New York-based bank Goldman Sachs isn’t usually associated with average consumers. But it has spent US$1.3 billion to transform itself with initiatives like Apple Card (via CNBC). Goldman Transformation So far in 2019 Goldman Sachs has spent US$275 million on its new businesses like Apple Card and its consumer bank Marcus. In an earnings call…
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.
Articles by Andrew Orr
iPadOS, iOS 13 Developer Beta 4 Now Available
iPadOS and iOS 13 developer beta four are now available, two weeks after developer beta three was released.
The 5G 'Health Hazard' Was a Misinterpretation
In 2000 a physicist was asked to study the health risks of wireless networks. He found [PDF] that there “was likely to be a serious health hazard.” Except he was wrong.
In his research, Dr. Curry looked at studies on how radio waves affect tissues isolated in the lab, and misinterpreted the results as applying to cells deep inside the human body. His analysis failed to recognize the protective effect of human skin. At higher radio frequencies, the skin acts as a barrier, shielding the internal organs, including the brain, from exposure. Human skin blocks the even higher frequencies of sunlight.
Despite all the studies showing a link between smartphones and cancer being debunked, I don’t think this idea will ever go away.
Apple Card Release Date is Around the Corner
The Apple Card release date is around the corner, with the latest and possibly final iOS 12.4 beta appearing recently.
PSA: FaceApp Owns Photos You Create With App
According to its terms of service, popular app FaceApp owns the rights to all photos you create with it.
Essentially, if you make something in FaceApp, FaceApp can do whatever it wants with what you’ve made. Not only can it repost your images without your permission, it can monetize the images, either directly or indirectly, without compensating you or notifying you that it has done so in any way.
Unfortunately, this sort of thing isn’t new. Facebook has similar terms, and so does Google.
Apple Previews Emojis for 2019 World Emoji Day
Apple previews some emojis for 2019 World Emoji Day, with additions coming in the future in categories like food, animals, and activities.
iPhones Have 100,000 Times More Processing Power Than Apollo 11 Computer
iPhones have over 100,000 times more processing power than the Apollo 11 computer; with 4GB of RAM they have over a million times more memory, and with 512GB of storage they have over seven million times more storage.
Despite the rapid technological advances since then, astronauts haven’t actually been back to the moon since 1972. This seems surprising. After all, when we reflect on this historic event, it is often said that we now have more computing power in our pocket than the computer aboard Apollo 11 did. But is that true? And, if so, how much more powerful are our phones?
It’s amazing to see how far technology has advanced since then.
DuckDuckGo Apple Maps Updated for Enhanced Search
The DuckDuckGo Apple Maps integration has been updated for enhanced search, like maps re-querying, local autocomplete, and more.
With Apple, as with all other third parties we work with, we do not share any personally identifiable information such as IP address. And for local searches in particular, where your approximate location information is sent by your browser to us, we discard it immediately after use. This is in line with our strict privacy policy. You can read more about our anonymous localized results here.
I was happy to see the integration and look forward to these updates. Apple is a good partnership for DuckDuckGo.
The Apple Rainbow Logo May Appear in New Products
The classic Apple rainbow logo might reappear in future products, and might even show up as soon as this year, according to a tipster.
Some People Experiencing App Gifting 'Bug' in iOS 12.3.1
Some people have noticed that the app gifting ability seems to have disappeared in iOS 12.3.1. It sounds like it’s a bug, rather than an official decision on Apple’s part. App Gifting As of July 7, 2019, it appears there is no longer an option to “Gift” an app through the App Store (i.e. the…
Visualizing Men's Pockets Versus Women's Pockets
This isn’t super tech-related, but this website gives a nice visualization of how men’s pockets are bigger than women’s pockets. There’s also a section that lets you find jeans that can fit smartphones like the iPhone X, Samsung Galaxy, and Google Pixel.
Only 40 percent of women’s front pockets can completely fit one of the three leading smartphone brands. Less than half of women’s front pockets can fit a wallet specifically designed to fit in front pockets. And you can’t even cram an average woman’s hand beyond the knuckles into the majority of women’s front pockets.
Ajit Pai's Proposal Would Limit Local Power to Regulate Internet
A proposal by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai would limit local authority to regulate internet access by killing fees and other rules.
iOS 13 Password Bug Gives Unauthenticated Access in Settings
An iOS 13 password bug was discovered in the latest betas that give unauthenticated access to Website & App Passwords in Settings.
