firehose

Earlier this month Microsoft announced that it would be buying the phone division of Nokia for $7.2 billion. A leadership shuffle at Nokia was part of that, with the company's now-former CEO Stephen Elop heading to Redmond after the close of the deal — and as The New York Times points out he'll be making more than $25 million for taking the leap.

Elop stepped down as CEO and president of Nokia for an executive vice-president role, but he'll be staying with the company until the deal itself finally closes. His contract with Nokia guaranteed him slightly different payouts depending on the circumstances of his departure from the company. An amended version of that agreement now entitles him to the same compensation whether he ends his employment contract with Nokia after the Microsoft acquisition closes, or if Nokia terminates his contract before that date. In both cases, he'll receive 18 months of his base salary along with various benefits and stock. The precise value won't be calculated until his departure actually occurs, but calculated using Nokia's closing stock price as of September 6th it comes out to a total of €18.8 million (about $25.4 million), including €4.1 million (around $5.5 million) in salary and incentives, and a whopping €14.6 million (around $19.8 million) in stock awards. Microsoft will cover about 70 percent of the payout, with Nokia handling the remaining amount.

Considering Elop was paid $6.2 million for his move to Nokia in the first place, it's proven to be a rather profitable round trip for the executive. He'll be leading up Microsoft's expanded devices division when the acquisition is complete, but given that there's a recently vacated CEO position at Redmond there's the possibility of even greater rewards in Elop's future.

The Keystone XL pipeline has been a controversial topic in Washington, caught between concerned environmentalists and an increasingly adamant energy lobby. But today, House Republicans rolled out a new weapon in the political fight: reaction GIFs.

This morning, the House Energy and Commerce Committee posted a history of the Keystone pipeline in 16 animated GIFs, including clips from Star Trek, a Harry Potter film and Bruce Almighty. The GIFs track an emotional rollercoaster, ranging from gleeful anticipation to a sense of frustration at the Obama Administration's refusal to approve the pipeline despite State Department reassurances, represented by a woman banging a plastic cup against a kitchen counter.

A GIF from the house presentation

Although it tracks various federal responses to the pipeline, the GIF series gives little credence to the environmentalist opposition, which has come to see the oil sands served by the pipeline as a crucial battleground in the fight against global warming.

(threefatcats)

Earlier this week, the Android version of Google Wallet dropped its long-standing NFC requirement and became available for anything running Android 2.3 and higher. We speculated that an iPhone version might be available sometime soon, and sure enough, Google today announced that Wallet is coming to the iPhone.

Since the iPhone has no NFC chip, you won't be able to tap and pay at credit card terminals. The main feature of the new Google Wallet is the ability to send money between friends. This works in a similar fashion to PayPal: you'll have an account with Google that will store money and be linked to a real bank account. When someone sends you money, it will go into your Google account, and you can later transfer it to your bank or spend it online. Google says that once you do this from an iPhone, you'll also get early access to sending money via desktop Gmail.

Google Wallet will also support loyalty cards, much like Apple's Passbook application. It will scan your loyalty cards' barcodes with the iPhone camera and store them for later. When at checkout, just dig up the stored barcode and have the cashier scan your phone screen. If you're worried about security, Google offers 100% coverage for any fraudulent transactions, but you will have to deal with Google customer service.

Fighting what it calls an inaccurate portrayal of Julian Assange, WikiLeaks, and the leaking of diplomatic cables in 2010, WikiLeaks has done what it does best: leak a full script and a scathing takedown of upcoming film The Fifth Estate. The film, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and based on two books that WikiLeaks has declared inaccurate and libelous, covers the rise of WikiLeaks, "Cablegate," and its aftermath, told from the perspective of estranged WikiLeaks spokesman Daniel Domscheit-Berg. But WikiLeaks has called it irresponsible, biased, and misleading, pointing out both factual inaccuracies and rhetorical strategies that it says could sway public opinion in the wrong direction.

Assange claimed to have read a leaked version of the script back in January, though it was allegedly an early draft. This script can't be verified, but Forbes says it's corroborated by people who attended early screenings. "The most recent script released to the public is a mature version, obtained at a late stage during the principal photography of 2013," says WikiLeaks, adding that there were few changes from the earlier version. "Most of the events depicted never happened, or the people shown were not involved in them. It has real names, real places, and looks like it is covering real events, but it is still a dramatic and cinematic work, and it invents or shapes the facts to fit its narrative goals [emphasis in original]."

Particularly, WikiLeaks took issue with the film's suggestion that the Cablegate leaks put the lives of government informants at risk, saying that it focused on illusory harm while ignoring the real good that came out of the releases. "The Fifth Estate is careful to avoid most criticism of US foreign policy actually revealed by WikiLeaks," it says. "The film covers 2010, but almost none of the evidence WikiLeaks published that year of serious abuses within the US military and the State Department."

"The Fifth Estate is careful to avoid most criticism of US foreign policy actually revealed by WikiLeaks."

It also takes issue with the characters, from Domscheit-Berg to Cumberbatch's Julian Assange. Despite being portrayed as a central character, the real "Daniel" was only loosely involved with WikiLeaks, it says, and he had no involvement in major releases like the "Collateral Murder" video of 2010, depicted in the film. Assange particularly appears as a manipulative and irresponsible extremist; though Cumberbatch says the character grew more nuanced in rewrites, he worried that Assange initially appeared as a "cartoon baddie." While Assange's mother allegedly spent time fleeing from a boyfriend who may have belonged to a cult, the film suggests that Assange himself was also in the cult, and that he dyes his hair white in keeping with its tradition. "Julian Assange does not dye or bleach his hair white," says the memo.

