels to intercept and replay signals from IoT sensors and more  —  Don't be fooled by its fun name and Tamagotchi-like interface—this do-everything gadget is trouble waiting to happen and a whole lot more. http://www.techmeme.com/221225/p5?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a221225p5

Jennifer Conrad / Wired: Q&A with author and labor lawyer Orly Lobel about AI's ability to help mitigate human biases in hiring and compensation, privacy regulation, and more  —  Author and labor lawyer Orly Lobel says AI can help mitigate human biases in hiring and compensation. http://www.techmeme.com/221225/p4?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a221225p4

Shen Lu / Wall Street Journal: Sensor Tower: Pinduoduo's marketplace Temu gained 10.8M installations in the US since Sep. 1, and became the most downloaded US app between Nov. 1 and Dec. 14  —  Temu, a marketplace with deep discounts and copious coupons, has become the most downloaded mobile app in the U.S.  — Copy Link http://www.techmeme.com/221225/p3?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a221225p3

Manish Singh / TechCrunch: Philadelphia-based Exyn, which develops autonomous drones for GPS-denied environments, raised a $35M Series B from Reliance and others at a ~$107M valuation  —  Reliance has backed the Philadelphia-based AI and robotics startup Exyn, the Indian conglomerate disclosed in a stock exchange filing on Thursday … http://www.techmeme.com/221224/p4?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a221224p4

Reuters: Sources: Elon Musk had Twitter remove safety resources related to suicide, child sexual exploitation, and more; Twitter says they will return after a revamp  —  Twitter Inc removed a feature in the past few days that promoted suicide prevention hotlines and other safety resources to users looking … http://www.techmeme.com/221223/p16?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a221223p16

Reuters: Plea hearing court transcript: Caroline Ellison said she and Sam Bankman-Fried knowingly misled investors, lenders, and customers that Alameda borrowed from FTX  —  Sam Bankman-Fried and other FTX executives received billions of dollars in secret loans from the crypto mogul's Alameda Research … http://www.techmeme.com/221223/p15?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a221223p15

Naomi Jagoda / Bloomberg: After pushback, the IRS delays requiring e-commerce apps such as Venmo, PayPal, Cash App, and Etsy to send tax forms to small businesses with $600+ transactions  —  The Internal Revenue Service is delaying a requirement for e-commerce platforms, including Venmo, PayPal, Cash App and Etsy … http://www.techmeme.com/221223/p14?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a221223p14

Lauren Feiner / CNBC: Congress passes a $1.7T spending package, including a bill banning TikTok on federal government devices, but fails to pass many aggressive bills targeting tech  —  - Congress passed a large spending package that includes a bill banning TikTok from being used on government devices. http://www.techmeme.com/221223/p13?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a221223p13

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch: An interview with Mastodon CEO Eugen Rochko on scaling the network, plans for a split revenue model “like Mozilla's” and no ads, talking to investors, and more  —  Is federated really the future?  —  Twitter is in crisis these days.  Under new owner Elon Musk … http://www.techmeme.com/221223/p12?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a221223p12

Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch: LastPass says a threat actor stole a backup copy of its customers' encrypted vault data using cloud storage keys stolen from a LastPass employee in August 2022  —  Password manager giant LastPass has confirmed that cybercriminals stole its customers' encrypted password vaults … https://bit.ly/3PMxn7Y

Alfred Ng / Politico: The Privacy Act, passed in 1974, prevents sharing citizens' data between US agencies, forcing the government to use data brokers and pay them millions per year  —  How an old privacy law and new security demands force Washington to rely on an industry in the crosshairs. https://bit.ly/3GbVlX0

Ian King / Bloomberg: Micron reports Q1 revenue down ~47% YoY to $4.09B and plans to reduce its workforce by ~10% over the next year; Micron had 48,000 employees in September 2022  —  Micron Technology Inc., the largest US maker of memory chips, gave a lackluster revenue outlook for the current period … https://bit.ly/3jhvLH7

