UC San Diego Health recently sent a survey to its first 425 patients who activated Apple Health Records. Results of the survey were positive.
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
AT&T Claims it will Stop Selling Your Location Data
The carriers had already promised to stop selling customer location data back in June 2018. But a recent investigation showed they kept going.
2019 iPhone Could Still Have Liquid Retina LCD Display
One of the 2019 iPhone models could stick with the Liquid Retina LCD display, although in 2020 a rumor suggests Apple may drop the LCD model.
The plan to stick with LCD comes as Apple grapples with sluggish sales of the iPhone XR, which has cut into its most recent revenue projection. That is partly because the planned LCD handset has been in the product pipeline for months and the plan can’t be altered easily, they said.
Charlotte Henry also wrote that one or more of the new phones may come with three cameras.
This Maps Shows T-Mobile, Sprint Coverage After Merger
You can click and drag around the map, or type in your zip code for faster results.
Here's an Apple Infographic of Product Made So Far
The folks at TitleMax shared a cool Apple infographic that lists every (or most) Apple product made so far.
We’ve created this innovative look back at all Apple products to list off each incredible marvel by year, from super-successful, like the company-saving iPod, to the duds like the Apple Bandai Pippin. In our Apple timeline, you can see how much the company changed and how a few pivotal moments have revolutionized the entire technological world.
Apple Pay Czech Could Come in February or March
The first group of banks to support it include Česká spořitelna, mBank, Komerční banka, Moneta and AirBank.
Your Privacy Can't be Left up to Others
Doc Searls argues that if your privacy is in the hands of others alone, you don’t have any privacy.
If you think regulations are going to protect your privacy, you’re wrong. In fact they can make things worse, especially if they start with the assumption that your privacy is provided only by other parties, most of whom are incentivized to violate it.
I think Mr. Searls makes some good points. I’m in favor of privacy regulations, but I also agree that individuals need to manage their privacy better. Privacy should also be the default, and not a feature you have to pay for.
IMDB Launches Streaming Service Called Freedive
IMDb launched a free streaming service for movies and TV shows called Freedive. You can watch content via browser or with Amazon devices like the Fire TV.
Microsoft Bing Shows and Suggests Child Porn
A disturbing report from TechCrunch finds that not only is it possible to find child porn via Microsoft Bing, but the search engine also can suggest it.
Chinese Hackers Threaten the Internet and Democracy
Over the past decade Chinese hackers have been increasingly attacking the United States and other countries that threaten the hegemony of The Party.
Many thought the internet would bring democracy to China. Instead it empowered rampant government oppression, and now the censors are turning their attention to the rest of the world.
Chinese hacking groups fall under the category of Advanced Persistent Threat (APT). The United States and China have this weird, sadomasochistic relationship, and while I don’t believe in trade wars, I think it’s important we send a message that the U.S. won’t tolerate such egregious behavior from our partners.
5 Ways to Improve Apple Services
Michael Grothaus writes about five ways to improve Apple services, a drum that Tim Cook has been beating for the past couple years.
The problem for Apple is that the iPhone is such a large part of its business. If the company is going to continue to grow, what product could step up to take the place of lagging smartphone sales?
I’ll paraphrase Kelly Guimont’s comment on a recent episode of Daily Observations. If Apple truly wanted to be a services company, it should have been improving services all along. Don’t wait until the last minute when the iPhone puts you into panic mode.
Wikipedia to Add More Language Support with Google Translate
This adds support for an additional 15 languages, making the total count 121.
How a Designer Uses iPad Pro as the Main Computer
The next iPad-Pro-as-main-computer narrative comes from Hicks Design. Jon shared his reasoning and workflow, as well as shortcomings & workarounds.
It’s started slowly, but the platform has been maturing and I’ve been using it more and more as my main computer. There are limitations and issues, which I’ll come to, but I keep coming back to it as a my main design tool. There’s something very alluring about this light and portable thin slab of glass that can do (almost) everything I need it to.
