TMO Deals

100 Entries to Win the Complete Home Gym Giveaway Featuring Peloton

Bryan Chaffin ·

We have a giveaway called the Complete Home Gym Giveaway, where you could win a bunch of home fitness gear including the Peloton Bike+ Basics, the Mirror, Bowflex SelectTech 552 Dumbbells, and more. You get entries to the giveaway by donating money to the Playing For Change Foundation through our deals site. A $10 donation gets you 100 entries into the giveaway, with larger donation options available in the listing.

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Russian ‘Cozy Bear’ Hacking Team Hits US Government Networks

Andrew Orr ·

A group of Russian hackers known as Cozy Bear has hacked several U.S. government agencies like the Treasury and Commerce departments.

On Sunday night, FireEye said the attackers were infecting targets using Orion, a widely used business software app from SolarWinds. After taking control of the Orion update mechanism, the attackers were using it to install a backdoor that FireEye researchers are calling Sunburst.

Podcast

Swiper, NOT Swiping — Mac Geek Gab 848

John F. Braun & Dave Hamilton · · Add Comment

These days we do lots of swiping on our devices, and sometimes the results are expected, other times not so much! Listen as John and Dave share tips and answer questions about swiping. That’s not all, of course, the topics expand from there, including a great dive into USB speeds on Apple’s new iPads. Listen as your two favorite geeks walk through all of this for you this week!

Podcast

AirPods Max, Irish Streaming Law, Replacing iPhone Camera Lenses, with Jeff Gamet - ACM 539

Bryan Chaffin · · 1 Comment

Bryan Chaffin and Jeff Gamet talk about Apple’s new AirPods Max over-the-ear headphones. They also discuss a proposed law from Ireland that would require 30% of all streaming content to be made in Europe, something that could radically affect Apple TV+. And, Jeff Gamet explains how he broke his iPhone’s camera lens cover and how he replaced it.

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Apple Will Ban ‘X-Mode’ Data Broker From its Platforms

Andrew Orr ·

A report from The Wall Street Journal reveals that Apple and Google are banning a data broker called X-Mode from collecting location data from their platforms. (Non-paywalled version here). This is due to X-Mode links to selling data to government contractors involved in national security as Vice reported.

Both Apple and Google disclosed their decision to ban X-Mode to investigators working for Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.), who has been conducting an investigation into the sale of location data to government entities.

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How to Safely See Your Top 9 Instagram Photos of 2020

Andrew Orr ·

Your Top 9 Instagram posts of each year is a trend that has been going on for several years now. You probably don’t want to give websites access to your Instagram account just to see these photos. Or, maybe you don’t care. In any case, CNN has a short guide to safely do it with apps called Top Nine and Best Nine.

When you give your email to Top Nine, the service uses it to send you your yearly roundup, but may also contact you in the future for marketing, the company’s privacy policy says. The emails may come from Top Nine and its affiliate companies, but each one will contain instructions on how to “opt-out” of these messages.

If it doesn’t automatically use your email from Instagram, you could try a disposable email service like TempMail.

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iPhone 12 Mini Sales May Be Less Than Other New iPhones

Andrew Orr ·

Numbers from Wave7 Research suggest that of the new iPhone 12 models, sales of the iPhone 12 mini only account for 4%-5% of sales from the major carriers.

Wave7 interviews sales reps at carrier stores to get a picture of sales. The 12 mini had the “softest demand,” and some people chose the iPhone 12 Pro Max because of its camera, according to the report […] Spending $100 more for the iPhone Pro 12 fetches a 24% larger screen and a better battery life than the iPhone 12 mini.

I was impressed with the iPhone 12 mini because even though it’s the most affordable of the lineup, it still has many of the same features like an OLED display. I don’t know about the iPhone 12 but I thought I saw news in the past couple of months saying that the iPhone 12 Pro was the most popular.

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Disney+ Now Has a Staggering 86.8 Million Paid Subs

Charlotte Henry ·

As of December 2, Disney+ had 86.8 million paid subscribers Variety reported. Originally it had expected to be at 90 million in year four. The company also announced a host of new content, including from Star Wars and Marvel, was on the way. However, the streaming service also plans to up its prices in 2021.

With the strong momentum at Disney Plus’ back, the company now expects the streamer to have between 230 million and 260 million total paid subscribers by the end of fiscal year 2024, CFO Christine McCarthy said at the company’s investor day Thursday, along with other projections. The forecast includes Star subscribers, Disney’s forthcoming international general-entertainment service mimicking Hulu, which are substantially expected to be bundled in with Disney Plus.

TMO Deals

MultiDock Gives Your Mac Multiple Docks: $7.99

Bryan Chaffin ·

We have a deal on MultiDock for macOS, a utility that gives your Mac multiple Docks you can position all over your Mac’s desktop. You can create an unlimited number of panels and attach them to the edges of the screen (left, bottom, right, and top). You can also create free floating and movable panels. This utility is $7.99 through our deal.