Techmeme
November 16, 2016, 10:15 PM

Top News

Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Google releases Google Earth VR on the HTC Vive for free and is exploring support for other platforms  —  A virtual reality version of Google Earth is now available for free on the HTC Vive, letting users explore reconstructed cultural treasures, global landmarks, or (for some) their own homes in VR.
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Twitter introduces Snapchat-like QR codes as an option to follow people  —  When clicking the follow button feels too hard  —  Twitter today introduced QR codes into its apps for iOS and Android, because not having QR codes was Twitter's biggest existential threat as a business and the main reason …
Ginny Marvin / Marketing Land:
Facebook says it overstated organic Page reach and time spent on Instant Articles due to bugs; firm will expand 3rd-party verification, form Measurement Council  —  Facebook is also adding more third-party verification and forming a Measurement Council to stay in step with evolving products and metrics.
Tim Hardwick / MacRumors:
iFixit: Teardown of 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar reveals speaker grills are cosmetic, and the Touch Bar is hard to replace  —  iFixit has published a teardown of the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and discovered a few interesting differences compared to Apple's new lower tier MacBook Pro sans Touch Bar.
Jessica Guynn / USA Today:
Twitter suspends several high-profile accounts associated with the alt-right, including those of Richard Spencer and Pax Dickinson  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Twitter suspended a number of accounts associated with the alt-right movement, the same day the social media service said it would crack down on hate speech.
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
Microsoft joins The Linux Foundation as a Platinum member; John Gossman, architect on the Microsoft Azure team, will sit on the foundation's Board of Directors  —  At its Connect(); 2016 developer event in New York City today, Microsoft announced it is joining The Linux Foundation.
The Intercept:
Snowden docs shed light on NSA's BLARNEY initiative that leverages “commercial partnerships” for spying; AT&T has surveillance equipment in at least 59 US sites  —  They called it Project X. It was an unusually audacious, highly sensitive assignment: to build a massive skyscraper …
Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:
Microsoft releases Visual Studio for Mac, which is a rebranded version of Xamarin Studio, and Visual Studio 2017 for Windows in preview  —  Microsoft is releasing a first Visual Studio for Mac preview, as well as a near-final Release Candidate of Visual Studio 2017 for Windows.
Craig Silverman / BuzzFeed:
Analysis shows top 20 fake election news stories generated more engagement on Facebook than the top 20 election stories from 19 major news outlets  —  In the final three months of the US presidential campaign, the top-performing fake election news stories on Facebook generated more engagement …

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Gemini 2.5 Pro: Our most intelligent AI model  —  Gemini 2.5 Pro (experimental) is now available, with thinking capabilities, enhanced performance, and improved accuracy.  Try it at no cost in the Gemini app.
UiPath:
Introducing the UiPath Platform™ for agentic automation  —  UiPath's new platform empowers enterprises to experience the full power of AI to transform industries
Zoho:
App Spotlight: Savoir for Zoho Books  —  App Spotlight brings you hand-picked solutions that enhance your Zoho apps and tools.  Visit Zoho Marketplace to explore all of our apps, integrations …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Techmeme Ride Home:
Apple's Coming For The Meta Ray-Bans
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe to Techmeme Ride Home.
Hard Fork:
Bad Apple + The Rise of the AI Empire + Italian Brain Rot
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
The Logan Bartlett Show:
Yotam Segev (CEO, Cyera) on Growing One of the Fastest Security Startups on the Planet
A podcast hosted by Logan Bartlett, an investor at Redpoint Ventures, covering tech with industry insiders.
Subscribe to The Logan Bartlett Show.
Great Chat:
Great managers, and what makes them great
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
Decoder with Nilay Patel:
Reuters is ready to stand up for the press -- and embrace AI
A show from the Verge about big ideas - and other problems.
Subscribe to Decoder with Nilay Patel.
Lenny's Podcast:
How have I been complicit in creating the conditions I say I don't want? | Jerry Colonna (CEO of Reboot, executive coach, former VC)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 10:15 PM ET, November 16, 2016.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Natalie Gagliordi / ZDNet:
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:

Earlier Picks

Nathan Ingraham / Engadget:
New York Times: