Techmeme
October 18, 2020, 10:35 PM

Top News

The Markup:
The Markup announces The Citizen Browser Project, an initiative with The NYT to analyze how the algorithms of Facebook and YouTube serve content to users  —  The Markup, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates how the world's most powerful institutions use technology to reshape society …
Agence France-Presse:
Nick Clegg says 2.2M proposed ads on Facebook and Instagram have been rejected and 120K posts withdrawn for attempting to “obstruct voting” in the US elections  —  A total of 2.2m ads on Facebook and Instagram have been rejected and 120,000 posts withdrawn for attempting to …
Matthew Ball / MatthewBall.vc:
Audio, which struggled for decades as a media category, is breaking out now, as tech enables new content formats as well as new monetization and delivery models  —  As most of the major media categories — music, video and video games — have existed for decades, we tend to forget that media is technology.
Filipe Espósito / 9to5Mac:
A filing with a regulator in Brazil says the iPhone 12 has a 2,815 mAh battery, and the iPhone 12 mini has a 2,227mAh battery  —  While the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro are now available for pre-order in the US, Apple is getting ready to bring its new smartphones to other countries as well.
John Gruber / Daring Fireball:
Colum Murphy / Bloomberg:
China passes a new export control law, in effect from Dec. 1, that will let it take reciprocal measures if any country or regions abuse their export controls  —  China passed a new law to restrict sensitive exports to protect national security, helping Beijing gain reciprocity against U.S. as tech tensions mount.
Ian Carlos Campbell / The Verge:
Google will discontinue its Trusted Contacts app Dec. 2, pointing users to Maps features instead; the app helped users check on contacts during emergencies  —  The suggested alternative is a stripped-down Google Maps feature  —  Google will discontinue its emergency location sharing app Trusted Contacts …
More: Mashable
Anil Ananthaswamy / Knowable Magazine:
A look at “neurosymbolic AI”, which combines techniques of deep neural networks and “good old-fashioned AI”, with comments from its proponents and critics  —  The unlikely marriage of two major artificial intelligence approaches has given rise to a new hybrid called neurosymbolic AI.
Alex Konrad / Forbes:
Profile of Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam and ex-Sequoia partner Matt Huang, whose VC firm Paradigm moved all $400M of its initial capital into Bitcoin in 2018  —  Covering venture capital, software and startups  —  An aggressive Bitcoin trade got crypto VC shop Paradigm flying out of the gate.
BBC:
UK to make it illegal to use a mobile phone while driving from next year, closing a loophole that let drivers use a phone to take a photo or play a game  —  It will become illegal for anyone to pick up and use their mobile phone while driving, under new legislation to be enacted next year.
Vijaya Gadde / @vijaya:
[Thread] Twitter updates Hacked Materials Policy, says it won't remove content unless shared by hackers themselves and will label tweets instead of block links  —  Over the last 24 hours, we've received significant feedback (from critical to supportive) about how we enforced our Hacked Materials Policy yesterday. After reflecting on this feedback, we have decided to make changes to the policy and how we enforce it.

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:
2025: World Password Day is now also World Passkey Day  —  Since 2013, the first Thursday of May has been recognized as World Password Day to spread awareness about good password practices and protecting our online accounts.
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.

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More News

Laurens Cerulus / Politico:

Earlier Picks

Stephen Totilo / Kotaku:
Morgan Clendaniel / Fast Company: