New Mac Pro Facing Lengthy Delivery Delays

The new Mac Pro is facing delivery delays, according to MacRumors. This is down to the coronavirus outbreak closing Chinese manufacturing plants.

In many European countries, for example, the base model without any customizations is currently estimated for delivery on March 10. While the new Mac Pro is assembled in the United States for orders placed in the Americas, European orders are assembled in China.  The new Mac Pro also has a February 24-26 delivery estimate in the United States, despite being assembled in Texas, possibly because some components are still sourced from temporarily-closed suppliers in China.

Google and EU Engage in Courtroom Battle

The EU and Google continue their court battle with a clash over internet power. Furthermore, the internet giant argued that fines against it went too far. Bloomberg News  has a rundown of what happened in the Luxembourg courtroom.

As many as seven billion daily searches make the U.S. giant “the front page of the internet,” Nicholas Khan, a lawyer for the European Commission told a panel of judges in the opening session of a three-day hearing at the EU General Court in Luxembourg. “The case is, in a nutshell, about what users are presented with, having made a search,” Khan said. Google search provides “an immensely powerful lever to direct users’ attention to any specific search market where Google might wish to develop a presence. No other internet player is in any remotely comparable position.” The Alphabet Inc. unit earlier on Wednesday argued that the EU went too far with a 2017 EU fine, then a record 2.4 billion euros ($2.6 billion), and an order to change how it shows shopping search results from rivals.

Czech Authorities Investigate Avast Over Data Collection

Investigations are underway to examine Avast’s practice of collecting and selling its users’ browser histories.

Avast, which is based in the Czech Republic, claimed it was stripping away users’ personal details from the collected browser histories as a way to “de-identify” the data, and preserve their customers’ privacy. However, the joint investigation from PCMag and Motherboard found the contrary: The same data can actually be combined with other information to identify the web activities of individual Avast users, including their internet searches. As many as 100 million users had their data collected.

I’m glad there are investigations. As I found out last week, there are likely other companies participating in this data collection practice.

US Reportedly Gave Allies Evidence of Huawei Backdoors

Although the U.S. hasn’t shared it publicly, it claims to have found actual evidence of Huawei backdoors.

The United States has long claimed that Huawei can secretly access networks through the networking gear it sells to telcos, but the goverment previously argued that it doesn’t need to show any proof. US officials still are not providing such evidence publicly but have begun sharing their intelligence with other countries.

The best part is that, according to The Wall Street Journal, the origin of this report, these backdoors were intentionally put into place for law enforcement. And yet, the DoJ wants Apple to put backdoors in iOS that they swear can only be accessed by law enforcement, and definitely not foreign state hacking groups.

Babbel Language Learning 1-Year Subscription (14 Languages): $119

Our deal for 1 year of Babbel Language Learning with access to all 14 languages is back. You’ll get to practice with 10-15 minute bite-sized lessons, and Babbel uses speech recognition technology to keep your pronunciation on point. And, it comes with 10,000 hours of online language education. 1 year through our deal is $119. There’s also a 2-year option available in the deal listing.

Remember Neopets? It’s Being Turned Into a TV Show

Virtual pet website Neopets is being turned into a television show aimed at 8-12 year olds.

As part of the agreement, Singapore-based Beach House will develop new stories and characters, with Blue Ant’s Canadian studio providing animation services.

The show is still in the early stages of development and its format and style aren’t finalized, but Beach House plans to target the series at eight to 12s. The pair are seeking co-production and broadcast partners for the project.

I wish I still had my login information for Neopets.

A Curved Laptop Stand is Twelve South’s Newest Product

Twelve South just announced its newest product: A metal, one-piece curved laptop stand called Curve SE. It’s a white (or black), minimalist stand that matches well with Apple’s aesthetic. It has a fixed height of 6.5-inches, which the company says is an ergonomic standard.

Desktop accessories – especially MacBook stands – are inherently home decor. They should match your room, your style, your desk and complement (not copy) your MacBook. Our latest solution, while deceptively simple, is a beautiful matte white MacBook stand we call Curve SE.

You can buy the Curve SE stand for US$59.99.

Firefox Working to Eradicate 'Weak" TLS 1.0 & 1.1 HTTPS Standards

Mozilla, the maker of the Firefox browser, announced it is moving to “eradicate” the weak TLS 1.0 and 1.1 HTTPS standard, The Register reported. Apple made a similar announcement in October 2018.

From next month, users hitting a site running TLS 1.0 or 1.1 will not connect immediately, but see a warning screen stating: “Secure connection failed.” There is an option to override this, in which case it will be overridden for all sites. Thyla van der Merwe, cryptography engineering manager at Mozilla, said: “We plan to keep the override button for now; the telemetry we’re collecting will tell us more about how often this button is used. These results will then inform our decision regarding when to remove the button entirely. It’s unlikely that the button will stick around for long. We’re committed to completely eradicating weak versions of TLS.”

T-Mobile-Sprint Merger Gets go Ahead

The proposed T-Mobile-Sprint merger got the go-ahead on Tuesday, Yahoo Finance/Reuters reported. A judge approved the deal, rejecting antitrust concerns raised by some states.

During a two-week trial in December, T-Mobile and Sprint argued the merger will better equip the new company to compete with top players Verizon Communications Inc and AT&T Inc, creating a more efficient company with low prices and faster internet speeds. The states, led by California and New York, had said the deal would reduce competition, leading to higher prices. The decision by U.S. District Court Judge Victor Marrero clears the path for the deal, which already has federal approval and was originally valued at $26 billion.

 

Snapchat’s ‘Here For You’ Promotes Mental Health

Snapchat has a new tool called Here For You. Whenever the app detects you’ve searched for topics like “depression” it will present Here For You with mental health content written by experts.

“Sometimes people come in and search for this kind of content, be it anxiety or depression,” says Jen Stout, vice president of global policy at Snap. “Instead of being served up maybe nothing, or meme accounts, or something like that, we’re looking for a healthy alternative to provide young people with tools that would be readily available in the app.”

It’s nice to hear about a company doing something good for a change. It seems like it happens all too rarely.