PCWorld: Oh, Yahoo. It was bad enough that the company already announced a breach exposing 500 million user accounts two years after it happened. Then late last night Yahoo revealed that it had uncovered another unrelated hack exposing the account … Continued
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Super Mario Run arrives in the App Store
A new kind of Mario game that you can play with one hand. In this game, Mario constantly moves forward through the courses while you use a variety of jumps to navigate. Mario will behave differently depending on the timing of your taps, so it’s up to you to show off particularly smooth moves, gather coins, and reach the goal.
Have fun.
What makes guitar amp speakers sound different?
Most guitar players are blissfully unaware of the details of the speakers they’re playing through. Sure, they may know what size the speakers are and how many are in the cabinet, but other than that, they have no idea about how much of an effect the make of the speaker can have on the sound.
It’s always good to know at least some details about you’re playing through.
Yahoo breach compromises 1 billion accounts
Yahoo Inc warned on Wednesday that it had uncovered yet another massive cyber attack, saying data from more than 1 billion user accounts was compromised in August 2013, making it the largest breach in history.
What the hell is going on over there?
Trump speaks to Silicon Vally executives
President-elect Donald Trump and some of Silicon Valley’s most powerful executives met at his Manhattan tower on Wednesday, a summit convened to smooth over frictions after both sides made no secret of their disdain for each other during the election campaign.
I find it very odd that Trump’s three kids were at the head of the table.
Yahoo reports massive data breach involving 1 billion accounts
If you don’t absolutely need it, you really should delete your Yahoo account.
Uber launches self-driving car fleet in San Francisco
Uber has rolled out its self-driving car fleet in its hometown of San Francisco, despite lacking the proper permit that state regulators say is required.
Starting Wednesday, riders who request an UberX, one of the company’s budget ride options, may be matched with a self-driving Uber. It is unclear how many of these cars Uber has in San Francisco.
There will be people in the car for now, but I’ll be honest, I’m not sure what I’d do if one of these pulled up to give me a ride when the people are gone.
Nintendo’s risky mobile games push with paid Super Mario launch on iPhones
Nintendo Co will make a big push into mobile gaming on Thursday with the launch of the popular Super Mario Bros franchise on the iPhone, a risky bet because users will need to pay upfront, at a time when the gaming market is getting crowded.
While investors are hoping Super Mario Run will be a hit for Nintendo, its decision to charge $9.99 for full access to the game may limit revenues and put its fate at the mercy of loyal Nintendo console-game fans.
I’m betting it will be a huge success. Let’s face it, that’s not much money for a game that so many people enjoy.
With Google’s ‘Window Wonderland,’ tour NYC’s Fifth Avenue Christmas displays
I’ve known about these Christmas windows since I was a kid in Nova Scotia so I loved going to them when I lived near New York City. There’s nothing like seeing them in person but this site is the next best thing.
Apple ordered to cough up $2m to store workers after denying rest breaks
When I first heard of this lawsuit, I knew Apple was likely to lose it. But a $2 million settlement among 21,000 current and former workers is getting off really easy for the company.
3 apps for seeing your Mac’s battery time remaining
Apple taking the estimate away, even if wildly inaccurate, is silly. Not fixing it, even more so. These apps aren’t necessarily any more accurate (testing will be required) but at least you’ll have some indication as to how much battery life you (might) have left.
Latest watchOS update bricks some Apple Watches
While not a widespread problem, it doesn’t matter if your Watch has been bricked. Apple says, “We are working on a fix for an upcoming software update” but no word on when that will be available.
The inside story behind Pebble’s demise
I think it remains to be seen if Apple has “misjudged” the market.
Hoverboard snowplow
I still think “hoverboards” are stupid and potentially dangerous but this kid is a genius. I’d hire him to shovel my driveway in a minute.
MacBook Pro launch: perplexing
Jean-Louis Gassée: With both the RAM limitation and “donglegate” we see self-inflicted wounds, a puzzling lack of storytelling by a company that has a long history of controlling the narrative. Apple was forced to react with labored explanations and admission-of-guilt … Continued
Professor finds ‘shortest’ route to 50,000 historic U.S. sites
I have what is known as “Brown Sign Disease” (named after the color of historic markers in New England). It’s characterized by an inability to pass any historical marker or sign without stopping to read it. I would definitely take this trip and then follow it up with the “shortest journey to visit close to 25,000 pubs in the U.K.” trip.
The security content of iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS
I know some people like to read up on the security content on Apple’s updates, so here you go:
Radio Garden
This web site is really cool. You can listen to radio stations from around the world.
