How Walk-in Closets Helped Get Ted Lasso on Apple TV+

COVID-19 restrictions have impacted huge swathes of the entertainment industry, and Apple TV+ is no different. In a fascinating interview with The Wrap, Ted Lasso supervising sound editor Brent Findley how he recorded Automated Dialogue Replacement (ADR) remotely.

Findley shipped professional recording equipment to members of the cast, and then from his home in Los Angeles, was taken on tours inside the residences of the mostly London-based cast, sleuthing for the best place to record.  “In doing ADR with actors normally, it’s only a voice relationship,” he said. “I’m in a studio and they’re in a studio. So this was actually a nice consolation prize amid the pandemic. Everybody got to wave and say hello to each other. And we all got comfortable with it pretty quickly because we were all stuck at home. It became, as it did for a lot of people, an outlet to socialize.” Over the spring and summer, Findley recorded the dialogue of 42 different actors. Across the spectrum, one thing proved to be universally true about the experience: There is one room in the home most rewarding as a mock studio. “A walk-in closet is the best homemade vocal booth that exists,” he said pointedly.

Update Google Chrome ASAP to Patch Two Zero Days

Two zero days in Chrome, CVE-2020-16013 and CVE-2020-16017, are “high severity” in nature and users should update the browser as soon as possible. The The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) says the security flaws are actively being exploited in the wild.

I can confirm that CVE-2020-16013 relates to the V8 JavaScript engine for Chrome and involves an incorrectly handled security check. Exploitation would most likely require an attacker to direct the victim to a malicious web page.

CVE-2020-16017, on the other hand, would appear to be a memory corruption vulnerability within the Chrome website sandboxing feature known as Site Isolation.

MacFamily Tree 9 Introduces macOS Big Sur Support

Briefly shown off during Apple’s M1 Mac event, Synium Software announced the immediate availability of MacFamilyTree for macOS Big Sur and Apple’s just announced Macs with M1 chip. MacFamilyTree is a modern and sophisticated genealogy application for macOS and an easy way of recording cornerstones in your family history. Get an overview of where you hail from and maybe enthuse your relatives about exploring your family’s past at your upcoming family reunion. 

Synium Software announces the immediate availability of MacFamilyTree for macOS Big Sur and Apple’s just announced Macs with M1 chip. MacFamilyTree is a modern and sophisticated genealogy application for macOS and an easy way of recording cornerstones in your family history. Get an overview of where you hail from and maybe enthuse your relatives about exploring your family’s past at your upcoming family reunion.

Christmas 2020: Raspberry Pi Christmas Shopping Guide

The company behind Raspberry Pi has put together its Christmas shopping guide for 2020. It’s of course Pi-focused but the compact computer may already be a good gift for the techie in your life.

We’ve got ideas for the gamers in your life, what to get for the Raspberry Pi “superfan” who has everything, and options that allow you to keep giving all year round.

An iPhone 12 mini Teardown is Here

The iPhone 12 mini and Pro Max became available Friday. iFixit has published its teardown of the smaller device.

The two most common smartphone repairs—display and battery—are well-prioritized here. Most major components are modular enough to be accessed/replaced independently. Specialized screws complicate repairs, but remain preferable to overuse of glue. Waterproofing measures make many repairs more difficult, but safeguard against (extremely difficult) water damage repairs.  Glass covering the rear housing is fragile and impractical to replace—a single drop could necessitate replacing the entire body of the iPhone.

Facebook Credit Card Scam Exposed via Data Leak

A phishing and credit card fraud operation has been targeting Facebook users and was recently uncovered due to an exposed database.

The fraudsters used the stolen login credentials to share spam comments on Facebook posts via the victims hacked account, directing people to their network of scam websites. These websites all eventually led to a fake Bitcoin trading platform used to scam people out of ‘deposits’ of at least €250.

However, the day after we discovered the database, it was attacked by the ongoing widespread Meow cyberattack, which completely wiped all its data.

Vertafore Data Breach Affects 27.7 Million Texan Drivers

Insurance software company Vertafore disclosed a data breach in which an unknown third-party accessed the personal information of 27.7 million drivers in Texas.

The incident is believed to have taken place sometime between March 11 and August 1, and happened as a result of human error when three data files were inadvertently stored in an unsecured external storage service.

Exposed data included Texas driver license numbers, names, dates of birth, addresses, and vehicle registration histories.

iPhone 12 Pro Camera Scores 128 in DxOMark Review

The iPhone 12 Pro camera received a score of 128 in a review by DxOMark. This places the camera in fourth place.

With a DXOMARK Camera overall score of 128, the Apple iPhone 12 Pro makes it into the top five in our ranking, improving on last year’s 11 Pro Max by four points and replacing it as the best Apple device in our database. The overall score is founded on a high Photo score of 135 and a very good Video score of 112. With a score of 66, Zoom is the area where the iPhone 12 Pro loses some points against the best in class, mainly due to its tele-lens offering only a 2x optical magnification.

Disney+ Surpasses 73 Million Paying Subscribers

As of October 3, Disney+ had surpassed 73 million paying subscribers, Variety reported. Around 42.6 million are estimated to Apple TV+.

That marks a leap from the 60.5 million paying subscribers that Disney Plus had when Disney last reported earnings in early August. Hulu now has 36.6 million total paying subscribers, up from 35.5 million in late June, while ESPN Plus has grown to 10.3 million subscribers, up from 8.5 million reported last quarter… That marks a leap from the 60.5 million paying subscribers that Disney Plus had when Disney last reported earnings in early August. Hulu now has 36.6 million total paying subscribers, up from 35.5 million in late June, while ESPN Plus has grown to 10.3 million subscribers, up from 8.5 million reported last quarter.

iOS 14.3 to Suggest Third-Party Apps During Setup

iOS 14.3 is going to suggest third-party apps to users when they set up their iPhone or iPad. 9to5 Mac discovered a menu doing this in the latest beta version of the software.

