Senior Correspondent Arnold Woodworth's Weekend Roundup

Has Apple's Innovation Engine Run Out of Steam?

I think that the time is right for the Cupertino giant to unveil a new product, and prove to the world that innovation is alive and well at Apple HQ.

http://www.datamation.com/commentary/has-apples-innovation-engine-run-out-of-steam.html



Apple Preps Sapphire Plant for Tougher iPhone Screens

http://techland.time.com/2014/02/07/report-apple-preps-sapphire-plant-for-tougher-iphone-screens/



Apple quietly builds out networks for content delivery

Apple has in a short time bought enough bandwidth from Web carriers to move hundreds of gigabits of data each second.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-quietly-builds-out-networks-for-content-delivery-2014-02-04




Growing discontent among bitcoin enthusiasts with Apple Inc. could finally result in a shift away from the company's signature iPhones and iPads.

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2014/02/07/bitcoin-entrepreneurs-warn-of-shift-away-from-apple-products/




Why Apple Just Removed A Popular Bitcoin App From The App Store

Bitcoin remains a murky proposition from a legal perspective
Apple is waiting for legal clarity with Bitcoin before it starts approving apps that do Bitcoin transactions

http://www.businessinsider.com/why-apple-is-anti-bitcoin-apps-right-now-2014-2




Bitcoin - Revolution Or Trap?

In 2008, a mysterious person or group using the apparent pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto unveiled a new digital currency called Bitcoin.

Nakamoto, whoever he (or she, they) was, disappeared in 2010. But by then the Bitcoin community had taken on a life of its own. Hundreds of users began to mine Bitcoins with increasingly sophisticated computers, and the number of merchants and individuals willing to accept, store, and transact in the currency rose steadily.

Bitcoin’s Achilles heel is that it has to be stored somewhere, and no place is 100 percent secure.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-02-02/guest-post-bitcoin-revolution-or-trap




Bitcoin drops sharply as Mt. Gox halts withdrawals

The company said an increase in flow of withdrawals requests "has hindered our efforts on a technical level. To understand the issue thoroughly, the system needs to be in a static state".

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bitcoin-drops-sharply-as-mt-gox-halts-withdrawals-2014-02-07




Bitcoin Is Becoming Serious; And Serious Means Accountability -- as of November 2013, when the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs held its first hearings on bitcoin.

Mt.Gox has been the dominant Bitcoin exchange pretty much since the beginning. In its brief history, it has suffered several bad setbacks. Gox made some changes, came back up and a great deal was forgiven. Not this time.

It's too late for Mt. Gox to get its act together.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-02-08/marginalizing-mt-gox-bitcoin-becoming-serious-and-serious-means-accountability




What Facebook knows about you

http://money.cnn.com/2014/02/04/technology/facebook-data/




Here's How You Can Hide From Anyone On Facebook

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-change-facebook-privacy-settings-2014-2




people are better at protecting their privacy than companies would like

Every time social networks force openness on their users, people become much more guarded in what they share, leading internet giants to push for yet more openness.

Eventually you realize you’ve been giving away too much so you pull the plug and start over-protecting your privacy.

exposure and subsequent public debate over data collection from western spy agencies’ only boosts users’ caution. And they are increasingly demanding tools that allow them to protect themselves better.

http://qz.com/174988/it-turns-out-people-are-better-at-protecting-their-privacy-than-companies-would-like/




Dems Introduce Bills to Bring Back Net Neutrality

With Net neutrality struck down by an appeals court, legislators have taken up the fight.

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/79915.html




You can now shop on Amazon by taking photos

Amazon's app for iPhone added "Flow," an image recognition tool designed to allow consumers to add a product to their shopping cart by merely pointing their phone's camera at it. 

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/amazon-turns-cameras-into-credit-cards-2014-02-07




Google agrees landmark search deal in EU antitrust case

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/google-agrees-landmark-search-deal-in-eu-antitrust-case-2014-02-05




Programmers in Belarus, a former Soviet republic closely allied with Russia, were suspected of inserting malicious code that could be used for cyber attacks

a potential target of cyber attacks for identity theft and privacy violations” of Americans

The software currently is used in all medical facilities and insurance companies in the United States.

Belarus, for those who are unaware, is one of the hotbeds of cyber theft and scam.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/02/04/obamacare-network-vulnerable-to-cyber-attack/




Fraud hits one in three data-breach victims
Number of identity fraud victims increased by half a million in 2013

This article has five tips for reducing risk.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fraud-hits-one-in-three-data-breach-victims-2014-02-05




Mandatory "Vehicle-to-Vehicle" Communications Coming To U.S. Cars

The U.S. Transportation Department said Monday it plans to propose requiring all new cars and trucks to eventually communicate with one another

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-02-04/mandatory-vehicle-vehicle-communications-coming-us-cars