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Some juicy new Apple rumors for Wednesday, the end of the Jack Ma era is nigh upon us, there were some naughty apps in the Mac App Store and why following people whose politics you disagree with might not lead to peace in our time. Sponsors:Lightstream.com/rideMetalab.co Links:Kuo: USB-C on 2018 iPad Pro, Touch ID on 2018 MacBook, EKG and Ceramic Backs on All Apple Watch Series 4 Models, More (MacRumors)Snap just lost its chief strategy officer (Fast Company)Alibaba announces Jack Ma succession plan: CEO Daniel Zhang to take over as chairman in a year (CNBC)Additional Mac App Store apps caught stealing and uploading browser history (9to5Mac)No. 1 paid utility in Mac App Store steals browser history, sends it to Chinese server (9to5Mac)Twitter’s Flawed Solution to Political Polarization (NYTimes Opinion)Can Mark Zuckerberg Fix Facebook Before It Breaks Democracy? (The New Yorker) https://flipboard.com/

Tim Armstrong might be on his way out of Oath, Alex Jones is permanently off of Twitter, a Cambridge Analytica figure is officially no longer a Facebook employee, Elon Musk smokes a blunt and the weekend longreads suggestions! Sponsor: Tiny.website Links:Verizon’s Internet Boss Tim Armstrong in Talks to Leave (WSJ)Tim Armstrong is headed out of Verizon. What happens to the $9 billion content company he is leaving behind? (Recode)Charlie Warzel Twitter ThreadHOW THAT MAGICAL JACK DORSEY–ALEX JONES PHOTO HAPPENED (Wired)A Facebook scientist tied to Cambridge Analytica has quietly left Facebook (Fast Company)Weed, whiskey, Tesla and a flamethrower: Elon Musk meets Joe Rogan (CNN Tech)Tesla Erupts in Chaos After Senior Execs Leave, Musk Tokes Up (Bloomberg) The Betterment Weekend Longreads:Inside the World of Eddy Cue, Apple’s Services Chief (The Information)Bezos Unbound: Exclusive Interview With The Amazon Founder On What He Plans To Conquer Next (Forbes)The Super Rich of Silicon Valley Have a Doomsday Escape Plan (Bloomberg)What went wrong at Social Capital (Axios)How Android Pie’s Adaptive Battery and Adaptive Brightness work (Venture Beat)The man who won the lottery 14 times (The Hustle) https://flipboard.com/

The 2014 Sony hacker gets charged, Lyft beats Uber to the scooter punch, why Roblox is the biggest thing since Minecraft, Spotify plays chicken with the music industry, and let’s play another round of Apple event rumor bingo. Sponsors:DataDogHQ.com/ridehomeTiny.website Links:U.S. charges North Korean operative in conspiracy to hack Sony Pictures, banks (The Washington Post)Lyft rolls out its first electric scooters in Denver (The Verge)You Will Soon Be Able to Control Your Xbox With Alexa and Cortana (Thurrott)Walmart partners with delivery logistics platform Bringg on last-mile grocery delivery (TechCrunch)The new Roomba could be the end of vacuuming (Quartz)Kids' gaming platform Roblox raises $150M (TechCrunch)The video game turning teens into millionaires has raised a whopping $150 million, making it a $2.5 billion company (Business Insider)A New Spotify Initiative Makes the Big Record Labels Nervous (NYTimes)The Tension Is Building Between Spotify and the Music Industry (Bloomberg)‘iPhone Xs Max’ likely name for 6.5-inch OLED flagship, sources say (9to5Mac) https://flipboard.com/

Tech CEOs hauled before Congress again, Theranos is no more, Google mulls big changes to URL’s and maybe the whole the-teens-are-abandoning-Facebook is a real thing after all? Sponsors:Vistaprint.com Code: RideTiny.website Links:Video of the Hearings (The US Senate)Facebook and Twitter testified before Congress. Conservative conspiracy theorists lurked behind them. (The Washington Post)Blood-Testing Firm Theranos to Dissolve (WSJ)HOW GOOGLE CHROME SPENT A DECADE MAKING THE WEB MORE SECURE (Wired)GOOGLE WANTS TO KILL THE URL (Wired)Americans are changing their relationship with Facebook (PEW Research)Instagram is building a standalone app for shopping (The Verge)Snap launches new styles of Spectacles that look more like traditional sunglasses (The Verge)Vimeo pivots business from media to tech (Axios)Vimeo launches stock video marketplace starting at $79 per clip (Venture Beat) https://flipboard.com/

Amazon hits a trillion, the EU is giving Netflix quotas, gaming out various Apple rumors ahead of next week’s event and the robots are coming to the drive through window. Sponsors:DataDogHQ/ridehomeCasper.com/ride Tiny.website LinksAmazon falls off $1 trillion market cap, leaving Apple the only public US company above the benchmark (Bloomberg)Local Product Quotas for Netflix, Amazon to Become Law, EU Official Says (EXCLUSIVE) (Variety)Ethereum in BigQuery: a Public Dataset for smart contract analytics (Google Cloud)Major cryptocurrency exchange delists Bitcoin Gold following $18M hack (TNW)2018 iPad Pro redesign is both brilliant and stupid (Cult of Mac)Samsung teases foldable smartphone launch for later this year (The Verge)China's Silicon Valley Threatens to Swallow Up Hong Kong (Bloomberg)Clinc is building a voice AI system to replace humans in drive-through restaurants (TechCrunch) https://flipboard.com/

