Bryan Chaffin and Jeff Butts get geeky with a deep dive into Arduino and a look at how to get started with all this smarthome stuff, especially Apple’s HomeKit.
A Drone Tried to Attack a Pennsylvania Power Station in 2020
Wired published a fascinating story of a unknown person who used a drone to attempt to short circuit a power substation last year.
The operator of the Pennsylvania drone appears to have attempted a less brute-force approach. But efforts to hide the operator’s identity may have contributed to their failure to connect with the intended target. By removing the camera, the joint bulletin says, they had to rely on line-of-sight navigation, rather than being able to take a drone’s eye view.
A Collection of Concept Art From Apple TV+ Show 'Foundation'
Kotaku has put together a collection of concept art from the science fiction show Foundation on Apple TV+.
That comes across pretty quickly watching the show, but it’ll be even clearer here as we take a look at a variety of artists’ contributions to the series, from Paul Chadeisson’s trademark ship designs, to the costume design of WETA’s Adam Middleton.
This isn’t a collection of everything from everyone who worked on the show, but it does give us a cross-section of pieces, covering characters, environments, and weapon and ship designs, all of which I think look cool as hell.
Security Friday: Good News and Gift Ideas – TMO Daily Observations 2021-11-05
Andrew Orr joins host Kelly Guimont to discuss some good Security Friday news, an update on previous news, and a gift idea for everyone.
Apple Offers Fix For macOS Monterey Bug Bricking Some T2 Macs
When macOS Monterey was rolled out, an issue arose whereby some Macs with T2 chips were bricking. 9to5Mac reports that this has now been resolved.
Now, Apple says it has identified an issue affecting the T2 security chip that caused this problem and is rolling out a fix to prevent it from happening in the future. In a statement, Apple explained (via Rene Ritchie): We have identified and fixed an issue with the firmware on the Apple T2 security chip that prevented a very small number of users from booting up their Mac after updating macOS. The updated firmware is now included with the existing macOS updates. Any users impacted by this issue can contact Apple Support for assistance. To prevent this problem from occurring to additional users, Apple has rolled out an updated version of the bridgeOS firmware that runs on the T2 security chip. Users already impacted by the problem are instructed to contact Apple Support for assistance.
Meet 'Actions' a New App to Add More Actions to Shortcuts
Actions is a new app for Shortcuts, and it adds actions that Apple doesn’t provide. So far there are 25 actions with more planned in the future. There are actions such as Generate UUID, Get File Path, Trim Whitespace, Remove Emoji, Random Date & Time, and more. I’m most excited about the Get File Path action. It should be useful in a particular shortcut I have that creates a «changelog» of new files I need to remember to back up to my SSD.
Investor Roger McNamee Calls for Imprisoning Executives for Criminal Charges
Roger McNamee is calling for criminal probes into Facebook and imprisonment for executives. Specially, he believes investigations into six areas should happen, such as:
The US Securities and Exchange Commission should look at Facebook’s failure to disclose information about its business. Facebook allowed human trafficking on its platform and was «paid to enable it to happen.» Facebook’s management was «complicit» in the «Stop the Steal» campaign which led to the January 6 insurrection on Capitol Hill.
Apple Fitness+ Chief Hints at Content in More Languages
Apple Fitness+ became available in 15 new countries earlier this week. The executive running the service, Jay Blahnik, has also hinted in an interview with O GLOBO, spotted by 9to5 Mac, that it could offer content in a wider range of languages in the future.
Jay Blahnik says that Apple is “open to the possibility of investing in Portuguese content with Brazilian professionals”…Whether English could be a problem for non-natives, Blahnik says they “talked a lot with users and I think people are really looking forward with the ability [to try] these practices and meditations in the instructor’s language. People want to hear their voice intonation and not a dubbed version.”
Rare Apple-1 Going to Auction With US$20k Starting Bid
A rare Apple-1 computer, hand-built by Steve Wozniak, is up for auction, AppleInsider reported. The sale will happen later this month, with bids opening at US$200,000.
The Apple-I, which is being put up for auction by John Moran Auctioneers and Appraisers, was hand-build by Steve Wozniak. The specific model in question is known as the «Chaffey College» Apple-I because it was purchased by an electronics professor at the school in 1976 and sold to a student. According to the auction listing, the computer is made up of an original «NTI» motherboard sporting Sprague 39D capacitors, original power regulators, and rare «Circle D» ceramic capacitors. In addition, the lot includes an Apple Cassette Adapter and is housed in an original ByteShop Apple-1 koa wood case with a Datanetics Keyboard, the connecting cable and power supply, a 1986 video monitor.
iPhone Game Controller 'Backbone One' Announces Subscription for New Users
Backbone One is a game controller for iPhone that plugs into the device’s Lightning port. The company announced new features, which includes a subscription service called Backbone+.
Backbone+ gives players access to: Exclusive perks, like free months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, other service free trials, in-game items, and many more perks to come. Access to the revamped Backbone app, including the trove of new features above as well as future ones.
All new users will also automatically receive 1 year free of Backbone+ membership with their purchase of Backbone One. It renews after 1 year at $4.17/mo billed annually (about the cost of a latte).
Silly millennials, it’s only one coffee a month!
