Tech Brew Ride Home

Today was major revamp day. Twitter’s ringing in big changes. Microsoft is putting a new polish on Office. Also: Intel jumps into the GPU game, Bitcoin might have been manipulated, and Fortnite comes to the Nintendo Switch. Stories from: @nathanielpopper, @PatcohenNYT, @ryanshrout Tweets: @hrtbps Links:Intel makes it a three-way race with AMD and Nvidia on graphics chips (Marketwatch)Bitcoin’s Price Was Artificially Inflated Last Year, Researchers Say (NYTimes)E-Commerce Might Help Solve the Mystery of Low Inflation (NYTimes)Fortnite on the Switch is good enough to make Sony’s cross-play policy look even more stupid (The Verge)

E-scooter valuations explode, Facebook turns in its homework, Microsoft’s next Xbox is coming in 2020, how Netflix is winning, and a dreaded 51% attack explained. Here’s what you missed today in the world of tech. Tweets: @annehelen, @arielbogle Stories: @danprimack, @bdsams Links:Scooter startup Bird is seeking a $2 billion valuation (Axios)Microsoft’s Next-Gen Xbox Will Arrive in 2020 (Thurrott.com)The Guy Tapping His Head Meme Explained (NYMag)Inside the Binge Factory (NYMag)Blockchain's Once-Feared 51% Attack Is Now Becoming Regular (CoinDesk)TED Residency (TED)

Snapchat Clear Chats and Facebook’s Memories come at social media from different philosophical viewpoints, headlines from the ramp up to E3, new Apple Watch rumors, the scooter economy, and do on-screen fingerprint scanners work well? Stories from: @thesullivan, @345triangle Links:The Apple Watch will get touch-sensitive, solid-state buttons (Fast Company)The Scooter Economy (Stratechery)How to understand the financial levers in your business (TechCrunch)AT&T-Time Warner Ruling Has Dealmakers Bracing (NYTimes)In-display fingerprint sensors are here, and they actually work (The Verge)

Google’s lays out ethical principles for AI development, Facebook has another privacy issue (again), why the next generation of gaming consoles might be the last, Yahoo Messenger logs off, and the weekend long-reads suggestions. Stories from: @sundarpichai, @terrortola  Links:AI at Google: our principles (Google)Can Google keep its promises on building ethical AI? (Engadget)Airbnb says forced to cancel bookings under new Japan law (Asia One)Ubisoft Believes Next Gen Is the Last for Consoles as Microsoft Looks Beyond Platforms (Variety)Chat Wars (N+1) Longreads:‘I can understand about 50 percent of the things you say’: How Congress is struggling to get smart on tech (Washington Post)The Twitter crime mystery that gripped Spain (BBC)Meet the people who still use Myspace: 'It's given me so much joy' (The Guardian)Exploring The Digital Ruins Of 'Second Life' (Digg)Why Aren’t We All Buying Houses on the Internet? (Slate)

ZTE makes a deal with Uncle Sam, but Google might be in trouble because of Huawei, the new Amazon Fire TV Cube is announced, a new Blackberry phone, a redesigned Lyft app and more Instagram video rumors. Stories from: @stuwoo, @meganrosedickey LinksAfter Scrutinizing Facebook, Congress Turns to Google Deal With Huawei (WSJ)Lyft redesigns rider app to encourage shared rides (TechCrunch)Instagram plans to launch Snapchat Discover-style video hub (TechCrunch)For BlackBerry Key2, privacy is (again) a key pitch for comeback (CNET)

A whole slew of product announcements. New Sonos speakers. A new Motorola smartphone. A new AMD chip. Instagram may soon allow you to post hour-long videos. Plus: why Microsoft sunk a data center off the Scottish coast and why startups keep naming themselves after… people. Stories from: @DMOberhaus, @janinewolfj9, @laforgia_  Links:Facebook Gave Data Access to Chinese Firm Flagged by U.S. Intelligence (NYTimes)Instagram Could Soon Allow Users to Post Long-Form Video (WSJ)Microsoft Just Put a Data Center on the Bottom of the Ocean (Motherboard)Marcus, Casper, Oscar: Why Startups Are Obsessed With Human Names (Bloomberg)

Intel releases some anniversary chips, why WhatsApp and Facebook had a falling out, followups from WWDC and analysis of that GitHub acquisition, and some scientists purposely created a psychopathic AI. Stories from: @jameskobielus, @janewakefield Tweets: @pkafka Links:Microsoft’s GitHub takeover sends shockwaves through the open-source developer ecosystem (SiliconAngle)Behind the Messy, Expensive Split Between Facebook and WhatsApp’s Founders (WSJ)Are you scared yet? Meet Norman, the psychopathic AI (BBC News)I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (Wikipedia)Roko's basilisk (LessWrong)

Today, it’s all about developers, everything from Apple’s WWDC Keynote, Microsoft buys GitHub in order to court developers. Oh. And a new Facebook data brouhaha. Tweet commentary: @ericlbarnes, @HenrikJoreteg Links:Microsoft confirms it’s acquiring GitHub for $7.5 billion (The Verge)Facebook Gave Device Makers Deep Access to Data on Users and Friends (NYTimes)

The end of an era in venture capital, the end of Facebook’s trending news feature, what to expect from WWDC next week, some new ARM chips and the weekend longreads suggestions. Stories from: @joshuarothman, @deborahgage, @meliarobin Links:New Arm Cortex-A76 and Mali-G76 target laptop-class performance (Android Authority)Angry Facebook shareholders challenge Zuckerberg over 'corporate dictatorship' (The Guardian)Apple Is Set to Unveil AR Upgrade, Software to Manage iPhone Use (Bloomberg)Apple’s WWDC 2018: iOS 12, macOS, and what else to expect (The Verge)WWDC 2018: What to expect from Apple’s big event (MacWorld) Weekend Longreads:Obama's US Digital Service Survives Trump—Quietly (Wired)The Search for Women Who Want Cybersecurity Careers (WSJ)How Futures Trading Changed Bitcoin Prices (Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco)The Growing Emptiness of the "Star Wars" Universe (The New Yorker)

A bunch of self driving car news, a bunch of headline making quotes from the Code Conference, a couple new flagship smartphones, and a new Atari gaming console that nobody is quite sure the purpose of. Stories: @Charlie_L_Hall, @richardlai Tweets: @ChengmingAlpert, @dcseifert Links:Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says he’s trying to convince Alphabet to put Waymo self-driving cars on the company’s network (Recode)Xiaomi's transparent Mi 8 also does 3D face unlock (Engadget)Atari is crowdfunding a new console, but who is this device actually for? (Polygon)