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Government

FBI Searches Microbiome Testing Startup uBiome In Billing Probe (techcrunch.com) 1

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Wall Street Journal: Special agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation searched the offices of lab-test startup uBiome Inc. on Friday morning (Warning: source paywalled; alternative source), according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The FBI is investigating uBiome's billing practices. An FBI spokeswoman said, "I can confirm that special agents from the FBI San Francisco Division are present at 360 Langton Street in San Francisco conducting court-authorized law-enforcement activity. Due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, I cannot provide any additional details at this time." According to public records, uBiome has a headquarters office at that address.

uBiome sells tests for the microbiome, which refers to the group of microorganisms that live in the digestive tract and other parts of the body, under names including Explorer and SmartGut. The company, which calls itself the "leading microbial genomics company," was one of the earliest firms in the microbiome testing field, launching in 2012 with a crowdfunding campaign that raised $350,000. Last year, uBiome said it had raised $83 million from firms including OS Fund and Y Combinator. uBiome describes its SmartGut and SmartJane tests as "an insurance-reimbursed test ordered by a health-care provider."
"We are cooperating fully with federal authorities on this matter. We look forward to continuing to serve the needs of healthcare providers and patients," a spokeswoman for uBiome said Friday. In an interview last week that included questions about scrutiny of uBiome's billing practices, uBiome Chief Executive Jessica Richman said that "compliance is our highest value" and that uBiome's billing and other practices are proper.
Google

Google 'Thanos' For an Epic 'Avengers: Endgame' Easter Egg (cbsnews.com) 12

Zorro shares a report from CBS News: If you're looking for more "Avengers: Endgame" content to fill the void until you get to see the movie, Google has the perfect Easter egg for you. Open Google, search "Thanos," click the Infinity Gauntlet on the right side -- and watch as half of your search results turn to dust. The gauntlet -- complete with the six Infinity Stones -- will snap its fingers when clicked, just as Thanos did in "Avengers: Infinity War." But this time, instead of eliminating half of the universe's population, Thanos will eliminate half your Google Search results, perfectly balancing the internet. Make sure you turn the sound on.
Android

Google Bans Developer With Half a Billion App Downloads From Play Store (buzzfeednews.com) 9

Google is banning app developer DO Global and removing their apps from the Google Play Store after it discovered the company was committing ad fraud. "As of today, 46 apps from DO Global, which is partly owned by internet giant Baidu, are gone from the Play store," reports BuzzFeed. "BuzzFeed News also found that DO Global apps no longer offer ad inventory for purchase via Google's AdMob network, suggesting the ban has also been extended to the internet giant's ad products." From the report: Prior to the app removals, DO Global had roughly 100 apps in the Play store with over 600 million installs. Their removal from the Play store marks one of the biggest bans, if not the biggest, Google has ever instituted against an app developer. DO Global was a subsidiary of Baidu until it was spun out last summer; Baidu retains a 34% stake. BuzzFeed News reported last week that at least six apps from DO included code that made them fraudulently click on ads even when a user was not using the app. The apps were also listed in the Play store under the generic developer names "Pic Tools Group" and "Photo Artist Studio," hosted their privacy policies on Tumblr, and did not disclose they were owned by DO. It's a violation of Play store policy to conceal ownership information, and to commit ad fraud. The ad fraud was detected by Check Point security, which responded to a request from BuzzFeed News to examine apps uncovered during its investigation.

Google removed those six apps, and claimed its internal systems had also flagged most of them for removal. Another 40 DO apps disappeared from the Play store this week, including 20 using the Do Global Games developer name, and 14 listed under Applecheer Studio. The apps listed different addresses and contact information in the store, making it difficult for the average user to see they were all owned by the same major developer.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin Drops 7 Percent On Allegations of $850 Million Fraud By Bitfinex By New York Attorney General (theregister.co.uk) 18

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Register: The price of Bitcoin has dropped seven per cent after New York's Attorney General accused leading exchange Bitfinex of trying to hide $850 million in missing funds. The accusation came in a legal filing [PDF] on Thursday that claims Bitfinex raided the reserves of Tether -- a digital currency that is kept at parity with the U.S. dollar in order to allow traders to switch easily between real and virtual currencies -- in order to make up the massive shortfall. Both Tether and Bitfinex are headquartered in the tax haven of the British Virgin Islands and, according to the NY Attorney General, are owned and run by the same group of executives and staff.