How those iPhone leaks happened (maybe), the scooter permits happened and some big names got snubbed, Google’s secret deal with MasterCard, and the weekend long reads suggestions.  Sponsors:Metalab.coBelovedRobot.com/ridehome Links:Exclusive: This is ‘iPhone XS’ — design, larger version, and gold colors confirmed (9to5Mac)Exclusive: Apple Watch Series 4 revealed — massive display, dense watch face, more (9to5Mac)Huawei’s AI Cube is a 4G router and Alexa speaker, not a cube (The Verge)Huawei's Google Home clone has Alexa inside (Engadget)Scooters will return to San Francisco, but Bird and Lime aren’t invited (The Verge)Mozilla announces Firefox will block trackers by default (Venture Beat)Google and Mastercard Cut a Secret Ad Deal to Track Retail Sales (Bloomberg) The Betterment Weekend Longreads:Franken-algorithms: the deadly consequences of unpredictable code (The Guardian)Logged off: meet the teens who refuse to use social media (The Guardian)How Big Tech Swallowed Seattle (Bloomberg Businessweek)The Mystery of People Who Speak Dozens of Languages (The New Yorker) https://flipboard.com/

An Apple acquisition suggests they’re serious about AR, Uber is serious about escooters, Google lets Kubernetes leave the nest, your IP address is not enough to finger you for a crime, and a fully functional Bugatti made out of Legos. Sponsors:MetaLab.coDataDogHQ.com/ridehome Links:Apple buys startup focused on lenses for AR glasses (Reuters)Apple’s AR lenses purchase also sees future mobile storage (ComputerWorld)Google takes a step back from running the Kubernetes development infrastructure (TechCrunch)Uber Is Building Its Own Scooter to Compete in Frenzy (Bloomberg)Microsoft Requires Paid Parental Leave for Subcontractors (Bloomberg)Important Appeals Court Ruling States Clearly That Merely Having An IP Address Is Insufficient For Infringement Claims (TechDirt)FIRST EVER LIFE-SIZE AND DRIVABLE LEGO® TECHNIC BUGATTI CHIRON IS A PIONEERING PIECE OF ENGINEERING AND DESIGN (Lego) https://flipboard.com/

A bunch of new laptops from Dell, Amazon might jump into the free tv game, Google updates Wear OS, and why the world’s oldest blockchain has been hiding in plain site since 1995. Sponsors:Metalab.coPureCycles.com/ridehome Links:Dell tempts Pixelbook lovers with premium $599 Inspiron Chromebook 14 (ArsTechnica)Dell shows its fall lineup of Alexa-ready Inspiron, XPS, and Vostro laptops and 2-in-1s (VentureBeat)Amazon Plans New Video App, Latest Step Into TV Ad Market (The Information)Google is revamping the Wear OS smartwatch user interface (TheVerge)The rise of giant consumer startups that said no to investor money (Recode)'World Computer' Project Dfinity Raises $102 Million (Fortune)The rise of crypto in higher education (Coinbase Reports)The Hot New Subject on Campus? It's Blockchain (Fortune)The World’s Oldest Blockchain Has Been Hiding in the New York Times Since 1995 (Motherboard) https://flipboard.com/

President Trump accuses Google of rigged search results, Instagram updates its identity systems, Yahoo scans your mail for marketing purposes, BuzzFeed tests memberships and the rarest Apple device in the world comes to auction. Sponsors:DataDogHQ.com/ridehomeZiprecruiter.com/rideMetalab.co Links:You can now apply to be verified in Instagram (The Verge)Yahoo, Bucking Industry, Scans Emails for Data to Sell Advertisers (WSJ)Toyota Investing $500 Million in Uber in Driverless-Car Pact (WSJ)AutoX is using its self-driving vehicles to deliver groceries (TechCrunch)BuzzFeed News quietly tests a membership program (Digiday)Buzzfeed, With Nearly $500M In Funding, Asks For Contributions (Crunchbase News)How ‘Grand Theft Auto’ Is Changing the Way the World Experiences Music (Rolling Stone)First Apple Computer Goes Up For Auction, Expected to Fetch More Than $300,000 (Paleofuture) https://flipboard.com/

The three new iPhones Mark Gurman says are coming our way, Warren Buffet invests in an Indian tech company, Palmer Luckey pans Magic Leap and why Uber thinks e-scooters are cool. Sponsors:Metalab.co Links:Apple to Embrace iPhone X Design With New Colors, Bigger Screens (Bloomberg)Berkshire Hathaway in talks for a stake in Paytm (Economic Times)Microsoft Announces Xbox All Access (Thurrott.com)Public Bravado, Private Doubts: Inside the Unraveling of Elon Musk’s Tesla Buyout (WSJ)Why Elon Musk Reversed Course on Taking Tesla Private (NYTimes)Epic's first Fortnite Installer allowed hackers to download and install anything on your Android phone silently (Android Central)Magic Leap is a Tragic Heap (PalmerLuckey.com)Uber plans shift from cars to bikes for shorter trips (The Financial Times) https://flipboard.com/

