Quibi, the streaming app veteran executive Jeffrey Katzenberg started with Meg Whitman a little more than a month ago -- and for which it raised $1.8 billion -- is off to a rough start. From a report: Downloads have been anemic, despite a lineup that includes producers and stars like Jennifer Lopez, LeBron James, Idris Elba, Steven Spielberg and Chrissy Teigen. The service, which offers entertainment and news programs in five- to 10-minute chunks, was designed to be watched on the go by people who are too busy to sit down and stream TV shows or movies. It came out when millions of people were not going anywhere because of stay-at-home orders across the country. "I attribute everything that has gone wrong to coronavirus," Mr. Katzenberg said in a video interview. "Everything. But we own it." Quibi fell out of the list of the 50 most downloaded free iPhone apps in the United States a week after it went live on April 6. It is now ranked No. 125, behind the game app Knock'em All and the language-learning app Duolingo, according to the analytics firm Sensor Tower. Even with a free 90-day trial, the app has been installed by only 2.9 million customers, according to Sensor Tower. Quibi says the figure is more like 3.5 million. Of those who have installed the app, the company says 1.3 million are active users. Mr. Katzenberg expressed disappointment with those numbers. "Is it the avalanche of people that we wanted and were going for out of launch?" he said. "The answer is no. It's not up to what we wanted. It's not close to what we wanted." So nobody wants to use a short-form video app right now, except an increasingly growing number of people who are hooked to TikTok. Nobody wants to spend money on a service, but Quibi is free for first three months. Yeah, it's the coronavirus.

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Google is making it easier for Google Play Music users to make the switch to the company's now preferred music app, YouTube Music, ahead of its plans to shut down Google Play Music later this year. From a report: Starting today, Google Play Music users will be able to move their libraries, personal taste preferences and playlists to the newer YouTube Music service by way of a new "transfer" option available in the app. The company has been steadily working to make YouTube Music its default music service, in order to eventually replace Google Play Music. Last year, for example, Google shut down the Google Play Artist Hub and began preinstalling YouTube Music on Android smartphones. It said at the time those moves were part of its broader strategy to merge the two services. Now we have a deadline of sorts for Google Play Music's end-of-life -- sometime later this year, according to Google's announcement.

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Age of Empires 2, a 21-year-old game, could well be having its best year ever. From a report: Since its HD re-release in 2013 the game has had a steady growth in average player count, but with the release of Age of Empires 2: Definitive edition last year and COVID-19 lockdowns inflating player counts across the industry, Age of Empires 2 is boasting totals that beat some very big-name games. It's now by far Steam's most popular RTS, with both the Definitive Edition and the 2013 HD Edition having higher player counts than closest competitor Company of Heroes 2. This year's big tournament boasted the largest Age of Empires 1v1 prize pool since 2002. Last month, in April, the games' combined average player count was over 50,000 players. April 12 was the definitive edition's all-time player peak, and the combined total of the games was 59,995 players. That's well into the top 150 all-time peak player counts on Steam... for a 21-year-old game. The two games generally average higher player counts than popular free-to-play game War Thunder or industry darling Stardew Valley. They're on-par with the popular action RPG Path of Exile. Their average is nearly as many as perennially popular premium games like Civilization VI or Terraria. Both versions of Age of Empires 2 sit in the top 100 games on Steam, with the Definitive Edition sitting at #25. Combined, however, the Age of Empires community on average pushes up to the #15 spot -- or higher, on peak player count days.

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With a large part of the working world doing jobs from home when possible these days, the focus right now is on how best to recreate the atmosphere of an office virtually, and how to replicate online essential work that used to be done in person. Today, LinkedIn announced a couple of big new feature updates that point to how it's trying to play a part in both of these. From a report: It's launching a new Polls feature for users to canvas opinions and get feedback; and it's launching a new "LinkedIn Virtual Events" tool that lets people create and broadcast video events via its platform. Despite now being owned by Microsoft, interestingly it doesn't seem that the Virtual Events service taps into Teams or Skype, Microsoft's two other big video products that it has been pushing hard at a time when use of video streaming for work, education and play is going through the roof. The polls feature -- you can see an example of one in the picture below, or respond to that specific poll here -- is a quick-fire and low-bar way of asking a question and encouraging engagement: LinkedIn says that a poll takes only about 30 seconds to put together, and responding doesn't require thinking of something to write, but gives the respondent more of a 'voice' than he or she would get just by providing a "like" or other reaction.