Tether is a so-called "stablecoin" and the company claims that every Tether virtual coin is backed by a dollar held in reserves, the idea being that people can be assured of its stability. But last month, on March 4, the NY Attorney General notes that Tether changed that assurance to note that "every Tether is always 100 per cent backed by our reserves, which include traditional currency and cash equivalents and, from time to time, may include other assets and receivables from loans made by Tether to third parties." [...] As part of that investigation, the OAG uncovered documents that purportedly show that in mid-2018 Bitfinex didn't have sufficient real-world currency deposits to meet customer demand.

Businesses

Turnover Hits Apple's Famed Industrial Design Team (wsj.com) 21

Apple's famous and close-knit industrial design team that works under design chief Jony Ive is undergoing major changes, WSJ reported this week. From the report: Rico Zorkendorfer and Daniele De Iuliis, who together have more than 35 years of experience at Apple, decided to leave the company recently [Editor's note: the link may be paywalled; alternative source], people familiar with the departures said. Another member of the team with a decade of experience, Julian Honig, plans to leave in the coming months, people familiar with his plans said. Mr. Zorkendorfer said he was taking a break from his professional life to spend time with his family, adding that he felt privileged to work on Apple's design team. Mr. De Iuliis didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. Mr. Honig declined to comment.

The departures of members of the core design team that revived Apple in the 2000s and did the work behind the iPhone, iPad and watch come amid a pause in new products, as the company emphasizes new subscription services this year instead of new gadgets amid slowing iPhone sales. It also follows chief designer Jony Ive's resumption a little over a year ago of day-to-day oversight for the industrial design group.

The roughly two-dozen person team known internally as ID is responsible for establishing the look and feel of all of Apple's products, including the iPhone, one of the most successful products of all time. The tech giant has replenished its design ranks in recent years, adding creatives from apparel company Nike, independent studios and design schools. Recent hires will assume more responsibility for product development as veterans leave.

Books

A Bookstore, Finally, Comes To the Bronx (nytimes.com) 51

In no place was Barnes & Noble's diminished fortune felt as intensely as it was in the Bronx, where gratitude for what it provided far outweighed snobbishness. From a report: Five years ago when Barnes & Noble announced that it was closing the only branch it had opened there, residents and local civic leaders were angry and heartbroken and fought to save it. At the time, there were 90 bookstores in Manhattan. But the Bronx essentially had just the one, and now it would disappear.

Noelle Santos, who worked in human resources, was especially torn up. In 2014 she was on Facebook when she stumbled upon a petition to save Barnes & Noble. It pointed out how alarming it was that the Bronx was getting more and more cellphone stores and chain restaurants but would be left without a place to buy novels or training manuals or SAT preparation guides. Ms. Santos grew up in the Bronx, in Soundview, a rough neighborhood, and she stayed in the Bronx for college and graduate school. But she suddenly felt a radical need to do change things.

"Up to that point I had measured my success by how far I could get away from the Bronx," she told me recently. "I was disappointed in myself for thinking about leaving a community in no better condition that I had found it," she said. "I had never been inside an independent book store before I decided to open one." On Saturday, she will open such a store, The Lit. Bar.

Transportation

Slashdot Asks: Look and Interior of Future Self-Driving Cars? 70

In the not-so-distant future, pending regulatory approvals, self-driving cars will be everywhere. A handful of top companies are working to improve the reliability of their autonomous vehicles as we speak. But what about their design?

