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Security Flaw in Fisher-Price 'Chatter' Phone Could Let People Eavesdrop
A Bluetooth bug found with Fisher-Price’s Chatter phone could let others eavesdrop on your conversation.
With just the online instruction manual to go on, the researchers feared that a design flaw could allow someone to use the Chatter to eavesdrop.
Ken Munro, founder of the cybersecurity company Pen Test Partners, told TechCrunch that chief among the concerns are that the Chatter does not have a secure pairing process to stop unauthorized phones in Bluetooth range from connecting to it.
iOS : How to Remove Memoji Stickers From the Keyboard
In addition to emojis you’ll find Memojis on your keyboard in iOS 13 and later. Here’s how to remove them if it’s not a feature you use.
HomePod Mini Tips and Tricks – TMO Daily Observations 2021-12-22
Jeff Butts and host Kelly Guimont share tips for setup and use of the HomePod mini including connecting to other devices and Home app tricks.
Steve Jobs Returned to Apple 25 Years Ago
This week marks a major landmark in Apple history. It’s 25 years since the company acquired NeXT and Steve Jobs returned. MacRumors has a good reflection on the episode.
“With this merger, the advanced software from NeXT will be married with Apple’s very high-volume hardware platforms and marketing channels to create another breakthrough, leapfrogging existing platforms, and fueling Apple and the industry copy cats for the next ten years and beyond,” said Jobs. “I still have very deep feelings for Apple, and it gives me great joy to play a role in architecting Apple’s future.” Jobs initially returned to Apple as an advisor, making his first appearance at Macworld San Francisco in January 1997 to announce details of how Apple planned to incorporate NeXT technology into future releases of Mac OS. Jobs went on to replace Amelio as the company’s interim CEO just nine months later, and he ended up dropping the interim title and remaining CEO until stepping down in August 2011 due to health issues.
Untrusted Shortcuts and Privacy Settings You'll Find on iPhone, iPad, and Mac
A feature of the Shortcuts app is sharing them with others. So what happens when you see a warning about Untrusted Shortcuts?
How To Keep Up With Your Shows While Traveling
In this mini-segment from Mac Geek Gab 903, take a deep dive into the different ways you can watch your TV shows while traveling or on vacation.
What is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO)?
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is out with another explainer article, this time about DAOs.
Simply put, DAOs are software enabled organizations. They allow people to pool resources toward a common goal and share in value creation when those goals are achieved. DAOs run on top of open blockchain networks like Ethereum, organized by tokens with their rules encoded in smart contracts. DAOs aren’t tied to a physical location, which allows them to mobilize quickly and attract talent from all over the world
Time For the 13-Inch MacBook Pro to go
It’s time for the 13-inch MacBook Pro to be put out of its misery. No M2 chip. The end. That’s the view of Macworld Contributing Editor Samuel Nyberg. When he outlines what this would mean the Mac lineup looks like in 2022, it’s hard to disagree.
If the choice is between a ‘good enough’ MacBook with M2 and modern design, or an absolute monster with M1 Pro/Max and a 14in screen, who would choose a tired old MacBook Pro 13in? A device, moreover, with a Touch Bar, a five-year-old design, and no MagSafe. We know Tim Cook is an expert at saving money when he can. The iPhone had basically the same design for four years (from the iPhone 6 to the iPhone 8), a design that now lives on in the iPhone SE. Reusing the same old chassis, the same old components, is a great way to save development and manufacturing costs for Apple. Cook would certainly like to squeeze a few more years out of his old MacBook Pro 13in design. But how about swallowing the stinginess and showing some pride in Apple’s products instead?
AAPL Shareholders Call For Civil-Rights Audit of Apple
Apple shareholders have called for a civil-rights audit of the company amid controversy and slow progress in improving workforce diversity
Hacking US Diplomats in Uganda May Have Led to NSO Group Downfall
ArsTechnica shares the story of how U.S. diplomats in Uganda were hacked by Pegasus, a spyware tool from NSO Group.
Israeli and US officials declined to confirm that the Ugandan hack directly triggered a decision to blacklist NSO. But one US official who discussed the issue with Israel’s defense ministry said: “Look at the entire sequence of events here—this is careful, not by chance.” He added that putting NSO, one of the jewels of Israel’s tech community, on a US blacklist was designed to “punish and isolate” the company.
Zillow Adds Support for FaceTime SharePlay to Browse Houses
Zillow announced that its app will support SharePlay, a FaceTime feature that lets iOS 15 users share what’s on their screen with others.
