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Andrew Orr

Since 2015 Andrew has been writing about Apple, privacy, security, and at one point even Android. You can find him most places online under the username @andrewornot.

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Articles by Andrew Orr

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Nextdoor App Sends Letters on Users' Behalf Without Consent

Andrew Orr ·

Nextdoor is a social network that lets you see things that are going on in your local neighborhood. Dutch police have issued warnings about the app recently, saying that the company sent letters on users’ behalf.

We talked to a woman whom we’ll refer to as W.H., as she wishes to remain anonymous. Letters in her neighborhood were delivered with her as the sender. The letters were asking the receivers to install the app and join the community. W.H. did not send those letters, but she was a user of the Nextdoor app. And she remembered receiving an email from Nextdoor asking whether she would like to invite the people in her neighborhood.

Ugh. Possible lawsuit?

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Google's 'Ask a Techspert' Explains Machine Learning

Andrew Orr ·

In Google’s Ask a Techspert series, senior software engineer Rosie Buchanan explains machine learning for non-experts.

Today, when we hear about “machine learning,” we’re actually talking about how Google teaches computers to use existing information to answer questions like: Where is the ice cream? Or, can you tell me if my package has arrived on my doorstep? For this edition of Ask a Techspert, I spoke with Rosie Buchanan, who is a senior software engineer working on Machine Perception within Google Nest.

This is a cool blog post explaining it, and I hope to see more explanations like this.

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Apple Rolls Out Smarter Web Answers for Spotlight Search

Andrew Orr ·

Some Apple users are seeing smarter web answers when they use iOS Spotlight Search and Siri.

The new web answers appear to be a further expansion of this technology. If the statistics are not readily available from the knowledge database, it seems Apple is now using algorithms to crawl websites and find possible responses to questions.

I think this is great, and it might be the first front-facing results we’re seeing from Apple’s hiring of John Giannandrea.

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Comparing Apple Card's Privacy to Other Credit Cards

Andrew Orr ·

Geoffrey Fowler compared an Amazon credit card with Apple Card to see which one is more private. The knee jerk response is to say Apple, and it’s true that Apple does have more privacy than others. But when it comes to the Apple Card, that privacy only appears under certain circumstances.

Despite a federal privacy law covering cards, I found that six types of businesses could mine and share elements of my purchase, multiplied untold times by other companies they might have passed it to. Credit cards are a spy in your wallet — and it’s time that we add privacy, alongside rewards and rates, to how we evaluate them.

Bottom line: Neither Apple nor Goldman Sachs collects or shares your data. But retailers and card networks like Mastercard can still collect and sell your purchase data.

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VideoLAN Looks for iOS Beta Testers for VLC App

Andrew Orr ·

VideoLAN is looking for iOS beta testers to start testing is VLC app for iOS. The company’s tweet said it will have a new UI.

We’ve been working really hard here @videolan the past months to redesign the VLC iOS app and before rolling it out to everyone, we would love to get your feedback and for you to try it out and participate in our public beta.

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Autographed Steve Jobs Pixar Poster Going up for Auction

Andrew Orr ·

A Pixar poster that Steve Jobs autographed is going up for auction this week with a starting bid of US$25,000.

Extraordinarily scarce Pixar Animation Studios poster signed by its co-founder Steve Jobs, sometime after 1995 when ”Toy Story”, the first computer-animated feature film, debuted. Jobs’ legendary vision is evident in his backing of Pixar, whose potential was immediately realized in the success of ”Toy Story”, earning three Academy Award nominations, breaking box office records and securing its reputation as one of the finest animated movies of all time. Poster measures 24” x 36”, signed by Jobs in black fiber-tip marker. In near fine condition. With JSA COA.

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You Could be Fined up to $15,000 For Sharing Memes

Andrew Orr ·

The Senate is moving a bill forward that could impose fines of up to US$15,000 for people who share memes.

The Senate Judiciary Committee last week approved the “Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2019,” which “creates a voluntary small claims board within the Copyright Office that will provide copyright owners with an alternative to the expensive process of bringing copyright claims, including infringement and misrepresentation …. in federal court,” according to the Copyright Alliance.

