Techmeme: Darkcoin, which offers greater anonymity than bitcoin, rises tenfold in value in only a month (Andy Greenberg/Wired)

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May 22, 2014, 12:30 PM

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Ina Fried / Re/code:

Apple acknowledges iMessage issue, says bug fix coming in future software update — Apple's iMessage Issue Goes From Bad to Worse With Server Glitch — Apple's iMessage system is a model of convenience when connecting between iPhones. But trying to leave the ecosystem is the very definition of horror.

Janko Roettgers / Gigaom:

The iPad's next killer app: Osmo connects iOS kids' games with the real world — “Everything we are doing here is magic.” I'm not usually someone who embraces Silicon Valley's tendency to paint every little product iteration as magical and revolutionary. But when Tangible Play co-founder …

More: Re/code, Gizmodo, TechHive, LAPTOP Magazine, Forbes, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, Wired, App Advice and Crowdfund Insider. Thanks:@deaconlf

Adi Robertson / The Verge:

House of Representatives passes ‘gutted’ NSA surveillance reform — Privacy watchdogs hope Senate will roll back amendments to USA Freedom Act — The USA Freedom Act, a bill meant to end NSA surveillance of phone records, has passed the House of Representatives.

More: Electronic Frontier Foundation, ZDNet, The Hill, RT, Mother Jones, InfoWorld, Computerworld, Washington Post, ABC News and Nextgov. Tweets: @eff

Dustin Volz / National Journal:

Google, Facebook Warn NSA Bill Wouldn't Stop Mass Surveillance

More: Techdirt, TechCrunch, Bloomberg, RT, Daily Dot, US News, The Register and Guardian. Tweets: @trevortimm

George Avalos / Mercury News:

Apple to occupy seven-building Sunnyvale campus — SUNNYVALE — Apple has agreed to lease a seven-building campus in Sunnyvale where the tech giant could move about 1,450 workers, according to city documents and commercial property sources. — The deal is the latest sign of a remarkable burst of expansion by Apple.

More: The Register, MacNN, MacRumors, Gizmodo, iPhone, App Advice, Mashable, iClarified, Cult of Mac, CNET, AppleInsider and 9to5Mac

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Facebook Stops Irresponsibly Defaulting Privacy Of New Users' Posts To “Public”, Changes To “Friends” — After years of putting new users at risk of oversharing by defaulting the visibility of their status updates and photos to public, Facebook is switching the default to “friends”.

More: Facebook, New York Times, The Verge, Computerworld, Ars Technica, Inside Facebook, AllFacebook, CNET News, BuzzFeed, Inquirer, Gigaom, Marketing Land, The Next Web, Engadget, Wall Street Journal, Re/code, InvestorPlace, Softpedia News, WebProNews, Bloomberg, SlashGear and TIME. Tweets: @buzzfeedben

Janko Roettgers / Gigaom:

Google Fiber: we don't charge for peering, don't have fast lanes — Google used its Google Fiber internet access business Wednesday to chime in on the continuing debate around peering and internet fast lanes, and guess what: the company doesn't use either.

More: Google Fiber Blog, Ars Technica, Washington Post, Broadcasting & Cable, 9to5Google, BGR, DSLreports, Techdirt, Washington Post, TelecompetitorTelecompetitor, The Next Web, FierceCable and Dan Rayburn

Daniel Eran Dilger / AppleInsider:

Led by Apple Inc. iPhone, smartphones now account for 87 percent of U.S. handsets — New research by Counterpoint indicates that 87 percent of Americans upgraded to smartphones by the end of March, with Apple remaining the top vendor. — Counterpoint's Market Monitor quarterly tracker …

More: Counterpoint Technology …, Marketing Land, TechCrunch, SlashGear, SammyToday, MacNN and Ubergizmo

Tweets: @neiltwitz and @asymco

Andy Greenberg / Wired:

Darkcoin, which offers greater anonymity than bitcoin, rises tenfold in value in only a month — Darkcoin, the Shadowy Cousin of Bitcoin, Is Booming — Someone out there likes anonymous money. — In only a month, the little-known bitcoin alternative known as Darkcoin has rocketed nearly tenfold …

More: Daily Dot and TheDomains.com. Tweets: @teamcymru

Matthew Panzarino / TechCrunch:

Storehouse Raises $7M From Sherpa And Others To Spread Its Story Creation Tool Beyond The iPad — Storehouse is a company we've written about a bit before. It's a beautifully constructed iPad app that lets you build stories on the fly from text, video and images.

