The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on Friday that it has arrested 14 members of the REvil ransomware group.
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
Mozilla 'Pixel Hunt 'Study Aims to Track Facebook Tracking You
Mozilla is launching a study called Facebook Pixel Hunt. The goal is to track Facebook tracking around the web.
According to its own privacy policy, Facebook may collect information about you across the web even if you don’t have a Facebook account. One way Facebook performs this tracking is through a network of “pixels” that may be installed on many of the sites you visit. By joining this study, you will help Rally and The Markup investigate and report on where Facebook is tracking you and what kind of information they are collecting.
Congress Introduces 'TLDR' Bill to Combat Confusing Terms of Service
It wants to change the trope with Terms of Service conditions written in “legalese” language incomprehensible for many users
'Fortnite' on iOS Makes a Comeback Through NVIDIA GeForce NOW
On Thursday NVIDIA announced that Fortnite on iOS can soon be possible by way of its GeForce NOW streaming service.
White House Meets With Software Companies Over 'Log4j' Cybersecurity Concerns
Officials at the White House are meeting with companies such as Apple, Apache, and others to talk about cybersecurity in the wake of Log4j.
New Venmo Gift Wrapping Feature Can Make Your Payments Fancy
Venmo gift wrapping is a new feature that adds eight new designs for sending and receiving payments.
Customers can send a gift-wrapped payment in just a few simple steps, at no additional cost. Simply tap the “Pay or Request” button on the home screen and add the recipient, payment note and payment amount. Customers can then tap the gift-wrap icon (next to the “Pay” button) and choose the gift-wrap they’d like to send along with their payment, where they will be able to preview the animation before confirming and sending the payment.
What is Web3? Explaining the Technology Stack in This New Ecosystem
A recent report from Coinbase examines the web3 stack, or the various protocols and blockchain technologies that make up the ecosystem.
Where a third party like Facebook owns your identity and data in Web2, your identity in Web3 can move fluidly between platforms without your data being captured and monetized by service providers. While Web2 apps are centrally controlled, tokens in Web3 grant users the right to help govern the services they use, representing a form of ownership in the platforms themselves.
CLCKR Universal MagSafe Stand and Slim Wallet Accessory Now Available
Smartphone accessory maker CLCKR says its Universal MagSafe Stand and Slim Wallet with Stand are now available.
Latitude Studio Launches 'Voyage' Platform for AI Games
Latitude, the studio behind A.I. Dungeon, is launching Voyager. This is a platform for other AI games and provides creation tools.
Voyage, which will launch as a subscription-based service, looks to deliver on that curiosity further with a suite of new games. In Medieval Problems, players take the role of a king who has to solve problems in his kingdom, much like the Reigns series. Rather than choosing between a few options, players will type anything they want and the computer will generate a unique response.
Coinbase Plans Four Weeks of Employee Relaxation in 2022
This year Coinbase plans to give employees four weeks of recharge time after the intensity of the crypto boom in 2021.
We know this approach wouldn’t work for every company, and we also know Coinbase isn’t for everyone. But if you want to work at the cutting edge of crypto and tech — and if you’re excited about pushing your skills to the limit while knowing you’ll have regular opportunities to recharge — there’s no better place to be.
Beware of Fake QR Codes on Parking Meters That Steal Your Money
Scammers are targeting unwary people with fake QR codes found on parking meters. The report centers on a couple of cities in Texas.
Microsoft Teams Now Supports Walkie Talkie Feature for iPhone, iPad
Microsoft released a report about how technology can help frontline workers. One update includes Microsoft Teams support for Walkie Talkie.
Here's How The GitHub Mobile Team Ships Releases With Automation
The GitHub Mobile team published a report on Wednesday sharing how they ship releases using automation.
Shipping a mobile app is not an easy task. Before a build goes out to our users’ hands, we must make sure the end result is properly built, all written tests are passed, and any critical issues are captured by testing. Also, we compose release notes with changes since our last update. All of these tasks can be quite time-consuming.
