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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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'NeoFinder' Digital Asset Manager for Mac Updated to 8.0 Release

After almost two years of development, NeoFinder for Mac 8.0 has finally been completed today and is now available for download. It offers a fresh user interface with new icons, and added color options. The Metadata Editor adds the Dublin Core XMP Contact fields, autocompletion with recently used field values, and the ability to copy or move metadata between fields. The updated Map shows satellite imagery, multiple geotags at once, and edit geotags by just moving them. Navigation of large catalogs is faster by having the folders of catalogs visible and selectable in the LIBRARY already. Machine learning tools and AI are used for OCR, AutoTags, and face detection, and a lot more tightly integrated into NeoFinder. The new version is a paid upgrade for NeoFinder or CDFinder customers who purchased their license before October 2020. Licenses purchased after October 1, 2020 will get this upgrade for free.

Loopring's New Smart Wallet Can Help Recover Stolen or Lost Crypto

Loopring Wallet is a first-ever Ethereum smart contract wallet with zkRollup-based transfers. Gas-free, secure, and simple. It allows you to avoid gas fees and network congestion. It integrates Loopring’s zkRollup, a layer-2 scaling protocol to increase speeds and lower fees by 1000x relative to Ethereum mainnet. Completely self-custodial; only you control your assets. Say goodbye to seed phrases and paper backups, say hello to social recovery. Choose a combination of friends, your other wallets (hardware or software), or institutions as guardians of your wallet. If you ever lose access to your mobile, they help you recover your assets. As long as more than half of your guardians are trustworthy, your assets are secure.

Here's How The Apple Watch Series 7 Fares in the Scottish Highlands

Developer David Smith wrote how he tested the Apple Watch Series 7 while hiking in Scotland. Specifically, how the battery life compares to what he calls “adventure watches.”

What gives me some excitement about this experience is that it seems clear that an Apple Watch can already make a solid companion for a long backpacking trip. When I set off I was expecting to have to charge it completely every day, but in reality it is more like every third day. Which gets it under my threshold for consideration for use. Especially since bringing it means that I now have a fully programmable computer on my wrist.

Gizmodo Plans to Publish the Facebook Papers, Explaining the Decision

Partnering with experts from NYU, Mass Amherst, Columbia, Marquette, and the ACLU, Gizmodo is planning to publish the Facebook Papers. It would be the first media outlet to do so.

We believe there’s a strong public need in making as many of the documents public as possible, as quickly as possible. To that end, we’ve partnered with a small group of independent monitors, who are joining us to establish guidelines for an accountable review of the documents prior to publication. The mission is to minimize any costs to individuals’ privacy or the furtherance of other harms while ensuring the responsible disclosure of the greatest amount of information in the public interest.

I look forward to storing a copy of the archive.

Rule Approved: Banks Must Report Cyber Attacks Within 36 Hours

U.S. regulators have approved a rule to require banks to report major cyber incidents within 36 hours.

The rule, dubbed the Computer-Security Incident Notification Requirements for Banking Organizations and Their Bank Service Providers, was cemented by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. There is currently no specific window that banks must repot such incident to the agencies in question.

Tor Project Offers Rewards for More Servers During Decline

The Tor Project has seen a decline in relays and bridge servers, and offers rewards for people to help increase the network.

Rewards include the likes of hoodies, t-shirts, and stickers and are meant to provide some sort of meaningful gift to those who help keep the Tor anonymity network alive and resilient to censorship.

More specifically, the rewards will be provided to those who run Tor “bridges,” which serve as entry points into the Tor network for users located in countries that block access to Tor servers.

Yubico and Keyport Release Pivot 2.0 Organizer for Keys

Yubico and Keyport partnered on the new Yubico Keyport Pivot 2.0 organizer, a durable and functional everyday-carry solution for organizing and protecting your YubiKeys, house keys, and all keys alike. It holds up to 8 keys (or more with an extension kit) and offers a low-profile lanyard attachment. It’s easy to assemble and designed to keep everything set to the ideal tightness. Keyport developed several add-on modules that integrate with the Pivot: OmniFob Smart Remote, WeeLink charger cable, a NEBA Knife and a 12-lumen flashlight.

Data Breach of California Pizza Kitchen Leaks 100,000 Social Security Numbers

TechCrunch reports that California Pizza Kitchen suffered a data breach in September. The SSNs of over 100,000 employees were leaked as a result.

While CPK didn’t confirm how many people are impacted by the breach, a notification from the Maine attorney general’s office reported a total of 103,767 current and former employees — including eight Maine residents — are affected. CPK employed around 14,000 people as of 2017, suggesting the bulk of those affected are former employees.

Teen in Canada Arrested Over $36.5 Million Crypto Theft

Bloomberg reports on a theft involving a Canadian teen stealing US$36.5 million in cryptocurrency from a victim in the U.S.

Police said the victim was targeted through a cell phone scam known as SIM swapping, in which a scammer hijacks a wireless customer’s phone number to intercept two-factor authentication requests and gain access to the victim’s accounts.

The arrest was the result of a joint investigation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Secret Service Electronic Crimes Task Force, the Hamilton Police Service said in a statement. The investigation was launched last year in March.

If you haven’t already done so it’s a good idea to lock your SIM card with a PIN.