This new section of the setup process is not intended to be shown to all users. Instead, the code says that it will be enabled only for some countries based on local laws. “In compliance with regional legal requirements, continue to view available apps to download,” the code says. It’s unclear in which regions Apple will enable this new feature, but it will most likely be first implemented in European Union countries.

 

Wireless Portable Battery with Its Own Charging Dock: $49.99

We have a deal on the Naztech 2-in-1 Charging Dock, which is really a 10,000mAh wireless portable battery with its own charging dock that will also hold your iPhone while it’s charging. The battery portion of this device also has USB-C and USB-A charging ports. It’s $49.99 through our deal, but there’s also a deal for two of them for $89.99 on the deal listing.

Photo Editor ‘Darkroom’ is Ready for M1

The latest in the wave of M1-ready Mac apps is Darkroom, a photo management and editing app.

Everything is updated to reflect the new macOS Big Sur aesthetic with native components like the new translucent sidebar and native window toolbars. We also optimized all interactions for mouse, trackpad, & keyboard input, sparing no detail in making Darkroom feel at home on the Mac.

Foxconn Sees 'Stronger Than Expected' Demand Following iPhone 12 Release

Foxconn has seen more demand than it expected following the release of the iPhone 12 range, Reuters reported. It also plans to “push forward” with producing items in Wisconsin.

Foxconn said on Thursday its investment plan did not depend on who the U.S. president was. It was, however, exploring the option of building a new production line there. “We continue to push forward in Wisconsin as planned, but the product has to be in line with the market demand … there could be a change in what product we make there,” Chairman Liu Young-way said at an investor conference. Liu said Foxconn saw “stronger than expected” demand for both smartphones and servers, with strong shipments of Apple’s new iPhone 12 supporting revenue.

Instapaper for Mac is Now Available in the Mac App Store

Instapaper announced on Wednesday that Instapaper for Mac is now available in the Mac App Store, thanks to Apple’s Catalyst technology.

We customized the interfaces and features to make the app feel interactive and at home on Mac. This includes a side-by-side view of folders and article list, and hover states to highlight content on mouseover.

We also included new features for managing articles like hover actions, which allows you to easily like, move, archive, and delete directly from the list. With drag & drop, you can quickly organize articles directly into folders.

Mac Search App ‘Alfred’ is Ready for the M1 Chip

Popular Mac app Alfred is ready for the new Apple silicon M1 chip after using the Apple DTK running macOS Big Sur.

Alfred has an exceedingly clean code base, so we were hoping for it to be reasonably easy to create our first Universal build. To our pleasant surprise, it was as straightforward as loading up Alfred’s code into Xcode 12 Beta, selecting the Universal architecture, and compiling. That was it, no other changes were needed, and we were immediately able to take full advantage of the new architecture.

How Restaurants Can Use iOS 14 App Clips During COVID-19

Calvin Carter writes how restaurants can use iOS 14 App Clips to revamp the dining experience and keep customers safe.

If a restaurant uses kiosks for ordering, which the pandemic made essentially unusable, they can easily replicate that kiosk experience in an App Clip, allowing the customer to make and pay for their order without touching anything other than their phone.

For restaurants not wanting to invest in tabletop tablets or deal with the risk of infection, QR codes can instead be printed onto a bill to enable fast payments via Apple Pay integration in App Clips.

I look forward to see how businesses enhance their digital presence with tools such as App Clips.

Why The New Mac mini and M1 Chip is a Big Deal For Hollywood

Apple put creativity front and center when unveiling its new products on Tuesday. The Hollywood Reporter found that many in the film and creative industries are excited about the possibilities of the Mac mini with it’s new M1 chip.

Veteran editor Harry B. Miller III says the new Mac minis in particular “could be huge” for the editing community. “Most of the editing industry is either on old cheese-grater or trashcan Macs. It seems to me the Mac mini with this new chip could easily and fairly cheaply replace all those old units,” he says. “Fox Studios, for example, had been refurbishing cheese-graters to keep them up to date with CPU’s and memory for more complex workflows. It would now be cheaper to replace them with the new Mini.” Miller says he plans to buy one. “I’ve used a Mini for the past 18 months for Avid [Media Composer] and [Adobe] Premiere Pro work on all my projects,” he notes. “Because of the pandemic, I know there have been a lot of equipment investments into iMacs for remote work. I could see the Mini’s replacing them as well.”

The Shazam++ Shortcut Improves Your Music Recognition

Shazam++ is a shortcut that helps you take action after you use Shazam to identify a song. Use the shortcut to automatically get the link on your favorite music streaming website, and use features like lyric service, album and artist information, see your recent Shazams, and more.

NOW w/ IOS 14 Support, Beautiful Menus and Shazam History!

Recall Reveals Amazon Ring Doorbells Could Set Your House on Fire

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission revealed that Amazon’s Ring surveillance doorbells could set your house on fire. The company has issued a voluntary recall for second-generation devices. A spokesperson for Ring said that customers don’t need to return their device. Instead, the company sent out an email with proper installation instructions.

Consumers should immediately stop installing the recalled video doorbells and contact Ring for revised installation instructions or download them here.  Consumers can check if their video doorbell is part of this recall through Ring’s website or app.

Ring has received 85 incident reports of incorrect doorbell screws installed with 23 of those doorbells igniting, resulting in minor property damage.  The firm has received eight reports of minor burns.