Enter our new international giveaway for a chance to win the brand new iPhone 16 Pro.
Backblaze Releases Hard Drive Stats for Q2 2021
Backblaze has released statistics for Q2 2021 regarding its hard drives and data centers on Tuesday. Here are some interesting numbers.
Apple Fails to Buy Reese Witherspoon Media Company, Scarlett Johansson Sues Disney — Media+
Author and Six Colors writer Dan Moren returns to discuss Reese Witherspoon selling her Hello Sunshine media firm to someone other than Apple with host Charlotte Henry. They also ponder the implications of Scarlett Johansson suing Disney.
AMD Releases New Radeon PRO W6000X GPUs for Mac Pro
On Tuesday, AMD announced its line of Radeon PRO W6000X GPU series for the Mac Pro.
Built on groundbreaking AMD RDNA 2 architecture, AMD Infinity Cache and other advanced technologies, the new workstation graphics line-up includes the AMD Radeon™ PRO W6900X and AMD Radeon™ PRO W6800X GPUs. Mac Pro users also have the option of choosing the AMD Radeon PRO W6800X Duo graphics card, a dual-GPU configuration that leverages high-speed AMD Infinity Fabric interconnect technology to deliver outstanding levels of compute performance.
Apple Expands Digital Student IDs to More U.S. Universities, Canada
Apple announced that more students can add their student ID to the Wallet app. The program is expanding to Canada for the first time.
Zoom to Pay $85 Million Over Encryption, Sending User Data
Zoom is paying US$85 to settle claims that it lied about offering end-to-end encryption, as well as giving users data to Facebook and Google.
You Can Now Buy That Touch ID Magic Keyboard Separately
The Touch ID Magic Keyboard that Apple introduced with the M1 iMac can now be purchased as a separate accessory.
Apple TV+ Earns Five Imagen Awards Nominations
Apple TV+ has five Imagen Awards Nominations, including for ‘The Mosquito Coast’ and ‘Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special’.
Update to ProtonVPN Adds WireGuard Protocol, iOS Kill Switch
WireGuard is a new VPN protocol (and VPN itself) designed to be faster and more efficient than IPsec and OpenVPN. It passes network traffic over UDP. In its latest update, ProtonVPN has added support for WireGuard as a beta feature. Another feature for the iOS app is the Kill Switch which was previously only found on the desktop version. The Kill Switch will stop all network connections on your system if the VPN connection drops to prevent accidental IP leaks.
Australians Can Now Add Covid-19 Digital Certificate to Apple Wallet
Australians who have received two doses of either the Pfizer or AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines can add the relevant certification to their Apple Wallet, Tap Down Under reported. It follows the same development in the UK.
As of today, it’s now possible to add a copy of your COVID-19 digital certificate to your digital wallet of choice – Apple Wallet or Google Pay – making it easier to show proof of vaccination for which will undoubtedly become required sometime in the future. There are two methods to add it into Apple Wallet; You can go straight to my.gov.au, tap on ‘Go to Medicare’ in the COVID-19 vaccination status area, and then under the PDF link, there’s an Add to Apple Wallet button. The other method, is to use the Medicare app – which is handy to have regardless for other features like a digital Medicare card.
Twitter Partnering With AP And Reuters to Tackle Misinformation
Twitter is partnering with news agencies The Associated Press (AP) and Reuters in a bid to tackle misinformation. Curation chief Joanna Geary explained how it is going to work in a blog post.
Twitter’s Curation team will increase our capacity to add reliable context to conversations happening on Twitter. This joint work will increase the scale and speed of the current work…by: Increasing and improving context sharing: Ensuring that credible information is available in real time around key conversations as they emerge on Twitter, especially where facts are in dispute or when Twitter’s Curation team doesn’t have the specific expertise or access to a high enough volume of reputable reporting on Twitter. For example, people on Twitter can expect more Trends with contextual descriptions and links to reporting from trusted sources more frequently. Anticipating and proactively identifying emerging conversation: Proactively providing context on topics garnering widespread interest including those that could potentially generate misleading information. Rather than waiting until something goes viral, Twitter will contextualize developing discourse at pace with or in anticipation of the public conversation. Improving the effectiveness of product features: Supporting product experimentation and existing initiatives where additional credible context could make our work better. For example, Birdwatch will use feedback from AP and Reuters as one way to assess the quality of information elevated by Birdwatch participants.
