The 2001 Patriot Act is up for renewal, and 39 privacy and civil rights groups are asking Congress to make changes to it.
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
Introducing the Animal-AI Olympics to Test AI Smarts
In the Animal-AI Olympics, AI will be given tests originally designed to test animal cognition in a US$10,000 competition.
The Animal-AI Olympics is the creation of a team of researchers at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence in Cambridge, England, along with GoodAI, a Prague-based research institute. The competition is part of a bigger project at the Leverhulme Centre called Kinds of Intelligence, which brings together an interdisciplinary team of animal cognition researchers, computer scientists, and philosophers to consider the differences and similarities between human, animal, and mechanical ways of thinking.
Gavin de Becker Accuses Saudis of Hacking Jeff Bezos' Phone
Gavin de Becker, Jeff Bezos’ security consultant, is accusing the Saudis of hacking into Mr. Bezos’ phone in order to harm him.
Inside Apple's Private Media Cocktail Party Celebrating News+
Joe Pompeo provides some insider info about Apple’s private cocktail party for the media. Eddy Cue and other Apple execs schmoozed their way around the room.
Eddy Cue and other Apple executives worked the room, among editors and business-side people from participating publications like New York, GQ, Time, Esquire, The Atlantic, and others—a casual cocktail reception to welcome Apple’s new publishing partners. But as the guests munched on mini empanadas and potato bites, some of them couldn’t help but wonder if there was a Trojan horse in their midst. As one attendee later joked, “Are we at a party, or a wake?”
The UnPlugged 10K Charger is a Good AirPower Alternative
Extend the battery of your Qi-enabled phone with the Unplugged 10K wireless charging portable battery. This 10,000mAh wireless portable charger is not only certified to Qi standard but also meets the Apple and Samsung Fast Charge standard; delivering up to 10 Watts of power. The 10 Watts of powers ensures the absolute quickest wireless charge on the market. Ditch your cables and simply drop your smartphone on the powerbank and charging will start upon contact. Additionally, two USB-A ports allow you to charge up to three devices at a time. It offers features like Smart sense, Hyper-charge, Power-stay, Max-power, a high-density safe-cell battery with rapid recharging and pass-through charging. You can pick up an Unplugged 10K charger on Amazon for US$51.97.
New Cloudflare VPN Claims to Speed Up Your Browsing
Warp, a new Cloudflare VPN, claims to speed up your internet by using a Google-invented internet protocol called QUIC.
Sign up for 4 Months of DirecTV Now, Get a Free 4K Apple TV
DirecTV Now is offering customers a free 4K Apple TV when you prepay for four months of service.
4K Apple TV (32 GB): Ends 4/30/2019. New sub’s only. Must prepay first four months of service at full price. Requires minimum $50/mo. subscription before taxes. Device and prepayment are nonrefundable. New subscribers only. Online orders will be shipped via FedEx ground to address provided. Allow 1-2 weeks for delivery. Offer limited to 1 per DIRECTV NOW account; 2 per shipping address. Not combinable with select offers. 4k HD not avail. w/DIRECTV NOW.
VSCO Launches For This Photo Machine Learning
VSCO is launching a feature called For This Photo that uses machine learning to automatically suggest presets for your photos.
Eve Flare LED Lamp Now $10 Off Through April 2
Eve Flare is a portable smart LED lamp you can take anywhere. Indulge in the aura of any color you wish, anywhere you want. Eve Flare delivers ultra-versatile ambient lighting that’s so mesmerizing, you’ll recreate the ideal atmosphere again and again and again. It gives you 6 hours of untethered illumination. Wireless charging. Durable casing with IP65 water resistance. Plus a carry-and-hang handle. This LED lamp is built to go from your bedroom to your balcony to your garden and beyond – virtually wherever you need a pop of light. Activating your desired ambience is effortless. Just use the app or chat to Siri whenever the mood strikes. Or set a timer and have Eve Flare come to life by itself, courtesy of your home hub. Plus, it’s HomeKit-compatible. You can pick it up on Amazon for US$99.90 with a US$10 off coupon at checkout,
Apple Has Officially Canceled AirPower
Apple has officially canceled AirPower, saying that there were difficulties meeting its high hardware standards.
