Google Wants to Provide Doctors With Medical Record Search Tool

Google is looking to create a high-powered medical record search tool for doctors, The Next Web. Hard to see anything going wrong here…

In a logical next step to make its search products the access point for all content on the web, the internet goliath is turning its focus to healthcare. David Feinberg, the recently appointed head of its Google Health initiative, outlined plans to make it easier for doctors to search medical records, and improve the quality of health-focused search results across Google and YouTube. “Imagine a search bar on top of your EHR (electronic health record) that needs no training,” Feinberg said at the HLTH health care conference in Las Vegas last week. According to Feinberg, the search bar will supposedly allow doctors to type into it, with the system automatically displaying appropriate responses to the queries. For example, a doctor could just type the number “87” to return details about an 87-year-old patient with a history of stomach cancer.

Adobe Releases Photoshop for iPad, But it's Still a Work in Progress

Adobe has released Photoshop for iPad. You can try it for a 30-day free trial, and after that it requires a subscription to Creative Cloud that costs US$9.99/mo.

This first version focuses on core compositing and retouching tools designed to work best on the iPad with Apple Pencil and touch. And we’re just getting started. For future versions, we’re looking at enhancing our tools used for brushes, masks, refining edges, and selecting smart subjects. Plus, we want to make it easier to access your brushes and fonts in Creative Cloud.

Early reviews of the app say it’s a bit rough around the edges, but download it to see for yourself. App Store: Free (Offers In-App Purchases)

Hey Presto! I Outsmarted Myself! – Mac Geek Gab 787

Tips about new functionality, including moving Catalina’s windows, scanning with your iPhone, fixing mail, running cron jobs, and downloading installers from the Terminal are just scratching the surface. Then it’s on to diagnosing some network problems and learning how Time Machine can keep your volumes from being resized. Listen as John and Dave walk through all of these, to ensure everyone (including them!) learns at least five new things this week.

Trump Cybersecurity Advisor Rudy Giuliani Probably Doesn't Know Much About Cybersecurity

I think it’s a safe assumption that Rudy Giuliani, named as Trump’s cybersecurity advisor, probably doesn’t know anything about cybersecurity. My evidence? He forgot the passcode to his own iPhone.

Giuliani showed up at the San Francisco store after being locked out of his iPhone, just 26 days after Trump named him cybersecurity adviser, NBC News reported Thursday, citing interviews with two sources and an internal Apple Store memo.

The former New York mayor had entered his passcode incorrectly 10 times and went to the store for help — a troubling move that suggests a sloppy approach to cybersecurity for someone so close to the president, experts said.

NordVPN Falls Victim to Credential-Stuffing Attack

About 2,000 NordVPN users have fallen victim to credential-stuffing attacks that let third-parties access their accounts.

While it’s likely that some accounts are listed in multiple lists, the number of user accounts easily tops 2,000. What’s more, a large number of the email addresses in the list I received weren’t indexed at all by Have I Been Pwned, indicating that some compromised credentials are still leaking into public view. Most of the Web pages that host these credentials have been taken down, but at the time this post was going live, at least one remained available on Pastebin, despite the fact Ars brought it to NordVPN’s attention more than 17 hours earlier.

NordVPN emailed all the publishers that have reported on its hack. In my opinion the company has been trying to downplay it. We’ll see if its recent security measures will improve the service, or if it’s lip service.

Apple Shares Trailer for Apple TV+ Show 'Ghostwriter'

Apple shared a trailer for Ghostwriter, a show for kids on Apple TV+ that is a remake from the Ghostwriter series on PBS from 1992 to 1995.

When a ghost haunts a neighborhood bookstore and starts releasing fictional characters into the real world, four kids must team up to solve an exciting mystery surrounding the ghost’s unfinished business.

Adobe Creative Cloud App Brings Fonts to iOS 13.1

For the first time Adobe is bringing its fonts in its Creative Cloud app. Your device needs iOS 13.1 or later as that release supports custom font APIs.

