Twitter Could be Fined up to $250 Million Over Privacy Violations

Since October 2019 the FTC has been investigating Twitter over its use of personal data for targeted ads. Twitter has set aside US$150 million for the minimum fine amount but it could possibly reach up to US$250 million.

If it’s preparing for an unfavorable outcome, that’s probably because it’s not the first tech company that’s had to face the same allegations from the FTC. Facebook previously had to pay $5 billion for several privacy missteps, including the use of people’s phone numbers, provided for security purposes, for its ad business.

H.S. Principal Dr. Amy Fast - BGM Interview

Amy Fast is a high school principal in the McMinnville School District in Oregon. She holds a Ed.D. degree. Previously, she’s been an elementary teacher, instructional coach, and assistant principal. She is also an education commentator and author of the book, It’s the Mission, Not the Mandates.

After a brief overview of Amy’s career and a discussion of her book, we dug into the issues facing educators amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. We covered planning for remote vs. in-person classes, the technology of remote classes, teacher concerns about in-person class safety, funding for cleaning, effectiveness of remote teaching, mental health issues, and long-term changes to education in the post-pandemic era. Parents with schoolchildren and educators will find this interview enormously helpful.

Troubleshooting Space X iPad Difficulties

We’ve all needed to do some iPad troubleshooting from time to time. However, we don’t normally need to do it whilst also helping a spacecraft land. However, that’s what happened on the latest SpaceX trip, reported Space Explored.

The communication started with Astronaut Behnken explaining that he had an issue with something before communication dropped out momentarily. A few seconds later, the astronaut read out an error message presumably from the custom SpaceX application created for the iPad. “A timeline application on my tablet, uh, gives me a error message that says Safari cannot open the page, and then it’s got a HTML address because your iPad is not connected to the internet,” Behnken reported. “Can you confirm that Wi-Fi is off and AirPlane Mode is on,” asked Menon. Then the NASA astronaut improvised with a go-to troubleshooting step. “Yes, uh, Wi-Fi is off and AirPlane Mode is on. If you have the display cameras up, I’ll try to show it to you,” Behnken suggested. “We will take that,” Menon replied. “We’re coming up on a ground station pass and we have the display camera up.”

Warren Buffett's AAPL Stake Worth Over $100 Billion

Recent market moves have made Warren Buffett’s AAPL holding worth over $100 billion after tripling in value. Business Insider broke it down.

250 million Apple shares between 2016 and 2018, according to his 2019 shareholder letter. Buffett has cashed out some of that holding since then, and owned 245 million shares at last count. The position is currently worth more than $104 billion. Apple’s third-quarter earnings sent its stock price up 10% to an all-time high of $425 on Friday, lifting its market capitalization to north of $1.8 trillion, and making it the most valuable company on the planet. Apple stock has climbed about 42% this year, boosting the value of Buffett’s stake by $30 billion in the past seven months alone.

PIQO Powerful 1080p Mini Projector: $279.99

We have a deal on the PIQO HD 1080p Projector, a small projector that projects to 240″. It features a 200 lumen LED bulb and built-in Hi-Fi speakers. It also has a built-in battery with up to 5 hours of playback time for portable use. You can use Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to cast from your device to the projector, too. It’s $279.99 through our deal.

Computer Mouse Co-Creator Bill English Passes Away Aged 91

Bill English, the man who helped create the computer mouse, passed away age 91, BBC News reported. It came out of an idea created by his colleague, Doug Engelbart.

Bill English became the first person to use a mouse when he built the prototype at Mr Engelbart’s research project at the Stanford Research Institute. The idea was Mr Engelbart’s, which he described as only being “brief notes” – but the creation was down to Bill English. His first version was a wooden block with a single button – and underneath, two rolling wheels at 90-degree angles that would record vertical and sideways movement. “We were working on text editing – the goal was a device that would be able to select characters and words,” Mr English told the Computer History Museum in 1999.

Geek Challenges, Quick Tips, and Your Network Questions Answered — Mac Geek Gab 827

John and Dave take a few deeper dives today to solve your peskier problems… Geek Challenges, we like to call them (though sometimes we call them “Stump the Geeks!”). Listen as your two favorite nerds talk through creatively increasing your broadband speeds, diagnosing those CPU spikes, managing battery life, Wi-Fi issues, and more. Of course, your favorite Quick Tips are here, and maybe even a few more surprises. Press play and watch while you learn five new things!

Apple Only Smartphone Maker to Grow in Last Quarter

Apple was the only smartphone maker that grew over the last quarter. That’s according to researchers at Canalys, with Cult of Mac break down the data.

“Apple defied expectations in Q2,” said Canalys analyst Vincent Thielke. “Its new iPhone SE was critical in the quarter, accounting for around 28% of its global volume, while iPhone 11 remained a strong best-seller at nearly 40%. iPhone SE will remain crucial to prop up volume this year, amid delays to Apple’s next flagship release. In China, it had blockbuster results, growing 35% to reach 7.7 million units. It is unusual for Apple’s Q2 shipments to increase sequentially. As well as the new iPhone SE, Apple is also demonstrating skills in new user acquisition. It adapted quickly to the pandemic, doubling down on the digital customer experience as stay-at-home measures drive more customers to online channels.” What’s particularly impressive to me about Apple’s success during the quarter is how many potential pain points it needs to navigate.