Kwamaine Jerell Ford Pleads Guilty to iPhone Hack
Kwamaine Jerell Ford has pleaded guilty to hacking celebrity Apple accounts and using them to go on a ‘spending spree’.
iFixit's AirPods 2 Teardown 'Disappointingly Disposable'
iFixit recently did an AirPods 2 teardown to see what’s different and how repairable they were. The verdict?
Let’s get the second of those points out of the way right away: they are not serviceable at all. iFixit had to go to almost comical lengths to open the AirPods up, and despite their expertise and tools, the iFixit team was unable to do so without permanently damaging the product. They described the product as “disappointingly disposable,” which is to say there is no practical way to service or repair them even at a professional shop.
Proposed Bipartisan Law Could End NSA Phone Surveillance
A new law out of Congress could put an end to NSA phone surveillance. It’s called the Ending Mass Collection of Americans’ Phone Records Act.
Which Browser is the Most Private and Secure?
Zubair Khan put together a list of popular web browsers and tested them to figure out which was the most private and secure.
To decide which browser is the best for privacy and security, we will evaluate them using two criteria: Available security features [and ]embedded Privacy Tools. Each browser will be rated out of five and will be ranked accordingly.
The browsers he tested: Chrome, Internet Explorer (Not Edge?), Safari, Firefox, Chromium, Opera, and Tor browser.
5 Alternative Mac Mail Apps
A bunch of users are having trouble with Gmail on macOS Mojave 14.4. While we wait for a fix, here are five alternative Mac mail apps.
Updated Apple Devices Display 'Not Secure' in Safari
If you’ve updated to iOS 12.2 and/or macOS 14.4, you’ve probably seen a ‘Not Secure’ message in the Safari address bar. OSXDaily explains.
By seeing the ‘Not Secure” Safari message on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac you are simply being informed by Safari that the website or webpage being visited is using HTTP rather than HTTPS, or perhaps that HTTPS is misconfigured at some technical level.
Ironically, as the article points out OSXDaily is itself not secure.
iWork iOS Update Brings it Into Parity With macOS
Apple updated the iWork apps on iOS today. It brings the apps into parity with the macOS versions, and adds more support for Apple Pencil.
Warren Buffet: 'Apple Can Afford to Make a Mistake or Two'
During a talk Thursday at The Gatehouse’s Hands Up for Success luncheon, Warren Buffet commented on Apple’s new services.
I’d love to see them succeed, but that’s a company that can afford a mistake or two. You don’t want to buy stock in the company that has to do everything right…Apple should do some things that don’t work.
Jamf Partners With Google Cloud for Education
Jamf is partnering with Google Cloud to make it easier for schools and businesses to authenticate Apple devices.
With Jamf Connect, users can unbox their Apple device, power it on and access their corporate and learning applications after signing on with Cloud Identity (or G Suite) credentials. Additionally, IT admins are more easily able to manage Mac accounts while knowing their hardware and information is secure.
Johns Hopkins University Students Can use Apple Devices as ID
Students at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland can now add their campus ID card to Apple Wallet.
True Twitter Dark Mode Will Roll Out on iOS Today
Good news, fellow lovers of dark mode! True Twitter dark mode is rolling out today, called Lights Out.
If you still like the blue-and-gray dark mode better, which is now dubbed Dim, don’t worry because it’s not going anywhere. You’ll still be able to use it in the app, in case you want to use it over the black-and-white one. With Lights Out, Twitter says that the color palette emits no lights on your smartphone since the pixels are turned off, which could potentially help save battery life — along with helping reduce eye strain, naturally.
Startpage Voted Best Search Engine in Germany, Beating Google
Privacy search engine Startpage has been voted the Best Search Engine in Germany by Stiftung Warentest, beating Google.
What Dark Mode Apps Could Look Like in iOS 13
Rumors of a dark mode for iOS refuse to die. Andrew certainly isn’t the first to do this, but just for fun he created dark mode apps.
An HTTPS Site Could Have a Green Padlock and Still be Insecure
If a website uses HTTPS, Safari will display a green padlock next to the domain in the address bar. But in some cases it could still be insecure.
In analysis of the web’s top 10,000 HTTPS sites—as ranked by Amazon-owned analytics company Alexa—the researchers found that 5.5 percent had potentially exploitable TLS vulnerabilities. These flaws were caused by a combination of issues in how sites implemented TLS encryption schemes and failures to patch known bugs (of which there are many) in TLS and its predecessor Secure Sockets Layer. But the worst thing about these flaws is they are subtle enough that the green padlock will still appear.