Convictional, which offers a one-stop shop for retailers to source, onboard, integrate, and trade with suppliers, raises a $40M Series B led by YC Continuity (Christine Hall/TechCrunch)

blatcho

Christine Hall / TechCrunch: Convictional, which offers a one-stop shop for retailers to source, onboard, integrate, and trade with suppliers, raises a $40M Series B led by YC Continuity  —  Retailers have traditionally onboarded their drop-ship, marketplace and wholesale suppliers using electronic data interchange …

Kubecost, whose open source tools helps businesses monitor, manage, and optimize Kubernetes spend at scale, raises a $25M Series A led by Coatue Management (Christine Hall/TechCrunch)

blatcho

Christine Hall / TechCrunch: Kubecost, whose open source tools helps businesses monitor, manage, and optimize Kubernetes spend at scale, raises a $25M Series A led by Coatue Management  —  In the past year, Kubernetes adoption exploded, with over 5.6 million developers using the cloud-native tools — an increase of 67% from the year prior.

Toward a stronger defense of personal data

blatcho

A heart attack patient, recently discharged from the hospital, is using a smartwatch to help monitor his electrocardiogram signals. The smartwatch may seem secure, but the neural network processing that health information is using private data that could still be stolen by a malicious agent through a side-channel attack. A side-channel attack seeks to gather […]

Credit card-sized device focuses terahertz energy to generate high-resolution images

blatcho

Researchers have created a device that enables them to electronically steer and focus a beam of terahertz electromagnetic energy with extreme precision. This opens the door to high-resolution, real-time imaging devices that are hundredths the size of other radar systems and more robust than other optical systems. Terahertz waves, located on the electromagnetic spectrum between […]

The EU files a WTO case against China, alleging Chinese courts lowered global tech licensing fees, leading to billions in losses for Ericsson, Nokia, and others (Andy Bounds/Financial Times)

blatcho

Andy Bounds / Financial Times: The EU files a WTO case against China, alleging Chinese courts lowered global tech licensing fees, leading to billions in losses for Ericsson, Nokia, and others  —  Legal challenge at WTO alleges patent infringements are costing European manufacturers billions of euros

Netflix announces four comedy specials to be hosted and produced by Dave Chappelle; the comedian’s last special led to Netflix employee protests (James Hibberd/The Hollywood Reporter)

blatcho

James Hibberd / The Hollywood Reporter: Netflix announces four comedy specials to be hosted and produced by Dave Chappelle; the comedian’s last special led to Netflix employee protests  —  The controversial comic will host and produce four comedy specials focusing on other veteran comedians.

A look at the decline of MySpace, which flailed around for over a year as it was overtaken by Facebook, and parallels with Meta as TikTok surges (Ryan Broderick/Garbage Day)

blatcho

Ryan Broderick / Garbage Day: A look at the decline of MySpace, which flailed around for over a year as it was overtaken by Facebook, and parallels with Meta as TikTok surges  —  Read to the end for the anti-NFT anthem  —  I want to open today’s email with an apology!!  I wrote about the […]

Indian startup Pine Labs, a digital payments and financial services provider, raises $150M in primary and secondary funding, sources say at a $5B+ valuation (The Economic Times)

blatcho

The Economic Times: Indian startup Pine Labs, a digital payments and financial services provider, raises $150M in primary and secondary funding, sources say at a $5B+ valuation  —  The digital payments and financial service provider has already received the first tranche of $75 million from Alpha Wave, show regulatory filings.

Universal Music Group partners with NFT marketplace Curio to develop and sell NFT collectibles for its record labels and artists starting in March (Dawn Chmielewski/Reuters)

blatcho

Dawn Chmielewski / Reuters: Universal Music Group partners with NFT marketplace Curio to develop and sell NFT collectibles for its record labels and artists starting in March  —  Universal Music Group has struck a partnership with NFT platform Curio to develop non-fungible token (NFT) collections for its record labels and artists, the companies said on […]

Sources: federal and state regulators have widened their investigation into how Activision Blizzard CEO and its board handled workplace misconduct allegations (Kirsten Grind/Wall Street Journal)

blatcho

Kirsten Grind / Wall Street Journal: Sources: federal and state regulators have widened their investigation into how Activision Blizzard CEO and its board handled workplace misconduct allegations  —  SEC subpoenas more current and former executives; California agency seeks additional information on CEO Bobby Kotick and board’s handling of workplace misconduct allegations

