DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials is a Safari extension that blocks trackers and provides a privacy dashboard for each website you visit.
Two Twitter Employees Charged With Spying for Saudi Arabia
A complaint unsealed in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco revealed that two Twitter employees have been charged with spying for Saudi Arabia.
The complaint also alleged that the employees — whose jobs did not require access to Twitter users’ private information — were rewarded with a designer watch and tens of thousands of dollars funneled into secret bank accounts. Ahmad Abouammo, a U.S. citizen, and Ali Alzabarah, a Saudi citizen, were charged with acting as agents of Saudi Arabia without registering with the U.S. government.
I wonder if this is a separate incident from Saudi’s Twitter mole.
Trailer for Sneaky Sasquatch - Now on Apple Arcade
The game Sneaky Sasquatch is now on Apple Arcade. It is a task-based game in which you need to complete challenges – the only rule is don’t get caught. Apple posted a trailer for the game on its YouTube channel. This game doesn’t appear to have the high production values of some of the others on the subscription service, but it still looks quite fun.
Chirp Books Gives You Limited-Time Deals on Audiobooks
For several years now I’ve been using a wonderful service called BookBub. It sends you alerts when ebooks go on sale. You pick the genres you’re interested in and you’ll get an email or notification every day. Literally about five minutes ago I got an email from them about another service they have called Chirp. It gives you the same deals except for audiobooks.
To thank you for being a BookBub member, I want to invite you to be one of the first to access our new platform for audiobook deals, Chirp! Chirp offers audiobooks selected by the same BookBub editors you trust at up to 95% off.
I love listening to audiobooks on my daily commute, while cleaning up around the house, and even while exercising. With Chirp I can binge audiobooks and discover new authors without breaking the bank.
The best part is that there’s no subscription fee or commitment, and new deals are added daily!
Google's Secure Enclave, Saving Streaming Subscribers – TMO Daily Observations 2019-11-06
Andrew Orr and Charlotte Henry join host Kelly Guimont to discuss Google’s secure enclave, and how streaming services can retain subscribers.
Leaked Internal Facebook Documents Reveal Disturbing Information
Today a trove of 4,000 internal Facebook documents reveal how the social media giant profits off user data and battles rivals.
Here are some of the key revelations from the document dump, including from reports published from earlier leaks:
Facebook wielded its control over user data to hobble rivals like YouTube, Twitter, and Amazon.
Facebook executives quietly planned a data-policy “switcharoo.”
Facebook considered charging companies to access user data.
Facebook whitelisted certain companies to allow them more extensive access to user data, even after it locked down its developer platform throughout 2014 and 2015.
Facebook planned to spy on the locations of Android users.
The PDF can be found here but currently it’s taking forever to load. Grab it while it’s hot.
Veterans can Save $40 on Amazon Prime This Year
Amazon is giving veterans a discount for its Prime subscription service. The price is normally US$119 but veterans can get it for US$79.
A couple of restrictions to note before jumping on the deal: you can’t take advantage of the discount if you’re already a Prime Student subscriber. Additionally, it’s not possible to use Amazon and partner rewards points to make the subscription even cheaper.
Apple's Ad Agency Media Arts Lab Lays-Off 50 Staff
Media Arts Lab, Apple’s ad agency, has cut 50 employees, mostly in its strategy department, according to a report.
Now Everyone Can Decide Which WhatsApp Groups They Are Added to
WhatsApp has given the ability to control who adds you to a Group to all users, Engadget reported. Previously it had only been available to users in India.
Anyone who relies on WhatsApp to communicate with friends, family, and everyone in between knows how easily people can add them to group chats without consent. This is why the Facebook-owned messaging giant in April introduced a feature that allowed some users to stipulate who can add them to a group. Before today, the privacy setting had only been available in India, where the company has been fine-tuning the feature ahead of today’s global rollout. It’s worth noting that with more than 400 million users, India is a big market for WhatsApp, but it is also one that has struggled with the spread of incendiary messages and fake news. WhatsApp has previously tried to address these issues with stricter message-forwarding restrictions.
Vodafone and Virgin Media Combine to Offer Mobile Services, Including 5G
Virgin Media and Vodafone UK announced that from 2021 they will combine forces to offer users a variety of products, including 5G.
Watch a Full Trailer for Apple TV+ 'Servant' Premiering November 28
Last week M. Night Shyamalan tweeted a couple of teasers for his Apple TV+ series called Servant. Today Apple uploaded a full trailer.
Apple Pay Netherlands Adds Support for Rabobank
Rabobank is the second-biggest bank in the Netherlands, leading in food and agriculture financing and sustainability-oriented banking.