As detailed by iDeviceHelp on YouTube, you can access all of the saved usernames and passwords in Settings by repeatedly tapping the “Website & App Passwords” menu and avoiding the Face ID or Touch ID prompt. After several tries, iOS 13 will show all of your passwords and logins, even if you never successfully authenticated with Face ID or Touch ID.
I haven’t been able to replicate the issue, but I’ll keep trying to see.
2019 MacBook Air Has Slower SSD Than 2018 Model
The 2019 MacBook Air released last week has a slower SSD than the 2018 MacBook Air. The 128GB and 256GB models were tested.
Twitter Web Redesign Rolls Out For All Users
A Twitter web redesign is rolling out for all users, simplifying navigation, a sidebar, profile switching, and more.
The update is designed to make it easier to move around Twitter. Before, you’d have to click on your Profile icon to access features like Lists, Themes, Settings, and other options. Meanwhile, getting to Moments was available both in this Profile dropdown menu and in the main Twitter navigation at the top of the screen, next to Notifications and Messages.
Air Force Might Defend Area 51 With Force
Over the weekend a Facebook event page to raid Area 51 has had over 400,000 people signing up. This is because of the belief that aliens or alien technology are held there. But the Air Force is prepared.
“[Area 51] is an open training range for the US Air Force, and we would discourage anyone from trying to come into the area where we train American armed forces,” McAndrews said. “The US Air Force always stands ready to protect America and its assets.”
Waze Update Willl Show Toll Road Prices
An update for Waze rolling out today will show toll road prices along your driving route for users in the United States and Canada.
macOS Mojave 10.14.6 Developer Beta 5 Available
Apple has released the fifth developer beta of macOS Mojave 10.14.6 today, one week after developer beta four came out.
Lawmakers Want Apple to Turn Privacy Talk into Action
Although Tim Cook vocally supports privacy laws in the United States, Apple doesn’t actually support many of them.
A number of privacy advocates and U.S. lawmakers — who did not attend the meeting — say Apple has not put enough muscle behind any federal effort to tighten privacy laws. And state lawmakers, who are closest to passing rules to limit data sharing, say Apple is an ally in name only — and in fact has contributed to lobbying efforts that might undermine some new data-protection legislation.
This is something I’ve noticed as well. I think Tim and co should do more to support privacy legislation.
Library App Libby Now Works With CarPlay
Libby is an app that lets you read ebooks and listen to audiobooks from libraries, and it recently announced support for CarPlay.
Apple VPN as the Company's Latest Privacy Service
Michael Grothaus argues that an Apple VPN should be the company’s next privacy service.
The obvious existing bundle this VPN could slip into would be iCloud. Apple could offer an “iCloud VPN” service to all paid iCloud subscribers. And because Apple controls all the hardware and operating systems of the devices it makes, its VPN setup could be dead simple: if you’re signed into iCloud on your device, iCloud VPN is set up, running, and protecting your browsing activity from outsiders without you having to click a single button.
I’m not so sure I want an Apple VPN. Remember, this would mean that Apple could potentially know all of your network traffic unless they had a no logging policy.
News+: Backpage.com Versus the Feds
Backpage.com was a website modeled after the classifieds section of print. People could use it to post ads, and it also had a thriving section for adult ads. But the Feds seized it and arrested the owners. Christine Biederman wrote all about it.
The government indictment that triggered Lacey and Larkin’s arrests, United States v. Lacey, et al, includes 17 “victim summaries”—stories of women who say they were sexually exploited through Backpage. Victim 5 first appeared in an ad on the platform when she was 14; her “customers” made her “perform sexual acts at gunpoint, choked her to the point of having seizures, and gang-raped her.” Victim 6 was stabbed to death. Victim 8’s uncle and his friends advertised her as “fetish friendly.” The indictment accuses Backpage of catering to sexual predators, of essentially helping pimps better reach their target audiences.
This is part of Andrew’s News+ series, where he shares a magazine every Friday to help people discover good content in Apple News+.
Firefox 70 Will Add Social Tracking Protection
Mozilla is adding a dedicated social tracking protection component and it’s slated for release with Firefox 70.
Shop Safe Online During 2019 Prime Day
2019 Prime Day will be held July 15-16, and Safe Smart Living put together some tips to help you stay safe when you shop online.
50 Million Americans are queuing up for Amazon Prime Day 2019. That’s a lot of credit cards swiped, personal data collected and online transactions, resulting in a huge potential threat for identity theft.