We finally have the winner of our iPhone 16 Pro international giveaway! Congratulations to Oliver T., and a huge thank you to everyone who participated.
Are You Eligible to Have Your iPad Air Fixed For Free?
Some iPad Air users reported their screen permanently going blank, and Apple is now offering to repair affected devices for free.
Last Chance for iPhone 11 256GB + AirPods and Charging Pad Giveaway
Our iPhone 11 256GB + AirPods and Charging Pad Giveaway is coming to an end today. With this giveaway, you have a chance to win an iPhone 11 (256GB), a pair of AirPods, and a wireless charging pad. All you have to do is register on our deal site, if you aren’t already, and click the Enter to Win button. There’s a social media link you can use to try and get more entries, too. The giveaway ends at 11:59 PDT tonight (Monday night).
RSS Reader ‘NetNewsWire’ Arrives on iOS
Introduced on July 12, 2002 NetNewsWire was the most popular RSS readers by 2005. It offered people custom feed views, downloading/opening podcasts, syncing feeds between devices, and a built-in browser. After a company acquired it in 2011 it ultimately shut down in 2015. Since then, the original developer Brent Simmons has control once again, and after releasing an updated version for macOS, NetNewsWire is now available for iOS and iPadOS. It’s free and open source. We also have an interview with Mr. Simmons where he talked about the app.
Cloudflare Offering 'Teams' Products For Free to Small Firms During Coronavirus Outbreak
‘Cloudflare for Teams’ products will be free for small businesses for at least the next six months. In a blog post, CEO Matthew Prince said he wanted to help such firms allow staff to work from home during the coronavirus outbreak.
Beginning today, we are making our Cloudflare for Teams products free to small businesses around the world. Teams enables remote workers to operate securely and easily. We will continue this policy for at least the next 6 months. We’re doing this to help ensure that small businesses that implement work from home policies in order to combat the spread of the virus can ensure business continuity. You can learn more and apply at: https://www.cloudflare.com/smallbusiness We’ve also helped launch an online hub where small businesses can see technology services available to them for free or a substantial discount from multiple companies, during the Coronavirus Emergency: https://openforbusiness.org
Apple Staff Encouraged to Work From Home Due to Coronavirus Outbreak
Tim Cook encouraged Apple staff in offices around the world to work from home “if [their] job allows” due to the Coronavirus outbreak.
To RAID or Not (to RAID)? – Mac Geek Gab 805
Do you close your Terminal sessions correctly? Does iStat Menus work after you migrate? Are you getting Notes to launch as fast as possible? You’ll be able to answer “yes” to all three of these things after just the first few minutes of this week’s show. Stick around and learn about taming CarPlay, sharing Calendars, using a VPN with your Apple TV and much more. You’ll definitely hit your quota of learning at least five new things with John and Dave this week.
Patch Your Netgear Router Because it Could Get Hacked
Netgear is pushing out security patches for its networking products this week. They contain flaws that could open them up to hackers.
Modem/routers:
D6200, D6220, D6400, D7000, D7000v2, D7800, D8500
Range extenders:
PR2000
Routers:
JR6150, R6120, R6220, R6230, R6250, R6260, R6400, R6400v2, R6700, R6700v2, R6700v3, R6800, R6900, R6900P, R6900v2, R7000, R7000P, R7100LG, R7300DST, R7500v2, R7800, R7900, R7900P, R8000, R8000P, R8300, R8500, R8900, R9000, RAX120, RBR20 (Orbi), RBS20 (Orbi), RBK20 (Orbi), RBR40 (Orbi), RBS40 (Orbi), RBK40 (Orbi), RBR50 (Orbi), RBS50 (Orbi), RBK50 (Orbi), XR500, XR700
Apple Encourages Employees to Work From Home
Apple is encouraging employees at its Apple Park headquarters to work from home due to the coronavirus cases in Santa Clara Valley.
Apple And Broadcom Fail in Bid to Invalidate Caltech Patent Related to $1.1 Billion Verdict
A federal appeals court did not invalidate a patent at the heart of a dispute between Caltech and Apple, upholding a verdict worth $1.1bn
New FCC Require Carriers to Authenticate Calls With STIR/SHAKEN
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai proposed new rules today that would require companies to authenticate calls with the STIR/SHAKEN protocol.
Apple Shares Trailer for Apple TV+ Series ‘Home Before Dark’
Home Before Dark is an upcoming series for Apple TV+. It’s based on the true story of a nine-year old journalist.
A mystery inspired by the reporting of a real nine-year-old journalist. When a young girl and her family move back to the small town her father left behind, her pursuit of the truth leads to the unearthing of a long-buried cold case.
The series is created and executive produced by Jon M. Chu and showrunners Dana Fox & Dara Resnik; written and executive produced by Russel Friend & Garrett Lerner; and executive produced by Steve Golin for Anonymous Content, Joy Gorman Wettels, Rosemary Rodriguez and Sharlene Martin.
