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Facebook Deeply Committed to Keep Lying Political Ads

Andrew Orr ·

Facebook remains committed to keep lying political ads on its platform, saying that private companies shouldn’t make decisions about them.

Instead of banning such ads across the platform, Facebook has opted to introduce new tools for users to limit the way they interact with political ads. The company has expanded its Ad Library tool, an archive which shows all the political ads running on Facebook or Instagram, by adding information on approximately how many people ads reach.

Why would Facebook ban its source of income?

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LaunchCuts Adds Folders, Search Filters, More to Shortcuts

Andrew Orr ·

Writing for MacStories, Federico Viticci reviewed LaunchCuts, a launcher for shortcuts that can organize them into folders, gives you search filters, and more.

…LaunchCuts’ sole purpose is to offer an alternative view for your shortcut library with folders and powerful search filters. If you have less than 20 shortcuts installed on your iPhone or iPad, you’re likely not going to get much benefit out of LaunchCuts’ advanced organizational tools; but if you’re like me and use hundreds of different shortcuts on a regular basis, and especially if your library has grown out of control over the past few years, you’re going to need the assistance of LaunchCuts to make sense of it all.

App Store: US$7.99

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PSA: People Have Been Getting Fake Military Draft Texts

Andrew Orr ·

The U.S. Army is warning Americans about fake military draft texts going around. They tell you to report to the nearest Army recruiter “for immediate departure to Iran.”

Some of the fake texts used real names of Army recruiting commanders — while others used fictitious names — lending the false appearance of authenticity, said Kelli Bland, a spokeswoman for the US Army Recruiting Command.

US military conscription was suspended in the 1970s. To resume the draft, Congress would need to enact legislation, according to the Selective Service System, the independent agency that would manage the draft in an emergency.

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Twitter Adds Touch Bar And Sidecar Support to Official Mac App

Charlotte Henry ·

The official Twitter app for Mac got an upgrade. It added Touch Bar shortcuts and now supports integration with an iPad via Sidecar, Cult of Mac reported.

The version 8.5 update makes it so that you can put Twitter for Mac on your iPad when using Sidecar. It also adds some (but not many) Touch Bar shortcuts for those using a MacBook Pro. Touch Bar support is basic for now. You’ll see a compose tweet button, plus a toggle that lets you quickly switch between your most recent and most relevant timelines. There’s a lot of empty space for now. Nevertheless, it’s a good start. Future updates will likely add other useful buttons for things like direct messages, search, lists, and more.

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CES 2020: Satechi Releases Mega 108W USB-C Desktop Charger

Andrew Orr ·

Satechi unveiled a massive 108 watt USB-C PD desktop charger with two USB-C ports and two USB-A ports to charge up to four devices at once.

Ideal for the home, office or travel, the 108W Pro USB-C PD Desktop Charger features an ultra-sleek and modern design that complements users’ favorite accessories. Compatible with a wide variety of USB-C devices, the charger combines four ports into one compact, high-speed power bank, making it the only charger user’s need to take with them while on-the-go.

It’s available now to purchase for US$79.99.

TMO Deals

PaMu Slide Mini Bluetooth 5.0 Earphones: $59.99

Bryan Chaffin ·

We have a deal on a pair of PaMu Slide Mini Bluetooth 5.0 earphones. They offer Bluetooth 5.0 audio quality, up to 10 hours of talk time, and they’re designed to stay in your ears. They come with a charging case, and they’re rated IP6 water and sweat-resistant. These earphones are $59.99 through our deal.

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CES 2020: Apple Privacy Chief Defends Company Stance on Encryption and Backdoors

Charlotte Henry ·

Apple’s senior director for global privacy, Jane Horvath, spoke on a panel at CES. She used the opportunity to defend the company’s stance on user privacy, speaking out in favor of encryption and preventing software backdoors, according to MacRumors.

Jane Horvath, Apple’s senior director for global privacy, joined an all-female panel consisting of representatives from Facebook, Procter & Gamble and the Federal Trade Commission. During the discussion, Horvath defended Apple’s use of encryption to protect customer data on mobile devices.  “Our phones are relatively small and they get lost and stolen,” Horvath said. “If we’re going to be able to rely on our health data and finance data on our devices, we need to make sure that if you misplace that device, you’re not losing your sensitive data.” Apple has held a consistent position regarding its use of encryption, even if that means it has limited ability to help law enforcement access data on devices involved in criminal investigations.

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Apple Wins Patent for Variable Illumination System for Keyboards

Charlotte Henry ·

Apple has been granted a patent for a variable internal illumination color system, according to Patently Apple. Such a system could be used in keyboards and other devices.

Apple’s granted patent covers devices, systems and methods that implement variable internal illumination of input devices of electronic equipment. Input devices include keys of computer keyboards, contact areas on a contact pad (trackpad), buttons on instrument control panels, buttons on a computer mouse, and the like. Rather than having a fixed tone (such as a perceived “warmth” or “coolness”, and/or a particular color component such as a hue) or color for the light emitted by the internal illumination, user experience can be improved by using variable internal illumination, i.e., internal illumination that can be varied dynamically during operation of the electronic device.

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Texas Sees Surge in Iranian Cyber Attacks

Andrew Orr ·

Texas officials say they’ve seen an increase in Iranian cyber attacks. Over the past two days as many as “10,000 probes…per minute” came from the country.

Speaking after a meeting of the Texas Domestic Terrorism Task Force, of which she’s a member, Crawford of the state information resources agency said as far as she knows, none of the attempted cyberattacks on state government networks originating in Iran have been successful.