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How Apple Disrupted Certificate Authorities With Safari

Andrew Orr ·

In February, Apple implemented a rule in Safari in which TLS certificates have a lifespan of 398 days. According to ZDNet, Apple made this decision on its own without going through the standard procedure with certificate authorities.

Instead of calling for a vote, Apple simply announced its decision to implement 398-day lifespans on its devices, regardless of what the CAs in the CA/B Forum thought of the issue.

What took place this year is, in no simpler words, a demonstration that browser makers control the CA/B Forum, and that they hold full control of the HTTPS ecosystem, and that CAs are merely participants with no actual power.

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Here’s Why This Company Won’t Add ‘Sign In with Apple’

Andrew Orr ·

Today is the deadline for developers to add Sign In with Apple to their apps. One company, AnyList, doesn’t want to add it and explained why.

After considering the merits of Sign in with Apple, we have decided not to support it. We understand that this may surprise some of our customers, so we’d like to explain in detail why we made this decision.

A couple arguments make sense, but I’m not buying some others. 1) I’m not a programmer so I don’t know how hard it is to add Sign In with Apple. 2) Saying iCloud isn’t “real email” is stupid. 3) AnyList removed its Facebook login, which is still a privacy-positive move even without adding Apple login.

NASA is Sending a ‘Helicopter’ to Mars
Cool Stuff Found

NASA is Sending a 'Helicopter' to Mars

Charlotte Henry ·

NASA is set to launch the Mars rover Perseverance in the coming weeks. On board will be a small ‘helicopter’ which will be the first human vehicle to take-off from the surface of the Red Planet and fly in its skies. Forbes has the details, including an interview with one of the project managers involved.

Before the primary science phase of the mission begins, however, the rover will deploy its flying companion on the surface. Called Ingenuity, the small vehicle – just 0.5 meters tall – is equipped with two counter-rotating blades that will enable it to hover in the air. It will be deployed on the Martian surface at some point in the first 90 days of the mission. A team back on the ground will then command the helicopter to perform some checks, before attempting a first flight… It will be capable of one flight per day, with 30 days in total allocated for its mission. While it does have camerad on board and will take images, this is mostly a technology demonstration to see if rotorcraft could be useful for future missions to Mars, perhaps even human missions.

Podcast

Former Apple Senior Director Michael Gartenberg (#11) - BGM Interview

John Martellaro · · 1 Comment

Michael Gartenberg spent three years as Apple’s Senior Director of Product Marketing, reporting directly to SVP Phil Schiller. He is currently a freelance writer and has become a regular guest here on Background Mode. This BGM Interview is his 11th appearance.

We explored the WWDC 2020 Keynote in detail. We started with the production values and layout and how some elements of this new kind of presentation might show up in future events. Then we turned to the Mac on Apple Silicon transition and some of the considerations for users. Later, there was a healthy discussion of iOS 14, Scribble and then macOS 11 Big Sur’s design language and how that differs from the nature of the Mac for UNIX users. Michael always delivers keen insights on how Apple markets its products and always helps us better understand the WWDC Keynote.

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Rumors Suggest iPhone 12 Pro May Support 4K Video at 240fps

Charlotte Henry ·

The iPhone 12 Pro could support 4K video shooting at 240fps. That’s according to new leaks and rumors emerging from the EverythingApplePro YouTube channel and reported on by CultofMac.

[Filip] Koroy reportedly found evidence of the new high resolution, slow-mo format in the iOS 14 beta code. Whether this is accurate remains to be seen. If it is, it would be far above what is available in other smartphone models right now. It would also make it likely that Apple will sell a shedload of high storage handsets this year — or way more iCloud subscriptions. The report also mentions that the iPhone 12 Pro could boast a ProMotion 120Hz high-refresh display, citing information from Apple leaker Max Weinbach. Apple introduced the 120Hz ProMotion iPad Pro back in 2017. Like the iPad Pro, which first debuted ProMotion, the iPhone 12 Pro could dynamically switch between 60Hz and 120Hz to save on battery. The regular iPhone 12, meanwhile, may stick with a regular 60Hz display. ProMotion for the iPhone 12 was first rumored at the end of 2019.

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Disney Research Outlines Neural Face Swapping Technique That May Offer Hi-Res, Photorealistic Video

Charlotte Henry ·

A new research paper from Disney Research and ETH Zurich offers a possible neural face swapping technique that will result in hi-resolution, photorealistic video. That means the technique could be applicable in TV and film, according to Techcrunch. There is also a video displaying the technology in action.

The researchers specifically intend this tech for use in replacing an existing actor’s performance with a substitute actor’s face, for instance when de-aging or increasing the age of someone, or potentially when portraying an actor who has passed away. They also suggest it could be used for replacing the faces of stunt doubles in cases where the conditions of a scene call for them to be used. This new method is unique from other approaches in a number of ways, including that any face used in the set can be swapped with any recorded performance, making it possible to relatively easily re-image the actors on demand. The other is that it kindles contrast- and light conditions in a compositing step to ensure the actor looks like they were actually present in the same conditions as the scene.

TMO Deals

InPaint Photo Editing App Bundle for Mac and Windows: $24.99

Bryan Chaffin ·

We have a deal on the InPaint Photo Editing App Bundle for Mac and Windows, a collection of photo editing apps. Those apps include InPaint, iResizer, iResizer, Multi-View, Multi-View, BatchInpaint, and PhotoStitcher. All apps work on either Mac or Windows, but note that the license is for one device only. You can read up on the details of each app in the deal listing. This app bundle is $24.99 through our deal.

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16 Web APIs Apple Avoided Over Privacy Concerns

Andrew Orr ·

ZDnet has a list of 16 Web APIs that Apple declined to add to Safari over concerns they could be used to track users.

The vast majority of these APIs are only implemented in Chromium-based browsers, and very few on Mozilla’s platform.

Apple claims that the 16 Web APIs above would allow online advertisers and data analytics firms to create scripts that fingerprint users and their devices.