What are some changes that you think could be made to the exterior and interior of a self-driving car? If someone is not required to steer the wheel, do they even need to look ahead? One can argue that seats in the car should be rearchitected to face each other. Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk suggested this week that in two years, his automaker firm could explore cars "with no steering wheels or pedals." What would you like to see in a self-driving car?
Social Networks

Founder of Voat, the 'Censorship-Free' Reddit, Begs Users To Stop Making Death Threats (vice.com) 163

New submitter scullyitsaliens writes: The Reddit clone Voat has reportedly been contacted by a "US agency" about threats being made on the censorship-free website, according to its founder Justin Chastain. In a post on Wednesday, Chastain (who goes by PuttItOut on Voat) told users they need to "chill on the 'threats,'" as the platform had been officially approached by an unnamed agency over some of its content. Chastain said he didn't want to litigate free speech, but that Voat would cooperate with law enforcement and remove "gray area" posts if asked. Voat users took offense to the perceived curtailing of their ability to post racial slurs and endorse violence.
Facebook

Zuckerberg Warns of Authoritarian Data Localization Trend (techcrunch.com) 72

If free nations demand companies store data locally, it legitimizes that practice for authoritarian nations, which can then steal that data for their own nefarious purposes, according to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. From a report: He laid out the threat in a new 93-minute video of a discussion with Sapiens author Yuval Noah Harari released today as part of Zuckerberg's 2019 personal challenge of holding public talks on the future of tech. Zuckerberg has stated that Facebook will refuse to comply with laws and set up local data centers in authoritarian countries where that data could be snatched. Russia and China already have data localization laws, but privacy concerns and regulations proposals could see more nations adopt the restrictions.

Germany now requires telecommunications metadata to be stored locally, and India does something similar for payments data. While in democratic or justly ruled nations, the laws can help protect user privacy and give governments more leverage over tech companies, they pave the way for similar laws in nations where governments might use military might to see the data. That could help them enhance their surveillance capabilities, disrupt activism or hunt down dissidents.

Intel

Intel Starts Qualification of Ice Lake CPUs, Raises 10nm Volume Expectation for 2019 (anandtech.com) 52

During its Q1 earnings call, Intel provided an update regarding its 10 nm process technology as well as the ramp up of its Ice Lake-U processor for notebooks, which is the company's first 10 nm design that will be mass produced and broadly available. From a report: Qualification for the new processors has already started, so systems based on Ice Lake-U will be available by the holidays, as promised. Furthermore, Intel believes that it will be able to ship more 10 nm parts than it originally anticipated. Intel started production of its Ice Lake-U processors in Q1, but Intel has been building up a stockpile of them first before they are sent to PC makers for qualification. Once the CPUs are qualified -- something that Intel expects to happen in Q2 -- the manufacturer can start sales/shipments of these CPUs, which will likely happen in Q3. Considering the lead-time required to get built systems on to store shelves, Ice Lake-U-based PCs are on track to hit the market in Q4 (something Intel reaffirmed today).
Businesses

Sinemia, a Would-be Rival To MoviePass, Shuts Down US Movie-Ticket Subscription Service (variety.com) 24

Sinemia, a would-be rival to MoviePass, is closing down its U.S. operations -- telling customers it could not find "a path to sustainability" amid legal headaches, competitive pressures and the challenging economics of the business model. From a report: The company announced the shutdown in a notice on its website Thursday. "While we are proud to have created a best in market service, our efforts to cover the cost of unexpected legal proceedings and raise the funds required to continue operations have not been sufficient," Sinemia said in the statement. "The competition in the U.S. market and the core economics of what it costs to deliver Sinemia's end-to-end experience ultimately [led] us to the decision of discontinuing our U.S. operations." From the notice, it's not clear whether Sinemia will be extending refunds that may be due to subscribers.
Music

Amazon is Readying a High Fidelity Music Streaming Service: Report (techcrunch.com) 68

Amazon is in discussion with various large music rights-holders regarding the launch of a high fidelity music streaming platform -- and that at least one major record company has already agreed to license it, news outlet Music Business Worldwide reported this week. sqorbit shares a report: MBW has heard this whisper from several high-placed music industry sources, who say the price of Amazon's new tier will likely be in the region of $15 per month. It's expected to launch before the end of 2019. "It's a better bit rate, better than CD quality," said one source. "Amazon is working on it as we speak: they're currently scoping out how much catalog they can get from everyone and how they'll ingest it." The best known existing hi-def music streaming offering comes from TIDAL, whose TIDAL Hi-FI subscription tier costs $19.99 per month and offers CD-quality lossless streams at 44.1 kHz / 16 bit. In addition, TIDAL also offers a 'Masters' quality offering for pickier audiophiles, which presents thousands of albums at 96 kHz / 24 bit.
Android

