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Tom Briant

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Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Senior Correspondent Arnold Woodworth's Weekly Web Wrap-up for Tuesday, October 18th

 

Apple to announce new Macs on Oct 27th
 
The last time Apple significantly updated its top-of-the-line MacBook Pro was back in 2012. Since then, the laptop has been updated to include a Retina display and a Force Touch trackpad, but a major revamp has been long overdue.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Video:
11 keyboard shortcuts only Mac power users know about
 
Excellent hints.
 
 
 
 
Video:
The Apple Pencil is changing Rapha’s design workflow
 
Apple has jumped on this opportunity to produce a good-looking short film about Valdman and Rapha in general. And it’s interesting to see how a peripheral device like the Apple Pencil can affect the workflows of non-tech companies.
 
 
 
 
These high-tech tattoos enable you to control electronic devices
 
... temporary tattoos made of conductive materials that can be used to control electronic devices, such as phones and computers.
 
They enable the user to interact with their gadgets in several ways
 
 
 
 
One thing your router needs now to keep hackers out
 
Hackers are continually looking for targets, and all they need to get to the personal files and devices on your network are your router’s IP address and your administrative password. A simple Google search is all it takes to find both for just about any router make and model.

Once hackers have this information from a router that hasn’t been updated, they can steal your files, peek through your webcam or worse. They can start sniffing data that’s passing to and from your router. They can record all your online activity, including usernames and passwords. They can even reroute your traffic to fake websites.

Routers can also be taken over to perform illegal activities, such as denial of service attacks or piracy. The scary part is you might not even know your router is compromised and being used for nefarious deeds.

If you’re not regularly updating your router with new firmware, you’re ripe for attack.
 
While updating a router is easy for a computer nerd, it can be difficult if you’re not.
 
Also, router manufacturers don’t notify you about their updates (unlike Apple’s automatic notifications).
 
 
 
 
Here's How Quantum Computing Will Change The World
 
Like the first digital computers, quantum computing offers the possibility of technology millions of times more powerful than current systems, but the key to its success will be translating real world problems into quantum language.
 
Quantum computing has to potential to solve — easily — many complex problems that require excessively long times to solve on digital computers.
 
 
 
 
This guy says Twitter is censoring his tweets.
 
He wrote:
"Twitter is blocking you from seeing them [some of my tweets] without any notice to you, or to me, that they're doing it."
 
 
 
 
Pundits have been crediting the recent Apple stock price gains to the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 disaster, but they have made the mistake of drawing an obvious conclusion that's actually only part of the story.
 
To catch you up: Samsung was forced to suspend sales of its flagship Galaxy Note 7 on Aug. 31, less than two weeks after the smartphone went on sale, following reports of exploding devices. Attempts to fix the problem failed, forcing Samsung to pull the Galaxy Note 7 entirely on Oct. 11.
 
Instead of harping on slowing iPhones sales as they had for most of the year, more analysts started to notice Apple's growing revenue from services.
 
The services segment – things like the App Store, Apple Pay, and Apple Music – is now Apple's second-largest source of revenue behind the iPhone.
 
Growth in services shows Apple is getting better at monetizing its base of customers in a more consistent way, rather than depending almost entirely on hardware upgrades every few years.
 
Credit Suisse has forecast that income from Apple services will double in less than four years.
 
 
 
 
Apple issues iOS update to fix iPhone 7 cellular connectivity issues
Verizon customers were complaining of spotty service
 
Apple released an iOS update today to address the complaints of thousands of Verizon customers who were experiencing signal drops and unexplainable issues with GPS when using the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. The update is numbered 10.0.3, and it’s solely focused on fixing the cellular connectivity issues for those two phones. If you have an older iPhone, you won’t see the update pop up.
 
 
 
 
A month with the iPhone 7
 
In the month I’ve spent with Apple’s new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, two things have become increasingly apparent to me. The first is that these are Apple’s best ever iPhones in far more ways than I thought they would be. The second is that the iPhone 7 Plus is now the iPhone.
 
 
 
 
Up until recently, handling an iPhone at an Apple Store involved dealing with its unwieldy security tether, a sometimes cumbersome experience that prevented potential buyers from getting a true idea of how it feels to hold and handle Apple’s handset.

At some stores, however, the tech giant has been removing the tethers for a better customer experience as well as cleaner bench displays more in keeping with the minimalist design of Apple’s brick-and-mortar locations.

Yes, it does mean someone could, in theory, enter the store, pick up a phone, pop it in their pocket, and walk out, but the fact that the trial appears to be expanding to multiple locations suggests Apple is pleased with the way it’s going. In other words, it hasn’t lost too many phones yet.

 
 
 
How to pick the perfect iPhone for you
 
 
 
 
Apple Offers a Temporary Workaround if the Home Button Fails on an iPhone 7

MacRumors forum member 'iwayne' shared the above picture of his iPhone 7 display after the device unexpectedly turned itself off while charging and the haptic feedback began malfunctioning after a restart. A dialog prompt warns that the home button is in need of repair, but presents an alternative onscreen home button for temporary use until the phone has been turned in to Apple for servicing.
 