Tech’s version of the five families met today to get on the same page over election security, 23andMe shuts down its API just to be safe, robot puppies, and the weekend longreads suggestions.  Sponsors:Lightstream.com/rideTiny.website Links:Google finds evidence of attack linked to Iran state media (Axios)Tech Companies Are Gathering For A Secret Meeting To Prepare A 2018 Election Strategy (Buzzfeed News)Microsoft Hit With U.S. Bribery Probe Over Deals in Hungary (WSJ)23andMe will no longer let app developers read your DNA data (CNBC)The Impossible Job: Inside Facebook’s Struggle to Moderate Two Billion People (Motherboard) The Betterment Weekend Longreads Suggestions:Late to the Driverless Revolution (WSJ)Posting Instagram Sponsored Content Is the New Summer Job (The Atlantic)THE UNTOLD STORY OF NOTPETYA, THE MOST DEVASTATING CYBERATTACK IN HISTORY (Wired)The Vanishing Idealism of Burning Man (The New Republic)Welcome to the Age of Privacy Nihilism (The Atlantic)A monstrous primer on the works of H.P. Lovecraft (Polygon) Bonus Link!Sony Aibo hands-on: An adorable robo-pup that needs training (Engadget) https://flipboard.com/

Australia bans Chinese telecoms equipment, Microsoft might offer an Xbox subscription that includes the whole console, new DJI drones, Alex Stamos on hacking the 2018 election and the backlash against the “app store tax.” Sponsors:DataDogHQ/RideHomeTiny Links:Australia Bars China’s Huawei From Building 5G Wireless Network (NYTimes)'Xbox All Access' looks like a new subscription service with Xbox Live, Game Pass, and a console (Windows Central)DJI Mavic 2 Pro, Mavic 2 Zoom add Hasselblad quality and optical zoom to folding drones (CNET)How the U.S. Has Failed to Protect the 2018 Election--and Four Ways to Protect 2020 (Lawfare)Apple and Google Face Growing Revolt Over App Store ‘Tax’ (Bloomberg)The 30% Tax (Fred Wilson/AVC) https://flipboard.com/

The fake Russians are back and they’ve brought some fake Iranians with them, Verizon throttles firefighters, Google wants to tell you something good, and day two of the Y Combinator demo days. Sponsors:Tiny Links:Sprawling Iranian influence operation globalizes tech’s war on disinformation (The Washington Post)Verizon throttled fire department’s “unlimited” data during Calif. wildfire (Ars Technica)Google Assistant's latest feature delivers just the 'good news' (TechCrunch)Walmart takes another jab at Amazon as it begins selling e-books for first time (USA Today)How Teens and Parents Navigate Screen Time and Device Distractions (Pew Research Center)‘Bitcoin Jesus’ Is Having a Hard Time Winning Over True Believers (Bloomberg)All 59 startups that launched today at Y Combinator’s S18 Demo Day 2 (TechCrunch) https://flipboard.com/

Microsoft uncovers more Russian political hacking, a possible MacBook Air successor, Netflix “tests” bypassing the App Store, and are you paying for Amazon’s electricity bill? Sponsors:DataDogHQ/RideHomeTiny Links:New Russian Hacking Targeted Republican Groups, Microsoft Says (NYTimes)Apple Is Planning a New Low-Cost MacBook, Pro-Focused Mac Mini (Bloomberg)Netflix Tests Promotional Videos but Users See ‘Commercials’ (NYTimes)Netflix tests a bypass of iTunes billing in 33 markets (TechCrunch)Facebook is rating the trustworthiness of its users on a scale from zero to 1 (The Washington Post)Amazon Isn’t Paying Its Electric Bills. You Might Be (Bloomberg Businessweek)Here are the 63 startups that launched today at Y Combinator’s S18 Demo Day 1 (TechCrunch) https://flipboard.com/

Fitbit doubles down on fitness trackers, new EU regulations might be coming for web platforms, Karma is a startup selling excess food, Trip Advisor has its own fake news problem, and are women the most valuable mobile gaming consumers? Sponsors:Lightstream.com/rideTinyCapital.co Links:With Charge 3, Fitbit blurs the smartwatch line (TechCrunch)EU Weighs Regulations For Terrorist Content (Financial Times)‘Minecraft: Education Edition’ comes to iPad, as education features expand to mainstream version of game (GeekWire)Karma raises $12 million for marketplace that helps restaurants and supermarkets reduce food waste (Venture Beat)Farfetch files for IPO to trade on NYSE as FTCH; has nearly 1M active users of its luxury goods marketplace (TechCrunch)Arm Unveils Client CPU Performance Roadmap Through 2020 - Taking Intel Head On (AnAndTech)How TripAdvisor changed travel (The Guardian)Women are 79 percent more likely to spend money on mobile games (The Verge)