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The US government today released information on three new malware variants used in malicious cyber activity campaigns by a North Korean government-backed hacker group tracked as HIDDEN COBRA. From a report: The new malware is being used "for phishing and remote access by #DPRK cyber actors to conduct illegal activity, steal funds & evade sanctions" according to the information published by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the Department of Defense (DoD). U.S. Cyber Command has also uploaded five samples of the newly discovered malware variants onto the VirusTotal malware aggregation repository. Besides the malware samples shared by the U.S. Cyber Command, CISA has also published detailed malware analysis reports (MARs) on its website containing indicators of compromise (IOCs) and YARA rules for each of the detected samples. The cybersecurity agency also provides mitigation measures in the form of Snort rules, as well as recommendations for system owners and administrators to strengthen the security posture of their organization's systems.

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Messaging service Telegram said on Tuesday it is abandoning its blockchain platform Telegram Open Network (TON) after a lengthy battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). From a report: "Today is a sad day for us here at Telegram. We are announcing the discontinuation of our blockchain project," wrote Pavel Durov, the founder and chief executive of Telegram, on his channel. A U.S. court made it impossible for the messaging service, used by more than 400 million users, to continue development of Telegram Open Network, he wrote in a blog post. "How? Imagine that several people put their money together to build a gold mine -- and to later split the gold that comes out of it," he wrote. "Then a judge comes and says: 'These people invested in the gold mine because they were looking for profits. And they didn't want that gold for themselves, they wanted to sell it to other people. Because of this, they are not allowed to get the gold.' If this doesn't make sense to you, you are not alone -- but this is exactly what happened with TON (the mine) and Grams (the gold). A judge used this reasoning to rule that people should not be allowed to buy or sell Grams like they can buy or sell Bitcoins," he added.

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In the Supreme Court I love how they talk about the president's massive todo list. This president just eats, farts, watches tv, and throws his poop at the wall.

Some Twitter employees will never return to their office. From a report: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey emailed employees on Tuesday telling them that they'd be allowed to work from home permanently, even after the coronavirus pandemic lockdown passes. Some jobs that require physical presence, such as maintaining servers, will still require employees to come in. "We've been very thoughtful in how we've approached this from the time we were one of the first companies to move to a work-from-home model," a Twitter spokesperson told BuzzFeed News. "We'll continue to be, and we'll continue to put the safety of our people and communities first." Twitter encouraged its employees to start working from home in early March as the coronavirus began to spread across the US. Several other tech companies did the same, including Microsoft, Google, and Amazon. That month, Twitter human resources head Jennifer Christie told BuzzFeed News the company would "never probably be the same" in the structure of its work. "People who were reticent to work remotely will find that they really thrive that way," Christie said. "Managers who didn't think they could manage teams that were remote will have a different perspective. I do think we won't go back."

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Dr. Anthony Fauci on Tuesday warned of serious consequences if governors reopen state economies prematurely, saying he fears spikes in coronavirus infections could morph into further outbreaks of the disease. From a report: Testifying by videoconference before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, ticked through the criteria that the White House said states should meet before reopening. "My concern [is] that if some areas, city, states, or what have you, jump over those various checkpoints and prematurely open up without having the capability of being able to respond effectively and efficiently, my concern is that we will start to see little spikes that might turn into outbreaks," Fauci said in response to a question from Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. Fauci and two of the other witnesses -- Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Stephen Hahn, the head of the Food and Drug Administration -- are testifying by videoconference Tuesday because they self-quarantining after possible exposure to COVID-19. The fourth witness, Adm. Brett Giroir, assistant secretary for health and the administration's coronavirus testing coordinator, also testified remotely but is not in self-quarantine. Murray, the top Democrat on the committee, said in her opening statement that the U.S. needs "dramatically more testing," but added that testing "alone won't be enough to reopen our country."

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Facebook is working behind the scenes to help launch a new political advocacy group that would combat U.S. lawmakers and regulators trying to rein in the tech industry, escalating Silicon Valley's war with Washington at a moment when government officials are threatening to break up large companies. From a report: The organization is called American Edge, and it aims through a barrage of advertising and other political spending to convince policymakers that Silicon Valley is essential to the U.S. economy and the future of free speech, according to three people familiar with the matter as well as documents reviewed by The Washington Post. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the group because it hasn't officially been announced. In December, American Edge formed as a nonprofit organization, and last month, it registered an accompanying foundation, according to incorporation documents filed in Virginia. The setup essentially allows it to navigate a thicket of tax laws in such a way that it can raise money, and blitz the airwaves with ads, without the obligation of disclosing all of its donors. Many powerful political actors -- including the National Rifle Association -- similarly operate with the aid of "social welfare" groups.

