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Tech News Today for August 8, 2017

Tech News for Tuesday August 8, 2017

At this point, you’ve probably heard about the infamous Google manifesto that hit the Internet like a freight train over the weekend. No doubt, it’s an incredibly controversial study that touches on a number of issues regarding Google’s workplace, how it handles diversity and inclusion, the capabilities of women in tech positions like engineering and coding, and a monoculture inside Google that prevents dissenting opinions from seeing the light of day, hence those voices be silenced. The author has since been fired from Google. CEO Sundar Pichai said publicly that the contents of the memo violated Google code of conduct, giving those who claim Google isn’t open to dissenting opinions more ammo to back their claims. Read more at recode.net.

Remember that delicious high-tech meatless burger that bleeds that I tried last fall? It turns out that the FDA hasn't said whether its safe to eat or not. The Impossible Burger, made with genetically engineered yeast, would bleed like an actual burger made from cow's bodies. But until the Food and Drug administration say that soy leghemoglobin isn't an allergen, they won't confirm that its safe for humans to eat. The New York Times says the FDA won't forbid Impossible Foods from selling the burger and they didn't say it was dangerous. Read more at nytimes.com.

It sounded like the kind of book your mom gave you to help you through puberty. It looked like Snapchat. And now its gone. Facebook has shuttered Lifestage, its app for high schoolers, according to to business insider. The company pulled the iOS app from the app store on August 4 after only a year of existence. During that year, media outlets criticized the app for its ability to let anyone stalk high school age students even though it was supposed to keep anyone over 21 out of the app. The company also put an end to its Facebook Groups app, which had been around since 2014. Read more at businessinsider.com.

Disney reported its quarterly earnings, and while the company beat on earnings, they missed on revenues blamed at least partially on a 23% YoY decline in operating income related to ESPN. But Disney also announced that starting in 2019, Netflix will no longer carry the studio’s movies. Instead, Disney will launch its own streaming service for its films and content exclusively and direct to the consumer. Read more at cnbc.com.

The leaves are starting to change and so have the iPhone rumors, coming faster and more furious every day. KGI's Ming Chi Quo says this fall we'll see an iPhone 8 and an iPhone 7s in three colors. Also, don't count on getting one right away, because they'll be in short supply. And for those Rose Gold fans out there, the current rumor says the three colors will be black, silver and gold. Other rumors say it will work with fast-charging if you buy a USB-C to lightning cable, sold separately. Read more at 9to5mac.com.

Hackers who stole 1.5 terabytes of data from HBO last week dumped a new lot of that data, releasing more scripts, emails and the phone numbers of some of the actors on Game of Thrones. The hacker, calling himself Mr Smith in a video addressed to HBO CEO Richar Plepler, says HBO must pay “our six month salary in Bitcoin”, or somewhere around $12-15 million dollars within three days. If that payment isn’t delivered by Plepler himself as they requested, they say they will put whole TV shows online as well as corporate data. Read more at the theguardian.com.

Tech News Today with Megan Morrone and Jason Howell streams live weekdays at 4PM Pacific, 7PM Eastern at twit.tv/live. You can subscribe to the show and get it on-demand at twit.tv/tnt.

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