Andrew Orr's photo

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.

Get In Touch:

Articles by Andrew Orr

Link

American Law Institute Votes on Rollback of Consumer Privacy

Andrew Orr ·

The American Law Institute (ALI) will vote tomorrow on a proposal that would make it easier for companies to bind you to contracts, even without visiting the website.

If you’re like most people, you’ve probably clicked “I agree” on many online contracts without ever reading them. Soon you may be deemed to have agreed to a company’s terms without even knowing it. A vote is occurring Tuesday that would make it easier for online businesses to dispense with that click and allow websites that you merely browse — anything from Amazon and AT&T to Yahoo and Zillow — to bind you to contract terms without your agreement or awareness.

Link

Chtrbox Exposes Instagram Influencer Database

Andrew Orr ·

Chtrbox, a social media marketing firm based in Mumbai, India, exposed an Instagram influencer database online.

Each record in the database contained a record that calculated the worth of each account, based off the number of followers, engagement, reach, likes and shares they had. This was used as a metric to determine how much the company could pay an Instagram celebrity or influencer to post an ad.

At the time of the writing there were 49 million database records, but was increasing by the hour. The database has since been pulled offline.

Link

Apple History: The Apple Credit Card From 2004, and the 90s

Andrew Orr ·

Apple Card, which will be released this summer, isn’t the company’s first Apple credit card idea. Steve Jobs first thought of it in 2004.

The year was 2004…Steve thought the time was right for Apple to offer its own credit card. He would call it … (drum roll)… Apple Card…Alas, the Apple Card never saw the light of day. Steve worked to create a partnership with MasterCard, but apparently he couldn’t get the terms he wanted—so he pulled the plug.

Interesting story. The article also includes marketing materials the company created at the time. Edit: As it turns out, this wasn’t the first Apple Card either. In 1992/1993, The Mac Observer’s Dave Hamilton worked on an Apple credit card during a previous career at Citibank.

Link

We Are Digital Renters of Our Own Objects

Andrew Orr ·

I thought this was an interesting angle in the “Our technology controls” us narrative. It’s the idea that we are sort of digital renters of our technology.

Today, we may think we own things because we paid for them and brought them home, but as long as they run software or have digital connectivity, the sellers continue to have control over the product. We are renters of our own objects, there by the grace of the true owner.

 

Link

New Tool Credder Will Rate News Media Credibility

Andrew Orr ·

A startup called Credder wants to offer a rating system like Rotten Tomatoes, but for news publications. The hope is to offer people a way to check the credibility of a particular website, and rate them.

Startup Credder is trying to solve this problem with reviews from both journalists and regular readers. These reviews are then aggregated into an overall credibility score (or rather, scores, since the journalist and reader ratings are calculated separately). So when you encounter an article from a new publication, you can check their scores on Credder to get a sense of how credible they are.

Sounds like a good idea to me.

Link

News+: The Lazy Person’s Guide to Backing Up Data

Andrew Orr ·

In PCMag’s latest issue, Jill Duffy writes about choosing backup services that you’ll actually use, as well as the lazy person’s guide to backing up data.

The joke goes that there are two kinds of people: those who back up their data and those who haven’t lost everything yet. It’s painfully true. Losing your files can be heartbreaking, career-ruining, and expensive if you need to hire an expert to help you recover them. Backing up your data is a preventive measure that avoids all those problems. It sounds like a tedious chore, but it doesn’t have to be. There’s a backup solution for every kind of person—the lazy, the diligent, and everyone in between.

This is part of Andrew’s News+ series, where he shares a magazine every Friday to help people discover good content in Apple News+.

Link

AR Game Minecraft Earth Launches This Summer

Andrew Orr ·

This summer Microsoft will be launching an augmented reality game called Minecraft Earth. And it wants to be bigger than Pokémon Go.

Microsoft says it will kick off a closed beta of Minecraft Earth this summer on iOS and Android. Naturally, there are going to be limited slots, and you’ll also have to be 18 or older to sign up. And while the plan is to get Minecraft Earth completely global, it’s going to start off with a gradual rollout in select locations. You can also expect it to support all the languages in the original game, at least.

I never got into Minecraft, but I look forward to trying this game out.

Link

New ProtonMail Anti-Phishing Feature Makes You Confirm

Andrew Orr ·

For the past several days I’ve seen a new dialog box whenever I tap on a link in ProtonMail for iOS. It turns out that it’s a new ProtonMail anti-phishing feature.

Another security improvement is our new link confirmation modal, which is now enabled by default on all our apps. This anti-phishing feature helps you avoid opening a link by mistake or going to a different page than you intended.

Link

Psst...You can Turn off Autocorrect for iPad Hardware Keyboards

Andrew Orr ·

OSXDaily has been a lifesaver lately. I’ve been annoyed at my Logitech Slim Folio Pro keyboard, because the rigid rubber bumpers on the corner make it difficult to take a screenshot using the buttons. Then came this article saying you can take screenshots with a keyboard shortcut, something I should’ve known because it’s the same shortcut on the Mac. Oh well.

Then last night, I was annoyed with yet another typo in an article. I blame them entirely on iOS’s aggressive autocorrection, because the iPad Pro is my daily work machine now. Literally a couple hours later, the website published a tip saying you can turn off autocorrect for hardware keyboards.

This is because the iPad has separate settings for the software keyboard onscreen, and a hardware keyboard if one is connected to the iPad…

 

Valve’s Steam Link app is Available on iOS
Cool Stuff Found

Valve’s Steam Link app is Available on iOS

Andrew Orr ·

Valve’s Steam Link is back on the App Store, this time maybe for good. The Android app launched in May 2018, but when Valve submitted it to the App Store, Apple rejected it, citing business conflicts. The Steam Link app brings desktop gaming to your iPhone or iPad. Just pair an MFI or Steam controller to your device, connect to a computer running Steam on the same local network, and start playing your existing Steam games. Requirements: iPhone or iPad using iOS 10 or higher Computer running Steam – Windows, Mac, or Linux. * iOS device must be on the same local network as the computer running Steam. For best performance: Connect your computer using Ethernet to your 5Ghz WiFi router Connect your iOS device to the 5GHz band of your WiFi network. * Keep your iOS device within a reasonable range of your router. App Store: Free

Link

SpaceX Postpones Starlink Due to High Winds

Andrew Orr ·

SpaceX has postponed its Starlink project due to high winds Wednesday night. Starlink is Elon Musk’s plan to provide global, low-cost satellite internet.

Sixty Starlink satellites have been packed into the nose cone of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that’s waiting to launch. Over the next eight years, the company plans to deploy around 12,000 of the satellites into low-Earth orbit to create its widespread broadband network as part of a project said to be costing the company $10 billion.

Its first goal is to deploy 4,425 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit at an altitude of between 690 miles (1,110 km) and 823 miles (1,325 km). These will act as the backbone of Starlink’s internet service.