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Facebook Thinks California Privacy Law Doesn’t Apply To It

Andrew Orr ·

The California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) goes into effect January 1. Despite it being state-created it’s expected to affect all Americans. Some companies have been following Microsoft’s example and plan to voluntarily apply it to all states. Facebook however, disagrees (to no one’s surprise).

Facebook is taking a different tack for its web tracker, Pixel. Pixel’s name comes from its physical appearance on a website that installs it: literally, one square pixel. But behind that pixel is a code that that installs cookies on your browser, allowing it to track your activity across the internet.

Facebook provides this code to businesses free of charge, and those businesses can then purchase ads based off the information that Pixel collects…According to the Wall Street Journal, Facebook will claim that it doesn’t sell the data that its web trackers collect; it simply provides a service to businesses and websites that install Pixel on their sites. Because of this, it believes its web trackers are exempt from CCPA’s regulations…

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How an iPad And a Laser Uncovered a Way to Hack Smart Home Devices

Charlotte Henry ·

In spring 2018, cybersecurity researcher Takeshi Sugawara found that point a laser at an iPad’s Microphone converted the light into sound. Then, according to Wired, he discovered the same technique could hack smart home devices like the Amazon Echo and Google Home.

Sugawara pointed a high-powered laser at the microphone of his iPad—all inside of a black metal box, to avoid burning or blinding anyone—and had Fu put on a pair of earbuds to listen to the sound the iPad’s mic picked up. As Sugawara varied the laser’s intensity over time in the shape of a sine wave, fluctuating at about 1,000 times a second, Fu picked up a distinct high-pitched tone. The iPad’s microphone had inexplicably converted the laser’s light into an electrical signal, just as it would with sound. Six months later Sugawara—visiting from the Tokyo-based University of Electro-Communications—along with Fu and a group of University of Michigan researchers have honed that curious photoacoustic quirk into something far more disturbing.

These Apple Watch Straps Are Helping The Planet
Cool Stuff Found

These Apple Watch Straps Are Helping The Planet

Charlotte Henry ·

Icon Days has a new Apple Watch strap. Not only does it look stylish, but it is also helping protect the planet. The Navy Flame strap is made of premium of leather but it is also plastic free. That includes the packaging. Furthermore, 10% of profits go to environmental charities. The strap is compatible with all Apple Watch models. It costs £39 ($52) and there is free UK shipping in time for Christmas.

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VICE Tests Amazon Ring’s Security, and it’s Not Good

Andrew Orr ·

Journalists at VICE tested the security of Amazon Ring security cameras, and they call it “awful.”

Ring is not offering basic security precautions, such as double-checking whether someone logging in from an unknown IP address is the legitimate user, or providing a way to see how many users are currently logged in—entirely common security measures across a wealth of online services.

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Apple Removes ‘Rewound’ App That Made Your iPhone Look Like an iPod

Andrew Orr ·

Apple has removed the music app called Rewound that let people download skins to make the app look like old iPods.

To be fair, the iPod skins didn’t come pre-installed with the Rewound app—users had to download them separately once the app was installed. Though, you only have to look at tweets from users to see that the skins did in fact, look very much like the iPod Classic. However, Apple also reportedly took issue with the fact Rewound charged users for Apple Music features. Rewound says this was “less unreasonable” but noted that Apple had already approved in-app purchases before click wheel skins became popular.

”Less unreasonable.” I’d say that charging people for another company’s service is a big NO NO.

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Walt Mossberg Looks Back on a Decade of Tim Cook

Andrew Orr ·

Apple journalist Walt Mossberg looks back at the past decade of Apple and how it fares under the leadership of Tim Cook.

Apple remains what it has been for many years: the single most important consumer tech hardware company, a major force not only in its industry but in society at large. And now, it is huge and rich to boot. But it’s still unclear if it can be anybody’s favorite music provider, TV network, or news service.

Or if it can launch another blockbuster device.

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Camera+ 2 Adds 12 Features for the Holidays

Andrew Orr ·

Camera+ 2 is a good camera for iOS, and LateNiteSoft added 12 new features just in time for the holidays. Here’s one feature that I like:

Sometimes the mood just isn’t quite right, and a bit of lighting makes all the difference. Enter, torch mode. But sometimes that little light on your device is just too bright. We want mood not glare right? Well we’ve got mood to spare now that we’ve given you a wheel to customize the brightness of your torch anywhere between 10 and 100%. So whether you’re roasting chestnuts by the fire or skating in the park, you’ll always have perfect lighting.

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The Pop-Up Store That is The Set For Apple TV's 'Helpsters'

Charlotte Henry ·

A pop-up shop appeared in New York City. It turns out it is the set of Apple TV+ kids show Helpsters, according to 9to5Mac.

Apple is continuing to expand the reach of its Apple TV+ content. In addition to various book partnerships, Apple is also opening a pop-up in New York to promote its “Helpsters” live-action puppet series. Update: This is actually the set and filming location for the show. This was spotted by Parker Ortolani on Twitter. The pop-up, located at 220 W 16 St, is free of Apple branding aside from a “Watch on Apple TV” badge on the window. The window displays showcase the characters from the show with the tagline “Four problems, big or small, we’re here to help solve them.”

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A WhatsApp Bug Could Crash the App And Delete Group Chats

Charlotte Henry ·

Security firm CheckPoint revealed a flaw in WhatsApp. It could repeatedly crash the messaging service and permanently delete group chats and associated media, ZDNET reported.

In order to launch the application-crashing attack, the attacker first of all needs to gain entry to the WhatsApp group they intend to target – although given that the chat app allows up to 256 users per group, this might not prove too difficult. An attacker would need to have some hacking skills in order to carry out the attack, with the ability to browse WhatsApp Web and open Chrome’s DevTools, as well as gaining access to the secret parameters used by the application as part of how group chats operate.

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Mac Pro Gets High Score in iFixit Teardown

Andrew Orr ·

iFixit recently completed its teardown of the Mac Pro, giving it a repairability score of 9 out of 10.

The Mac is back and more Pro than ever, throwing away the cylindrical “trash can” design in favor of something that resembles a computer. Its appearance may harken to the original Mac Pro from 2006, but can it compare in the repairability department? We dropped six thousand dollars and one block of hard cheddar to find out. Let’s tear it down.

They listed two negative things: The SSD cards are modular and custom-made by Apple. This could make replacing them a bit complicated. And it could be expensive to replace a part that isn’t on Apple’s already-limited list of approved repairs.

Podcast

Smile TextExpander Evangelist Jeff Gamet - TMO Background Mode Interview

John Martellaro · · Add Comment

Jeff Gamet the former managing editor of The Mac Observer, a position he held for 13 years. He’s also a book author and noted podcaster. About a year ago, Jeff left TMO to become the Smile TextExpander Evangelist.

With a year at his new job under his belt, I asked Jeff about his accomplishments, challenges, and ongoing change in perspective being an evangelist for a major software company. We chatted about being deep on macOS, the TextExpander transition to macOS Catalina, the change being heavily involved in Apple developer relations and the change in work habits, especially being no longer immersed in every Apple product and service. We also chatted about his new 16-inch MacBook Pro at some length. Jeff was as he always is: charming and warm.