Police Unveil Tape of Apple Store Robbery Worth $9k
Police in Tennessee released a surveillance tape that showed a major robbery in an Apple Store in Fraklin. In total, 17 Apple Watches worth $9k were stolen MacRumors reported.
Released surveillance footage shows the trio walking into the Apple Store in Franklin and then grabbing the Apple Watches from the display table. They were able to escape unimpeded. Police have asked anyone who recognizes the suspects seen on the surveillance video above to call Crime Stoppers. The phone number is (615) 794-4000. Apple Stores are regularly targeted by thieves. Seemingly every month, there is an incident in which criminals steal devices from stores. Often these are just snatch-and-grab robberies in which thieves grab as many display devices as they can and then bolt. Occasionally, as in this June at Valencia in California, thieves rob stores at gunpoint.
Apple Rebuilds Privacy Site With 'Everyday Apps Designed For Your Privacy'
Apple has rebuilt its privacy site to show off “everyday apps designed for your privacy.” They’re Apple’s own apps showing privacy features.
Apple Health Records Now Available for Veterans
Apple Health Records makes it easier for patients to view and manage their health records. It’s now available for all veterans today.
Facebook Says 100 App Developers Improperly Accessed Data From Groups
In another case of Facebook letting app developers access whatever data they want, 100 of them improperly accessed data from Groups despite Facebook claiming it restricted that access.
Today we are also reaching out to roughly 100 partners who may have accessed this information since we announced restrictions to the Groups API, although it’s likely that the number that actually did is smaller and decreased over time.
100 app developers you say? Why would 100,000 app developers do such a thing?
How Apple, Disney and Others Aim To Keep Streaming Subscribers
The streaming wars are getting ever more intense. Reuters published a good look at how all the various services, including Apple, aim to keep subscribers.
Besides spending millions of dollars on library content, media companies are using programming, promotions and other strategies to avoid cancellations, or “churn” in industry parlance, and retain subscribers who are costly to acquire and easy to lose. “Churning off of a service once meant finding the phone number of your cable operator, navigating an automated menu and waiting on hold,” said Rich Greenfield, an analyst at LightShed Partners. “We now live in a world where with a couple of clicks of your finger on your phone, all of the friction from cancellation is gone.” Disney is the only streaming provider that has used a multi-year promotion to lock in subscribers. In August, the company offered new and existing members of its D23 fan club an annual rate of $47 for a three-year commitment to Disney+ – 33% off the standard price.
Deezer Adds Non Music Content With New 'Shows' Tab on iOS
Deezer unveiled its new ‘Shows’ tab which will be home to a variety of non-music content such as podcasts and radio on its iOS app.
Social Media, Hands On with AirPods Pro, Apple Content Bundles, with John Kheit - ACM 524
John Kheit joins Bryan Chaffin to discuss social media, mob rule, and the 1st Amendment. Yikes! They also talk about their hands-on experience with AirPods Pro and look at Apple’s content pricing and whether or not the company is likely to offer more bundles for its content (spoiler: no!).
FTC Fines AT&T $60M for Throttling Unlimited Plans
AT&T will pay the Federal Trade Commission US$60 million for throttling unlimited plans without making it clear that would happen.
Photoshop for iOS, Apple's Real Estate Venture – TMO Daily Observations 2019-11-05
Andrew Orr and Bryan Chaffin join host Kelly Guimont to discuss Photoshop’s official iOS release and Apple’s new Bay Area real estate venture.
Google's OpenTitan aims to Create an Open Source Secure Enclave
Google wants Android phones to have a Secure Enclave chip like iPhones. Its OpenTitan project aims to help design an open source one.
OpenTitan is loosely based on a proprietary root-of-trust chip that Google uses in its Pixel 3 and 4 phones. But OpenTitan is its own chip architecture and extensive set of schematics developed by engineers at lowRISC, along with partners at ETH Zurich, G+D Mobile Security, Nuvoton Technology, Western Digital, and, of course, Google.
The consortium will use community feedback and contributions to develop and improve the industry-grade chip design, while lowRISC will manage the project and keep suggestions and proposed changes from going live haphazardly.
You can view the OpenTitan Github repo here, but it’s not fully fleshed out yet.
UK Brings in Mandatory Registration and Pilot Test For Drones
There is now a registration system and test for pilots in the UK following a number of high-profile incidents.
Video Editing on iOS/iPadOS with LumaFusion
Until recently, Dr. Mac did 100% of his video editing on his Mac, but he’s finally found an iOS/iPadOS app that is so good he’s doing more of his video editing on his iPad (and loving it).