KaiOS Takes on the iOS-Android Mobile Duopoly (economist.com) 55

An anonymous reader shares a report: Firefox browser made by the non-profit Mozilla Foundation, was born as "Phoenix." It rose from the ashes of Netscape Navigator, slain by Microsoft's Internet Explorer. In 2012 Mozilla created Firefox OS, to rival Apple's iOS and Google's Android mobile operating systems. Unable to compete with the duopoly, Mozilla killed the project. Another phoenix has arisen from it [Editor's note: the link may be paywalled]. KaiOS, an operating system conjured from the defunct software, powered 30m devices in 2017 and another 50m in 2018. Most were simple flip-phones sold in the West for about $80 apiece, or even simpler ones which Indians and Indonesians can have for as little as $20 or $7, respectively.

Smartphones start at about $100. The company behind the software, also called KaiOS and based in Hong Kong, designed it for smart-ish phones -- with an old-fashioned number pad and long battery life, plus 4G connectivity, popular apps such as Facebook and modern features like contactless payments, but not snazzy touchscreens. Most such devices are found in India. Reliance Jio, a network that has upended the local mobile industry with heavily discounted 4G data plans, sells subsidised, Jio-branded phones that use KaiOS software. Google, which invested $22m in Kaios last year, prioritises getting people in emerging markets online, where it can sell their attention to advertisers, over getting them onto Android smartphones. Smart-ish phones help with this.

Google

Former Gmail Design Lead and Cofounder of Inbox Releases a Free Chrome Extension To Simplify Gmail Interface (fastcompany.com) 62

An anonymous reader shares a report: Michael Leggett is even more annoyed with Gmail than you are. "It's like Lucky Charms got spewed all over the screen," he says to me, as he scrolls through his inbox. It's true. Folders, contacts, Google apps like Docs and Drive -- and at least half a dozen notifications -- all clutter Gmail at any given moment. And of course, there's that massive Gmail logo that sits in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. Just in case you forgot that you just typed "gmail.com" into your browser bar three seconds ago. "Go look at any desktop app and tell me how many have a huge fucking logo in the top left," rants Leggett. "C'mon. It's pure ego, pure bullshit. Drop the logo. Give me a break."

Rather than sit there and stew, Leggett decided to do something about it: He created a free Chrome extension called Simplify, where all the extraneous folders and functions overloading Gmail seem to melt away, leaving you with a calm screen and nothing but your messages. It's understatedly beautiful, and every button just seems like it's in the right place. In fact, it feels a little too good for some random free Chrome extension made by some random developer. Let's just say that Leggett was highly qualified for the job. You see, Leggett was actually the lead designer for Gmail from 2008 to 2012. He also cofounded the since-discontinued Inbox, which attempted to reimagine Gmail for the modern era.

United States

Hundreds Of People At Two LA Universities Quarantined Due To Measles Exposure (npr.org) 208

Hundreds of students and faculty at two universities in Los Angeles have been asked to stay home unless they can prove that they've been vaccinated against measles. From a report: The LA campuses of the University of California and California State University imposed the quarantine after they became aware of people infected with measles who had potentially exposed hundreds. At UCLA, a student exposed at least 500 people earlier this month; at Cal State, someone with measles went to a library and encountered hundreds. UCLA was notified by the LA County Department of Public Health that one of its students had contracted measles. After identifying people the infected student might have come in contact with while contagious, the school asked them to provide proof of immunization. On Wednesday, 119 people who couldn't provide proof were quarantined. Of those, dozens were able to prove immunity and were released from quarantine by Thursday afternoon. But 82 were still quarantined, and "a few may need to remain in quarantine for up to seven days," the school said in a statement.

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