The Year of Efficiency Continues

...and that includes Apple Executives!

Jason Howell

Oct 17, 2024

Transcript

Howdy folks!

I am honored and thrilled to be invited to fill in for Tom here on the DTNS newsletter! I only hope I can fill at least the toe box of one of his shoes.

Come for the layoff scoop, stay for the stylish space suit!

Jason Howell

Big Story

Meta is laying off employees at WhatsApp, Instagram, and more - The Verge

Meta lays off employees across multiple teams - TechCrunch

Meta fires staff for abusing $25 meal credits - Financial Times

Layoffs have begun at Meta, impacting a number of departments in the company, including WhatsApp, Instagram, and Reality Labs. The total number of affected employees was not disclosed by the company. Many were offered the chance to switch to different teams under new contracts, according to a source at TechCrunch. If they chose not to switch, they were offered a severance package along with their exit.

A number of employees have taken to social media to share that their employment has suddenly ended. Those who shared publicly that they were let go announced they were part of teams in recruiting, legal operations, and design, just to name a few. However, Meta pushed back on this by telling TechCrunch that Threads, recruiting, and legal operations were not part of the layoffs.

Alongside these layoffs is related news from the Financial Times that Meta fired two dozen employees for misusing their $25 company meal credits to purchase household goods. A former Meta staffer took to the anonymous messaging app Blind to share that they sometimes used the food credit to purchase items like toothpaste and tea from Rite Aid, so as not to lose the value of the food credit when a meal wasn’t actually needed.

Mark Zuckerberg’s drive for efficiency continues to be alive and kicking.

Brief

Apple debuts new business tools for managing presence across email, calls, and Tap to Pay - TechCrunch

Apple will launch a Business Caller ID service next year - Engadget

Apple has announced new tools for business in an effort to enhance their presence across its platforms. Apple Business Connect, the free service it launched last year, will now accept businesses without a physical location. Apple is also expanding the list of products that businesses can customize with their own branding beyond Maps, Siri, Spotlight Search, Safari, and Wallet. With this update, Apple adds Apple Mail, Tap to Pay, and the Phone app to that list.

Speaking of Phone app updates, Apple introduced the arrival of Business Caller ID. Once it rolls out next year, companies within Apple Business Connect will be able to attach their name, logo, and department to outgoing business calls. The added information could help recipients in determining when a call is spam and when it's coming from a legitimate business.

Apple Loses New HR Boss After Just 20 Months – Here’s What Happened - Winbuzzer

Apple’s Vision Pro leader, Dan Riccio, is retiring - The Verge

Speaking of Apple, Carol Surface, Chief People Officer for the company, is confirmed to be exiting her role only 20 months after she was hired to lead the Human Resources department. Apple has confirmed her departure, though they have avoided sharing any further explanation as to the reason behind her exit. In Surface’s place is Deirdre O’Brien, who had previously overseen both HR and retail prior to Surface’s arrival at the company.

Her exit sees Surface join a growing list of high-profile executives leaving the company. Luca Maestri, Apple CFO, is retiring in early 2025, and former Senior VP of Hardware Engineering Dan Riccio is set to retire sometime this month.

Instagram rolls out new safety features to protect teens from sextortion - TechCrunch

Instagram introduced a slew of new safety features aimed at protecting teens from sextortion scams. New protections include blocking the ability to screenshot or screen record ephemeral content in direct messages, including photos and videos. Content shared as “view once” or “allow replay” will only be viewed as intended as a result. Instagram is also tightening controls to protect teens from suspicious accounts that seek to follow the user or gain access to the user’s follower list. Additionally, explicit content in a teen user’s DMs will be blurred along with a warning for those attempting to share such material. All of this comes in response to growing concerns from lawmakers about user safety on the platform.

Samsung says a new Galaxy is coming on October 21, could be the Galaxy Z Fold6 Special Edition - GSM Arena

Samsung announced the launch of a new Galaxy device on October 21. Don’t get your hopes up, though. If you live outside of China, it’s unlikely you’ll get your hands on it. Rumors are pointing to a Galaxy Z Fold6 Special Edition, a thinner version of the popular foldable that would seem to have significantly reduced the notable crease often found on the inner display of foldable devices.

A 21st-century moon suit: Axiom Space's lunar spacesuit sports 4G comms, Prada looks, and Oakley visors for Artemis astronauts - Space

Axiom Space and Prada have unveiled the new Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit spacesuit! This is the suit that NASA plans to use in its Artemis 3 mission, which is currently scheduled for 2026. Sure, it can stand the extreme temperatures of the moon’s South Pole, but it’s also equipped with advanced features like 4G/LTE communication, biometric monitoring, and a suit control interface. There’s an HD camera as well as a portable life support system that provides up to 8 hours of, well, life.

Winamp deletes entire GitHub source code repo after a rocky few weeks - Ars Technica

Winamp, always aiming to whip the llama’s ass, is instead deleting its GitHub source code repo for its “Legacy Player” after making it available to developers last month. Conflicts with the “Winamp Collaborative License” are the cause for the about-face. Apparently, the release contained unintentional inclusions of proprietary software and code from other projects. The open-source community was not happy, and that included Justin Frankel, Winamp’s original creator, who called the license terms “absurd.” In the end, Winamp had hoped to engage coders but instead ended up with its head up a llama’s, you know, what.

Google asks 9th Circuit for emergency stay, says Epic ruling ‘is dangerous’ - The Verge

Google has asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals for an emergency stay on a ruling from Judge James Donato in the Epic v. Google case. Google argues that the changes spelled out in the ruling—namely, that Google be forced to allow third-party app stores and change its billing practices by November 1, 2024—pose significant risks to Android users, developers, and device manufacturers. Epic Games contends that this is just Google doing what it can to maintain control and keep high fees intact. The court is expected to decide on the delay soon.

Musk’s Empire Risks Being Targeted by EU for Potential X Fines - Bloomberg

The European Union is considering imposing fines on Elon Musk’s X platform based on revenue generated from Musk’s other businesses. This would mean that SpaceX, The Boring Company, and Neuralink revenue is at risk of being included. Tesla Inc. would not be included as it’s a publicly traded company outside of Musk’s complete control, according to a Bloomberg source. The EU’s Digital Services Act allows for up to 6% of annual global revenue to be considered in this equation if X fails to address the EU’s concerns regarding harmful content on the platform.

U.S. Charges Sudanese Men with Running Powerful Cyberattack-for-Hire Gang - Washington Post

Two Sudanese brothers, Ahmed and Alaa Salah Yousif Omer, have been charged by U.S. federal prosecutors for leading a powerful cyberattack-for-hire operation dubbed Anonymous Sudan. The brothers were first arrested back in March. Among its many targets, the group hit Microsoft, PayPal, OpenAI, a hospital in Los Angeles, and Israel’s defense system, charging as little as $600 for its attacks.