Security Friday – TMO Daily Observations 2020-03-05
Andrew Orr joins host Kelly Guimont for Security Friday! Hardware flaws, This Week in Who Has Your Data, and the latest in ending encryption.
Using 'Split' and 'Slide Over' Views to Multitask on the iPad
There are lots of tricks to learn within iPadOS – to start, Charlotte looks at how to use some of the multitasking functionality.
Resale Value of Android Devices Drops Twice as Fast as it Does For iPhones
When you get a new phone, there is always a balance to be struck between making the effort of reselling your old device and how much money you will actually get for it. Well, according to data reported on by Cult of Mac, it is worth making that effort for a lot longer if you have an iPhone to sell.
Apple devices do lose value over time. “In the first year, on average, iPhones lost -23.45%; by year two, the total loss is -45.46%,” notes BankMyCell. But Androids lose way more. After one year, they’ve dropped an average of 48.65% — more than twice as much as iPhone after the same amount of time. And after two years, Androids are down 79.66%.
The Bad Reviews of Apple TV+ Series 'Amazing Stories' Have Reappeared!
Some outlets picked up on bad reviews for the new Apple TV+ series,’ Amazing Stories’, which then disappeared. Well, they’re back!
Serious Flaw in Intel Chips Lets Attackers Decrypt Hard Drives
A flaw found in Intel chips lets attackers decrypt your hard drive, among other things. It can’t be fixed, only mitigated with patches.
How Coronavirus Misinformation is Spreading Across Facebook
Almost as soon as the seriousness of the coronavirus outbreak became clear, misinformation and conspiracy theories relating to it began spreading. Not surprisingly, Facebook is an absolute hub of inaccurate information. Wired took a look at what is being shared across various groups on the platform.
This fake news has spread through “cure” books on Amazon, WhatsApp viral texts, and even the mainstream media. Now, according to data taken from CrowdTangle, a Facebook-owned tool that tracks the diffusion of viral stories, a small army of Facebook fringe groups are following suit and pivoting to a new hot topic: coronavirus misinformation. The posts, which are filling innocuous Facebook groups normally dedicated to political discussions and flight deals, are a strange evolution of conspiracy theories that have been knocking around the internet for years. One much-mooted theory, for example, is that the coronavirus has been caused by radiation from 5G masts. One of these posts, on Smart Meter Health problems UK, garnered 191 reactions, 188 comments and 86 shares – eleven times the normal amount for the group.
How the EARN IT Act is an Attack on Encryption
Introduced by Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal, the EARN It act would force companies to “earn” protection from Section 230 to fight online child exploitation.
Though it seems wholly focused on reducing child exploitation, the EARN IT Act has definite implications for encryption. If it became law, companies might not be able to earn their liability exemption while offering end-to-end encrypted services. This would put them in the position of either having to accept liability or remove encryption protections altogether.
My linked teaser from yesterday was separate from the EARN It act, but now it shows that companies are being coerced on two fronts.
There May be no WWDC in 2020 Following New COVID-19 Guidance From Santa Clara County
There could be no WWDC in 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak, following new advice from Santa Clara County Public Health Department.
Utah is Now a Surveillance State Thanks to This Company
A surveillance company called Banjo has partnered with Utah state authorities to enable a dystopian panopticon.
The lofty goal of Banjo’s system is to alert law enforcement of crimes as they happen. It claims it does this while somehow stripping all personal data from the system, allowing it to help cops without putting anyone’s privacy at risk. As with other algorithmic crime systems, there is little public oversight or information about how, exactly, the system determines what is worth alerting cops to.
A.G. William Barr Wants Tech Companies to Fight Child Sexual Abuse
Attorney General William Barr wants tech companies like Apple to fight online child sexual abuse even more with “voluntary standards.”
These voluntary principles are built on existing industry efforts to combat these crimes. Some leading companies have dedicated significant resources to develop and deploy tools in the fight to protect children online and to detect, disrupt and identify offenders. Although significant progress has been made, there is much more to be done to strengthen existing efforts and enhance collective action.
First, as I discovered last year Apple started to scan online iCloud content for child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Many other companies do the same. Second, although encryption wasn’t explicitly mentioned, this is undoubtedly (in my opinion) a new development in the war on encryption. Child predators are one of the scary boogeymen used by the government to erode our privacy even further. I of course do support Apple scanning for this content, but it’s not a black and white issue.
DuckDuckGo Tracker Radar is a Custom Block List
DuckDuckGo Tracker Radar is a new block list created by the company over the past couple years. It’s open source and available on GitHub.
iPhone Photography, Device Disinfection – TMO Daily Observations 2020-03-05
Andrew Orr and Bryan Chaffin join host Kelly Guimont to discuss disinfecting (not just cleaning!) your devices, and Andrew’s tips for iPhone photography.
Apple Looking for Maps Writer/Editor
Apple advertised for a Writer/Editor for Maps, indicating that it is looking to put its own editorial information into Maps.