The good thing about web-site cookies is that they are blockable. Cookies are the devil-you-know and web browsers are set up to deal with/delete them.
Now there’s a new insidious devil in town called canvas fingerprinting which can’t be blocked by your browser’s privacy settings or plugins.
The linked article picks up some of the more important (and to some, chilling) things embedded in that license agreement you agreed to when you signed up for Facebook, all with highlighted quotes from Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities.
About ten years ago, when Rory McIlroy was just 15 years old, his father places a 500-to-1 bet with British betting firm Ladbrokes that his son would win the British Open within 10 years (before Rory turned 26). Now that’s faith in your son’s talent!
Amazon has unveiled a new subscription service called Kindle Unlimited, designed to give Kindle readers unlimited access to a limited library of eBooks, all for $9.99 a month.
I think this is a bit of a stumble for Amazon, a money grab. I’m an insatiable reader and I would go for this if all of Amazon’s book library was included. But as is, no thanks.
Apple’s presence in China continues to grow.
A little bit of history, plus the source code from the Apollo 11 guidance computer.
[VIDEO] At first blush, American Ninja Warrior might seem like just another silly bit of reality TV. But try to imagine doing what the contestants on this show do. As you watch the video below, ignore the hype and just focus on each individual task that Kacy Catanzaro takes on. Inspirational. Bravo, Kacy.
If you’ve never listened to them before, take a few minutes to check out this live album from 40 years ago. Here’s a link to the album on iTunes. Scroll to the bottom and hit Preview All.
Lauren Bruce, a former Comcast customer account executive, talks about what really is going on behind the scenes. This is awful.
Warren Buffet and Paul McCartney were sitting on a park bench in Omaha. This kid sees them and takes a selfie that has since gone viral. Pretty cool.
This is Apple’s official press release. Bill Campbell is a strong part of Apple’s history. It’s sad to see him step down.
Uber is now delivering ice cream. Imagine this value to Amazon or Google. Read the original Loop post for more…
[VIDEO] This is short, but very cool. Footage is from an Ohio race, July 4th, 2014. Be sure to watch out for the part immediately after the crash when the red car driver calmly readjusts their side view mirror and drives on. Brilliant!
When two-step verification rolled out in March, 2013, it was only available in the US, the UK, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand. It’s now available in 59 countries.
Mashable:
While Tesla Motors has charging stations throughout the United States and Europe, there are none in China outside of Beijing and Shanghai. Zong’s charging road, which includes 20 charging stations in 16 cities across the 5,750-kilometer (about 3,570-mile) stretch between the two cities, attempts to fix that problem.
What to get for the beer drinker who has everything. You might want to throw in a shirt with French cuffs, while you’re at it.
For perspective, Microsoft has 125,000 employees and just brought 25,000 new employees on from Nokia.
Thoughts from InformationWeek on Apple’s existing success in enterprise and the difficulties faced by Team Android and Microsoft.
ZDNet:
The biggest challenge for team Android is that Google and Samsung, two partners with enterprise ambitions, will have to herd cats to reach corporations. Android will need channel, integration and services support and there are few players that can match IBM’s reach.
Here’s a lesson in how easy it is to fool people, in just how much people want to believe in conspiracies.
Fragmentation is the enemy of any operating system. 90% is a huge adoption rate. Android has some catching up to do here.
Apple Senior VP Eddie Cue is offering lunch and a MacBook Air to benefit the NBA Coaches Foundation. With one day left, the current high bid is $40,000.
The reductions — which may be unveiled as soon as this week — will probably be in areas such as Nokia and divisions of Microsoft that overlap with that business, as well as marketing and engineering, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t public. The restructuring may end up being the biggest in Microsoft history, topping the 5,800 jobs cut in 2009, two of the people said.
Sad for the people who lose their jobs, but good news for Microsoft if it helps get their ship back on course.
9to5mac:
Apple today has launched an interesting new service for iTunes Store, App Store, and iBookstore users in Japan with iPhones and iPod touches. The new service, called iTunes Pass (no, not that iTunes Pass), allows users to go to an Apple Store in Japan, purchase credit in-store for the iTunes Store, App Store, and iBookstore, and have that money immediately applied to the Apple ID account instead of needing to receive a gift card and enter a redemption code.
Here’s another magical way to add money to your iTunes account:
From Apple Insider:
Last July, a U.S. Government report titled “Threats to Mobile Devices Using the Android OS” warned that Android “continues to be a primary target for malware attacks due to its market share and open source architecture,” and stated that this “makes it more important than ever to keep mobile OS patched and up-to-date.”
A year later, Google still reports that more than 53.4 percent of active Android users accessing Google Play are still using an “Ice Cream Sandwich,” “Gingerbread” or other editions of Android prior to 4.2 that still “have a number of security vulnerabilities that were fixed in later versions.”
A good read with lots of follow-up links.
[VIDEO] Ingress was created by a startup within Google called Niantic Labs. From the Wikipedia page:
The gameplay consists of establishing “portals” at places of public art, landmarks, cenotaphs, etc., and linking them to create virtual triangular fields over geographic areas. Progress in the game is measured by the number of Mind Units, i.e. people, nominally controlled by each faction (as illustrated on the Intel Map).
Here’s a link to the iOS version of the game. It’s free. Note that you’ll need to login with a gmail or other Google account.
Note also that you’ll need to share your location with the game and that your location will be shared with other players. There is a bit of risk there, both in privacy and in sharing your actual location with people you don’t know. This is the one aspect of the game I find worrisome.
The trailer is embedded below.
Last week, Samsung was accused of using child labor, in direct contrast with statements made in their 2014 Sustainability Report.
Today, Samsung acknowledged that child labor was, indeed, used by at least one of its contractors.
This past Friday, we posted a story titled China labels iPhone a security threat. Apple responded to the Chinese broadcaster’s accusations in a well crafted post on their site.
Here’s the full English-language post from Apple’s web site:
Your Location Privacy
Apple is deeply committed to protecting the privacy…
Why does the dark side of the moon look so very different from the side that faces the Earth? There’s a new theory that has gained acceptance, and it’s not at all obvious. A terrific read for a Sunday.