Zerodium Offers $2 Million for Remote iOS Exploits
Founded in 2015, Zerodium is a information security company specializing in buying and selling zero day exploits. It’s offering US$2 million for remote iOS exploits.
Preorder Opens for 2018 iPad Pro Brydge Keyboards
Brydge keyboards for the 2018 iPad Pros are now available to preorder. The 11-inch model is US$149.99 and the 12.9-inch keyboard is US$169.99. The new keyboards offer different viewing modes, like a tablet mode where you fold the keyboard back, and a movie mode that places your iPad at an angle. The keyboards have USB-C connectivity which means you can charge the keyboard from the iPad Pro as you use it. There is also a new snap-on magnetic cover that protects the back of your iPad Pro.
The Story of How RSS Came to Be
Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a way for websites and podcasts to offer a feed of updated content for people. It’s a fairly standard technology but many people don’t use it.
The story of how this happened is really two stories. The first is a story about a broad vision for the web’s future that never quite came to fruition. The second is a story about how a collaborative effort to improve a popular standard devolved into one of the most contentious forks in the history of open-source software development.
Long story short (Although you should still read the long story): RSS was too complicated for non-tech users, and the internet slowly became centralized into data silos like Google and Facebook.
Tech Press, Shaping the Narrative, and Silicon Valley Time
Tech press and the narratives they craft typically follow Silicon Valley Time, or a special “clock” otherwise known as the hero’s journey.
A company’s narrative moves like a clock: it starts at midnight, ticking off the hours. The tone and sentiment about how a business is doing move from positive (sunrise, midday) to negative (dusk, darkness). And often the story returns to midnight, rebirth and a new day.
This is an interesting story on how the tech press covers news, and what lessons companies can learn.
Long Press Shortcuts for iOS Safari
I’ve covered iOS 12 tips and tricks that you might have forgotten. Now I’d like to resurface a tip from 2017 about shortcuts for iOS Safari.
You might not know it, but Safari has some hidden shortcuts tucked behind some of the icons. This will let you perform certain actions a little faster, like quickly access the desktop version of a website, add a bookmark, and even close multiple tabs at once.
Apple Hired Former Facebook Privacy Employee Sandy Parakilas
Mr. Parakilas worked at Facebook for 18 months before leaving in 2012. His job was to monitor Facebook developers and their compliance to the privacy policy.
New Indoor Mall Maps, Flyover Locations for Apple Maps
It’s possible this happened a while ago, but Apple updated its Feature Availability page with the information.
Reminder: Free Flickr Users Need to Take Action (Update)
Starting today, January 8, free Flickr users with more than 1,000 photos need to take action. Unless you upgrade to a paid plan you can’t upload more content.
Bounty Hunter Successfully Tracked Down a Phone
AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile sell access to customers’ location data. As an experiment, Joseph Cox paid a bounty hunter to locate a phone, and it worked.
The bounty hunter did this all without deploying a hacking tool or having any previous knowledge of the phone’s whereabouts. Instead, the tracking tool relies on real-time location data sold to bounty hunters that ultimately originated from the telcos themselves, including T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint, a Motherboard investigation has found. These surveillance capabilities are sometimes sold through word-of-mouth networks.
The technology apparently works on all mobile networks, but there was some issue with Verizon. Shady practices like this are why we need an American GDPR, as well as a better FCC.
Plex Might Soon Offer Movies and Subscriptions
Video company Plex might soon be offering ad-supported movies and subscriptions to take on Apple, Roku, Amazon, and others.
CES Organizer Thinks Sex Toys are Immoral and Obscene
It seems as though the CTA had a problem with a sex toy. Company Lora DiCarlo planned to present its product, but its award was revoked and the company had to remove its exhibit.
But after ranking high enough and winning the designation, Lora DiCarlo was apparently told that its product didn’t comply with the rules. The show’s and award’s organizer, the Consumer Technology Association, allegedly cited rules saying products that are “immoral, obscene, indecent, profane or not in keeping with CTA’s image will be disqualified.” It then backtracked and said the product simply didn’t fit in the robotics and drones category.