TechCrunch Top 3

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Inside CrowdStrike's failed update: A faulty software update issued by security giant CrowdStrike resulted in a massive overnight outage that's affected Windows computers around the world. We look at what all of that means, what happened, who was affected, what you can do about it, what the U.S. government says, and how to keep yourself from being taken advantage of during this time. Read more

Speaking of taking advantage: CrowdStrike's rivals have something to gain by all of this. While it's always difficult to predict how loyal customers will be, some early signs include the share prices of company competitors rising in Friday's trading. On the other hand, Okta had a data breach last year, and it kept most of its customers. Read more

A bad telephone game: When chaos happens, misinformation often follows. And with the CrowdStrike snafu, we were guaranteed at least a healthy dose of it. Yes, the Las Vegas Sphere is OK. Read more

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Afternoon must-reads

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Where's Steve Martin when you need him? Thousands of flights were canceled today as a result of the outage. That also impacted how shipping ports were getting trucks in and out. Read more

An interesting weather effect: Without all of those planes in the sky, scientists predict an unintended consequence on the climate: clearer skies and perhaps lower temperatures tonight. I won't complain if you won't! Read more

Ring-ing hands: Who would have thought the outage could be a plot point for a romance comedy? Amanda Silberling did. She spoke with someone who was tasked with getting an engagement to the proposal site on time. But alas, flights were not cooperating. Will the ring get to the intended bride? We hope to have an update. Read more

Silicon Valley and the election: Today on Equity, the hosts dug deep into J.D. Vance's ties to venture capital, as well as why Elon Musk said he's leaving California. Listen now

Get your Disrupt tickets: The Disrupt Deal Days event will end tonight at 11:59 p.m. PT. Today is the final chance to save up to $800 on TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 tickets. Read more

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Around the web 🌐

Bye-bye, bad apps: The Verge reports that Google plans to purge what it considers "low-quality" apps from its Play Store. This will include "text-only apps, single wallpaper apps, or those that are literally designed to do nothing at all." Read more

Messari CEO steps down: Ryan Selkis likes to tweet, including inflammatory things about politics. And he decided to take responsibility. Selkis, who is also co-founder of the cryptocurrency data and research firm, announced his departure Friday, saying, "This week was the first week in 6.5 years that my politics and rhetoric put the team in harm's way." Read more from CoinDesk

Everyone likes a good business story: The Seattle Times talks to several business owners about their leap from 9-to-5 jobs to being their own boss. Read more