Use FedEx package tracking for your Christmas gifts. It’s easy to use and a convenient tool. You can also sign up for FedEx Delivery Manager.
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
Flash Deal: Get $10 off a $50 iTunes Gift Card on Amazon
Amazon is offering a US$50 iTunes gift card for US$40. But you have to buy one in the next 90 minutes because it’s a Lightning Deal.
One card, millions of ways to enjoy it. Use the App Store & iTunes Gift Card to get apps, games, music, movies and TV shows. Available in a variety of denominations – spend it on in-app content, books, TV show subscriptions or even iCloud storage to secure files from all your Apple devices.
‘Chain of Trust’ on Apple Devices Explained
In computer security, a ‘chain of trust’ is when each component of hardware and software validates each other to make sure they haven’t been compromised. Kirk McElhearn explains the chain of trust on Apple devices.
It all begins with your Apple ID. When you create a new Apple ID on Apple’s website, or on a device you own, you provide your name, birthday, and email address, set up a password, then answer three security questions. You verify your email address, and your Apple ID now allows you to use Apple’s services.
DOJ Closes eSIM Investigation With AT&T, Verizon, GSMA
The Department of Justice has closed an eSIM investigation involving AT&T, Verizon, and the GSMA trade group.
Russian Dairy Cows Wear VR Headsets to Reduce Anxiety
The RusMoloko farm is experimenting with giving cows VR headsets. They claim it can reduce anxiety and thereby increase milk production.
“Examples of dairy farms from different countries show that in a calm atmosphere, the quantity, and sometimes the quality, of milk increases markedly,” it read.
Researchers will examine the effects of the programme in a long-term study. The developers reportedly hope to expand the project if positive results continue.
This Tool Shows Which Sites Disguise Third-Party Trackers
Tracking companies have started disguising their third-party trackers as first-party trackers to bypass privacy tools, called CNAME tracking. This tool called TrackingTheTrackers can find them.
This method is called CNAME Cloaking and the disguise is not obvious if one does not know where to look. That’s why we made a free analysis tool that anyone can run on any website. We also wrote an in-depth article about this, you can read it here.
Sounds like a helpful tool. I’ll be keeping an eye on this one. Even Apple does it (But The Mac Observer doesn’t).
Readdle Celebrates Black Friday 2019 With Deals up to 50% Off
Readdle creates apps like PDF Expert and Documents, and it’s celebrating Black Friday 2019 with deals until December 2.
PDF Expert for Mac at 40% off
Black Friday Bundle at 50% off: Apps include Scanner Pro, Calendars 5, PDF Converter, and Printer Pro
Premium Features in Calendars at 40% off
PDF editing in Documents at 50% off
I no longer use Readdle apps but these are great deals for great apps.
Apple Obeys Russian Demand to Change Crimea in Apple Maps
Apple has complied with Russia’s demand to display Crimea as Russian terroritory in Apple Maps after it was annexed in 2014.
Federal Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Accusing Apple of Selling User Data
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against Apple accusing the company of using selling user data from the iTunes Store.
Lawmakers Wonder if Apple Uses Privacy for Anti-Competitive Behavior
Rep. David N. Cicilline (D-RI) is concerned that Apple may be using its privacy measures to hide anti-competitive behavior.
Inactive Twitter Accounts to be Removed in December
Inactive Twitter accounts will be removed in December, freeing up these usernames for reuse.
Twitter is sending out emails to owners of inactive accounts with a warning: sign in by December 11th, or your account will be history and its username will be up for grabs again. Any account that hasn’t signed in for more than six months will receive the email alert.
Twitter hasn’t yet said exactly when recouped usernames will be made available to existing users. The account removal process “will happen over many months — not just on a single day,”
New York City Wants to Ban FedEx Robots
FedEx robots called Roxo appeared in New York City for a preview party of the company’s Small Business Saturday event. Despite not being there for testing, New York City’s mayor tweeted that they weren’t welcome, and criticized FedEx for taking jobs away from humans.
FedEx told TechCrunch that the bots were there for a preview party for its Small Business Saturday event and are not testing in New York. Even this promotional event was too much for city officials concerned with congestion and bots taking jobs from humans.
After reports of the bot sightings, the mayor tweeted that FedEx didn’t receive permission to deploy the robots; he also criticized the company for using a bot to perform a task that a New Yorker could do. The New York Department of Transportation has sent FedEx a cease-and-desist order to stop operations the bots, which TechCrunch has viewed.
Floppy Disk Signed by Steve Job Auctioning at $7,500
A Macintosh floppy disk signed by Steve Jobs is up for auction with an estimated value of US$7,500.
