What if stemming the tide of misinformation on YouTube means punishing some of its biggest stars? The Shift: YouTube Unleashed a Conspiracy Theory Boom. Can It Be Contained? Source: NY Times Tech
Read MoreWe’re probably no closer to getting an edit button for tweets than in the past several years (what’s taking so long?), but I’m glad to hear that the company is thinking about it in earnest, as CEO Jack Dorsey revealed. Recode reported that Dorsey recently described a possible implementation that wouldn’t exactly be an ‘edit
Read MoreBrian Krebs / Krebs on Security: A deep dive on the widespread and ongoing DNS hijacking attacks, which the DHS issued an emergency directive about last month — The U.S. government — along with a number of leading security companies — recently warned about a series of highly complex and widespread attacks … A deep
Read MoreAmy Webb / Wired: The Pentagon needs Silicon Valley’s brightest minds to work on AI but struggles to attract them because of job instability, poor compensation, and more — THIS WEEK, PRESIDENT Donald Trump signed a new executive order on artificial intelligence and the Pentagon declassified part of its AI strategy. The Pentagon needs Silicon
Read MoreIf you weren’t scared of USB cables before, you should be now. The O.MG cable (or Offensive MG kit) from [MG] hides a backdoor inside the shell of a USB connector. Plug this cable into your computer and you’ll be the victim of remote attacks over WiFi. You might be asking what’s inside this tiny
Read MoreWall Street Journal: Sources: Saudi Arabia PIF and Mubadala, the biggest outside investors in SoftBank’s Vision Fund, have complained about high valuations paid for tech companies — High valuations of Vision Fund investments—and the decision-making role of SoftBank chief Masayoshi Son—have led to concerns Sources: Saudi Arabia PIF and Mubadala, the biggest outside investors in
Read MoreWhere and when to look for the best view as the moon comes a little closer on Feb. 19 and is at its brightest for all of 2019. Snow moon 2019: How to watch this year's brightest supermoon – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreRen Zhengfei had previously avoided passing judgment on the case out of respect for the legal process. Now he appears to be sharpening his language. Huawei Founder Slams U.S. Charges as ‘Politically Motivated’ Source: NY Times Tech
Read MoreAbner Li / 9to5Google: Google publishes 30-page paper on how it combats disinformation across YouTube, Search, News, Ads: product improvements, experience with spam, context for users — Over the weekend, Google presented a white paper at the Munich Security Conference detailing how it fights disinformation across its largest services. Google publishes 30-page paper on how
Read MoreMIT is well known for rigorous courses, but they also have a special four-week term at the start of each year called the IAP — Independent Activities Period. This year, the MIT Radio Society had several interesting presentations on both the history and application of radio. You weren’t there? No problem, as the nine lecture
Read MoreRoma, Green Book and The Favourite lead the pack for best picture, but Black Panther and BlacKkKlansman could be wild-card winners. Oscars 2019 predictions: Best picture, best director, best actor, best actress – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreWe now know more about how they heal so rapidly and, potentially, how they stave off cancer. The great white shark's genetic healing powers have been decoded – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreMary Loritz / EU-Startups: Berlin-based Mambu raises €30M Series C for its SaaS banking platform used by banking and financial services startups, such as N26 and OakNorth, in 50 countries — Berlin-based Mambu is an SaaS banking platform that powers digital financial services, providing flexible … Berlin-based Mambu raises €30M Series C for its SaaS
Read MoreThe tech giant put “too much focus” on art-house fare, said Jennifer Salke, the head of Amazon Studios. It will now focus more on films for a broader audience, including “sexy date-night movies.” Amazon Resets Its Film Operation After Rough Year at Box Office Source: NY Times Tech
Read MoreEveryone loves NeoPixels. Individually addressable RGB LEDs at a low price. Just attach an Arduino, load the demo code, and enjoy your blinking lights. But it turns out that demo code isn’t very efficient. [Ben Heck] practically did a spit take when he discovered that the ESP32 sample code for NeoPixels used a uint32 to
Read MoreJosh Constine / TechCrunch: Code and imagery found in Instagram’s Android app reveal Fundraiser stickers for Instagram Stories; Facebook says they are coming later this year — Mark Zuckerberg recently revealed that commerce is a huge part of the 2019 roadmap for Facebook’s family of apps. Code and imagery found in Instagram's Android app reveal
Read MoreYouTube’s most subscribed channel might have found some big reinforcements. Elon Musk joins PewDiePie in battle against T-Series – CNET Source: CNet
Read MorePages on current affairs and history collected tens of millions of views in the past few months, CNN reports. Facebook suspends Russia-backed pages targeting millennials – CNET Source: CNet
Read MoreTheodore Schleifer / Recode: Behind the scenes at Mithril Capital, Peter Thiel’s other fund primarily run by Ajay Royan, which sources describe as an investment firm in disarray — A dozen former employees, investors in the fund, and other people close to the matter describe an investment firm in disarray. Behind the scenes at Mithril
Read MoreMár Másson Maack / The Next Web: Report: 2.7M patient calls to Sweden’s healthcare hotline were found exposed on an unprotected server, along with other sensitive personal information — The audio recordings of 2.7 millions calls made to 1177 Vårdguiden — Sweden’s healthcare hotline — were left exposed to anyone online … Report: 2.7M patient
Read MoreSarah Perez / TechCrunch: Voicebot: the number of Google Assistant Actions in the US reached 4,253 in January 2019, up 2.5X YoY, trailing Amazon, which has touted 56,750 US Alexa skills — In addition to competing for smart speaker market share, Google and Amazon are also competing for developer mindshare in the voice app ecosystem.
Read MoreReed Stevenson / Bloomberg: Profile of Recruit Holdings, once a scandal-plagued Japanese internet pioneer that now has a ~$46B valuation and 350 apps that span many categories — It was one of the most infamous companies in Japan, rocking the nation with a corporate scandal that ousted a prime minister and then nearly collapsing under
Read MoreMicrosoft will begin rolling out SHA-2 standalone updates for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 in March in preparation for its July 16 implementation deadline. Windows 7 users: You need SHA-2 support or no Windows updates after July 2019 Source: ZDNet Microsoft
Read MoreFor one reason or another, we’re going with a retro-futuristic 80s aesthetic in this case, [Mike] decided to turn an Apple IIe into a robot. If you have to ask why, you’ll never know, but this project does have some interesting things going for it. There’s a voice synthesizer, a brand spankin’ new power supply, and
Read MoreSarah Perez / TechCrunch: Days after Greenpeace dings Amazon’s “dirty cloud” in report the company disputes, Amazon debuts initiative to make half of its shipments carbon neutral by 2030 — Perhaps hoping to distract from Greenpeace’s latest report on its “dirty cloud, Amazon this morning announced … Days after Greenpeace dings Amazon's "dirty cloud" in
Read More
