Technology

Recode Daily: After two deadly crashes, Boeing will push a software update to its controversial Max 8 airplanes

Plus: Tech investor and “do-gooder” charged in a college cheating scandal; flaws in Switzerland’s online voting; Twitter’s latest version of its prototype.

by Shirin Ghaffary

Mar 13, 2019, 12:41 PM UTC

A Boeing 737 Max 8.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Shirin Ghaffary was a senior Vox correspondent covering the social media industry. Previously, Ghaffary worked at BuzzFeed News, the San Francisco Chronicle, and TechCrunch.

Boeing is pushing a software update across its 737 Max models that goes “beyond what many industry officials familiar with the discussions had anticipated,” to better measure in-flight conditions, according to the Wall Street Journal. Investigators are still determining the exact cause of the most recent crash in Ethiopia, but a preliminary report about the earlier Indonesian crash of the same model raises questions about the role of automation in the accident. The report found that an automated system incorrectly sensed the aircraft was in a stall, putting the plane in a nosedive that the pilots struggled to override manually. Boeing’s new software update will use multiple sensors to better detect such situations. In the meantime, many countries have grounded the model, while Boeing and the US Federal Aviation Authority maintain the plane is safe to operate. [Andrew Tangel and Andy Pasztor / WSJ]

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Silicon Valley investor Bill McGlashan was implicated in a college admissions cheating scandal. McGlashan was one of 50 people charged with participating in a nationwide scheme to bribe athletic coaches, cheat on standardized tests, and falsify information to get their kids accepted into top universities. McGlashan is a founding member of the firm TPG, which has made significant investments in companies such as Uber and Airbnb. Ironically, he’s also been an active voice in favor of social responsibility and equity in Silicon Valley. As of Tuesday, McGlashan was placed on “indefinite administrative leave” from the firm. [Theodore Schleifer / Recode]

Researchers are sounding the alarm on Switzerland’s new online voting system, saying they’ve found a severe flaw in the code that allows for people to undetectably alter votes. The research was conducted by an international team of two academic cryptography experts and a computer scientist who formerly worked for England’s GCHQ intelligence agency. The Swiss government acknowledged the flaw but told Motherboard that to exploit it, someone would need help “from several insiders with specialist knowledge of Swiss Post or the cantons.” Researchers say the government should halt its planned rollout of the software in next year’s election until the problem is resolved. [Kim Zetter / Motherboard]

Inside Twitter’s new prototype app, twttr. Twitter has started rolling out a new testing version of its app to a select group of users that it first launched around two months ago. The updated version aims to improve the color coding and organization of replies. It also hides engagement — “Likes” and retweets — until a user reveals them. The big picture here is Twitter is trying to increase meaningful conversation on its platform, and the latest iteration of twttr gives us an idea of how it’s planning to do that. [Sarah Perez / TechCrunch]