Some of these facts are fairly innocuous, made in the name of a better narrative. But WikiLeaks says that they add up to a demonization of Assange, falsely portraying him as "sinister and duplicitous." WikiLeaks also takes issue with the mention of sexual assault accusations leveled against Assange, insisting that he has never been charged — though the film does not use the word "charged" and factually reports that an arrest warrant was issued for one count of rape and two counts of molestation, it does not mention that the rape accusation specifically was withdrawn soon after.

The Fifth Estate was made without WikiLeaks' involvement, and it's not surprising to see events turned into a heroes-and-villains narrative. WikiLeaks, however, says the film doesn't occur in a vacuum and could mask the real benefits of leaks and the need to support whistleblowers like Chelsea Manning, currently seeking a presidential pardon. "The film is, from WikiLeaks' perspective, irresponsible, counterproductive, and harmful," it writes. This is the second time the organization has slammed a film about it: it previously leaked and criticized a transcript of documentary We Steal Secrets.

The chances a child will receive a diagnosis of autism has increased 72 percent over the last five years, a dramatic rise that has stumped many health care experts. While there is no cure for autism, early detection and treatment in the form of behavioral therapy can dramatically improve the long-term outcome for patients. Unfortunately, many of the telltale symptoms of autism do not manifest in children until they are several years old.

One attempt to solve this problem comes from SynapDx, a startup founded by life science veteran Stan Lapidus and backed by Google Ventures. SynapDx is developing a blood test it hopes will be able to detect autism using genetic markers, allowing for a much earlier and more accurate diagnosis. Currently the average age of diagnosis for autism is six years old. "We hope to drive that number way down," says Lapidus.

Autism has increased 72 percent over the last five years

SynapDx is in the process of running a clinical trial on 660 patients across 20 different hospitals and clinics around the nation. If successful, the trial, which is expected to be finished next year, will provide the evidence needed for regulatory approval. A number of universities, hospitals, and private firms are also working to develop a blood test for autism, and Lapidus expects a highly competitive market.

Lapidus has a history of creating better diagnostic tools. In the late 1980s he built a new kind of Pap smear that more accurately identified cervical cancer. The company he founded around that, Cytyc, went public in 1996 and eventually reached a market cap of $3.15 billion. By that time Lapidus had already begun a new company, Exact Sciences Corporation, an applied genomics startup that developed a DNA-based method for early detection of colorectal cancers.

Despite this history, Lapidus acknowledges that going after autism is a particularly fraught endeavor. "When you have a disease without a clear cause or cure, there will always be additional stress," he tells The Verge. "The political tension around autism is a byproduct of families who don’t feel they can get the services or answers they want."

Dr. Gary Goldstein is the chair of the Autism Speaks scientific advisory committee and president and chief executive officer of the Kennedy Krieger Institute, one of the nation's leading treatment centers for autism and other developmental disorders. He has been encouraged by what he’s seen of SynapDx, although he cautions it's too early to tell how the clinical trials will turn out. "They are working with the best hospitals in the nation and they have raised significant capital, so clearly there is something there."

The average age of diagnosis for autism is six years old

But even if SynapDx clinical trials succeed, Goldstein questions how a blood test for autism would be effectively implemented. "Of the 4 million children born every year, 1 percent will be born with autism. So does that mean we test every single child who is born? Does that make sense if each test costs a few thousand dollars? Even a few hundred? How does this really scale?"

The test would most likely act as a complement to behavioral trials run by doctors at places like the Krieger Institute. Since autism occurs across a spectrum and can have a constellation of interrelated symptoms, diagnosis can be difficult. A blood test could add an objective confirmation to a pediatrician’s hunch, giving parents confidence to begin behavioral therapy.

Beyond the political and logistical complications, SynaDx faces a challenging environment for life-science companies in general. "I have a number of friends and peers working in this industry who have had very good companies implode on them in the last year or two," says Lapidus. "There are an increasing number of regulatory uncertainties, and the traditional investors in the space are pulling back." A recent study found venture capital funding for the life sciences has been falling since 2008 and is now roughly one third the amount it was back in 2007.

Google Ventures is pushing into life sciences

Into this void some new players, like Google Ventures, have begun backing a new breed of life science startups. Bill Marris, the firm’s managing partner, was instrumental in getting Google’s new life science project, Calico, off the ground. "The best diagnostic tests of our era will be developed at the nexus of advanced genomics and cutting edge informatics," says Andy Conrad, a partner at Google Ventures, who will sit on SynapDx’s board.

In other words, because the autism test relies on genetics, it allows Google Ventures to apply the techniques that have worked so well for its parent company in search. "SyanpDx has very clean data coming in," says Krishna Yeshwant, a general partner with Google Ventures. Along with funding, Google Ventures is helping the company leverage cutting-edge IT, data storage, and machine learning tools for the processing of large amounts of genetic information.

For each test on a single child, "We do 10-20 million reads of your genetic material and we have a team of PhDs working on how to crunch those numbers." says Lapidis. "One way to think about Google is as a company that built a great business around mathematics. We hope to do the same thing for diagnosing disease."