March 4, 2014 06:00 PST | 09:00 EST | 14:00 UTC
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>> IT'S OFFICIAL: Satya Nadella announces changes to Microsoft senior leadership: As reported yesterday in TechBrief, Tony Bates is out, replaced by Eric Rudder; Tami Reller is out, with Chris Capossela taking over marketing; Mark 'Scroogled' 'Friend of Ballmer' Penn moved from advertising to new job title EVP and Chief Strategy Officer. Microsoft blog
>> CLINTON REJECT AS RESILIANT AS WIN XP: A glimpse into the mind of Microsoft's controversial new strategy chief: "This is a mind-blowing development, because Penn is famous -- infamous, really -- for having been Hillary Clinton's chief strategist during the disastrous 2008 primary campaign she was overwhelmingly favored to win but ended up losing to Barack Obama. And Clinton didn't just lose. Her campaign exploded in a giant fireball of acrimony and internecine warfare for which most Clinton loyalists blamed Penn." BloombergBusinessweek
> Can Mark Penn give Microsoft a winning strategy? Forbes
>> DEPARTURE LOUNGE: Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer retiring after 18 years, by Jacob Kastrenakes: "Apple's chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer will retire at the end of September, after 18 years at the company. Luca Maestri, Apple's vice president of finance and corporate controller, will become his successor.... Oppenheimer joined Apple in 1996 and became its CFO eight years later. During the decade that followed, Apple experienced the largest growth and success in its history, fueled first by the iPod, then the iPhone and iPad. His departure is one of only a few to Apple's executive team since the death of Steve Jobs in 2011." The Verge
>> SHOOTING HIGH: Facebook in talks to acquire drone maker Titan Aerospace, by Sarah Perez: "TechCrunch is hearing that Facebook is buying Titan Aerospace, makers of near-orbital, solar-powered drones which can fly for five years without needing to land. According to a source with access to information about the deal, the price for this acquisition is $60 million…. From our understanding, Facebook is interested in using these high-flying drones to blanket parts of the world without Internet access, beginning with Africa. The company would start by building 11,000 of these unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), specifically the 'Solara 60' model." TechCrunch
>> CRIMES & MISDEMEANORS: Illinois bank: Use cash for Chicago taxis, by Brian Krebs: "First American Bank in Illinois is urging residents and tourists alike to avoid paying for cab rides in Chicago with credit or debit cards, warning that an ongoing data breach seems to be connected with card processing systems used by a large number of taxis in the Windy City... chairman Tom Wells [said] 'We have become aware of a data breach that occurs when a card is used in Chicago taxis, including American United, Checker, Yellow, and Blue Diamond and others that utilize Taxi Affiliation Services and Dispatch Taxi to process card transactions.'" Krebs on Security
>> POST POST MORTEM: The inside story of Mt. Gox, Bitcoin's $460M disaster, by Robert McMillan: "MtGox's collapse into bankruptcy last week -- and the disappearance of $460 million, apparently stolen by hackers, and another $27.4 million missing from its bank accounts -- came as little surprise to people who had knowledge of the Tokyo-based company's inner workings. The company, these insiders say, was largely a reflection of its CEO and majority stake holder, Mark Karpeles, a man who was more of a computer coder than a chief executive and yet was sometimes distracted even from his technical duties when they were most needed. 'Mark liked the idea of being CEO, but the day-to-day reality bored him,' says one Mt. Gox insider." Wired
> MtGox code posted by hackers as company files for bankruptcy protection Ars Technica
>> ADULT SUPERVISION: Florida cops' secret weapon: Warrantless cellphone tracking, by Kim Zetter: "Police in Florida have offered a startling excuse for having used a controversial 'stingray' cellphone tracking gadget 200 times without ever telling a judge: the device's manufacturer made them sign a non-disclosure agreement that they say prevented them from telling the courts. The shocking revelation came during an appeal over a 2008 sexual battery case in Tallahassee in which the suspect also stole the victim's cellphone. Using the stingray -- which simulates a cellphone tower in order to trick nearby mobile devices into connecting to it and revealing their location -- police were able to track him to an apartment." Wired
>> CONVERGENCE: Dish just secured rights to launch an Internet TV service, by Janko Roettgers: "Looks like Dish had good reason to give up automated ad skipping in a retrans deal with Disney. The satellite provider just won the rights to include ABC and ESPN in an online TV service... Not only does the agreement force Dish to turn off automated ad skipping for ABC shows, it also gives Dish the rights to include ABC and ESPN programming 'as part of an Internet delivered, IP-based multichannel offering,'" GigaOM
> Dish is nuking its Hopper DVR's magical ad-skipping feature for Disney Gizmodo
> You won't believe how big TV still is Adweek
> Internet TV was the big loser on Oscar night Quartz
>> SPY VS. SPY: RSA tried to get Trustycon booted, by Mike Masnick: "Last week was the massive RSA conference, with an estimated 30,000 attendees at San Francisco's Moscone Center (the big local conference venue)... to protest the news that the NSA had paid $10 million to RSA to promote a compromised crypto standard, a bunch of security experts canceled their appearance, with many then going on to set up Trustycon, a much smaller conference on technology and security, to be held right across the street from Moscone at the Metreon movie theater. Trustycon announced that it quickly sold out of the 400 tickets available, but apparently RSA decided to try to get them kicked out of their venue." TechDirt
> Ukraine hit by cyberattacks: head of Ukraine security service Reuters
> Meetup site down after hacker sought to extort $300 from CEO PCWorld
> Lawsuit: Sprint charged US gov't $21 million too much for spying expenses Ars Technica
>> Bill Gates is the richest man in the world (again) - Forbes puts net worth at $76B Time
>> Windows 8.1 'Spring Update' hits RTM, should leak soon InfoWorld
>> Shutterstock acquires digital asset management service WebDAM, goes after enterprise market TechCrunch
>> Wristwatch health tracker Basis goes to Intel for around $100M TechCrunch
>> Microsoft announces extended Windows XP support in China -- or has it? InfoWorld
>> Pivotal opens up Cloud Foundry to open source fights InfoWorld
>> Self-destructing and encrypted message app Wickr raises $9M series A led by Alsop Louie TechCrunch
>> Women missing out on lucrative careers in computer science San Jose Mercury News
>> There is no gender gap in tech salaries Quartz
>> Mirantis looks to open up OpenStack vendor certifications InfoWorld
>> Microsoft makes the Office 365 Android SDK available for download Android Police
>> Twitter is installing log cabins from the 1800s in its San Francisco office The Verge
>> Don't expect to use Google Maps with Apple CarPlay TechCrunch
>> Justice Department sides with broadcasters in fight against Aereo Los Angeles Times
>> Twitter snafu triggers mass reset of user passwords Re/code
>> Public Knowledge deflates another dubious software patent by reducing it to seven lines of BASIC TechDirt
>> AT&T's 'IP transition' will make U.S. broadband even less competitive TechDirt
>> HAD TO RUN IT: 95 Flappy Bird-inspired iOS games... released in the last 24 hours The Guardian
>> BITCOIN: $694 Coinbase
>> TWEET O' THE DAY: "If the West really wanted to cause a stir over #Ukraine: Reveal where top Russian officials have stashed cash & bought homes." @OKnox
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