Protein structure offers clues to drug-resistance mechanism

blatcho

MIT chemists have discovered the structure of a protein that can pump toxic molecules out of bacterial cells. Proteins similar to this one, which is found in E. coli, are believed to help bacteria become resistant to multiple antibiotics. Using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, the researchers were able to determine how the structure of […]

Meta’s combined Horizon Worlds and Venues monthly user base grows to 300K people, up ten times since launching in December (Alex Heath/The Verge)

blatcho

Alex Heath / The Verge: Meta’s combined Horizon Worlds and Venues monthly user base grows to 300K people, up ten times since launching in December  —  That’s a 10x increase in about three months.  But can the growth continue?  —  Facebook has bet its future on virtual reality and the metaverse …

Google creates a $100M skills training fund for low-income Americans, with loans repayable only once students obtain jobs paying at least $40K a year (Steve Lohr/New York Times)

blatcho

Steve Lohr / New York Times: Google creates a $100M skills training fund for low-income Americans, with loans repayable only once students obtain jobs paying at least $40K a year  —  The project is a big bet on scaling up programs that have proved effective in lifting low-income workers into middle-class jobs and careers.

Instrumental, which lets engineers perform manufacturing quality control without visiting factories, raises a $50M Series C, bringing its total funding to $80M (Ron Miller/TechCrunch)

blatcho

Ron Miller / TechCrunch: Instrumental, which lets engineers perform manufacturing quality control without visiting factories, raises a $50M Series C, bringing its total funding to $80M  —  Instrumental was launched by two former Apple mechanical engineers in 2015.  Having worked on products like the iPod and Apple Watch …

Dendrites may help neurons perform complicated calculations

blatcho

Within the human brain, neurons perform complex calculations on information they receive. Researchers at MIT have now demonstrated how dendrites — branch-like extensions that protrude from neurons — help to perform those computations. The researchers found that within a single neuron, different types of dendrites receive input from distinct parts of the brain, and process […]

India’s 30% tax on crypto trading profits, effectively legitimizing the industry, has caused usage of Binance-owned WazirX, CoinSwitch, and others to surge (Bloomberg)

blatcho

Bloomberg: India’s 30% tax on crypto trading profits, effectively legitimizing the industry, has caused usage of Binance-owned WazirX, CoinSwitch, and others to surge  —  India’s decision to impose a 30% tax on profits from cryptocurrency trading is turning out to be a boon for the country’s digital-asset exchanges.

Okta’s CMO leaves the company, replaced by its CDO, following numerous executive departures, including its CFO, president of tech, and SVP of product management (Joe Williams/Bloomberg)

blatcho

Joe Williams / Bloomberg: Okta’s CMO leaves the company, replaced by its CDO, following numerous executive departures, including its CFO, president of tech, and SVP of product management  —  Okta Inc. Chief Marketing Officer Kendall Collins has left the company after less than a year in the role …

A life-changing fertilizer for rural farmers in Kenya

blatcho

Most commercial fertilizer travels a long way before it reaches rural farmers in Kenya. Transportation costs force many farmers to rely on cheap, synthetic fertilizers, which can lead to the acidification and degradation of their soil over time. The situation amounts to a multigenerational crisis as elders have watched their crop yields dwindle over the […]

Clearview AI tells investors that it is on track to have 100B facial photos in its database within a year, growing from 3B images to 10B+ since early 2020 (Drew Harwell/Washington Post)

blatcho

Drew Harwell / Washington Post: Clearview AI tells investors that it is on track to have 100B facial photos in its database within a year, growing from 3B images to 10B+ since early 2020  —  The facial recognition company Clearview AI is telling investors it is on track to have 100 billion facial photos in […]

Spotify is acquiring Chartable and Podsights, two podcast analytics companies that let podcasters and networks include tags in shows to track listeners (Ashley Carman/The Verge)

blatcho

Ashley Carman / The Verge: Spotify is acquiring Chartable and Podsights, two podcast analytics companies that let podcasters and networks include tags in shows to track listeners  —  Chartable and Podsights are being bought  —  Spotify is making more podcast acquisitions.  The company announced today it’s acquiring …

Denver-based Nomad, a startup that offers financial services for small-time landlords, renters, and potential home buyers, raises a $20M Series A (Mary Ann Azevedo/TechCrunch)

blatcho

Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch: Denver-based Nomad, a startup that offers financial services for small-time landlords, renters, and potential home buyers, raises a $20M Series A  —  Nomad, a marketplace that aims to provide small-time rental property owners with “guaranteed rent,” has raised $20 million in a Series A funding round led by Silicon Valley […]