FEMA and the FCC are testing the Presidential Alert for smartphones this afternoon. Here’s what you need to know about the emergency alert system.
The Feds Will Have a Tough Time Blocking California's Net Neutrality Law
As soon as Governor Jerry Brown signed California’s tough net neutrality bill, the U.S. Justice Department filed suit to stop it, claiming the state doesn’t have the legal authority, but this Verge article points out: «… telecom industry legal experts say that when the FCC dismantled its own authority over broadband ISPs (by rolling back their classification of ISPs as Title II common carriers under the Telecom Act), it ironically killed any authority it might have had to tell states what to do.» Oh, the delicious irony.
Lifetime Subscription to Aura Premium, a Mindfulness and Meditation App: $79.99
We have a deal on a lifetime subscription to Aura Premium, from the Aura Health app. This mobile app is designed to relieve stress and anxiety by providing short mindfulness meditation exercises every day. It’s $79.99 through our deal, an 83% discount.
How to Play Free Classic Arcade Games Online
The Internet Archive has built the Internet Arcade, and it lets you play over a thousand free classic arcade games online.
The majority of these newly-available games date to the 1990s and early 2000s, as arcade machines both became significantly more complicated and graphically rich, while also suffering from the ever-present and home-based video game consoles that would come to dominate gaming to the present day. Even fervent gamers might have missed some of these arcade machines when they were in the physical world, due to lower distribution numbers and shorter times on the floor.
IoT Consumer Protections, Presidential Alert Explained - TMO Daily Observations 2018-10-02
Bryan Chaffin and John Martellaro join Jeff Gamet to discuss state IoT consumer protections, plus reaching public critical mass for demanding change. They also explain the Presidential Alert test that’s happening on Wednesday.
UAG Project PNK Supports Breast Cancer Awareness Month
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and smartphone case maker UAG is supporting the cause with UAG Project PNK. The company is releasing limited edition Product PNK cases. 100% of profits from Product PNK cases will be donated to breast cancer charities to help raise awareness and aid in breakthrough research. Product PNK was designed to support a mission that saves lives and invests in breakthrough research to prevent and cure breast cancer. Meeting military standards (MIL STD 810G-516.6) for drop and shock, each iPhone case is as strong as the cause it represents. Each case is has an armor shell and impact-resistant soft core, air-soft corners for cushioning impact, feather-light composite construction, oversized tactile buttons and easy access to touchscreen and ports, scratch resistant skid pads and screen surround, and they are compatible with Apple Pay and wireless charging.
Manage Color Palettes on Your Mac with Swatch
Bit Lasso just released Swatch to make it easier to manage the color palettes on the Mac. The app lets you import colors from multiple sources, add colors with Apple’s Color Picker, and by entering color values. You can organize palettes, export colors and palettes, and more. Swatch lives in your menu bar for quick access. The app requires macOS High Sierra or Mojave and is available on Apple’s Mac App Store for US$9.99.
iPhone XS Tests Far Better Than iPhone X in LTE Speeds
At PC Magazine, Sascha Segan has compared LTE speeds of the iPhone X to XS, and the latter is substantially faster. «The new iPhone XS and XS Max use an LTE modem that we’ve never seen used anywhere else: the Intel XMM7560. The 7560 is Intel’s first modem to support all four US wireless carriers, letting Apple drop Qualcomm, the world’s dominant high-end modem supplier.» However, » … it still doesn’t quite match the Qualcomm X20 modem used in the Samsung Galaxy Note 9.» This is good stuff.
TMO Background Mode Interview with Former Apple Software Engineer James Dempsey
James Dempsey worked at Apple for fifteen years before setting out on his own in August 2011. As a software engineer at Apple, he worked on iOS, Aperture, and macOS releases Leopard through Lion, including half a decade on the Cocoa frameworks team. He’s the founder of Tapas Software, developer of iOS and Mac software. We talked abut his «aha» moments in life starting with his college roommate’s Mac Plus in 1986. His dream to work for Apple was eventually fulfilled in 1996, and James described what it was like to be an Apple evangelist in those days. But James is also an accomplished comedian, vocalist, ukulele player and has a published album. He’s also routinely written special songs for WWDC each year. If you ever wanted to work for Apple, this show is must listening.
California Just Passed an Internet of Things Law
California Governor Jerry Brown has signed an Internet of Things law covering cybersecurity. California is the first state with a law like this.
Starting on January 1st, 2020, any manufacturer of a device that connects “directly or indirectly” to the internet must equip it with “reasonable” security features, designed to prevent unauthorized access, modification, or information disclosure. If it can be accessed outside a local area network with a password, it needs to either come with a unique password for each device, or force users to set their own password the first time they connect. That means no more generic default credentials for a hacker to guess.
If only it affected all IoT devices, instead of ones created two years into the future.