 
 
 
iPhone 7 has created a wave of users who now use their smartphones in the shower
 
Thanks to Apple’s decision to remove the 3.5mm headphone jack, the iPhone 7 is without question the most water-resistant iPhone ever released.
 
Pushing the envelope even further, Gizmodo reports on a seemingly ridiculous yet not altogether surprising new trend among iPhone 7 owners: using the device in the shower and boasting about it on social media.
 
Sure, it’s easy to laugh at this tomfoolery, but Apple itself has made a point to position the iPhone 7’s robust water resistance as a key selling point.
 
 
Using Your iPhone 7 in the Shower Is the Latest Status Symbol
 
 
 
 
The iPhone 7’s missing headphone jack has turned out just fine
 
 
 
 
APPLE is reportedly preparing to add your trusty old iPhone 4 to its “obsolete list” – making it potentially worthless.
 
Apple says on its website: “Owners of iPhone, iPad, iPod, or Mac products may obtain service and parts from Apple or Apple service providers for 5 years after the product is no longer manufactured—or longer where required by law.
 
 
 
 
5 Things the iPhone Can Do That the Google Pixel Can’t
 
Water resistance
Better camera
More colorful display
Works Faster
iOS
 
 
 
 
Ultimate hurt for Apple’s strongest competitor
It is now a federal crime to bring a Galaxy Note 7 onto an airplane
 
Offenders are subject to civil penalties of up to $179,933 for each violation
 
 
 
 
Is the Apple Watch now the most accurate wearable?
 
The Apple Watch has been touted as the most accurate wrist-based wearable in a new study from the Cleveland Clinic, published in JAMA Cardiology.

The study was performed on 50 healthy adults, who wore an electrocardiogram (EKG), Fitbit Charge HR, Apple Watch, Mio Alpha, Basis Peak, and a chest strap for several hours.
 
Wearables have become far more accurate in the past few years, but Cleveland Clinic’s study clearly shows there’s more work to be done.
 
Is the Apple Watch now the most accurate wearable?
 
 
 
Mossberg: Why does Siri seem so dumb?

It seems to me that Apple has wasted its lead with Siri. And now Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook and others are on the march.
 
When’s the presidential debate? Siri had no clue.
 
 
 
 
The obscure legal mechanism Apple uses to keep its trademark filings secret for six months
 
 
 
 
8 out of 10 software engineering jobs are still going to men ... and that's a big improvement for women

http://www.businessinsider.com/80-percent-software-engineering-jobs-go-to-men-2016-10


 
These 11 brilliant visualizations show the insides of complex things

http://www.businessinsider.com/look-inside-cutaway-illustrations-2016-10/#published-in-1968-robert-w-nicholsons-cutaway-illustration-of-the-white-house-showed-details-most-people-had-never-seen-1



Facebook is leaking valuable younger users
Snapchat and Instagram climb with teens as Facebook stumbles

Facebook has been struggling to bring in younger users for several years now and it looks like the problem is getting worse.

According to Piper Jaffray Companies, a recent survey of 10,000 U.S. teenagers showed that 52% used Facebook at least once a month this fall, compared to 60% who used it monthly in the spring.

http://www.computerworld.com/article/3132527/social-media/facebook-is-leaking-valuable-younger-users.html



Video:
This is how you're compromising your identity on Facebook

The main reason is over-sharing — publishing information about yourself or your family that would be useful to criminals.

http://www.businessinsider.com/security-identification-facebook-geotagging-2016-10


 
How to Foil a Tech-Support Scam
Fraudsters are getting cleverer and more aggressive—but the government is cracking down.

Locker-type scams mostly being launched from overseas, where attackers can more easily avoid getting in trouble for infecting American computers. Hacking charges in the U.S. are no joke.

Instead, domestic scammers prefer operating in a legal gray area that can keep them from getting in too much trouble if they wind up in court. If they provide genuine tech-support services and can confuse less-than-savvy judges with technical minutiae, they can escape punishment, the Malwarebytes researcher said.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/10/when-computer-help-hurts/504467/


 
Even Bugs Will Be Bugged

1) Cameras Will Be Invisible
2) Your Past Will Be Omnipresent
3) We’ll Let Spies In
     how easy it is to spy on people through the gadgets in their homes
4) Machines Will Decide Our Fates
     We’re creating a world size robot.
     Such automation may increase efficiency, but it won’t eliminate injustice.
5) Society Will Be Safer but Creepier

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/11/even-bugs-will-be-bugged/501113/



Half of American adults appear in facial recognition databases — and police are using them with almost no oversight

On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union, along with 51 other advocacy groups, wrote a letter decrying the technology — which is being used by a growing number of law enforcement agencies across the country — for its lack of oversight and potential to disproportionately affect communities of color.

So far, no state has passed a comprehensive law regulating police departments' use of the technology, according to the report by the Center on Privacy and Technology at Georgetown University's law school.

http://www.businessinsider.com/police-using-facial-recognition-databases-with-almost-no-oversight-2016-10
Posted by Thomas Briant at 6:09 PM

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