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Technology |
In today’s letter: Why We didn’t work; security-cam tips to safeguard your home; miracle material gallium explained; Elon in court; how teens can become safer drivers; and more. But first... |
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| An Odd Couple Takes On Big Tech |
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| Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a conservative Republican, and Dina Srinivasan, an antitrust scholar who is a left-leaning independent, came together to work on a lawsuit against Google. CREDIT: JULIA ROBINSON FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL; CHRISTIE HEMM KLOK FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL |
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In these polarized times, there is one thing that appears to bridge most differences: Big Tech is the bad guy. Republicans and Democrats, Hatfields and McCoys, dogs and cats—everyone seems on board with the overall idea that Silicon Valley's giants are too powerful and must be reined in. And no company is catching more heat than Google, which has been first in the line of fire for a host of regulatory agencies around the world. Our own Tripp Mickle put the spotlight on the unlikely pairing of a conservative Republican politician from Texas and a left-leaning Bay Area academic, who teamed to produce an antitrust lawsuit that is shaping up to be one of the greatest legal threats for the search giant. Their odd-couple partnership shows that it is still possible for pragmatism to outweigh partisanship. At the same time, these alliances are fragile—and it is much harder to find agreement about what exactly should be done to curtail Big Tech's power. As cases like this one move forward, it will be fascinating to see if fractures emerge along party lines, or around what legal outcomes are acceptable. For now, though, it's like that old proverb. How does it go? Oh, right: "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." (OK, I admit it—I Googled that.) —Brad is the WSJ’s deputy tech editor, based in San Francisco. |
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CONTENT FROM OUR SPONSOR: Code42 | | Bad Actions Don’t Mean Bad Actors Why organizations must rethink data protection, particularly around everyday collaboration among employees. Learn More |
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| 📖 Read This: The We That Didn’t Work at WeWork |
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| New From Nicole Nguyen: Security-Camera Tips to Keep Your Home Safe While You Are Away |
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| CREDIT: EMIL LENDOF/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL |
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Smart surveillance devices from brands such as Ring, Nest and Arlo make DIY at-home security easy and affordable, which is why they’ve caught on with tech-savvy households. Besides providing security, cameras can help you keep track of pet sitters, couriers, yard workers and other people who might have good reason to be at your house while you’re traveling. Here’s how to give your video surveillance system an audit. 👉 Read Nicole’s full column here. |
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Paying Up (Part 1): France’s Competition Authority fined Google $593 million for allegedly violating orders to negotiate paid deals with publishers, raising pressure on the company in a global fight over how and whether tech giants should pay for news. |
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Paying Up (Part 2): Facebook said it would pay more than $1 billion to creators on its social networks through 2022, a move that reflects the increasing value some companies see in the content users produce and post. |
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| Latest from Christopher Mims: The Novel Material That’s Shrinking Phone Chargers, Powering Up Electric Cars and Making 5G Possible |
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| CREDIT: GABRIEL ZIMMER FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL |
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The metal gallium is taking over in many of the places that silicon once reigned supreme—from antennas to charging bricks and other energy-converting systems known as “power electronics.” In the process, it’s enabling a surprising array of new technologies, from faster-charging cell phones, to lighter electric vehicles, to more power-efficient data centers that run the services and apps we use. 👉 Read Christopher’s full column here. |
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| 📖 Read This, Too: Elon Musk Says ‘Goal Is Not to Be a Car Company’ in Defense of Tesla’s SolarCity Deal |
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| CREDIT: DAVE MICHAELS/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL |
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Elon Musk said Tesla bought SolarCity for one fundamental reason: to become more than a car company. Mr. Musk made the argument during sometimes feisty testimony in court, defending the roughly $2.1 billion tie-up completed in 2016 at a time both Tesla and SolarCity were financially struggling. The presiding judge in a shareholder lawsuit, drilled into that deal logic. “Tesla was facing headwinds, had its own issues,” the judge said. “And so why is it at this moment that Tesla is pursuing this acquisition of a solar company?” 👉 Read Dave Michaels and Rebecca Elliott’s full report here. |
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• The Ugly, Geeky War For Web Privacy Is Playing Out in the W3C (Protocol) • Twitch Streamers Rake in Millions With a Shady Crypto Gambling Boom (Wired) • Inside Facebook’s Data Wars (NYT) |
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| 🎬 Watch This: How Venus Fits Into the Search for Life Beyond Earth |
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| ✉️ Reader Mailbag: Your Tech Questions |
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This week, Personal Tech columnist Nicole Nguyen answers questions about password managers. Thanks to all who sent in a version of these. |
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Q: | What happens when bad guys concentrate on hacking password managers? |
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A: | All your secrets in one place… sounds like a fantastic place for a thief to steal some credentials, doesn’t it? Yes, except, in well-built password managers, it is extraordinarily difficult to access your passwords. A good manager fully encrypts user data while it’s stored. 1Password, Dashlane, LastPass and Bitwarden encrypt all stored user data. So if a hacker stole this data, it would just look like gibberish. Only your master password can decrypt the data, and the companies don’t have that. And you can add additional protection on your account, like two-step verification. 1Password requires an additional unique secret 34-digit key for decryption. This makes it a pain to set up the manager on a new device, but it also makes your passwords safer. |
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Q: | Why haven’t you covered KeePass? |
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A: | There are a lot of password managers out there, and many of them are great. KeePass has been around for nearly two decades, and it has the great benefit of being completely free, as well as open-source. What it lacks in polish, the app makes up for in customization. For example, you get to choose where to host your password database, whether it’s a personal server or a cloud service like Dropbox. My main issue with KeePass is that you need to set up an array of plug-ins in order to have features that come standard with other services, such as two-factor authentication or biometric logins. And to get it to work on smartphones and tablets requires unofficial companion software. Needless to say, you need to be pretty tech-savvy to set it up. My free pick is Bitwarden, which works with a variety of platforms and allows you to store an unlimited number of items across all your devices. |
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| 📖 Read One More: Netflix’s Videogame Gambit Is Taking Shape as Streaming Competition Grows |
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| CREDIT: BONUSXP/DPA/REUTERS |
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Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings has often said he sees videogames as the streaming company’s biggest competitor for customers. Now, he wants Netflix to make its own videogames, and the company has tapped an industry veteran to oversee its strategy. 👉 Read Sarah E. Needleman and Joe Flint’s full report here. |
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| Latest From Julie Jargon: How to Motivate Your Teen to Be a Safer Driver |
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| CREDIT: MADDIE MCGARVEY FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL |
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With summer in full swing and pandemic restrictions lifting, more teens are getting behind the wheel. And they’re taking their smartphones. Phone-related distractions are a leading cause of teen crashes, but that phone has also begun to provide insights for parents who want to ensure their young drivers are safe. 👉 Read Julie’s full column here. |
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| CREDIT: MARS WRIGLEY/ZUMA PRESS |
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...when junk food now chases us down the supermarket aisle. |
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