Meta Episodes

All the news from the Facebook F8 conference, Cheddar gets acquired, Alphabet shows weakness, and why does Ring, the smart doorbell, need a news editor?Sponsors:FlatironSchool.com/techmemePixelUnion.netLinksFacebook details Messenger updates: New desktop app, social video, and Project LightSpeed (VentureBeat)Instagram will test hiding public like counts in Canada (The Verge)Altice USA Buys Streaming-Video Network Cheddar for $200 Million (WSJ)Google Shows First Cracks in Years (WS...

Facebook finds a new way to handle the privacy scandal of the day, free, ad supported music from Amazon and Google, Dieter ended up reviewing the Samsung Galaxy Fold as best he could, and of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.Sponsors:MealimeJoybird.com/RIDELinks:Facebook says it stored millions of Instagram passwords unencrypted on its servers (Recode)Emtek announces they will be closing BBM consumer services on May 31 (CrackBerry)Amazon Music Launches Free Streaming Tier, T...

Does Chris Cox’s departure from Facebook mean the pivot is real, Apple responds to Spotify’s complaint, and of course, the weekend longreads suggestions.Sponsors:DataDogHQ.com/ridehometechmeme.robinhood.comLinks:FACEBOOK’S HEAD OF PRODUCT LEAVES AFTER PRIVACY PIVOT (Wired)As Mark Zuckerberg Tightens Grip on Facebook, 2 Top Deputies Leave (NYTimes)Addressing Spotify’s claims (Apple Newsroom)The New Zealand Massacre Was Made to Go Viral (NYTimes)Weekend Longreads Suggestions:‘We Kno...

Facebook’s data sharing is now under criminal investigation, and the company had a bad night with its services intermittently down across the globe, Dropbox is cracking down on freeloaders, Silicon Valley wants to build a monument to itself, and Google makes a π Day statement.Sponsors:DataDogHQ.com/ridehomeTiny.websiteLinks:Facebook’s Data Deals Are Under Criminal Investigation (NYTimes)Google launches Android Q Beta 1 (Venture Beat)Telegram gained three million new users during Facebo...

Facebook pivots to privacy, Huawei follows through on suing the US government, Duplex rolls out wide, and Bird’s white label scooter scheme.Sponsors:Lightstream.com/rideMetalab.coLinks:A Privacy-Focused Vision for Social Networking (Mark Zuckerberg)A 'privacy-focused' Facebook would kill Zuckerberg's business model (The Guardian)Facebook’s Privacy Cake (Ben Thompson/Stratechery)Mark Zuckerberg Tried Hard To Get Facebook Into China. Now The Company May Be Backing Away. (Buzzfeed News)...

It's rare that I've seen an investigative piece get as much pickup as The Trauma Floor, Casey Newton's look at the secret lives of Facebook content moderators. It was all anyone could talk about at the beginning of the week. Hope you've read it. If not, link in the show notes. So... simple. We're gonna talk to Casey and dig a bit deeper. How did this story happen? What has the reaction been? And a couple of the implications of the piece, at least to me. THE TRAUMA FLOOR (The Verge)

More fallout and analysis of Amazon ghosting NYC, more signs of blockchain actually taking hold on Wall Street, Samsung’s lineup of gadgets leaks and of course, the weekend longreads suggestions.Sponsors:Tiny.websiteDataDogHQ.com/ridehomeLinks:The U.S. government and Facebook are negotiating a record, multibillion-dollar fine for the company’s privacy lapses (The Washington Post)Amazon’s Escape From New York (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)Copyright Office Refuses Registration for 'Fresh Princ...

Germany is this week’s headache for Facebook, Twitter mixes up its MAU and DAU game, Cluno is subscriptions but for cars and Optimus Ride is what we mean by starting small with autonomous vehicles.Sponsors:Metalab.coDataDogHQ.com/ridehomeLinks:Facebook ordered by Germany to gather and mix less data (BBC)How Facebook’s Tiny China Sales Floor Helps Generate Big Ad Money (NYTimes)Twitter Q4 Earnings (TechCrunch)Skype Can Now Blur Your Background So You Don't Have to Frantically Tidy Your...