“This new board, called the Copyright Claims Board (CCB), would allow recovery in each case of up to $30,000 in damages total, with a cap of $15,000 in statutory damages per work infringed,” according to the alliance, an advocacy group for the copyright industry.

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Apple Pauses iPhone Offline Messaging Project

Andrew Orr ·

According to a report (paywall) Apple has reportedly paused an iPhone offline message project, dubbed a ‘walkie-talkie’ feature.

The report claims Apple was working with Intel on the project, which supposedly would have enabled iPhone users to send messages directly to other iPhone users over long-distance radio waves that bypass cellular networks, adding that the technology was designed to run over the 900 MHz radio spectrum.

The project is said to have been suspended in part because the Apple executive heading it, Rubén Caballero, left the company earlier this year. The technology also relied on Intel modems, according to the report, and Apple is expected to start using Qualcomm modems in iPhones again starting in 2020.

Hopefully Apple considers starting the project again in the future. I could’ve used offline messaging this weekend.

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Don't Let Your Kids Download These Apps

Andrew Orr ·

The Sarasota County Sheriff’s office compiled a list of 15 apps that they believe pose a danger to young children. Here are the apps on the list:

MeetMe, Grindr, Skout, WhatsApp, TikTok, Badoo, Bumble, Snapchat, Kik, LiveMe, Holla, Whisper, Ask.fm, Calculator%, Hot or Not.

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Emmanuel Macron Says its Crazy That Apple Gets Tax Haven

Andrew Orr ·

French President Emmanuel Macron says it’s crazy that companies like Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google get a “permanent tax haven status.”

The reference to ‘tax haven status’ relates to practices used by Apple and others to funnel profits on European sales through Ireland, and then to claim large deductions for R&D costs incurred in the US. There have also been accusations that Apple assigns most of its European profits to a subsidiary which exists only on paper and which pays no taxes anywhere.

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This Real-Time Map Shows You the Amazon Forest Fires

Andrew Orr ·

Ever since Jair Bolsonaro proclaimed that economic growth was more important than protecting the Amazon, there have been 74,155 fires. For the past three weeks, a giant fire has been blazing its way through the forest, and an interactive map lets you watch it.

Many of the fires are set by farmers to clear land. In early August, farmers in the Amazon self-declared a “fire day” to burn trees, emboldened by the fact that the government isn’t enforcing rainforest protections that are part of national law.

“It’s very rare to have fires starting naturally in the Amazon,” says Weisse. “And so almost everything that we’re seeing is a result of human activity, and it’s mostly happening along roads or in farms or where people are.”

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Study Claims iPhone 7 Exceeds Radiation Limit

Andrew Orr ·

The Chicago Tribune claims that its study of iPhone 7 and other smartphones exceed the safety limit for cellphone radiation. Using a “tub of clear liquid, specially formulated to simulate human tissue” it found radiation exposure from the iPhone 7 was more than double what Apple reported from its own testing. Apple disputes the study, and the FCC will conduct further studies.

Cellphones use radio waves to communicate with a vast network of fixed installations called base stations or cell towers. These radio waves are a form of electromagnetic radiation, in the same frequency range used by TVs and microwave ovens.

This kind of radiation, also known as radiofrequency energy, shouldn’t be confused with ionizing radiation, such as gamma rays and X-rays, which can strip electrons from atoms and cause serious biological harm, including cancer.

Of course, there is no conclusive evidence that non-ionizing radiation is powerful enough to have a measurable effect on the human body. John Kheit and I agree to disagree 😉

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Google Privacy Sandbox Probably Won't Protect Your Privacy

Andrew Orr ·

Advertising company Google wants to build a “Google privacy sandbox” as a way to improve personalized ads while attempting to remove the “personalized” part.

The goal of these proposals is to promote a dialog on ways browsers could advance user privacy, while still ensuring publishers can earn what they need to fund great content and user experiences, and advertisers can deliver relevant ads to the right people and measure their impact.

Or, if you want to support websites with ads while also protecting your privacy, stick to Safari.