firehose

It didn’t make it in time for Google Reader’s July 1st demise, but the version 3.2 of Reeder's iPhone app is now available for download. The popular RSS client now adds support for Feedly — currently the only free service with Google Reader-like front-end and back-end support. The new app also adds support for Feed Wrangler, a paid alternative with more features. Reeder 3.2 isn’t set up to deal with the latter’s smart streams, one of the service’s biggest draws.

On the Reeder site, developer Silvio Rizzi writes that the iPhone, Mac, and iPad versions of Reeder are all going to get major revisions in the future. Unfortunately, that means that the existing iPad and Mac apps won’t be getting any more attention until then, and with Google Reader going offline, Rizzo has pulled both from their respective app stores.

As Detroit's automakers continue to produce new vehicles with advanced in-car technology, demand for software developers and IT specialists is helping to boost the local economy and bring talent back to the city. The New York Times reports that General Motors, Ford, and the Chrysler Group are spending big money to secure the services of developers capable of creating apps for the next generation of connected vehicles. It's not an easy task; Detroit is a city on the brink of bankruptcy and isn't able to offer much to young professionals, while defense contractors and medical businesses compete for a limited pool of talent as they ramp up their app development efforts. However, Detroit boasts a lower cost of living and salaries are high — perfect for developers with no ties.

Former Microsoft Interactive Entertainment Business president Don Mattrick left the company for social developer Zynga ahead of an internal reorganization that would not bolster his role with the company, according to a profile of Mattrick by Fast Company.

Fast Company reports that Mattrick's departure from Microsoft was announced just days ahead of a "massive" reorganization that would place him in charge of the newly-created Xbox One hardware division. The report states his decision to leave was because in the shakeup he would not be given a bigger role within the company, and suggests that because Microsoft did not announce a replacement for Mattrick, they were unaware of his planned departure.

Mattrick's role at Zynga will be to help "turn the ailing company around." After the first reports of his new role surfaced yesterday, shares of the social developer jumped 11 percent.

The profile also touches on Mattrick's history in game development. At the age of 17 he developed his first game, and his work inspired Test Drive, the industry's pioneer first-person driving game. During his time at Electronic Arts, Mattrick had a hand in development on the Need for Speed series and The Sims, and championed personalization features in the company's sports titles. Mattrick's time at Microsoft was spent pushing to add entertainment services to the Xbox console and motion control technology that would become the Kinect. Many of the profile's anecdotes paint the executive as being ambitious, driven and a man who "loves spectacle," with a particular fondness towards rainbow-striped socks.

Early yesterday, reports began circulating that Mattrick, who oversaw Microsoft's Xbox division and headed the Xbox One reveal, was leaving the company for Zynga. Later that day, Zynga CEO Markus Pincus announced the move was official, stating Mattrick would become the social and mobile developer's new CEO as of July 8. Currently, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will take over Mattrick's role until a replacement is found.

Rockstar's much-anticipated Grand Theft Auto V will require an 8GB installation, meaning that many Xbox 360 owners will need additional hardware to play that game. On PlayStation 3, the game will come on a single Blu Ray disc, but will still require an 8GB installation before playing. For Xbox 360, however, the game will come on two DVDs, one for installing and one for playing.

The news, first spotted by Euro Gamer, means that owners of Xbox 360 models that came with 4GB or 8GB of storage will need to purchase a USB stick or external hard drive to play the year's most anticipated release. Answering a Q&A on its official blog, Rockstar added "if using a USB flash drive it must be at least USB 2.0 with a minimum 15mb/s read speed and formatted for Xbox 360 use. A new USB flash drive is recommended to ensure optimum performance." Elsewhere in the Q&A, Rockstar confirmed a few details on Grand Theft Auto V's gameplay. Gamers will be able to switch between the three stars of the game at any point, and can instigate fights between the characters, but it will not be possible to kill any of them. Grand Theft Auto V is set for release on 17th September for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Or as the Globe puts it: Disgraced former FBI agent apologizes to family of Whitey Bulger victim; admits passing on information that allegedly led to two murders.

Today, the FTC is making a much-anticipated series of changes to how apps and websites can collect information from children under 13. The agency has implemented a revised version of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) rule, expanding what counts as personal information and requiring third-party advertisers to also comply with rules. Under the original version of COPPA, sites aimed at children or those that collect information from children under 13 were required to get parental consent (through a signed form, credit card verification, or other method) before gathering a child's name, home address, or similar data.

Now, the list of what counts as "personal information" has been expanded to include geolocation markers, IP addresses, pictures or audio of the child, and persistent cookies that can track users across sites. The rules also now apply to companies that make plug-ins or advertising networks, which often collect information but aren't thought of as discrete sites that fall under the rules.

New COPPA rules apply to advertisers and cookies as well as more traditional data collection

These changes have proven controversial for sites that depend on advertising. Earlier this year, the Interactive Advertising Bureau asked the FTC to extend the deadline and clarify the rules. The FTC put out a series of guidelinesmeant to mollify them, but the rule is still likely to be unpalatable to kid-focused advertisers who will need to comply with what's essentially an across-the-board "do not track" order. The IAB and others have hinted that developers will end up paywalling their services and curtailing advertising as a result of the rules.

The FTC, however, is also putting in place a safe harbor provision that's meant the industry regulate itself. The idea is that by creating their own frameworks — which will still abide by the larger COPPA rules — companies can earn a reprieve from formal FTC investigation as long as they provide regular reports and enforce their own rules. In the wider regulatory environment, COPPA violations have earned companies like Path hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, as the FTC puts its weight behind increasing privacy protections for children and adults alike.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has just unveiled a new ad from his FWD.us political action group focusing on immigration reform — but it's more than a little tone deaf. In a Facebook announcement post, Zuckerberg says that the ad shows "how passing reform is our chance to keep America a magnet for the world's brightest and hardest working people." So FWD.us decided to rewrite one of the nation's most famous poems to serve its high-tech immigration reform message.

The ad, titled "Emma" after the poet Emma Lazarus, begins with the authentic words of "The New Colossus" — the poem engraved on a tablet at the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty in New York City. "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free," it says, before veering far afield from the poem's original intent. "Give me the influencers and the dreamers," the ad says. "Talent that is searching for purpose. Those dedicated to the doing." That sentiment is in stark contrast to the original sonnet, which beckons for those less privileged: the "wretched refuse," the "homeless, tempest-tost."

Both the original poem and the new FWD.us ad end with the same line, "I lift my lamp beside the golden door." Yet where the former is a promise that America can be a refuge from injustice, the rewritten version seems to refer more to the entrance of the tech industry's bank vault.