Apple Releases iOS 15.2.1 Update That Fixes HomeKit Bug
On Wednesday Apple released iOS 15.2.1 and iPadOS 15.2.1 to its customers. It’s a minor update that contains a few bug fixes.
'PUBG: Battlegrounds' Now Free to Play on all Platforms
KRAFTON, Inc announced on Wednesday that its game PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS is now free to play on PC and consoles. With the game’s transition to F2P, it introduces BATTLEGROUNDS Plus, an optional premium account upgrade that allows players to access a variety of new and exclusive in-game features. While all new players will start with a Basic Account that offers access to most game features, they can upgrade to BATTLEGROUNDS Plus for a one-time fee of US$12.99 USD and gain access to the following: Bonus 1,300 G-COIN; Survival Mastery XP + 100% boost; Career – Medal tab; Ranked Mode; Custom Match functionality; In-Game items, including the Captain’s Camo set, which includes hat, camo mask and camo gloves.
New 'SysJoker' Backdoor is a Multi-Platform Threat for macOS, Windows, Linux
There is a new piece of malware floating around. This SysJoker backdoor was discovered in December 2021 by the Intezer team.
What's a 'Wordle?' Here's the Story of This Popular Game
If you’ve been wondering what a “wordle” is as I have, fear no more. The New York Times tells its story.
It’s been a meteoric rise for the once-a-day game, which invites players to guess a five-letter word in a similar manner as the guess-the-color game Mastermind. After guessing a five-letter word, the game tells you whether any of your letters are in the secret word and whether they are in the correct place. You have six tries to get it right.
TransCredit Data Leak Over 800,000 Records of Credit Reports
Jeremiah Fowler together with the Website Planet research team found an unsecured Transcredit data leak of 822,789 records.
Update to 'Apple Frames' Shortcut Supports Apple Watch Series 7, 2021 MacBook Pro
Over at MacStories, Federico Viticci updated his Apple Frames shortcut. This is a brilliant tool I use nearly every day to frame my screenshots into an Apple device frame, or outline. He recently updated it to support the Apple Watch Series 7 and 2021 MacBook Pro. You can find Mr. Viticci’s article at the link below. “Starting with Apple Frames 2.1, the Shortcuts app will detect whether you have an older version of the Frames.json installed in iCloud Drive, and it’ll automatically replace it with the latest one from the MacStories CDN. That’s it. If an old version of the Frames.json file is found, Shortcuts will send you a notification and re-download the file from cdn.macstories.net.“
First Crypto Single Sign-On Option Launches for Ethereum, Polygon
Unstoppable Domains has launched the first-ever crypto Single Sign-On (SSO) option for Ethereum and Polygon.
Generate AI Music With 'Boomy' And Sell it on Spotify
Boomy is a service that lets you generate AI music in less than 30 seconds, then submit the tracks to Spotify and other platforms.
While Boomy owns the copyright to each recording, and receives the funds in the first instance, the company says it passes on 80% of the streaming royalties to the person who created the song. Mr Mitchell adds that more than 10,000 of its users have published over 100,000 songs in total on various streaming services.
Associated Press NFT Marketplace Announced for its Photojournalism
On Monday the Associated Press announced an NFT marketplace it will launch on January 31 in collaboration with Xooa.
Update Immediately: Bug in 'Cryptomator' Leaks Encrypted File Paths to Apple
A bug in Cryptomator was recently found and reported on for the iOS app. The team wrote about the vulnerability on Tuesday.
Mac Security Tools Company 'Objective-See' Goes Non-Profit
Instead of antivirus or antimalware software, I use several tools from Objective-See. They’re free and open source. Company founder Patrick Wardle is making the business a non-profit.
I see a lot of people who take VC money and almost always your business model has to change or you have to put profits first and can’t do the community focus and public service activities you want. Going the nonprofit route is a really good approach and illustrates that you can support your company on donations without having to change that business model.