More: Wall Street Journal, Mashable, VentureBeat and Gigaom

Jeremy Kirk / PC World:

Critical Internet Explorer zero-day exploit detailed after Microsoft fails to patch it — An older version of Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser has an unpatched software flaw that could allow rogue code to run on a computer, the second such flaw found in a month.

More: ZDI, CNET News, ZDNet, Help Net Security, Network World, Ubergizmo, TechSpot, Inquirer, SecurityWeek and The Register

Brandon Butler / Network World:

Microsoft taps partners to sell Azure and take on Amazon in cloud — Microsoft has a big channel and soon it will arm them with Azure — Network World - Microsoft distributors will soon be able to resell the company's Azure cloud IaaS, Microsoft announced today in a blog.

More: digitalwpc.com, Aidan Finn, IT Pro, ZDNet and The Register

Ben Gilbert / Engadget:

Samsung is making a VR headset for its phones and tablets — Samsung is known for its ubiquitous Galaxy smartphones and tablets, popular smart televisions and, most recently, smart watches. The Korean consumer electronics giant is about to enter another major new category: virtual reality headsets.

More: TechCrunch and SlashGear

Ben Gilbert / Engadget:

Oculus VR and Palmer Luckey being sued by CTO's former employer (update)

More: Washington Post, ZDNet, The Verge, Computerworld, CNET News, PC Magazine, Inquirer, Business Wire, New York Times, Electronista and VentureBeat. Tweets: @patrickklepek

John McCann / TechRadar.com:

Samsung Music will close its doors on July 1 — Saying bye bye to bloatware … A Samsung executive had already warned us that the Korean firm may close its content hubs, and that's exactly what's happening as Samsung Music (aka Music Hub) will shut down on July 1.

More: The Verge, Engadget, TechHive, 9to5Google, GadgeTell, CNET News, Android Central, Neowin and Neowin

Matt Haughey / Medium:

Google probably considers MetaFilter a haven for comment spam, despite best-in-industry moderation — On the Future of MetaFilter — Peak ads, MetaFilter's Google Problems, and the need to scale back. — MetaFilter is the little weblog that could, established in 1999 as one of the first community blogs.

More: Search Engine Land, Search Engine Roundtable and rc3.org

Tweets: @timanderson, @jfruh, @pinboard, @dangillmor, @mattbuchanan, @dannysullivan, @jacobian, @mathowie, @mathowie, @qthrul, @hmason, @ahow, @somebitslinks, @timhwang and @grimmelm

Thanks:@turoczy. See also Mediagazer

Nick Summers / The Next Web:

Codecademy translates its ‘learn to code’ site into three new languages and readies London office — Codecademy is starting to think global. The New York-based startup has translated its popular learn-to-code platform into three new languages today and formalized partnerships in five countries.

More: PandoDaily, TechCrunch, Guardian, Wired and Codecademy Blog

Andy Greenberg / Wired:

The Intercept's Micah Lee releases OnionShare, a free tool for anonymous file-sharing over Tor — Free App Lets the Next Snowden Send Big Files Securely and Anonymously — When Glenn Greenwald discovered last year that some of the NSA documents he'd received from Edward Snowden had been corrupted …

More: GitHub. Tweets: @micahflee

Leslie Picker / Bloomberg:

JD.com Raises $1.78 Billion, Pricing IPO Above Range — JD.com Inc., the Chinese online retailer whose business model is similar to Amazon.com Inc.'s, raised $1.78 billion in its U.S. initial public offering after pricing the shares above the marketed range.

More: Businessweek, CNBC, PR Newswire, Wall Street Journal, Fortune, The Next Web, Tech in Asia, FinanceAsia, Reuters, BBC, New York Times, TechCrunch and Business Insider

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:

Indian Ecommerce Giant Flipkart Buys Fashion E-tailer Myntra To Fight Amazon's Growth — India's biggest e-commerce company, Flipkart, is acquiring fast growing online fashion retailer Myntra, the two companies confirmed today. — The pair share two investors, Tiger Global Management and Accel Partners.

More: NDTV Profit, Reuters, MediaNama, Tech2, Bloomberg and The Next Web

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