Macintosh System Tools Version 6.0 floppy disk, signed in black felt tip, “steve jobs.” In fine condition, with slight brushing to the ink. A hugely desirable format for Jobs’s seldom-seen autograph—known as a reluctant signer, he often declined to comply with the requests of collectors. As a piece of Apple’s iconic Mac OS software, boasting Jobs’s elegantly stylish lowercase signature, this is a museum-quality piece of computing history.
This item is Pre-Certified!
A Smartwatch for Kids Just Exposed the Location of Over 5,000 Children
The Chinese SMA-WATCH-M2 was recently caught exposing personal data like location of over 5,000 children and their parents.
Apple Car Patent Describes ‘Private Lighting’
A patent for the Apple Car describes “systems with synchronized windows” to give drivers a sort of private lighting capability.
Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown Call for Apple Card Probe
Senators Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown are calling on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to perform an Apple Card probe.
Hurry, Pixelmator Photo on iPadOS is Free Right Now
Normally US$4.99, Pixelmator Photo is free right now. It’s a photo editor that promises a full collection of nondestructive color adjustments, full support for RAW images, and machine learning that can improve your photos like a pro photographer. It’s an exclusive app for iPadOS. Here are some of the other features: Batch edit photos using the entire collection of editing tools available in the app; Enhance automatically takes care of all the subtle improvements that go into every great shot — white balance, exposure, shadow, and highlight detail — so you can focus on adding your own creative finishing touches; Presets for film emulation, vintage looks, and more.
Apple Shares Featurette of ‘Truth Be Told’
Apple shared a video that gives us a look at its upcoming Apple TV+ show Truth Be Told.
When new evidence compels podcaster Poppy Parnell (Octavia Spencer) to reopen the murder case that made her a national sensation, she comes face to face with Warren Cave (Aaron Paul), the man she may have mistakenly helped to put behind bars. Her investigation navigates urgent concerns about privacy, media and race.
Truth Be Told is created by Nichelle Tramble Spellman and stars Octavia Spencer, Aaron Paul, Lizzy Caplan, Elizabeth Perkins, Michael Beach, Mekhi Phifer, Tracie Thoms, Haneefah Wood and Ron Cephas Jones.
Why Teaching Privacy to Your Kids is Important
Siobhan O’Flynn writes about all the ways that companies like Google collect data from kids in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. It starts when schools increasingly turn to Google services in education.
Alphabet Inc. dominates child-directed and child-featured content online through YouTube Kids and has now colonized online educational spaces through Google Docs, G-Suite, Chromebooks and the associated Gmail accounts for children that are required for use. This means that Google’s access to children’s data spans entertainment (YouTube and YouTube Kids), search and purchase histories (via associated parental accounts), and educational sectors.
Nike Joins the 3% Cash Back Club for Apple Card
Nike joins other companies in offering 3% cash back to customers who use the Apple Card on any of the company’s retail platforms.
Satechi Releases New Compact Bluetooth Keyboard
Satechi announced today the release of its compact Bluetooth keyboard featuring a full keyboard layout with dedicated number keys.
Apple Offers up to $200 Gift Cards With Certain Purchases
Between Black Friday 2019 and Cyber Monday, Apple is offering up to US$200 gift cards with certain product purchases.
What Google Stadia Means for the Future
Alex Cranz reviewed Google Stadia, a game service where games are streamed to you instead of you loading them onto your device.
With Stadia, you can slip into a game typically found on a PC or console using almost any device. It makes you wonder why we’ve tethered ourselves to hardware for so long when the internet can give us all of that power at a considerably lower cost (and smaller energy bill). The problem is that Stadia rarely works perfectly. Instead, it offers us a glimmer of the future before crashing back down into the muddy present.
”It makes you wonder why.” Here’s why we’re still tethering ourselves: Because arguably you own physical copies of media like games, books, and movies. The “future” that Mr. Cranz’s headline alludes to is the Ideal Corporate World in which no one owns anything because it’s all a subscription.
Prison Profiteer Global Tel Link Charges Prisoners by the Minute for Reading
Prison libraries of paper books are slowly disappearing. In their place prisoners are getting tablets. But profits are being made when prisoners send emails, videoconferencing with family, listening to music, and reading.
In West Virginia, a company called Global Tel Link has the contract to provide prisoners in ten prisons with “free” tablets, for which they charge $0.05/minute for reading ebooks, primarily drawn from Project Gutenberg, a free online service of volunteer-produced, public domain and CC-licensed ebooks.