CNBC: Sam Bankman-Fried agrees voluntarily to be extradited to the US, where he faces criminal and civil charges including conspiracy, fraud, and money laundering  —  - Sam Bankman-Fried is set to fly to the U.S., where he faces multiple criminal charges tied to the collapse of his crypto exchange FTX. https://bit.ly/3G6jIFE

Paul Gillin / SiliconANGLE: Open-source database provider MariaDB closed down 39.64% in its NYSE debut after its SPAC merger and $368M market cap, below its $672M valuation in February  —  Following through on an announcement it made in February, database management system provider MariaDB plc went public today … https://bit.ly/3PCugzz

@twittersupport: Twitter will remove accounts made to “promote other social platforms” and content that has links or usernames to Facebook, Mastodon, and others  —  We recognize that many of our users are active on other social media platforms. However, we will no longer allow free promotion of certain social media platforms on Twitter. https://bit.ly/3PAs1wC

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg: Sources: Apple is working on a Mac Pro with an M2 Ultra but cancelled the M2 “Extreme” with double the compute power; the Mac Pro could be produced in Vietnam  —  The new high-end Mac Pro with Apple silicon is behind schedule, and you can blame changes to the company's chip and manufacturing plans. https://bit.ly/3HMZlP1

Mitchell Clark / The Verge: Google launches client-side encryption for Gmail in beta and lets Workspace administrators sign up until January 20, coming to Gmail for Android and iOS later  —  Google has launched a beta of its client-side encryption for Gmail, letting businesses apply to test out the feature meant to make … https://bit.ly/3FFAji0

Wall Street Journal: Accounting firm BDO, whose Italian member firm BDO Italia recently signed off on Tether reserves reports, says it is reconsidering its work for crypto companies  —  Accounting firm BDO, which recently signed off on reserves reports for Tether, on Friday said it is reconsidering its work for crypto companies. https://bit.ly/3PETPjh

RT Watson / The Block: Dutch crypto exchange Bitvavo, which uses DCG for its staking service, says it can't access ~$297M held at DCG and that DCG is “experiencing liquidity problems”  —  Dutch cryptocurrency exchange Bitvavo said it can't access 280 million euros ($297 million) on Digital Currency Group … https://bit.ly/3BDkQxV

Jordan Novet / CNBC: Adobe reports Q4 revenue up 10% YoY to $4.53B, Digital Media revenue up 10% YoY to $3.3B, and Digital Experience revenue up 14% YoY to $1.15B; stock is up 5%+  —  - Adobe maintained its forecast for the new fiscal year.  — The company's earnings for the fiscal fourth quarter was strong … https://bit.ly/3j6epwQ

Cat Zakrzewski / Washington Post: A tech industry group that includes Google and Meta sues to block California's Age-Appropriate Design Code, saying it would result in content “over-moderation”  —  It's the latest legal salvo over the future of social media regulation, an issue that has been appealed to the Supreme Court. https://bit.ly/3W3sLwA

Platformer: Sources: Twitter is considering forcing all users to opt in to personalized ads and share their location data but may let Blue users opt out of personalized ads  —  Agree to personalize your ads — or else  —  A month ago, when Elon Musk's Twitter first set out to revamp the Twitter Blue subscription … https://bit.ly/3W76MEG

Urvi Dugar / Reuters: Elon Musk says Twitter Blue subscribers will see half the number of ads, and that it plans to offer a higher tier with no ads in 2023  —  Twitter owner Elon Musk tweeted on Monday that Twitter's Basic blue tick will have half the number of advertisements and the social media platform will offer … https://bit.ly/3HsXUoM

Cat Zakrzewski / Washington Post: Email: Twitter dissolves its Trust and Safety Council, saying it isn't “the best structure” for “external insights into our product and policy development work”  —  Meanwhile, a former top Twitter official fled his home amid attacks following Musk tweets https://bit.ly/3ho0rWG