Which Key Command Types The Apple Logo?
Ever noticed people typing the Apple logo () instead of the word Apple? There’s an easy keyboard command to do it.
Reese Witherspoon Sells Media Firm, But Not to Apple
Reese Witherspoon has sold media business, Hello Sunshine, but not to Apple, which was previously thought to be interested.
The Rise of QR Codes has Privacy Experts Worried
The popularly of QR codes has risen due to the pandemic, since it enables touchless interactions. But they can be used for tracking and advertising.
But the spread of the codes has also let businesses integrate more tools for tracking, targeting and analytics, raising red flags for privacy experts. That’s because QR codes can store digital information such as when, where and how often a scan occurs. They can also open an app or a website that then tracks people’s personal information or requires them to input it.
Elon Updates, Lasso is Legit – TMO Daily Observations 2021-08-02
Charlotte Henry and Bryan Chaffin join host Kelly Guimont to discuss the latest news (or not) from Elon Musk, and just how legit Ted Lasso’s football shows are.
Twitter for iOS Adds Support for Sign In with Apple
Twitter is rolling out support for privacy feature Sign In with Apple to its iOS app, as well as support for logging in with Google.
Raffle House Data Leak Exposes Personal Data of ‘Hundreds of Thousands’
Discovered on June 7, 2021, Raffle House suffered a data leak that leaked the personal data of hundreds of thousands of users.
Ethereum’s EIP 1559 Upgrade Goes Live on August 4
A major update to the Ethereum blockchain known as EIP 1159 will go live on August 4. Reuters explains what it means.
EIP-1559 is a software upgrade that fundamentally changes the way transactions are processed on Ethereum by providing clear pricing on transaction fees in ether paid to miners to validate transactions and “burning” a small amount of those tokens. The burned tokens will be permanently taken out of circulation.
By reducing the number of tokens, the currencies that remain in circulation become rarer and more valuable.
Microsoft Warns Office 365 Users of New Phishing Campaign
Microsoft’s Security Intelligence team issued a warning to be on the lookout for an active phishing campaign targeting Office 365 users.
Hackers Leak FIFA 21 Source Code After Extortion Attempt
After a failed extortion attempt, hackers have leaked a 751GB cache of data stolen from Electronic Arts. The files include the source code for FIFA 21.
While initially, the hackers hoped to earn a big payday from the EA hack, they failed to find any buyers on the underground market, as the stolen data was mostly source code that lacked any value for other cybercrime groups, most of which are interested in user personal or financial data primarily.
After failing to find a buyer, the hackers tried to extort EA, asking the company to pay an undisclosed sum and avoid having the data leaked online.
iPhone's Hidden Feature In Photos
Did you know about this hidden feature in your iPhone Photos App we discussed in Mac Geek Gab 882?
Scroll down in photo detail view to find your pictures categorized by People and Places! There is also a huge map that shows where you have taken all your pictures.
Elon Musk Denies Asking Tim Cook to Make Him Apple CEO
Elon Musk has denied a story that appears in a new book alleging that he asked Tim Cook to make him Apple CEO as part of a deal to buy Tesla.
Wi-Fi Connects But Doesn't Work – Mac Geek Gab 883
Ever have a scenario where everything seems right but nothing IS right? That’s what’s happening with several different MGG listeners this week, each for several different reasons. Listen as John and Dave dig into these questions — and more! — as they diligently work to ensure everyone learns at least five new things. Quick Tips, Cool Stuff Found, and more round out the episode to be sure of that!
Ultimate Ears' Custom EarBuds
In case you missed Mac Geek Gab 881, here’s a cool new accessory to check out: Ultimate Ear’s FITS. These are do-it-at-home, custom earbuds.
Earthworks ICON Pro Microphone
The Earthworks ICON Pro is a great microphone for gaming, broadcasting, and podcasting! Check out more in this video from Mac Geek Gab 881.