Here’s a handy tip so you can quickly access information about your router, and see if your network is performing well. See your BSSID, signal-to-noise ratio, and even the transmit rate between your router and computer. All it takes is a press of a button and a click of your trackpad/mouse.
Andrew Orr
Since 2015 Andrew has been writing about Apple, privacy, security, and at one point even Android. You can find him most places online under the username @andrewornot.
Articles by Andrew Orr
How to Set Up Apple Pay on Your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac
Andrew shows you how to set up Apple Pay, because it’s a secure and private way to buy goods and services online and offline.
Oculus VR Wins Most Popular App on Christmas Day 2021
Meta’s Oculus app topped the charts for the App Store on Christmas, likely reflecting the popularity of the VR headset as a gift. Meta doesn’t disclose how many headsets it sells, however.
Today’s VR headsets from Meta are nowhere near as powerful or capable enough to enable Zuckerberg’s ultimate vision for the metaverse. But they can give you a taste of what’s possible. On top of that, Meta now has a lot more customers, giving it a chance to gather more data about how normal folks use virtual reality and tailor experiences to those tastes. If Zuckerberg’s thesis about the metaverse is correct, then this year’s new crop of VR users will help inform Meta, and other companies working on similar technologies, to decide on what kind of experiences to make next.
Leak Shows Crime Prediction Software Targets Black and Latino Neighborhoods
Here’s some news from the beginning of the month that I missed. Gizmodo and The Markup analyzed PredPol, a crime prediction software used in the U.S.
Residents of neighborhoods where PredPol suggested few patrols tended to be Whiter and more middle- to upper-income. Many of these areas went years without a single crime prediction.
By contrast, neighborhoods the software targeted for increased patrols were more likely to be home to Blacks, Latinos, and families that would qualify for the federal free and reduced lunch program.
Ozzy Osbourne Announces 'Cryptobatz' NFT Collection for 2022
In January, Ozzy Osbourne will launch an NFT collection called Cryptobatz, a set of 9,666 bat tokens made in collaboration with Sutter Systems.
According to an official release, each Cryptobat will give collectors a unique opportunity to birth an additional NFT; activating a feature which will allow their purchase to ‘bite’ and mutate with another NFT from their digital wallet.
Known as ‘MutantBatz’, the pioneering feature will subsequently allow owners to combine the attributes of two separate projects – making ‘MutantBatz’ a rare offering for NFT collectors.
'MetaMask' Browser Crypto Wallet Plans to Add NFT Section
MetaMask is a cryptocurrency wallet browser extension, and recently teased future support for NFTs.
MetaMask’s integration with the extension will permit users on desktop devices that utilize Chrome and Brave browsers to interact with decentralized applications. In addition, this also implies that said users will no longer have to access other NFT marketplaces, such as OpenSea, to view their NFTs. Furthermore, mobile users of MetaMask are already privy to this NFT feature via their mobile wallet. Some of the NFT offerings they can currently view include prominent brand collectibles like Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks.
Habitat for Humanity Built First 3D-Printed Home in US
Habitat for Humanity partnered with Alquist to build the first 3D-printed home in the U.S. The 1,200-square-foot home has three bedrooms and two full baths.
Alquist’s use of concrete for the walls saved an estimated 15% per square foot in building costs. Concrete better retains temperature, saving on heating and cooling costs, and is more resistant to tornado and hurricane damage.
This Paralyzed Man Tweeted Just by Thinking About it
A 62-year-old Australian man who was paralyzed recently sent out a tweet “using only direct thought.”
The ‘first direct-thought tweet’ was created wirelessly from O’Keefe’s brain, according to the company. Following progressive paralysis caused by ALS, the man had a brain computer interface called ‘Stentrode’ installed last year. The implant, “designed to enable patients to wirelessly control digital devices through thought,” was inserted via the jugular vein to avoid drilling into the skull.
How to Silence Unknown Callers on Your iPhone
First introduced in iOS 13, Apple has a feature in Settings called Silence Unknown Callers. It can help you with spam calls.
Here’s How to Pair AirPods on Your Apple Devices
Recently purchased AirPods? Andrew shows you how to pair AirPods on your Apple Watch, iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Android device.
These NFT 'Meta Watches' Aim to Transform the Luxury Watch Market
Meta Watches is a set of unique watches automatically generated and represented as NFTs, living on the Ethereum blockchain. Every watch will have a unique name and feature set. A Meta Watch is fully functional and will show you the current time on your device. Currently there are three ways to obtain a metawatch: schachter-welker collection: 10 unique nft watches that can be acquired for 10 eth each by the nagel draxler gallery. Gm collection: 17 handcrafted watches that already sold for an average of 0.55 eth each. Analog summer 2021 collection: 1234 generative art watches we are soon releasing for minting (0.08 eth each)
Security Flaw in Fisher-Price 'Chatter' Phone Could Let People Eavesdrop
A Bluetooth bug found with Fisher-Price’s Chatter phone could let others eavesdrop on your conversation.
