A bug quietly reported on September 1 appears to have grave implications for Android users. Android Browser, the open source, WebKit-based browser that used to be part of the Android Open Source Platform (AOSP), has a flaw that enables malicious sites to inject JavaScript into other sites. Those malicious JavaScripts can in turn read cookies and password fields, submit forms, grab keyboard input, or do practically anything else.

I’m shocked. Shocked, I tell you.

iOS 8 is, by any measure, a big update. A lot of it is refinement to last year’s drastic design overhaul, but there are also a lot of notable new features. Sitting amongst those refinements and big new features are little nuggets of delight in which Apple has designed or implemented something (whether it be a feature, design flourish or a shortcut) that you might not notice until one day you stumble upon it accidentally.

As usual, Federico Viticci, Graham Spencer and the crew at MacStories put together a great set of tips for the new iOS.

With Dan still out, Shawn fills in and talks to Jim about his iPhone 6 and 6 Plus review, where the Apple Watch will be sold and “is U2 the New Nickleback?”

Sponsored by MailChimp (Send 12,000 emails per month, to 2,000 subscribers, forever).

Fast Company:

The mobile version of Safari will now let you change the default search engine to DuckDuckGo, the privacy-obsessed Google alternative that has seen a sharp uptick in activity since Edward Snowden became a household name. By default, DuckDuckGo does not track its users’ search activity or even log their IP addresses.

Choice is always good and this is a pretty easy switch to make.

I love the apps that Cabel Sasser and the guys from Panic make. I’ve been using Transmit on my Mac for years and now there’s Transmit iOS.

With all of the ridiculous things being written about Apple giving away a U2 album, I thought it was time for a good laugh. I laughed at this.

Daniel Eran Dilger for AppleInsider:

Every new product Apple unveiled last week has ignited vocal, public derision from a series of threatened competitors, including Samsung, luxury watch maker LVMH and PayPal. However, their attempts to direct attention away from Apple may likely backfire, just like earlier attempts to demonize Siri, Maps, iCloud and Touch ID.

Fear is not a great motivator, but it’s one that can easily be spotted.

The Verge:

Over the last decade we all made an enormous effort to transform Macworld editorial from a magazine mentality to a web site mentality. And honestly, it worked: By the end, the magazine was essentially a curated collection of the best stories from the web site, cut down and copy edited and with nice photographs. The economics of the business just didn’t make it possible to continue.

The demise of print is a sad but understandable result of the age we live in. That being said, the demise of Macworld is sad in a completely different way.

Take a captivating ride through nearly 150 years of entertaining history and present-day story of the world’s largest family controlled brewer.

Instant Oscar winner!

Businessweek:

Almost everything else on Apple’s campus in Cupertino, Calif., is different. The executive wing once radiated nervous energy, with handlers scurrying to anticipate the whims of Apple’s temperamental co-founder. Now there’s tranquility in the hallways, a reflection of the new boss’s calm Southern demeanor. Downstairs, the cafeterias are packed—the workforce has almost doubled. A mile away, behind a ring of fences, construction crews are building the massive foundation for the circular “spaceship” campus that will accommodate 12,000 workers when it’s completed in a few years.

Until Sept. 9, all the other changes at the world’s most valuable and scrutinized company were largely invisible to the public. Then Tim Cook took the stage at the Flint Center for the Performing Arts and laid out much of what Apple has been working on over the past three years.

Along with the Charlie Rose videos, we are seeing more and more inside Cook’s world.

Wallet Hub put together a cell phone contract calculator, then used that calculator to analyze the cost of owning an iPhone 6 on various carriers, both with an without a contract.

If you find the numbers a little hard to understand, this article by CBS Money Watch’s Kathy Kristof does a nice job of explaining the implications.

Start by reading Jim’s review, then move on to these.

This bit, from Walt Mossberg’s iPhone 6 review, caught my eye:

Apple says the new iPhones have faster Wi-Fi and faster cellular LTE. In my tests, I found the iPhone 6’s Wi-Fi speeds — both downstream and upstream — were roughly double those of the 5s, and about 25 percent faster than those of the Samsung Galaxy S5.

Double the wifi speed of my iPhone 5s? That’s a huge improvement.

Photoshop maker Adobe Systems forecast disappointing revenue for this quarter and reported lower quarterly sales at its digital media business, which includes the Creative Cloud software suite.

Adobe shares fell nearly five percent in extended trading.

That’s not good. No reason to panic though.

Macworld:

If you’re upgrading to iOS 8 on Wednesday, you must resist the urge to upgrade to iCloud Drive if you want to continue to sync your phone to your Mac. Why? Well, iCloud Drive only works with iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite. And you all know which OS we’re still waiting on.

You can go back and upgrade at any time, but unless you want a file-syncing nightmare on your hands, you’ll wait for Yosemite’s official release.

Good advice.

The AMS RMX16 was the world’s first microprocessor-controlled, full-bandwidth, digital reverberator. Heard on hundreds — if not thousands — of seminal recordings from the 1980s onward, the RMX16 is still found in nearly every major recording studio the world over.

I can’t wait to try this out.

