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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.

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Articles by Andrew Orr

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Activist Groups Launch Campaign to Remove Mark Zuckerberg from Board

Andrew Orr ·

Yesterday, two activist groups launched a campaign to remove Mark Zuckerberg from Facebook’s board of directors.

Digital civil rights group Color of Change and Majority Action, a corporate accountability organization, told the Securities and Exchange Commission that they will be urging Facebook shareholders to withhold their support for nominating Zuckerberg to the board.

The two groups argue that Facebook’s corporate structure gives Zuckerberg “control without adequate checks,” pointing out that he is CEO and holds 57.7 percent of voting rights in the company.

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Scientists Can Make Neural Networks 90% Smaller

Andrew Orr ·

Researchers from MIT found a way to create neural networks that are 90% smaller but just as smart.

In a new paper, researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) have shown that neural networks contain subnetworks that are up to one-tenth the size yet capable of being trained to make equally accurate predictions — and sometimes can learn to do so even faster than the originals.

This article stood out to me because if neural networks can be smaller but just as smart, maybe it could encourage companies to keep machine learning locally on a device, like Apple does.

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Is Europe Going Too Far With Tech Regulation?

Andrew Orr ·

Don’t answer that, because the answer is already no. Adam Satariano feels that maybe Europe is going too far when it comes to tech regulation.

Europe has clamped down on violent content, hate speech and misinformation online through a thicket of new laws and regulations over the past five years. Now there are questions about whether the region is going too far, with the rules leading to accusations of censorship and potentially providing cover to some governments to stifle dissent.

The New York Times: Why does Apple control its competitors?? Also The New York Times: Is Europe going too far?? I know that these articles were written by different people, but I still did a double take so hard that now I have whiplash.

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Apple Sapphire Glass Supplier Charged With Fraud

Andrew Orr ·

In 2014 Apple loaned US$578 million to GT Advanced Technologies to create sapphire glass displays. Now the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed the supplier is being charged with fraud for allegedly withholding key information from stockholders.

“GT and its CEO painted a rosy picture of the company’s performance and ability to obtain funding that was paramount to GT’s survival while they were aware of information that would have catastrophic consequences for the company,” said the Anita B. Bandy from the SEC’s enforcement division.

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App Usage Can Predict Cognitive Decline in Older Adults

Andrew Orr ·

An Apple research paper called “App Usage Predicts Cognitive Ability in Older Adults” says that iPhone usage can help predict cognitive decline in older adults [PDF].

To characterize smartphone usage among older adults, we collected iPhone usage data from 84 healthy older adults over three months. We find that older adults use fewer apps, take longer to complete tasks, and send fewer messages. We use cognitive test results from these same older adults to then show that up to 79% of these differences can be explained by cognitive decline, and that we can predict cognitive test performance from smartphone usage with 83% ROCAUC. While older adults differ from younger adults in app usage behavior, the “cognitively young” older adults use smartphones much like their younger counterparts. Our study suggests that to better support all older adults, researchers and developers should consider the full spectrum of cognitive function.

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How to Charge Your Smartphone Correctly

Andrew Orr ·

Antonio Villas-Boas says there is a right way and a wrong way to charge our smartphones.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you might be reducing your phone battery’s lifespan with certain charging behaviors.

Specifically, if you often charge your phone overnight or keep it plugged in for hours after it’s reached 100%, you’re accelerating the aging process of lithium-ion smartphone batteries.

I don’t think this is entirely correct though. Most smartphones have something called trickle charge, which helps extend the battery life by slowing the charge rate and pulsing the electric current on and off to reduce battery load once it reaches 80%. Apple explains here.

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News+: Stories of Being the Neighborhood Tech Support

Andrew Orr ·

In CNET’s latest issue of its magazine, Dan Ackerman shares some stories from his days as the neighborhood tech guy. Warning: This is a PDF magazine, and the story starts on page 42.

It’s a big responsibility being the first responder for domestic technology emergencies, but most of us secretly relish knowing that our friends and neighbors think we’re so smart (especially when we usually just Google the answer, like they should have done in the first place).

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

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These Academic Shortcuts Help You Maximize Your Research

Andrew Orr ·

Last night I came across a website called Appademic, which shares academic shortcuts that can help students and researchers. One example is a shortcut that gives you better BibTeX citation keys for Pandoc.

This is the long awaited iOS Shortcut for Zotero to extract Better BibTeX citation keys for Pandoc. I know a fair few people have been waiting on this, apologies it has taken so long to post. If you need more detail, read on, otherwise the shortcut can be downloaded below.

Scriptable Can Make Shortcuts and Siri More Powerful
Cool Stuff Found

Scriptable Can Make Shortcuts and Siri More Powerful

Andrew Orr ·

Scriptable is an automation tool that enables you to write scripts that integrates with native features of iOS such as files, calendars, reminders, documents and much more. An extensive support for Siri Shortcuts enables you to present images, tables and more in Siri as well as making Siri read out loud a text when you run a script from a Siri Shortcut. Your scripts can be run from the Scriptable app, from a Siri Shortcut or from other apps using the share sheet extensive or Scriptable’s URL schemes. Features include writing and running JavaScript; auto complete of variable names, functions, keywords and properties as you type; access lots of native iOS features from your JavaScript code, including managing files, calendars, reminders, contacts, photos, location, pasteboard, web views and more. App Store: Free (Offers In-App Purchases)

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Maybe PornHub Could Resurrect Dying Tumblr

Andrew Orr ·

After banning porn, Tumblr’s users have fled the platform. Now Verizon Media Group is looking to sell it off.

It’s tough to say which media company might be in the market for Tumblr at this point. The once white-hot platform doesn’t hold the same sort of cache it did when it was purchased half a decade ago. Notably, Tumblr also lost its CTO to SeatGeek earlier this week.

I love serendipitous moments in life. For example, last night I read that Verizon wants to sell Tumblr. I immediately thought to myself, “PornHub should definitely buy it.” An hour later, BuzzFeed News wrote that, indeed, PornHub is interested.