With just the online instruction manual to go on, the researchers feared that a design flaw could allow someone to use the Chatter to eavesdrop.
Ken Munro, founder of the cybersecurity company Pen Test Partners, told TechCrunch that chief among the concerns are that the Chatter does not have a secure pairing process to stop unauthorized phones in Bluetooth range from connecting to it.
iOS : How to Remove Memoji Stickers From the Keyboard
In addition to emojis you’ll find Memojis on your keyboard in iOS 13 and later. Here’s how to remove them if it’s not a feature you use.
Untrusted Shortcuts and Privacy Settings You'll Find on iPhone, iPad, and Mac
A feature of the Shortcuts app is sharing them with others. So what happens when you see a warning about Untrusted Shortcuts?
What is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO)?
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is out with another explainer article, this time about DAOs.
Simply put, DAOs are software enabled organizations. They allow people to pool resources toward a common goal and share in value creation when those goals are achieved. DAOs run on top of open blockchain networks like Ethereum, organized by tokens with their rules encoded in smart contracts. DAOs aren’t tied to a physical location, which allows them to mobilize quickly and attract talent from all over the world
Hacking US Diplomats in Uganda May Have Led to NSO Group Downfall
ArsTechnica shares the story of how U.S. diplomats in Uganda were hacked by Pegasus, a spyware tool from NSO Group.
Israeli and US officials declined to confirm that the Ugandan hack directly triggered a decision to blacklist NSO. But one US official who discussed the issue with Israel’s defense ministry said: “Look at the entire sequence of events here—this is careful, not by chance.” He added that putting NSO, one of the jewels of Israel’s tech community, on a US blacklist was designed to “punish and isolate” the company.
Zillow Adds Support for FaceTime SharePlay to Browse Houses
Zillow announced that its app will support SharePlay, a FaceTime feature that lets iOS 15 users share what’s on their screen with others.
DuckDuckGo to Release Private Browser for Mac in 2022
On Tuesday, DuckDuckGo shared its review of achievements and improvements in 2021. Looking ahead, the company plans to release a private browser for the desktop.
Instead of forking Chromium or anything else, we’re building our desktop app around the OS-provided rendering engines (like on mobile), allowing us to strip away a lot of the unnecessary cruft and clutter that’s accumulated over the years in major browsers. With our clean and simple interface combined with the beloved Fire Button from our mobile app, DuckDuckGo for desktop will be ready to become your new everyday browsing app.
'Have I Been Pwned' Completes FBI Ingestion Pipeline for Passwords
Troy Hunt, creator of Have I Been Pwned, has completed a pipeline that enables the ingestion of passwords from law enforcement agencies, like the FBI.
The premise is simple: during the course of their investigations, they come across a lot of compromised passwords and if they were able to continuously feed those into HIBP, all the other services out there using Pwned Passwords would be able to better protect their customers from account takeover attacks. Fast forward to now and that ingestion pipeline is finally live.
State Legislators Help Libraries in Fight Over Ebook Licensing Terms
A report from Axios says libraries want better licensing terms for eBooks from Amazon and other publishers. States are stepping in to help the libraries.
A Maryland law set to take effect in January and a similar bill in New York would require publishers that sell ebooks to consumers to also license them to libraries on reasonable terms. The Maryland law and New York bill say it is not reasonable to limit the number of ebook licenses libraries can buy at the same date they are available to the general public.
Loopring Releases Layer 2 Counterfactual Wallet for iOS
On Tuesday Loopring announced the release of its Layer 2 Counterfactual Wallet for cryptocurrency.
With the release of our Counterfactual Wallet, users can now deploy the Wallet on L2-only, bypassing a costly creation fee on L1. This-try-it-before-you-buy-it option allows users to experience the power of Ethereum L2 right away. If users would like to withdraw funds to L1, they can deploy their Ethereum L1 smart contract wallet, paying for the creation cost at that time.
iOS 15: How to Create a Memoji Using Your iPhone 13
iOS 14 adds new customization options to let you personalize your Memoji even further. Here’s how to create one.
iOS: How to Forward Text Messages to Apple Devices
In part two of managing communications with multiple Apple devices, Andrew shows you how to forward text messages to other devices.
'Cryptomator' 2.0 is Here and it Integrates Into iOS Files App
The team behind Cryptomator has rewritten the app in Swift, and with version 2.0 the app is completely integrated into the Files app. This means that your vaults are directly accessible from there. For example, you can now save and edit a Word document directly in an encrypted vault via the Files app. In addition, features like thumbnails, grid view, swiping through images, and drag & drop are possible with the new app. To summarize, Cryptomator gives you end-to-end encryption for your files. You can store them in Google Drive, iCloud Drive, Dropbox, and more. You can also store them offline in the Files app or on a hard drive.