Techmeme
October 18, 2019, 10:15 PM

Top News

Jon Porter / The Verge:
Samsung says fingerprint bug on Galaxy devices is due to the sensor reading 3D patterns in screen protectors as fingerprints, will patch it as soon as next week  —  And advises removing silicone screen protecting cases for now  —  Samsung says that it plans to release a patch for its phones …
Jordan Novet / CNBC:
Mark Hurd, co-CEO of Oracle and former CEO of HP, dies at 62; Hurd took a health-related leave of absence from Oracle in September  —  Mark Hurd, CEO of Oracle, in an interview on January 20, 2016.  —  Co-CEO of Oracle Mark Hurd died on Friday, CNBC confirmed.
Bloomberg:
Seven US lawmakers, including Wyden, Cruz, Ocasio-Cortez, and Rubio accuse Apple of “censorship of apps” at the “behest of the Chinese government”, in a letter  —  - Cruz, AOC, others ask Apple to reinstate HK map app it pulled  — Apple CEO discussed consumer rights with Chinese regulator
New York Times:
Zuckerberg gives a full-throated defense of Facebook as a champion of free expression and defends Facebook policy to opt out of fact-checking political ads  —  In an address at Georgetown University, the Facebook chief executive called for more free speech — not less …
Heather Kelly / Washington Post:
Facebook claims viewers saw mostly positive comments during Zuckerberg's live-streamed speech due to “ranking signals” that filter out low-quality comments  —  Viewers saw nearly entirely positive comments and emoji because of how the algorithms behind a live stream with tens of thousands of viewers work
Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:
The second beta of macOS Catalina 10.15.1 contains icons possibly depicting the widely rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro with slightly thinner bezels  —  Icons possibly depicting the widely rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro have been uncovered by French blog MacGeneration in the first two betas …
Nikhilesh De / CoinDesk:
MediaLab, a holding company that owns the Whisper app, buys Kik messenger from Kik Interactive, which now focuses on development of Kin cryptocurrency  —  The Kik messaging platform has been bought by MediaLab, a holding company which operates Whisper and a number of other apps, the company announced Friday.
Nikhilesh De / CoinDesk:
After buying Poloniex in 2018 for $400M, Circle spins it out into Polo Digital Assets, backed by an unnamed Asian firm, says it won't serve US customers anymore  —  Crypto exchange Poloniex is spinning out from its parent firm Circle, the companies announced Friday.
An-Nahar:
Massive protests erupt in Lebanon after a now-withdrawn government proposal to levy ~$6/mo tax on calls via WhatsApp and similar apps, amid an economic crisis  —  Lebanese have been reeling under the burden of austerity measures as the small Mediterranean country battles to stay afloat
Wendy Lee / Los Angeles Times:
Quibi partners with T-Mobile, which will make the platform part of its offering, giving Quibi a broad distribution platform ahead of its April launch  —  Telecommunications giant T-Mobile has agreed to partner with Quibi, a Hollywood start-up that plans to distribute bite-size entertainment designed for millennials.
Otillia Steadman / BuzzFeed News:
Sex workers say Instagram keeps taking down accounts, giving confusing guidelines and explanations; Facebook blames moderators' interpretation of guidelines  —  Sex workers and Instagram tried to make peace over takedowns in a meeting this summer.  Then porn star Jessica Jaymes' account was incorrectly removed — after she died.
Jillian D'Onfro / Forbes:
Data analytics startup Sisu emerges from stealth with $52.5M Series B led by NEA, with a16z and Green Bay participating, bringing its total raised to $66.7M  —  Peter Bailis can't resist dropping more than a dozen f-bombs as he explains how his startup Sisu aims to upend traditional business intelligence …
Mike Ives / New York Times:
A nonprofit is fighting illegal logging via a treetop monitoring unit that uses AI to detect sounds of chainsaws recorded and uploaded by used cellphones  —  PAKAN RABAA, Indonesia — This village in West Sumatra, a lush province of volcanoes and hilly rain forests, had a problem with illegal loggers.

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