10 things in tech you need to know today, November 1

“The Witcher” is being adapted into a Netflix TV
series.
CD Projekt
RED

Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this
Thursday.

1. 
   Business Insider ran 2 fake ads pretending to be Cambridge
   Analytica — and Facebook failed to catch that they were
   frauds. Facebook’s new political ad transparency
   tools allowed Business Insider to run adverts as being “paid
   for” by Cambridge Analytica, the political consultancy that
   dragged Facebook into a major data scandal this year.
2. 
   Sundar Pichai emailed Google staff saying he was ‘deeply sorry’
   for the firm’s record on sexual misconduct. The
   email came after news emerged that Google employees were
   planning a walkout to protest the company’s handling of the
   sexual-misconduct allegations.
3. 
   Twitter is testing a toggle to let users easily switch between
   a chronological and an algorithmic timeline. Only
   a small number of iOS users can test the feature at the moment.
4. 
   Apple offered to buy augmented-reality startup Leap Motion
   multiple times, but people familiar with the matter told
   Business Insider that negotiations fell through.
   Insiders said the figure discussed was between $30 million and
   $50 million, a fraction of the company’s Series B valuation of
   $306 million. 
5. 
   Group video calls on FaceTime are finally here, but you may be
   left out if you have an older Apple device.
   FaceTime can now support video chats for up to 32 participants,
   thanks to the iOS 12.1 update that was released earlier this
   week.
6. 
   Online scammers are bombarding young ‘Fortnite’ players with
   fake offers for free v-bucks, the game’s digital
   currency. More than 4,700 websites are
   fraudulently offering free v-bucks as a front for phishing and
   information collection.
7. 
   Elon Musk said Tesla vehicles will be able to find open parking
   spots without driver assistance by next year.
   While the AutoPark feature identifies possible parking spots
   for drivers to choose, Musk suggested that it will eventually
   be able to both find and choose a parking spot without driver
   assistance.
8. 
   Lime recalled thousands of scooters after reports of some
   catching fire. Lime has recalled 2,000 electric
   scooters in three US cities, it said Wednesday.
9. 
   Netflix is turning one of the world’s most popular games into a
   TV show — and we just got a first look at its main
   character. “The Witcher” is coming to Netflix in
   2019, with Henry Cavill playing the main character Geralt of
   Rivia.
10. 
    Waymo has become the first company that’s allowed to test
    autonomous cars without a backup driver in
    California. Waymo received a permit from
    California’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) on Tuesday to
    test autonomous vehicles without human backup drivers on public
    roads, the DMV said in a statement.

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