Month: January 2023

SteamDB: Valve’s Steam platform crossed 10M concurrent in-game players for the first time on January 7 and recently exceeded 33M concurrent online users (Jess Weatherbed/The Verge)

Jess Weatherbed / The Verge: SteamDB: Valve’s Steam platform crossed 10M concurrent in-game players for the first time on January 7 and recently exceeded 33M concurrent online users  —  Valve’s game distribution platform Steam had a record-breaking weekend, exceeding 10 million concurrent in-game players for the first time …

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The EFF, iFixit, Consumer Reports, and other advocacy groups say many buzzy tech demos at CES failed to address how customer data is collected and protected (Tatum Hunter/Washington Post)

Tatum Hunter / Washington Post: The EFF, iFixit, Consumer Reports, and other advocacy groups say many buzzy tech demos at CES failed to address how customer data is collected and protected  —  CES brings a flood of new gadgets with dangerous technology and little vetting  —  LAS VEGAS — American shoppers …

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LinkedIn posts and Apple job listings suggest Apple plans to open its first flagship stores in India, likely beyond the reported 22,000 sq. ft. store in Mumbai (Patrick McGee/Financial Times)

Patrick McGee / Financial Times: LinkedIn posts and Apple job listings suggest Apple plans to open its first flagship stores in India, likely beyond the reported 22,000 sq. ft. store in Mumbai  —  Smartphone maker wants to expand in the country and diversify manufacturing away from China  —  Apple has started hiring retail …

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Steam hits 10 million concurrent in-game players in record-breaking weekend

Steam surpassed its previous records for both concurrent in-game players and online users on January 7th, 2023. | Image: The Verge Valve’s game distribution platform Steam had a record-breaking weekend, exceeding 10 million concurrent in-game players for the first time, while also surpassing 32 million concurrent online users. According to SteamDB (a non-Valve affiliated database),

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5 ways devops can reduce energy consumption

When we build and deploy microservices, apps, and databases, common operational concerns include their reliability, performance, scalability, and security. Perhaps it’s time we add sustainability to the list. Business and technology executives expect IT to support the organization’s environment, social, and governance (ESG) objectives, and digital transformation programs often have sustainability goals. In the 2022

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2023 is all about analytics

Data by itself isn’t very useful. Data only becomes useful as it’s understood and as it infuses application experiences. This desire to put data to work has driven a boom in cloud-based analytics. Though a relatively small amount of IT spending currently goes to cloud—roughly 6% according to IDC in 2020—all of the momentum is away

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An interview with Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, in the role since 2007, on acquiring Figma for $20B, the state of the industry, hybrid work, longevity, and more (Chip Cutter/Wall Street Journal)

Chip Cutter / Wall Street Journal: An interview with Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, in the role since 2007, on acquiring Figma for $20B, the state of the industry, hybrid work, longevity, and more  —  For all the turmoil in the technology industry in 2022, Adobe Inc. ADBE 1.31%increase; green up pointing triangle Chief Executive Shantanu

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John Deere signs an MOU with the American Farm Bureau Federation, promising farmers the right to repair their equipment or go to an independent technician (P J Huffstutter/Reuters)

P J Huffstutter / Reuters: John Deere signs an MOU with the American Farm Bureau Federation, promising farmers the right to repair their equipment or go to an independent technician  —  The American Farm Bureau Federation and machinery manufacturer Deere & Co (DE.N) signed a memorandum of understanding on Sunday …

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Sources: UK PM Rishi Sunak met Arm CEO Rene Haas and Masayoshi Son to revive efforts to secure a London listing for Cambridge-based Arm’s IPO alongside New York (Financial Times)

Financial Times: Sources: UK PM Rishi Sunak met Arm CEO Rene Haas and Masayoshi Son to revive efforts to secure a London listing for Cambridge-based Arm’s IPO alongside New York  —  Officials and London Stock Exchange face uphill battle to secure UK role for chip designer’s IPO

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London-based insurance broker Superscript, which offers a “self-serve” platform for SMEs, sole traders, and others, raised a £45M Series B led by BHL UK (Paul Sawers/TechCrunch)

Paul Sawers / TechCrunch: London-based insurance broker Superscript, which offers a “self-serve” platform for SMEs, sole traders, and others, raised a £45M Series B led by BHL UK  —  Superscript, an insurance broker and tech platform targeting SMEs and “high-growth” tech firms, has raised £45 million …

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People’s Bank of China official Guo Shuqing says the government’s two-year clampdown on financial units at Alibaba, Tencent, Didi, and others is winding down (Nikkei Asia)

Nikkei Asia: People’s Bank of China official Guo Shuqing says the government’s two-year clampdown on financial units at Alibaba, Tencent, Didi, and others is winding down  —  Alibaba, Tencent, Didi and Meituan can expect normalized supervision  —  China’s more than two-year clampdown on its sprawling internet sector …

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UK-based Oxford Ionics, which is using trapped ions to scale quantum computing, raised a £30M Series A led by Oxford Science Enterprises and Braavos (Patricia Allen/EU-Startups)

Patricia Allen / EU-Startups: UK-based Oxford Ionics, which is using trapped ions to scale quantum computing, raised a £30M Series A led by Oxford Science Enterprises and Braavos  —  UK-based tech startup Oxford Ionics has just raised over €34 million to unlock a more powerful future for quantum computing.

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UK-based insurer Beazley launches the first cyber catastrophe bond, typically used for hurricanes and extreme weather, as the industry combats ransomware claim (Ian Smith/Financial Times)

Ian Smith / Financial Times: UK-based insurer Beazley launches the first cyber catastrophe bond, typically used for hurricanes and extreme weather, as the industry combats ransomware claim  —  Template eyed as source of capital for area of insurance in high demand  —  Lloyd’s of London insurer Beazley has launched …

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Taiwanese lawmakers pass rules letting domestic chip companies convert 25% of their annual R&D expenses into tax credits; TSMC’s stock rises 4%+ (Debby Wu/Bloomberg)

Debby Wu / Bloomberg: Taiwanese lawmakers pass rules letting domestic chip companies convert 25% of their annual R&D expenses into tax credits; TSMC’s stock rises 4%+  —  Taiwanese lawmakers have passed new rules that let local chip firms turn 25% of their annual research and development expenses into tax credits …

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Spaceballs Get Serialized

As much as we’d love a TV show version of the cult classic movie, we’re talking about a different kind of Spaceball. While there have been many iterations, [Evan] had a Spaceball built by a company known as Spacetec in 1991 and rebranded by HP. Being an older peripheral, he used the Orbotron 9001, a

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