Saturday, December 10, 2022

With "Twitter Files", Elon Musk shows himself as an egregious example of what he wanted to expose: managers leveraging their social platforms for partisan ends (Eric Levitz/New York Magazine)

Eric Levitz / New York Magazine:
With “Twitter Files”, Elon Musk shows himself as an egregious example of what he wanted to expose: managers leveraging their social platforms for partisan ends  —  But it is actually a tool of progressive power.  While you were hypnotized by viral memes, a cabal …



Google, worried about its reputation, is hesitant to release its capable bot LaMDA, but by waiting too long it may cede the market to competitors like ChatGPT (Alex Kantrowitz/Big Technology)

Alex Kantrowitz / Big Technology:
Google, worried about its reputation, is hesitant to release its capable bot LaMDA, but by waiting too long it may cede the market to competitors like ChatGPT  —  The tech giant believes the future of search is conversational.  How did it let OpenAI's ChatGPT take the lead?  —  Google's had an awkward week.



Three members of Twitter's Trust & Safety Council, including two who have been members since 2016, resign, alleging Twitter's new leadership had shut them out (Nitish Pahwa/Slate)

Nitish Pahwa / Slate:
Three members of Twitter's Trust & Safety Council, including two who have been members since 2016, resign, alleging Twitter's new leadership had shut them out  —  Eirliani Abdul Rahman helped the platform stop youth sexual exploitation.  The new boss wasn't listening.



With Republicans poised to take over the House in 2023, a look at the prospects of the bipartisan American Data Privacy and Protection Act in a divided Congress (Washington Post)

Washington Post:
With Republicans poised to take over the House in 2023, a look at the prospects of the bipartisan American Data Privacy and Protection Act in a divided Congress  —  With Republicans poised to take over the House next year, a divided Congress looms.  The result could be two years of partisan strife and gridlock.



Despite Elon Musk's opaque approach, the "Twitter Files" give a peek at moderation at scale and are a win for transparency, while failing to prove systemic bias (Devin Coldewey/TechCrunch)

Devin Coldewey / TechCrunch:
Despite Elon Musk's opaque approach, the “Twitter Files” give a peek at moderation at scale and are a win for transparency, while failing to prove systemic bias  —  Twitter's new owner, Elon Musk, is feverishly promoting his “Twitter Files”: selected internal communications from the company …



FTX secretly funded crypto news site, claims Axios

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX secretly funded media company the Block for over a year with money sent to the Block's chief executive, Axios reported, citing sources. https://ift.tt/B9chYdD

FTX founder Bankman-Fried to testify before US House panel

FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried is set to testify before a US House committee, the cryptocurrency exchange's founder and the congressional panel said on Friday, as regulators investigate his role in the wake of its collapse. https://ift.tt/idVocS5

Friday, December 9, 2022

SBF agrees to testify before a House committee on December 13 but remains quiet about a request from a Senate committee, which could issue a subpoena (Matthew Goldstein/New York Times)

Matthew Goldstein / New York Times:
SBF agrees to testify before a House committee on December 13 but remains quiet about a request from a Senate committee, which could issue a subpoena  —  The FTX founder said on Twitter he would appear before a House committee next week, but was quiet about a similar request from a Senate committee.



Istanbul-based delivery startup Getir closes its acquisition of Berlin-based rival Gorillas, valuing the group at $10B, and sources say Gorillas alone at ~$1.2B (Tim Bradshaw/Financial Times)

Tim Bradshaw / Financial Times:
Istanbul-based delivery startup Getir closes its acquisition of Berlin-based rival Gorillas, valuing the group at $10B, and sources say Gorillas alone at ~$1.2B  —  Combined group worth $10bn represents a fall in valuation as investors turn against lossmaking tech start-ups



SoftBank-backed Indian e-commerce firm Snapdeal drops its $152M IPO plans, after filing in December 2021, amid a tech stock rout (Reuters)

Reuters:
SoftBank-backed Indian e-commerce firm Snapdeal drops its $152M IPO plans, after filing in December 2021, amid a tech stock rout  —  SoftBank-backed Indian e-commerce firm Snapdeal has decided to pull the plug on its $152 million IPO, the company told Reuters, making it the latest casualty …



Singapore-based Amber Group, one of Asia's largest crypto exchanges, cuts 40% of its staff, scraps retail operations, and terminates its Chelsea FC sponsorship (Hannah Miller/Bloomberg)

Hannah Miller / Bloomberg:
Singapore-based Amber Group, one of Asia's largest crypto exchanges, cuts 40% of its staff, scraps retail operations, and terminates its Chelsea FC sponsorship  —  Amber Group, one of Asia's leading crypto trading and lending platforms, is cutting jobs, scrapping retail operations and terminating …



YouTube Shorts: How to select thumbnail on Android

It is important to select a good cover page for your YouTube Shorts. YouTube creators can select a custom thumbnail for their short videos using the YouTube Studio app on their Android smartphone to make their videos more appealing. Here’s how it’s done. https://ift.tt/k7VweGo

Realme 10 Pro+: 7-point quick review of the most affordable curved display smartphone

https://ift.tt/skRyBvz

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...