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Edward Ongweso Jr / VICE : California police won't release training materials on facial recognition or license plate readers on copyright grounds, despite law mandating access   —  California police are refusing to release documents about the surveillance technology it uses, despite a new law that requires their release. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2YL4LmO

Arielle Pardes / Wired : The 👁👄👁 stunt, a hyped beta of a fake app, exploited Silicon Valley's fixation on shiny new things, but raised $200K for charities   —  Last weekend, the stunt aimed to use Silicon Valley's love of shiny new things for charity.  The result left people wondering about the memeification of movements. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2NI0eLk

Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat : Elementary Robotics, which develops tools to automate industrial tasks, announces $12.7M Series A funding to deploy its automation products at scale   —  Elementary Robotics, a robotics company developing tools to automate industrial tasks, today announced it has raised a $12.7 million round. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3ikiDfB

Alex Knapp / Forbes : NexHealth, which provides an automated online appointment system for small medical and dental practices, raises $15M Series A   —  I write about the future of science, technology, and culture.  —  I am a staff writer covering health care.  Email me at kjennings@forbes.com. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2ZsgNjQ

Jade Macmillan / ABC : The Australian government announces AU$1.35B will be used over the next decade to boost cyberdefense capabilities against a surge in state-backed cyberattacks   —  The Federal Government wants to create more than 500 new jobs in its highly secretive cyber intelligence agency as part … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2YNQXIf

Dan Goodin / Ars Technica : US Cybercom warns foreign state-backed hackers will likely abuse a recently discovered SAML vulnerability that allows unauthorized network admin logins   —  The window of opportunity to fix critical security bug is rapidly closing.  —  Foreign hackers backed by a well-resourced government … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2AjamXX

Bloomberg : Sources: Apple has shifted the strategy of its Arcade gaming service, canceling contracts for some titles in development and seeking games with more engagement   —  - Company ends contracts for multiple future Arcade titles  — Apple seeks games with stronger engagement to hook users from Techmeme https://ift.tt/38izhY4

Alex Barker / Financial Times : Survey of 58 WFA members, who are responsible for $90B+ of ad spending worldwide, finds ~33% will suspend or are likely to suspend spending on social media   —  Study reveals extent of revolt against Facebook and Twitter over hate speech  —  Almost a third of the world's biggest brands … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2Vx43ax

Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge : Qualcomm debuts Snapdragon 4100 chips for smartwatches, the first update since 2018, bringing much-needed performance improvements to upcoming Wear OS watches   —  But is it too late to save Wear OS?  —  Qualcomm is announcing two new Wear OS processors today, the Snapdragon Wear 4100 Plus … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2NHADSP

Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch : Google says it is acquiring Canadian smart glasses company North, which is winding down Focals 1.0 hardware and canceling its plans to ship Focals 2.0   —  Google confirmed today via blog post that it has acquired Canadian smart glasses company North, which began life as human interface hardware startup Thalmic Labs in 2012. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2YJ01Om

Abram Brown / Forbes : Chat app Discord raises $100M led by Index Ventures at a $3.5B valuation, up from $2.05B 18 months ago, and says it has ~100M MAUs, up 50% YoY   —  By shutting out white supremacists and reinventing itself to be more accessible, Discord has added millions of more diverse users—teachers … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3gaoylo

Wall Street Journal : Amazon is boosting efforts to lure military and commercial space organizations as major users of AWS, hoping to benefit from rising spending in the sector   —  AWS's move comes during a multiyear surge in U.S. military and civilian agency spending on space projects from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2CMxWgz

Ron Miller / TechCrunch : Upsolver announces $13M Series A led by Vertex Ventures US to ease management of cloud data lakes by allowing users to query the data using SQL   —  There's a lot of complexity around managing data lakes in the cloud that often requires expensive engineering expertise. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/38gx8MU

Mike Wheatley / SiliconANGLE : Data integration company Fivetran raises $100M Series C led by Andreessen Horowitz and General Catalyst at a $1.2B valuation   —  Data integration company Fivetran Inc. said today it has become the latest tech startup to reach “unicorn” status after raising $100 million in a funding round that brings its valuation to $1.2 billion. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3gd6EhO

Bloomberg : India's app ban may present a model for other countries from Europe to Southeast Asia that seek to curtail China's access to their residents' data   —  - Ban shows the increasingly fractured nature of tech industry  — Chinese firms may find themselves excluded from key markets from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2BOo3yy

Sara Fischer / Axios : Facebook will change its News Feed algorithm to prioritize news stories with original reporting and demote ones that are not transparent about their authors   —  Beginning today, Facebook will be updating the way news stories are ranked in its News Feed to prioritize original reporting, executives tell Axios. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3gdcC2q

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch : Tel Aviv-based startup Hunters, which helps enterprises defend and analyze hacker attacks, raises $15M Series A from M12 and US Venture Partners   —  Hunters, a Tel Aviv-based cybersecurity startup that helps enterprises defend themselves from intruders and analyze attacks … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2AfvgqT

Steve Lohr / New York Times : Leading universities and tech firms back a new project to give scientists access to the data centers of tech giants and to public data sets for AI research   —  A proposal to give scientists access to huge data sets and powerful computers.  —  Leading universities and major technology companies agreed … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/31u8UNz

Mary Ann Azevedo / HousingWire : Sundae, a real estate marketplace for distressed residential properties, raises $16.55M Series A led by QED Investors, bringing its total raised to $19.7M+   —  Business model borrows some of the iBuyer strategy, but won't make an offer without a walk-through from Techmeme https://ift.tt/38eFtAs

Matthew J. Belvedere / CNBC : Netflix is reallocating 2% of its cash holdings, initially up to $100M, to support Black communities in the US   —  - Netflix announced plans to start putting 2% of its cash holdings into financial institutions and organizations to “directly support Black communities in the U.S.” from Techmeme https://ift.tt/38c9EZ0

River Davis / Wall Street Journal : Some Japanese companies are stepping in to help China build its $150B national 5G network, filling a void created by US sanctions on supplying Huawei   —  Huawei procures 5G telecommunications gear from Japan as Beijing pushes for global edge  —  TOKYO—The U.S. is making it tougher … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2NJihAQ

Romain Dillet / TechCrunch : German startup solarisBank, which offers financial services to other fintech companies through a set of APIs, raises $67.5M Series C at a valuation of $360M   —  Despite the Wirecard fallout, German fintech startup solarisBank has raised a Series C funding round of $67.5 million (€60 million). from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2NKKMy0

Nikkei Asian Review : As China passes new national security laws for Hong Kong, people are altering their digital footprints or removing their social media posts to avoid detection   —  Social media users delete posts or alter identities to avoid detection  —  (Source photos by Reuters and Ken Kobayashi) from Techmeme https://ift.tt/38cY1RH

How can I promote my Fiverr gig? 1. BE AWESOME: Deliver a great product. Customers want pure awesome-sauce for $5, and if you’re not giving that, they’ll go somewhere else. There’s plenty of room for mediocre sellers on Fiverr, but if you want to stand out from the crowd, you need to be really, really good at what you do. If you’re not really, really good at what you do, then you really, really need to get better. 2. BE VERY NICE: Customer service. It sounds silly, but you have to make your customer believe that he or she is the most important person in the entire world. Communicate quickly and be charming — you have to make them feel special and important, because the truth is, they are: your livelihood of Fiverr depends on positive reviews and repeat customers. 3. FAST DELIVERY: All your customers will want to be priority #1. Obviously, you can’t do that, so you should set a minimum delivery time of 2 days to give yourself some wiggle room for when you’re si...