It’s getting more expensive for Google to make money, Facebook turns fifteen, choosing your own adventure is becoming a trend, and one specific way Fortnite is measurably bigger than the Super Bowl. Sponsors:Metalab.coDataDogHQ.com/ridehomeEero.com/ride and code: ride at checkoutLinks:Being Google is getting very expensive (QZ)Zuckerberg's Facebook PostFacebook Makes First Blockchain Acquisition With Chainspace: Sources (Cheddar)Boring Game Plus New Orleans Rebellion Leads to Ratings...

Turns out Google poked Apple in the eye also, layoffs hit Vice, Amazon reports earnings and reports that a ton of people responded to that minimum wage hike, and of course, the weekend longreads suggestions.Sponsors:DataDogHQ.com/ridehomeTiny.websiteLinks:Apple restores Google's internal iOS apps after certificate misuse punishment (TechCrunch)Twitter removed some accounts originating in Iran, Russia and Venezuela that targeted U.S. midterm election (The Washington Post)Vice Media to R...

Facebook returns to growth, iPhones might be getting USB-C and 3D cameras, Hulu’s launching pause-ads, and on Reddit, it’s paintings of paintings of paintings of birds, all the way down.Sponsors:Tiny.websiteDataDogHQ.com/ridehomeLinks:Mark Zuckerberg wants to get back to building new Facebook products (ReCode)Nintendo cuts Switch sales forecast despite strong holiday season (The Verge)Apple Is Planning 3-D Cameras for New iPhones in AR Push (Bloomberg)HACKERS ARE PASSING AROUND A MEGA...

Facebook decides to mix it up a bit: what if we had a scandal that pissed off our business partners? Apple’s earnings are mixed but you can see where they’re going with this. Why Americans no longer answer the phone and are you ready for 1TB smartphones?Sponsors:DataDogHQ.com/ridehomeTiny.websiteLinks:Facebook pays teens to install VPN that spies on them (TechCrunch)Apple blocks Facebook from running its internal iOS apps (The Verge)Apple Reports First Quarter Results (Apple Newsroom)...

Event sharing comes to stories, what this year’s CES says about where consumer tech is at the moment, and then a bunch of stories about what that means for the future in different ways, including wireless chips that suck power from the air, and the dilemma that voice assistants pose for the modern office.Sponsors:DataDogHQ.com/ridehomeTiny.websiteLinks:Facebook’s new Stories feature for event sharing actually sounds useful (The Verge)CES 2019: A Show Report (Learn By Shipping/@stevesi)...

Today, Roku is quietly a major combatant in the Streaming Wars, Tesla slashes prices, how many cameras can we fit on a smartphone, how much would it cost to convince you to quit Facebook, and why Bandersnatch might just be the beginning of the choose your own adventure trend.Sponsor:Mealime.com (iOS App) (Android App)Links:Activision Plans to Fire CFO Neumann, Puts Him on Paid Leave (Bloomberg)ROKU BREAKS FREE FROM BOXES AND TVS (Wired)Tesla slashes EV prices by $2,000 to offset reduced...

Instagram briefly goes horizontal, more on how epic Fortnite has been for Epic Games this year, Larry Ellison joins Tesla’s board, the global GPS wars are joined and the last weekend longreads of the year.Links:Instagram briefly switched to a horizontal feed and people freaked out (The Verge)Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite, banked a $3 billion profit in 2018 (TechCrunch)Exclusive: Foxconn to begin assembling top-end Apple iPhones in India in 2019 - source (Reuters)Tesla Taps Ellison, H...

Facebook is developing a cryptocoin for WhatsApp, Blind was not quite anonymous enough, which is the most accurate voice assistant and of course, the weekend longreads suggestions.Sponsors:Metalab.coThe Internet of Things PodcastLinks:Facebook Is Developing a Cryptocurrency for WhatsApp Transfers, Sources Say (Bloomberg)At Blind, a security lapse revealed private complaints from Silicon Valley employees (TechCrunch)Apple AI Chief John Giannandrea Gets Promotion to Senior Vice President...