Apple:

Ready to make the switch to iPhone? Here are some tips for moving your photos, music, documents, and more from your Android phone to iPhone.

Awfully helpful of the nice boys and girls at Apple to assist Android users like this. Samsung should be copying this in about 15 minutes.

Entertainment Weekly:

Thanks to the way music licensing contracts were written at the time, the show lost its rights to use the original versions of the songs it had so deeply woven into its fabric, and was forced to replace them with generic knockoffs while it was still in broadcast syndication. Later, when it moved to cable and home video it did so with the same soundalikes.

On Oct. 28, Shout! Factory will release the first complete series-spanning WKRP DVD set, with its original soundtrack gloriously restored.

As pointed out in the comments, about 98% of the original music will be included. Some of you may never have even heard about this show but for many of us, we loved and enjoyed a wonderful ensemble cast that created what I believe is the single greatest punchline in the history of television – “As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.”

This reeks of worry and fear.

New York Times:

Longsword enthusiasts are resurrecting ancient sword technique as a modern, organized sport, with timed bouts and complex rules.

This isn’t LARP but a whole different aspect. I’d love to see one of these tournaments on TV or in person.

Audits are important in all aspects of your work from time to time. Susan Robertson gives you some tips on conducting a full audit of your CSS code.

Slash’s new album “World On Fire” dropped last night and so far I’m impressed. I had it pre-ordered, so I was ready for it.

Arlington County is one of the largest counties in Virginia in terms of population. In a nice win for Apple, the school board announced that every single student in the county will be receiving a brand new MacBook Air. The rollout will start this year, with laptops provided to all 9th graders.

As it turns out, 9th grade is when the Computer Science track starts in Arlington, a good year to make sure that every student has equal access to the technology required to learn programming. The current curriculum is based on older Windows machines.

Nick Pierno is a longtime Android user. What would make him even consider switching?

It just kinda bums me out how mediocre all my photos and videos are. Not to mention all the missed opportunities from slow autofocus, bad low light sensing, etc. I know, I know.. woe is me. But if I can, I’d like to look back on the next 5 years with a bit more fidelity.

I’ve also been stricken with a bit of a bum rap this past year. I have an illness that has kept me stuck at home and in beds/bathrooms/waiting rooms/etc. a lot more than usual. This results in increased phone use, and of course, battery drain. Well… turns out the Nexus 5, despite being a truly outstanding phone, isn’t a champion of endurance.

There’s a lot more to this piece. Interesting to see how an Android user views the iPhone. One thing that is quite clear is that the move to a larger screen has opened up the potential audience for Apple.

On the resolution difference between the Galaxy Note 4 (515 ppi) and the iPhone 6 Plus (401 ppi):

I haven’t overlooked the fact that the Note packs a crazy high res 5.7 screen into roughly the same form factor though. And if Apple doesn’t think I can see the difference between 401 and 515 ppi, then I guess they’ll never make a higher res screen than this and I’ll never have to upgrade!

Realistically the iPhone isn’t the winner on displays. The point is they offer bigger ones. And since I’m sure they’re still plenty pleasant to behold, they’re another reason I’m opening myself up to seeing other OS’s.

An interesting point. Is the Note 4 display better than the iPhone 6 Plus display because it has a higher pixel density? Are other factors at play? Pixel luminance? Pixel persistence/state change timing? Contrast? From Apple’s web site:

The size of the new, higher-resolution Retina HD displays on iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus may be the first thing you notice. But what you experience is so much more. With innovations that deliver higher contrast, dual‑domain pixels for more accurate color at wider viewing angles, and an improved polarizer, these are the thinnest, most advanced Multi‑Touch displays we’ve ever made.

Not sure that higher resolution is the final arbiter of screen quality.

UPDATE: Looks like the earlier math from one of our reader comments was wrong. Moving on.

On the camera and video:

As I mentioned before, this is a major reason I want to settle into a different device, regardless of OS. It’s not crystal clear who the king of cam is (certainly there are phones with an even greater emphasis on camera.. but not without sacrifices), but when Apple claims they changed mobile photography I can hardly argue.

The iPhone camera is consistently outstanding. And with features like time lapse, video stabilization, and 240 fps video done the Apple way, I’m sure these new devices will set another bar for convenient media-making.

There’s still more, but in a nutshell, this is a reasoned analysis from someone who spends a lot of time with his Android phone. To me, the bottom lines here are overall design and security. Response to design is very personal, but until Android solves their significant malware problem, I’m not letting my personal info anywhere near it.

Retro Report:

How did cars become “computers on wheels,” so automated that some are about to start driving themselves? The story begins forty-five years ago with a quest to make cars safer and the battle over the air bag.

The piece starts off talking about the fight to get air bags into cars but ends with some chilling thoughts on “cars of the future” and how they will collect, collate and disseminate data.

Quartz:

It now costs 1.6 cents to produce each US one cent coin due to the high price of zinc, which makes up 97% of each coin, according to the Wall Street Journal. President Obama has proposed phasing out pennies and nickels (5-cent pieces) on numerous occasions, including in the 2015 budget, but Congress has yet to bite.

It’s one of those things we all know but inertia seems to keep America from getting rid of this useless coin.