The 2016 hater’s guide to the Williams-Sonoma catalog
I admit to loving Williams-Sonoma stores, primarily for the gadgets, but this rant about the catalog is hilarious and definitely NSFW.
macOS Sierra 10.12.2 released
Apple on Tuesday released a significant update for macOS Sierra, fixing a number of issues users had with the Mac operating system. […]
Apple says BeatsX earphones delayed until February
The rumor mill is going crazy with the reasons behind these issues but the bottom line is Apple is having a hard time with its earphone products and it’s getting a little embarrassing for them.
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AirPods are now available
Apple today announced AirPods are available to order online now from Apple.com and will start delivering to customers and arriving at Apple Stores, Apple Authorized Resellers and select carriers next week.
This is great news. I’ve been using these since they were announced in September and you will love them.
The agenda for Trump’s tech summit next week
From a source close to Trump’s transition team:
Those items, said the source, are U.S.-focused job creation, and how these tech firms can work with government to improve efficiency.
Among those attending the meeting will be Apple CEO Tim Cook, Alphabet CEO Larry Page and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg.
App Store and iTunes Store unavailable to some
According to Apple’s System Status page, the iTunes Store, the iOS App Store, and the Mac App Store are currently unavailable for some users, making it impossible to do things like purchase new apps and download app updates.
I’m affected by this. I’m also getting a message that says iTunes can’t process purchases right now.
Microsoft says MacBook Pro disappointment leads to best holiday ever
More people are switching from Macs to Surface than ever before. Our trade-in program for MacBooks was our best ever, and the combination of excitement for the innovation of Surface coupled with the disappointment of the new MacBook Pro – especially among professionals – is leading more and more people to make the switch to Surface, like this. It seems like a new review recommending Surface over MacBook comes out daily. This makes our team so proud, because it means we’re doing good work.
Microsoft has come out with things like this in the past for products competing with Apple, including a mock funeral for the iPod years ago—the number of times they’ve done that makes it hard for me to believe them. However, if this is true, Apple has a problem.
Apple rolling out ‘Report Junk’ feature for iCloud Calendar invites
Benjamin Mayo:
Apple is rolling out a fix for the iCloud Calendar spam issue that has plagued users over the past few weeks. On iCloud.com, the company has added a new Report Junk feature. This lets users remove spammy invites from their calendar and reports the sender to Apple for further investigation.
The feature is currently only available on Apple’s iCloud.com Calendar web app but it is likely to roll out to the iOS and Mac native Calendar in a future software update.
Great, great, great!
Getting 50-somethings to pay for streaming music
This is a fascinating article on WSJ. It profiles a new service called Music Aficionado that caters to getting the older crowd to pay for music.
Although older, wealthier fans raised in the age of record stores make up the demographic that is most comfortable with the idea of paying for music, they’ve been among the most reluctant groups to pay for monthly streaming subscriptions, which offer ad-free access to up to tens of millions of songs.
I’ve seen this myself. People with millions of dollars that are using free services or just using their own music, instead of paying for a service. I pay for Pandora, Apple Music, and Spotify, but I’m not sure any of them really talk to me as a long-time music buyer and listener. Pandora is probably the best, followed by Spotify, but it feels like Pandora’s new service may have an edge in this next year because their new service will be tailored around what you listen to and like instead of pushing the music the service wants you to listen to.
While older consumers can generally be slower to adopt new technology, there are other factors at play. Streaming companies have been primarily built by young techies and generally use what Mr. Penn calls a “DJ model” to cater to a younger audience, promoting pop-heavy playlists that serve primarily as soundtracks for activities such as partying, exercising and “chilling.” Record companies, meantime, haven’t rushed to convert their album buyers to subscribers, since physical music sales are still highly profitable and accounted for nearly 40% of the recorded music industry’s global revenue last year.
The over-50 “demo is largely being ignored in the digital world even though these folks are the most passionate about music because they lived all of it the first time around,” said Fred Goldring, a 58-year-old veteran music lawyer.
Agreed. This is why I think Pandora has a chance—they’ll show me what I want to see as a music listener.
When I open up Apple Music and see the newest Pop/Hip Hop in my “For You” section, one of two things is happening: Either Apple’s “Love” feature doesn’t actually work, or they are pushing these albums to all users regardless of their choices. Either way, it’s not good for the user.
Apple releases iOS 10.2
Apple released the next major update for iOS this morning. You can download iOS 10.2 by going to Settings > General > Software Update on your iOS device.
LeBron James using iPad during games
“Just seeing how defenses are playing me, playing us,” James told cleveland.com. “Kind of watching and paying attention to the minutes I was in, so at the last three minutes of the first quarter when I come out, I can watch and see from when I was in. Then I go back in for the second, and I get it once again at the six minute mark of the second quarter. Just trying to stay above the curve and see how i can help.”
James is the only one using the iPad on the Cavs at this point, but he’s using it wisely. Studying how the other team is playing him on the court and seeing if he can come up with ways for the Cavs to counteract that.