Note: Techmeme is hiring part-time editors. Apply here or tell a friend!
Techmeme
December 29, 2019, 1:55 AM

Top News

Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
IoT device vendor Wyze says a server leak exposed data, including email addresses, camera user IDs, and WiFi SSIDs, of ~2.4M customers from Dec. 4 to Dec. 26  —  Details for 2.4 million users were exposed online for 22 days.  —  Wyze, a company that sells smart devices like security cameras …
Sarah J. Jackson / New York Times:
In 2010s, Twitter enabled young and marginalized people to be heard, held news organizations accountable, and pushed largely ignored issues into the mainstream  —  It's impossible to avoid news about how harmful social media can be.  The Cambridge Analytica scandal.  The ubiquitous Russian bots.
Mark Ledwich:
A new study finds that YouTube's late 2019 algorithm actively discourages users from watching radicalizing content, directing them to more mainstream videos  —  In 2018, Kevin Roose published a piece in the New York Times in which Caleb Cain, a liberal college dropout, described his experience …
Yahoo News:
Internal Pentagon memo warns service members against using consumer DNA testing kits from 23andMe and others, citing security risks  —  WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is advising members of the military not to use consumer DNA kits, saying the information collected by private companies could pose …
Constance Grady / Vox:
With print books often cheaper than ebooks, whose sales stabilized at ~20% of total book sales, a look at the aftermath of Apple's ebook price fixing lawsuit  —  Publishing spent the 2010s fighting tooth and nail against ebooks.  There were unintended consequences.
Jay Mazoomdaar / The Indian Express:
Sources: New Delhi police are now using facial recognition software to screen protesters; police acquired the software in 2018 to search for missing children  —  Following a Delhi High Court order in a case related to missing children, the Delhi Police had acquired Automated Facial Recognition System …
Karen Hao / MIT Technology Review:
How a difference between Chinese and English languages helped Baidu make an important advancement in natural language processing  —  Inspired by a difference between Chinese and English, it shows how AI research benefits from diversity.  —  MS Tech / Source: Unsplash
More: Quartz and Slashdot

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Generate videos with Veo 3 in Google Gemini  —  Create high-quality, 8-second videos with Veo 3, our state-of-the-art AI video generator.  Try it with a Google AI Pro plan or get the highest access with the Ultra plan.
Warp:
The #1 Coding Agent  —  #1 on Terminal-Bench.  71% on SWE-bench Verified.  Trusted by 600K+ devs.  Try the top agentic dev tool for $1 for 1st month with code TECHMEME.
Zoho:
Automate your remote support workflows with Zoho Assist and Zapier integration  —  If you're in IT or customer support, you already know the hustle.  Switching between apps, updating session logs, notifying team members …
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.
F5:
F5's 2025 AI Strategy Report  —  Only 2% of Enterprises Are Fully AI-Ready.  Most face security gaps like weak data governance and lack of AI firewalls, stalling adoption and innovation.  What is your readiness to scale AI?

Featured Podcasts

Lenny's Podcast:
Pricing your AI product: Lessons from 400+ companies and 50 unicorns | Madhavan Ramanujam
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.
The Talk Show With John Gruber:
'The Shift-2 Crowd', With Jason Snell
The director's commentary track for Daring Fireball. Long digressions on Apple, technology, design, movies, and more.
Subscribe to The Talk Show With John Gruber.
Big Technology Podcast:
Countdown to GPT-5, OpenAI's Stargate Sputters, AI Math Wars
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Techmeme Ride Home:
GPT-5 In Two Weeks?
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:
Trump Fights 'Woke' A.I. + We Hear Out Our Critics
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.
Decoder with Nilay Patel:
We are not ready for better deepfakes
A show from the Verge about big ideas - and other problems.
Subscribe to Decoder with Nilay Patel.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 1:55 AM ET, December 29, 2019.

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

Benedict Evans:

Earlier Picks

David Porter / 8tracks blog:
Jasper Jolly / The Guardian: