Link

Amazon Leaks Users' Names and Email Addresses

Andrew Orr ·

Amazon is emailing customers to tell them it leaked their names and email addresses due to a «technical error.»

It then goes on to say, «The issue has been fixed. This is not a result of anything you have done, and there is no need for you to change your password or take any other action.»

None of which is terribly reassuring. Although it doesn’t include the customer’s name it doesn’t look like a phishing attack as there is no link and no call to action.

Amazon says there is no need to change your password but you should change it anyway. If they can’t protect emails and names, why would we trust them with our passwords?

TMO Deals

2Do Task Manager for Mac Lifetime License: $29.99

Bryan Chaffin ·

We have a deal on a lifetime license for 2Do, a task manager for the Mac. 2Do features color coded lists, the ability to add URLs, addresses, or Google searches to your tasks, and the ability to sync over Dropbox, Reminders (CalDAV), or Toodledo. The lifetime license is $29.99 through our deal.

Link

New MacBook Air - the End For Configuration?

Charlotte Henry ·

Following last month’s ‘There’s More in the Making Event’, there was a lot of speculation about the future of Apple’s Mac product line. In particular, people have focussed on the new iPad Pro and whether or not it can be a true laptop replacement.  Now some time has passed, MacWorld’s Jason Snell highlights another issue – the new MacBook Air only comes with one processor option. Consumers can expand a new Macbook’s Air’s storage capacity to 1.5TB and its memory to 16GB. However, you still get the 1.6GHz dual-core Core i5 processor. Mr. Snell argues that this move might signal the end of configurable Macs.

This feels like the future of the Mac, certainly on the consumer end of the product line. With the new MacBook Air, Apple has picked a processor and stuck with it. Would any of us be surprised if it did the same with a future update to the MacBook? Or low-end iMacs? Looking a bit further into the future, if Apple starts building Macs with ARM processors, is it going to want to offer different classes of processors within those models? On iOS, Apple has steadfastly refused to do this. Every model-year of a given model is generally powered by the same processor across the board.

Link

Apple Watch Could Offer UV Ray Protection

Charlotte Henry ·

A new patent, reported by AppleInsider, reveals that the Apple Watch might be able to help protect users from sun damage in the future. The patent details a device with a number of sensors. These could be used to record how much sun the user is getting. Alerts could be triggered when the level of sun exposure gets too high. This news ties in with recent developments in which Apple is trying to turn the Apple Watch into an all-in-one wellness device.

Granted on Tuesday by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the patent for «UV dosimetry and exposure alert» effectively describes a system where UV light sensors detect sunlight and tracks exposure over time. The system can then provide the user with alerts about their exposure, including guidance on preventative measures if the levels are excessive.

TMO Deals

Turn Your iPhone Into a 360 Degree 4K Camera: $199

Bryan Chaffin ·

Check out the Insta360, a device that turns your iPhone into a 360-degree video camera. With a single shot, you can capture everything around you. It’s designed for live streaming, making VR content, all from your iPhone. It works with iPhone X, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR,iPhone8/8 Plus, iPhone 7/7 Plus, iPhone 6s/6s Plus, and iPhone 6/6 Plus. The Insta360 is $199 through our deal, 16% off retail.

Link

Welcome to the Second Golden Age

Andrew Orr ·

We’re entering the 2020s and it’s fitting that we’re in the Second Golden Age. Or at least that’s what Robert Reich argues.

It is time to use antitrust again. We should break up the hi-tech behemoths, or at least require they make their proprietary technology and data publicly available and share their platforms with smaller competitors.

There would be little cost to the economy, since these giant firms rely on innovation rather than economies of scale – and, as noted, they’re likely to be impeding innovation overall…Republicans rhapsodize about the “free market” but have no qualms about allowing big corporations to rig it at the expense of average people.

If we’re in the Second Golden Age now, I wonder if we’ll enter a Second Depression in the 2030s? As the saying goes, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

RAW Power Gets Big 2.0 Update
Cool Stuff Found

RAW Power Gets Big 2.0 Update

Andrew Orr ·

Today, Gentlemen Coders released RAW Power 2.0 for iOS and macOS. RAW Power unlocks the power of Apple’s RAW engine with simple, easy-to-use controls. More than just an image editor, it is a full photo application that lets you organize and manage your iOS Photo Library. If you use iCloud Photo Library, all changes are also synced to iCloud, where every image you take and every change you make is instantly available to every app on your iPhone or iPad. You can use it for more than RAWs — it’s great with JPEGs too, with White Balance, Curves, Sharpen, and other tools missing from the built-in Photos app. The app also includes an innovative new Depth Effect for photos shot on iPhones with a dual camera system. The Mac app is on sale for a limited time. App Store: RAW Power – US$2.99 | Mac App Store: RAW Power – US$26.99