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NSO Group, the surveillance vendor best known for selling hacking technology to authoritarian governments, including Saudi Arabia, also tried to sell its products to local U.S. police, Motherboard reported Tuesday, citing internal documents. From the report: The news provides the strongest evidence yet of NSO's attempt to enter the U.S. market, and shows apparent appetite from U.S. police for such tools, with one law enforcement official describing the hacking technology as "awesome." "Turn your target's smartphone into an intelligence gold mine," a brochure for the hacking product, called Phantom, reads. The brochure was made by Westbridge Technologies, "the North American branch of NSO Group," it says. Motherboard obtained the document and related emails through a public records act request. In August 2016, a Westbridge employee emailed the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) offering more information on Phantom, "a mobile intelligence system that would be a great addition to your investigative and special support offices." After remotely hacking the phone, Phantom can siphon a target's emails, text messages, and contact list, as well track their location, turn on the device's microphone and take photos with its camera, according to the brochure.

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An anonymous reader shares a report: When President Donald Trump urged Americans last month to "LIBERATE VIRGINIA" on Twitter, a private Facebook group named "Boogaloo Enthusiasts: CORONAPOCALYPSE" welcomed the tweet. "Did Trump just call for boogaloo?," one member wrote, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. "Well, you heard the man! Let's go bois," another responded. Membership in Facebook groups focused on violent anti-government uprisings in the U.S. has doubled in recent weeks as the coronavirus pandemic has spread and governments impose restrictions aimed at slowing the contagion. To get their message across, these groups are exploiting loopholes in Facebook anti-violence policies -- using satire, code words and other tactics that mask their motives, according to experts who follow fringe groups on social media. One of the more common such phrases is "boogaloo," which can refer to a kind of music but more recently has come to describe a pending civil war. The boogaloo groups, and other extremist groups deploying similar tactics, pose yet another test for the Menlo Park, California-based social media giant, as it tries to strike a workable balance between allowing free discourse and curbing disinformation or those encouraging violence and law breaking.

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Amazon has built robot that is designed to kill the novel coronavirus with ultraviolet light. From a report: The robot looks a little like a hotel luggage cart, with a tall metal frame attached to a rectangular wheeled bottom. One side of the frame is outfitted with at least 10 ultraviolet tube lights. In a video shared with CBS News' "60 Minutes," the robot rolls down the freezer aisle of a Whole Foods store, aiming UV light at the freezer doors. The robot could be used in warehouses and at Whole Foods stores to kill the virus on surfaces such as food, packaging, and door handles. Amazon spokeswoman Kristen Kish said the company's robotics group has been designing and testing the UV robot.

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from TorrentFreak: Operated by Bruno Gustavo Januario, the 'Jorge Dejorge' channel is packed with technology-focused videos offering reviews, unboxing videos, tips and tutorials, most of which are entirely non-problematic. However, a decision to publish advice on how to obtain TV channels via pirate IPTV services attracted the attention of ABTA, the powerful Brazilian Pay TV Association. ABTA, which represents the main cable TV and channel operators in the country, including Globosat, Sky, NBC Universal, Fox and Discovery, filed a lawsuit against Bruno Gustavo claiming that his instructional videos infringed their rights. In his response, the channel owner described himself as an "ordinary person" with a YouTube channel and denied that he'd named any of the TV operators in his videos. In any event, he argued, they were informative in nature and did not aim to instruct people on how to break the law. Nevertheless, in April 2018 a judge at a Sao Paulo court handed down an order that required hosting and search companies, including Google, to remove the videos in question and Bruno Gustavo was told to stop publishing such content in the future. Failure to comply would result in a fine equivalent to $1,740 for each offense. However, according to a Globo report, the judge held back from compensating the TV companies as he believed their trademarks had not been infringed. This resulted in an appeal from both sides to the Court of Justice of Sao Paulo which was heard in April 2020. In its ruling, the Court found that the operator of the Jorge Dejorge channel must pay compensation to ABTA for breaching its members' rights with his "fraudulent" videos. "The Court found that the videos improperly reproduced the channels' trademarks, infringed their copyrights, and amounted to unfair competition against ABTA's members," reports TorrentFreak. The Court says 10% of any revenues earned by the channel since the illegal content was first published in February 2017, must be handed over to the TV companies. "The Jorge Dejorge operator must also pay $8,721 in compensation to the broadcasters adjusted for interest at the rate of 1% per month from the publishing of the first content in February 2017," the report adds. "In addition, the defendant was ordered not to publish any more content that infringes on the rights of the pay-TV stations and was told to pay the costs of the lawsuit plus attorney fees." Gustavo's legal team is planning an appeal.

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There was a kerfuffle in the RSS world yesterday when it appeared that Apple wanted aggregator developers to get written permission from sites whose feeds they include as defaults. It appears this was an error, or Apple changed their mind. Also, I love the word kerfuffle. Surprisingly, it's not the first time I've used it, according to Google. I'm surprised. But it appears to be the first time in 13 years.