If you already have a Creative Cloud subscription, you’ll have the same access as you do on your desktop to over 17,000 fonts from type foundries around the world. Users without a subscription but with an Adobe ID have access to 1,300 fonts included within the app for use on iOS13.1-compatible devices. Any fonts installed in Creative Cloud mobile are automatically activated across all your devices.

Edward Snowden Thinks Facebook is as Untrustworthy as the NSA

Whistleblower Edward Snowden told Recode’s Kara Swisher that he thinks social media giant Facebook is as untrustworthy as the NSA. He made the claims in a soon to be published podcast interview.

“Facebook’s internal purpose, whether they state it publicly or not, is to compile perfect records of private lives to the maximum extent of their capability, and then exploit that for their own corporate enrichment. And damn the consequences,” Snowden told Swisher. “This is actually precisely the same as what the NSA does. Google … has a very similar model. They go, ‘Oh, we’re connecting people.’ They go, ‘Oh, we’re organizing data.’” Although, Snowden said, these companies still don’t know as much as the government, which can gather information from all of the many tech platforms.

Facebook Could Use International Law in Content Moderation

Facebook is under increasing pressure regarding its approach to content moderation. On the Lawfare blog, Hilary Hurd explored how international law might provide a solution.

But there is a potential middle course in the diverging paths to principle and profit. Through the establishment of its new Oversight Board, Facebook could bolster its commitment to free expression globally by requiring governments to justify their take-down requests in keeping with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Article 19 specifically lays out three conditions for when—and under what circumstances—governments can restrict speech. By insisting governments frame their take-down requests in keeping with Article 19’s requirements before removing any content, Facebook would honor its stated goal of promoting free expression globally while shifting the burden to governments to justify their actions. The Oversight Board could in turn make this commitment credible by promising to restore any content removed because of a government take-down request, unless the government adhered to Article 19’s formal steps.

Uber and Lyft Want to Overturn a Law They Say Doesn't Apply to Them

Uber and Lyft are trying to overturn a law in California which is designed to turn workers in the gig economy from contractors to employees. The odd thing, as Wired noted, is that the two firms always said the law didn’t apply to them.

Three mainstays of the gig economy—Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash—this week launched a $90 million campaign to overturn a California law they say doesn’t apply to them anyway. The law, known as Assembly Bill 5, or AB5, would transform many gig workers into employees. On Tuesday, a small crowd of workers for the companies joined in Sacramento to kick off the campaign, which, if it receives enough support to reach the statewide ballot, would be voted on by Californians in November 2020. The companies and their supporters are pitching the initiative as a “compromise” that would create a third employment classification requiring Uber, Lyft, and their ilk to give drivers more perks than the average independent contractor but wouldn’t entitle workers to the full benefits of an employee.

Mario Kart Tour to Test Multiplayer Gameplay on iOS

Mario Kart Tour has proved exceptionally popular on iOS, and it looks like the game is going to expand further. AppleInsider reported that Nintendo plans to introduce real-time multiplayer gameplay, initially as a beta test.

The Japanese gaming giant announced the forthcoming test in a tweet on Thursday, saying access will initially be limited to subscribers of the Mario Kart Tour Gold Pass. “A real-time multiplayer beta test is planned for December and will be available to #MarioKartTour Gold Pass subscribers,” Nintendo said. “Stay tuned here for more details coming soon.” Multiplayer gaming has been a defining feature of Mario Kart since the franchise launched on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1992, and its absence on mobile is viewed by some as a hindrance to adoption. Currently, players are limited to racing against AI bots, with in-game incentives like character unlocks and parts pushing users to continue play.

iOS 13.2 Aggressively Kills Background Apps and Tasks

Nick Heer put together a list of people noticing that iOS 13.2 is awfully aggressive in killing apps and tasks in the background.

As bugs go, this is isn’t a catastrophic one, but it absolutely should be the highest of priorities to fix it. It’s embarrassing that all of the hard work put into making animations and app launching feel smooth is squandered by mismanaged multitasking.