DuckDuckGo to Release Private Browser for Mac in 2022
On Tuesday, DuckDuckGo shared its review of achievements and improvements in 2021. Looking ahead, the company plans to release a private browser for the desktop.
Instead of forking Chromium or anything else, we’re building our desktop app around the OS-provided rendering engines (like on mobile), allowing us to strip away a lot of the unnecessary cruft and clutter that’s accumulated over the years in major browsers. With our clean and simple interface combined with the beloved Fire Button from our mobile app, DuckDuckGo for desktop will be ready to become your new everyday browsing app.
'Have I Been Pwned' Completes FBI Ingestion Pipeline for Passwords
Troy Hunt, creator of Have I Been Pwned, has completed a pipeline that enables the ingestion of passwords from law enforcement agencies, like the FBI.
The premise is simple: during the course of their investigations, they come across a lot of compromised passwords and if they were able to continuously feed those into HIBP, all the other services out there using Pwned Passwords would be able to better protect their customers from account takeover attacks. Fast forward to now and that ingestion pipeline is finally live.
State Legislators Help Libraries in Fight Over Ebook Licensing Terms
A report from Axios says libraries want better licensing terms for eBooks from Amazon and other publishers. States are stepping in to help the libraries.
A Maryland law set to take effect in January and a similar bill in New York would require publishers that sell ebooks to consumers to also license them to libraries on reasonable terms. The Maryland law and New York bill say it is not reasonable to limit the number of ebook licenses libraries can buy at the same date they are available to the general public.
Slopes Ski Tracking App on iOS Gets Major Update
Ski tracking app Slopes got a major iOS update, including a new recording experience on the iPhone and premium digital trail maps.
App Store Publishers Earning US$1 Million For First Time Down Nearly 9% in 2021
The number of App Store publishers earning net US$1 million or more for the first time dropped by nearly 9% in 2021 compared to 2020.
Loopring Releases Layer 2 Counterfactual Wallet for iOS
On Tuesday Loopring announced the release of its Layer 2 Counterfactual Wallet for cryptocurrency.
With the release of our Counterfactual Wallet, users can now deploy the Wallet on L2-only, bypassing a costly creation fee on L1. This-try-it-before-you-buy-it option allows users to experience the power of Ethereum L2 right away. If users would like to withdraw funds to L1, they can deploy their Ethereum L1 smart contract wallet, paying for the creation cost at that time.
EarthWorks ETHOS Microphone Review
Dave Hamilton is testing a new microphone in Mac Geek Gab 903, the Earthworks ETHOS!
Check out the review and how it sounds in this mini-segment!
Holiday Viewing Picks – TMO Daily Observations 2021-12-21
Charlotte Henry and host Kelly Guimont chat about their picks for holiday themed viewing as well as suggestions for additional downtime TV.
iOS 15: How to Create a Memoji Using Your iPhone 13
iOS 14 adds new customization options to let you personalize your Memoji even further. Here’s how to create one.
'Merry Christmas' - First SMS Ever Sent Sells for US$121,000
The first SMS ever sent sold for €107,000 euros (US$121,000) as an NFT at an auction in Paris on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The message says “Merry Christmas” and was sent on December 3, 1992, by an engineer at UK carrier Vodafone.
Vodafone engineer Neil Papworth sent the SMS from his computer to a manager in the United Kingdom, who received it on his 2-kg (4 lb) “Orbitel” telephone – similar to a desk phone but cordless and with a handle. “They were in the middle of end-of-year events so he sent him the message ‘Merry Christmas’,” said Maximilien Aguttes, head of development for the Aguttes Auction House…The selling of intangible goods is not legal in France and so the auction house has packaged the text message in a digital frame, displaying the code and communication protocol, Aguttes said.
[Image credt: Agutess]
'Cryptomator' 2.0 is Here and it Integrates Into iOS Files App
The team behind Cryptomator has rewritten the app in Swift, and with version 2.0 the app is completely integrated into the Files app. This means that your vaults are directly accessible from there. For example, you can now save and edit a Word document directly in an encrypted vault via the Files app. In addition, features like thumbnails, grid view, swiping through images, and drag & drop are possible with the new app. To summarize, Cryptomator gives you end-to-end encryption for your files. You can store them in Google Drive, iCloud Drive, Dropbox, and more. You can also store them offline in the Files app or on a hard drive.
End of Year Round-Up With Mark Gurman — Media+
Mark Gurman of Bloomberg News joins host Charlotte Henry for the final Media+ of 2021. They look back on Apple’s digital media successes and failures in the last 12 months and discuss what might come next.