I’m sorry. I truly am. Another Facebook scandal to tell you about. The Boring Company unveils its tunnel, Zwift is gamification, a fitness app play, a social network, VR, and e-sports all in one startup and why Touch ID might return to the iPhone.Sponsors:Metalab.coGrumpy Old Geeks Podcast

Facebook got all the press but the Russians really loved Instagram to spread misinformation, more tech real estate moves, the CEO of HQ Trivia passes away, and how to break into somebody’s phone with a 3D-printed head.Sponsors:Techmeme.Robinhood.comMetalab.coLinks:Instagram Was Bigger Russian Election Tool Than Facebook, Senate Report Says (Bloomberg)Google Details Major New York Expansion (WSJ)Colin Kroll, 34, HQ Trivia and Vine Co-Founder, Is Found Dead (NYTimes)We Broke Into A Bunch Of Androi...

Fri. 12/14 - Facebook Faces a GDPR Inquiryhttps://feedpress.me/RideHome - Direct RSS feed starting this weekend, just in caseThe bomb scare email scam that demanded bitcoin, Facebook’s Photo API gave away too many photos, Apple strikes back at Qualcomm, Apple kills its second music-based social network, an Apple analyst sounds alarm bells about iPhone unit sales, Instacart breaks up with Whole Foods, PlanetScale brings mega-scaling technology to the masses, and of course the Weekend Longreads su...

The UK Parliament docu-dumps on Facebook, Qualcomm fires the starter pistol on 5G rollout, an actual test drive on Waymo’s new ride hailing service, and behind that $100 million Friends deal.Sponsors:Metalab.coDataDogHQ.com/ridehomeLinks:Note by Damian Collins MP (UK Parliament)Qualcomm announces the Snapdragon 855 and its news under-display fingerprint sensor (TechCrunch)Qualcomm announces first ultrasonic fingerprint reader: Headed to the Galaxy S10? (CNET)Fortnite’s Minecraft-like creative mo...

That huge New York Times story behind the scenes of Facebook, Google adds business messaging to Google Maps, Uber eats is a monster business, Amazon Go has a rival and there’s a new King of YouTube.Links:Delay, Deny and Deflect: How Facebook’s Leaders Fought Through Crisis (NYTimes)Google Maps will let you chat with businesses (The Verge)Uber continues to lose money as it scales scooters, bikes and other newer businesses (TechCrunch)Amazon Go competitor Standard Cognition raises $40 milli...

Facebook earnings were not a disaster, another Alphabet employee is out because of scandal, Waymo has a permit to test real driverless cars on California roads, and if you don’t know what computational notebooks are, let me tell you about them. Links:Zuckerberg says the future is sharing via 100B messages & 1B Stories/day (TechCrunch)Scoop: Executive accused of harassment at Alphabet 'X' unit is out (Axios)Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile Won't Support eSIM Until Later This Year (MacRumors)Gma...

Tim Cook attacks the “data industrial complex,” why political texts are flooding your phone, the US, China and the AI cold war, and how Facebook Messenger got its new look.Links:Apple’s Tim Cook Makes Blistering Attack On the “Data Industrial Complex” (TechCrunch)Why political text messages are flooding your phone (Axios)The AI Cold War That Could Doom Us All (Wired)Messenger redesigns to clean up Facebook’s mess (TechCrunch)How Facebook’s Messenger Got Its New Look in a New Jersey Basem...

Facebook announces the results of their investigation into that data breach, the market downturn is biting some tech companies, has Spotify ruined music, and, of course, the Weekend Longreads suggestions.Links:An Update on the Security Issue (Facebook)Facebook rolls out 3D photos that use AI to simulate depth (TechCrunch)Tencent Music Pauses IPO Amid Market Turmoil (WSJ)FAANG stocks have seen $600 billion of market value wiped out — here's how much each one is on sale (Business Insider)T...