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January 16, 2019

Facebook hires former Google AR/VR engineering lead Ryan Cairns to head Portal, as current Portal head Rafa Camargo shifts to leading hardware for AR/VR (Lucas Matney/TechCrunch)

Lucas Matney / TechCrunch: Facebook hires former Google AR/VR engineering lead Ryan Cairns to head Portal, as current Portal head Rafa Camargo shifts to leading hardware for AR/VR — Facebook is bringing on the engineering lead for Google’s entire AR/VR team to tackle Portal hardware. Facebook hires former Google AR/VR engineering lead Ryan Cairns to

Microsoft Pledges $500 Million for Affordable Housing in Seattle Area

The move is the most ambitious effort yet by a tech company to fund construction for local teachers, firefighters and other middle- and low-income residents. Microsoft Pledges 0 Million for Affordable Housing in Seattle Area Source: NY Times Tech

January 16, 2019

"Collection #1" database, which claims to contain records of ~773M unique email addresses and 21M passwords, some of them hashed, shows up on the web (Brian Barrett/Wired)

Brian Barrett / Wired: “Collection #1” database, which claims to contain records of ~773M unique email addresses and 21M passwords, some of them hashed, shows up on the web — THERE ARE BREACHES, and there are megabreaches, and there’s Equifax. But a newly revealed trove of leaked data tops … "Collection #1" database, which claims

RSA Encryption Cracked Easily (Sometimes)

A large chunk of the global economy now rests on public key cryptography. We generally agree that with long enough keys, it is infeasible to crack things encoded that way. Until such time as it isn’t, that is. Researchers published a paper a few years ago where they cracked a large number of keys in

January 16, 2019

Microsoft pledges $500M to tackle housing crisis in Seattle: $475M for loans to housing developers over three years and $25M for resident services (The Seattle Times)

The Seattle Times: Microsoft pledges $500M to tackle housing crisis in Seattle: $475M for loans to housing developers over three years and $25M for resident services — The pledge is the largest in the company’s 44-year history, and comes as Microsoft and other tech giants that have driven … Microsoft pledges 0M to tackle housing

January 16, 2019

Trump’s media bias poll might be the most biased thing I’ve read in 2019

President Trump continues to fire shots at the press, claiming biased coverage, misrepresented facts, and sometimes entirely made-up stories. In what can only be described as a war on traditional media, Trump continued his assault with a poll on media bias that, ironically, might be the most biased line of questioning this reporter has ever

Huawei Said to Be Under U.S. Investigation in Trade-Secrets Case

The inquiry grew out of a 2014 civil suit and appears unrelated to other pressure faced by the Chinese company, two people familiar with the case said. Huawei Said to Be Under U.S. Investigation in Trade-Secrets Case Source: NY Times Tech

The Best Meal Kit Delivery Services of 2019 – CNET

These convenient meal kit services deliver weekly menus and preportioned ingredients to enthusiastic but time-poor home cooks. The Best Meal Kit Delivery Services of 2019 – CNET Source: CNet

Disability rights group sues scooter companies over clogged sidewalks – CNET

People with disabilities say they’ve tripped on scooters and nearly been hit by riders. Disability rights group sues scooter companies over clogged sidewalks – CNET Source: CNet

Sen. Marco Rubio is latest lawmaker to propose federal privacy law – CNET

Rubio introduced his take on privacy regulations Wednesday. Sen. Marco Rubio is latest lawmaker to propose federal privacy law – CNET Source: CNet

LG will launch a phone with a second screen attachment – CNET

It’s one of multiple phones launching at the Mobile World Congress trade show next month. But none of them will fold. LG will launch a phone with a second screen attachment – CNET Source: CNet

January 16, 2019

Sources: Snap CFO Tim Stone resigned after a dispute with management over pay, going around CEO Evan Spiegel to ask Snap's board for a significant raise (Sarah Frier/Bloomberg)

Sarah Frier / Bloomberg: Sources: Snap CFO Tim Stone resigned after a dispute with management over pay, going around CEO Evan Spiegel to ask Snap’s board for a significant raise — – Stone went around Spiegel to seek pay bump, people say — Executive also sought promotion to Khan’s former strategy job Sources: Snap CFO

January 16, 2019

Windows 10’s search bar and Cortana split up on good terms

Since Windows 10’s inception Cortana has been directly integrated into the search bar. The idea was that it would make it easier for people to find answers in one place, whether through text search or voice queries. But now it seems the company has decided the tools are better off on their own. Microsoft has

January 16, 2019

Trump signs the OPEN Government Data Act, asking federal agencies to default to making data public when possible and publishing it in a machine-readable format (Devin Coldewey/TechCrunch)

Devin Coldewey / TechCrunch: Trump signs the OPEN Government Data Act, asking federal agencies to default to making data public when possible and publishing it in a machine-readable format — The federal government produces one hell of a lot of data, but despite desultory lurches towards usability there’s little guarantee … Trump signs the OPEN

The Embroidered Computer

By now we’ve all seen ways to manufacture your own PCBs. There are board shops who will do small orders for one-off projects, or you can try something like the toner transfer method if you want to get really adventurous. One thing we haven’t seen is a circuit board that’s stitched together, but that’s exactly

Ransom.Mongolock

Risk Level: Very Low. Type: Trojan. Ransom.Mongolock Source: Symantec lastest threats

Fitbit, NIH launch initiative to advance precision medicine study – CNET

Fitbit users can opt to share their data for scientific research. Fitbit, NIH launch initiative to advance precision medicine study – CNET Source: CNet

January 16, 2019

Google to raise prices globally for G Suite on April 2; G Suite Basic will go from $5 to $6, G Suite Business will go from $10 per user per month to $12 (Larry Dignan/ZDNet)

Larry Dignan / ZDNet: Google to raise prices globally for G Suite on April 2; G Suite Basic will go from $5 to $6, G Suite Business will go from $10 per user per month to $12 — The G Suite price increases are the first in a decade. Google argues that the price increases

Airbnb apologizes to guest for how it handled undisclosed security camera – CNET

The guest says the company’s initial response was that a photo of the camera on the home’s listing was proper disclosure. Airbnb apologizes to guest for how it handled undisclosed security camera – CNET Source: CNet

January 16, 2019

SuperData: revenue from digital games rose to $110.7B in 2018, up 11% YoY, with mobile making $61.6B; the top free-to-play game was Fortnite, earning $2.4B (Dean Takahashi/VentureBeat)

Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat: SuperData: revenue from digital games rose to $110.7B in 2018, up 11% YoY, with mobile making $61.6B; the top free-to-play game was Fortnite, earning $2.4B — Digital games grew 12 percent to $113.4 billion worldwide in 2018, driven by Epic Games’ huge free-to-play battle royale game Fortnite … SuperData: revenue from

January 16, 2019

Study shows Facebook users still don’t understand tracking

The Pew Research Center today released the results of its latest survey of Facebook users, this time about the ad categories they’ve been assigned by the site’s algorithms. The users’ surprising ignorance of the information Facebook accrues highlights the disconnect between the platform and its users. According to the results, several users weren’t even aware

Microsoft could unveil the HoloLens 2 on Feb. 24 – CNET

An invite to Mobile World Congress in Barcelona hints at a new product to rival the Magic Leap. Microsoft could unveil the HoloLens 2 on Feb. 24 – CNET Source: CNet

The smart kitchen may soon be more app than appliance, and I'm not thrilled – CNET

Commentary: The connected kitchen is getting crowded and confusing. And this is just the beginning. The smart kitchen may soon be more app than appliance, and I'm not thrilled – CNET Source: CNet

January 16, 2019

Techstars announces Techstars Studio, a CO-based startup studio for new company concepts that plans to support four or five startups in its first year (Alex Konrad/Forbes)

Alex Konrad / Forbes: Techstars announces Techstars Studio, a CO-based startup studio for new company concepts that plans to support four or five startups in its first year — Members of the Techstars community, like those pictured, will have the opportunity to launch new startups through its studio program. — TECHSTARS Techstars announces Techstars Studio,

On Technology: How Secrecy Fuels Facebook Paranoia

The social platform knows everything that happens within its walls — that’s the whole point — but it is oddly reticent when it comes to misinformation campaigns. On Technology: How Secrecy Fuels Facebook Paranoia Source: NY Times Tech

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