Thursday, March 10, 2022

Interviews with 30 people detail the rise and fall of Meta's Libra project, later renamed Diem, as lofty goals were undermined by Facebook's reputation (Financial Times)

Financial Times:
Interviews with 30 people detail the rise and fall of Meta's Libra project, later renamed Diem, as lofty goals were undermined by Facebook's reputation  —  On June 24 2021, Jay Powell and Janet Yellen sat down for their weekly breakfast amid the austere surroundings of the US Treasury building on 1,500 Pennsylvania Avenue.



Apple confirms that its Studio Display will work with Windows; some features, like Center Stage and True Tone, are macOS-only (Sami Fathi/MacRumors)

Sami Fathi / MacRumors:
Apple confirms that its Studio Display will work with Windows; some features, like Center Stage and True Tone, are macOS-only  —  Apple has confirmed to MacRumors that the brand new Studio Display will work when connected to PCs, but critical new features of the display will not carry …



Meta says Instagram's VP of youth Pavni Diwanji is stepping down as part of a restructuring; Adam Mosseri will oversee youth-focused work (Meghan Bobrowsky/Wall Street Journal)

Meghan Bobrowsky / Wall Street Journal:
Meta says Instagram's VP of youth Pavni Diwanji is stepping down as part of a restructuring; Adam Mosseri will oversee youth-focused work  —  Departure comes amid organizational changes at the company; Instagram for Kids remains paused  —  The executive overseeing Instagram's development …



Wednesday, March 9, 2022

ICICI Bank partners with Amazon Pay to issue FASTag: How to buy and recharge using the card

https://ift.tt/UD7t9O5

Indian startup Money View, which offers financial services including BNPL, raises a $75M Series D from Tiger Global and others at a $625M valuation (The Economic Times)

The Economic Times:
Indian startup Money View, which offers financial services including BNPL, raises a $75M Series D from Tiger Global and others at a $625M valuation  —  Bengaluru: Online financial services provider, Money View said it has raised $75 million in a fresh round of funding from Tiger Global, Winter Capital, Evolvence India, and Accel.



AWS rejects new sign-ups, Microsoft suspends new sales in Russia

Amazon's cloud-computing unit, Amazon Web Services announced that it is no longer accepting new customers based in Russia or Belarus, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. https://ift.tt/0olWebk

After South Korea, India too needs law to ensure fairer app economy: ADIF

As South Korea set an example in curbing abuse of dominance by Apple and Google app stores, New Delhi-based Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) on Wednesday urged the government to create similar legislative reforms in the country to ensure a fairer app economy. https://ift.tt/8DR3geb

Two Austrian entrepreneurs acquire LimeWire, the controversial music sharing service shuttered in 2010, and plan to relaunch it as a music-focused NFT service (Emily Nicolle/Bloomberg)

Emily Nicolle / Bloomberg:
Two Austrian entrepreneurs acquire LimeWire, the controversial music sharing service shuttered in 2010, and plan to relaunch it as a music-focused NFT service  —  A pair of serial entrepreneurs in Austria has bought the rights to defunct music platform LimeWire with plans to revamp its image …



Oslo-based Ardoq, which helps companies manage network architecture, raises a $125M Series D, sources say at a $300M valuation, led by EQT Growth (Ingrid Lunden/TechCrunch)

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Oslo-based Ardoq, which helps companies manage network architecture, raises a $125M Series D, sources say at a $300M valuation, led by EQT Growth  —  As organizations continue to build out their digital architecture, a new category of enterprise software has emerged to help them manage that process.



Tuesday, March 8, 2022

Google expands 'Project Shield' to protect Ukrainian government websites

'Project Shield' allows Google to absorb the bad traffic in a DDoS attack and act as a "shield" for websites, allowing them to continue operating and defend against these attacks. https://ift.tt/xjIiTVZ

Twitter trying to fully restore its services in Russia

Twitter is trying to fully restore its services in Russia as users report "increasing difficulty" accessing its platform amid the Ukraine invasion and the country's growing restrictions on Big Tech. https://ift.tt/ceZV5H0

Google plans to acquire cybersecurity company Mandiant for around $5.4B, or $23 per share, with the deal closing later in 2022; Mandiant will join Google Cloud (Mandiant)

Mandiant:
Google plans to acquire cybersecurity company Mandiant for around $5.4B, or $23 per share, with the deal closing later in 2022; Mandiant will join Google Cloud  —  Acquisition to bring Google speed and scale to Mandiant's unparalleled intelligence and expertise - at a time when security has never been more important



Cybersecurity startup Axonius valued at $2.6 billion after latest funding

Axonius has raised $200 million from investors led by venture capital firm Accel at a valuation of $2.6 billion, in what the cybersecurity startup says could be its last funding before a public listing. https://ift.tt/AlQj4yq

Google in talks to acquire cybersecurity firm Mandiant: Report

Alphabet Inc's Google is in talks to buy cybersecurity firm Mandiant, the Information reported on Monday, citing a person with knowledge of the discussion. https://ift.tt/u7pmna5

Linux developers fix Dirty Pipe, a high-severity vulnerability in the kernel that let hackers carry out a host of malicious actions, like installing backdoors (Dan Goodin/Ars Technica)

Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
Linux developers fix Dirty Pipe, a high-severity vulnerability in the kernel that let hackers carry out a host of malicious actions, like installing backdoors  —  Dirty Pipe has the potential to smudge people using Linux and Linux derivitives.  —  Linux has yet another high-severity vulnerability …



Russia's finance minister says Russian companies have begun using bitcoin and other digital currencies in international payments to counter Western sanctions (Gleb Bryanski/Reuters)

Gleb Bryanski / Reuters : Russia's finance minister says Russian companies have begun using bitcoin and other digital currencies in i...