Apple: iCloud Extortionists Haven't Hacked into Our Systems

Hacker group Turkish Crime Family says it’s going to wipe out over 300 million iCloud accounts on April 7th if Apple doesn’t pay US$75,000 as ransom. Apple says the group hasn’t broken into its servers, so that means the logins they claim to have probably came from old hacks into other company’s services.

Here are the Features Apple Cut from Workflow

When the news broke on Wednesday that Apple bought the iOS automation app Workflow that was a good sign the company is serious about having some sort of official AppleScript or Automator-like system for the iPhone and iPad. Unfortunately, that comes with a catch: some of the services the app supported on Tuesday were gone on Wednesday.

iTunes 12.6 Lets You Watch Rental Movies Across All Your Devices

While Apple was painting iPhones red and rolling out new iPads on Tuesday, it also released an update for iTunes that lets you watch movie rentals on any of your devices. iTunes 12.6 for the Mac adds what Apple dubbed “rent once, watch anywhere” which is exactly what it sounds like: You can watch a movie on any of your devices, not just the one where you made the rental.

Why the iPad mini is On Its Deathbed

A long time ago in this galaxy, Steve Jobs thought the 7-inch class iPad would be a bad idea. There wouldn’t be enough room to create great apps, he said.  The rest of the tablet market jumped in anyway, and Apple just had to follow. Think education. But Mr. Jobs was right. The 7.9-inch experience wasn’t that great for anything but iOS. Phablets arrived. And so, John ponders the demise of Apple’s iPad mini.

Lorek The Robot And The Future Of AI

Lorek the robot represents a big step in robotics because it can understand human language, as well as the gestures we make in conversations. Researchers from Brown University pulled off this feat of understanding by programming uncertainty into the robot. Andrew Orr explains why this is a big deal.

Planned Tuesday Morning Down Time for Apple Store has the Internet Flipping Over New Product Possibilities

Apple’s online store will be unavailable Tuesday morning until 8:30 AM eastern time, leading to speculation that a product refresh is about to happen. The company’s own System Status webpage was the tip-off, and since Apple always takes its store offline ahead of product releases the interent is flipping out over the possibility of something new showing up on the page.

Web Pages as Apps, Equipment Insurance, and Photos! – Mac Geek Gab 649

Have a webpage you use all the time? Why not make that its own, separate app? Need to create Symbolic Links (symlinks) but don’t want to use the Terminal? How about if you want to get an equipment warranty for that new Synology NAS you just bought? That’s just a sampling of the things you’ll learn in the first segment of this week’s episode. There’s more, folks. Lots more! Press play and enjoy!

McDonald's Is Testing Mobile Orders from an App

Fast food chain McDonalds is testing a fancy new way to order using your smartphone, because, you know, that’s what we’re looking for from McDonald’s. Customers in Monterey and Salinas, California can use the McDonalds mobile app to order food from home and have it ready when they get there. Andrew Orr explains.

How Can I Share My Location From iOS Maps?

It’s easy to use “Share My Location” in Messages, but there are plenty of times when you might want to send a saved marker straight from Maps. Maybe you’re planning a family vacation and have found a cool point of interest to visit, or perhaps you want to scout out new coffee shops to visit with your friends. Jeff Butts walks you through saving a map location and then sharing it, step by step.

Take Back Control Over Email Notifications on iOS

If you’re like most of us, you have multiple email accounts set up on your iPhone and iPad. This can mean a flurry of notifications vying for your time, but Jeff Butts is here to show you how you can take control over that. It’s surprisingly easy to configure which email accounts do and do not give you notifications, and Jeff shows you how to set that up.

Apple Just Hired iOS Security Researcher Jonathan Zdziarski

Apple recently hired a prominent iOS security researcher, Jonathan Zdziarski. Known as NerveGas in the jailbreaking community, Mr. Zdziarski is the author of several books about iPhone forensics and how to secure iOS apps. In light of recent events like the CIA Vault 7 leak, this move may improve Apple’s standing within security and privacy circles.

Encrypting Email on the Mac Is Surprisingly Easy

Now that we’re thinking about privacy and the security of our computers and mobile devices again, we’re worried about encrypting email. Jeff Butts is here to set your mind at ease that email encryption is alive and well, and surprisingly easy to do on the Mac.

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