Eri Sugiura / Financial Times: Sony AI CEO Hiroaki Kitano and NEC CEO Takayuki Morita say US sanctions may impact China's ability to procure chips but question their long-term effectiveness  —  Sony and NEC executives say progress may be slowed but China will remain a force in AI and other areas https://bit.ly/3iVoFbh

Washington Post: With Republicans set to take over the House in 2023, a look at the odds of passing the bipartisan American Data Privacy and Protection Act in a divided Congress  —  With Republicans poised to take over the House next year, a divided Congress looms.  The result could be two years of partisan strife and gridlock. https://bit.ly/3BrOKVP

Sara Fischer / Axios: Sources: LLCs tied to the CEO of crypto news site The Block secretly received $43M in Alameda loans, used in part to buy and run the site; CEO has now resigned  —  The Block, a media company that says it covers crypto news independently, has been secretly funded for over a year with money funneled … https://bit.ly/3hif8KY

Natasha Mascarenhas / TechCrunch: Airtable, a developer of cloud-based collaboration software last valued at $11B in 2021, lays off 254 staffers or around 20% of its workforce  —  Just days ago, Airtable published a memo about how laid off workers can use Airtable to search for jobs.  “It's been an unwelcome theme of 2022—layoffs,” the post said. https://bit.ly/3hfhf1Z

Eduard Kovacs / SecurityWeek: Pwn2Own Toronto 2022: participants earned a total of $400K for new exploits targeting Samsung Galaxy S22, printers, routers, and NAS devices on the first day  —  On the first day of the Pwn2Own Toronto 2022 hacking competition, participants earned a total of $400,000 for new exploits targeting phones, printers, routers and NAS devices. https://bit.ly/3VW9BsF

McKinsey & Company: A survey finds that while 50% of businesses have adopted AI in 2022, 2.5x higher than in 2017, AI adoption has plateaued between 50%-60% for the past few years  —  Adoption has more than doubled since 2017, though the proportion of organizations using AI 1 has plateaued between 50 and 60 percent for the past few years. https://bit.ly/3FcfcUa

Rebekah Valentine / IGN: Microsoft plans to increase the price of new, first-party Xbox Series X and S games to $70 in 2023, after prices remained steady at $60 since the Xbox 360 era  —  Forza Motorsport, Redfall, and Starfield will be among the first to reflect the change.  —  Xbox is preparing to join … https://bit.ly/3VC5l13

Joanna Glasner / Crunchbase News: Autonomous trucking software company Embark lost ~98% of its market value, or ~$5B, since going public a year ago via a SPAC merger, amid a sector-wide downturn  —  Out of all the beaten-down public companies in the autonomous driving space, Embark Technology stands out as a conspicuously terrible stock market performer. https://bit.ly/3EWQabI

Financial Times: Sources: Winklevoss twins' Gemini crypto exchange is trying to recover $900M owed to it by Genesis Global and Genesis' parent company Digital Currency Group  —  New York-based Gemini is trying to recover funds after FTX failure plunged market into turmoil  —  Digital asset trading group Genesis … https://bit.ly/3B5LCys

Aidan Ryan / The Information: Sources: ex-FTX US President Brett Harrison is raising money for a startup to build crypto trading software for big investors, seeking $6M at a $60M valuation  —  Brett Harrison, the former president of FTX's U.S. arm, is trying to raise money for a new crypto startup focused … https://bit.ly/3VMpnWh

Insider: Source: a16z's Future is shutting down; Future hasn't published a new article in months, most of its editorial staffers have left, and its newsletter is defunct  —  Future was the next big thing in media.  —  Launched in June of 2021, it was billed as a buzzy new tech publication … https://bit.ly/3Fmnt9m

Juli Clover / MacRumors: Elon Musk says he met with Tim Cook at Apple's HQ on Wednesday, and that Cook was clear that Apple “never considered” removing Twitter from the App Store  —  Twitter CEO Elon Musk today met with Apple CEO Tim Cook at the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California, according to a tweet shared by Musk this afternoon. https://bit.ly/3VDGoSw