Prison Profiteer Global Tel Link Charges Prisoners by the Minute for Reading

Prison libraries of paper books are slowly disappearing. In their place prisoners are getting tablets. But profits are being made when prisoners send emails, videoconferencing with family, listening to music, and reading.

In West Virginia, a company called Global Tel Link has the contract to provide prisoners in ten prisons with “free” tablets, for which they charge $0.05/minute for reading ebooks, primarily drawn from Project Gutenberg, a free online service of volunteer-produced, public domain and CC-licensed ebooks.

Database of 1.2 Billion Records Found With Scraped Data

A database filled with 1.2 billion records of data was found on the dark web back in October. I hesitate to call this a data breach because:

While the collection is impressive for its sheer volume, the data doesn’t include sensitive information like passwords, credit card numbers, or Social Security numbers. It does, though, contain profiles of hundreds of millions of people that include home and cell phone numbers, associated social media profiles like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Github, work histories seemingly scraped from LinkedIn, almost 50 million unique phone numbers, and 622 million unique email addresses.

In other words this is all data that people have willingly put on their social media profiles. While it can be used for nefarious purposes (especially phone numbers) this is less of a breach and more of a database of scrapes. Nevertheless I’m using our “data breach” tag.

iPhone 12 to have 6GB of RAM, Predict Analysts

Barclays analysts believe that the new iPhone 12 and 12 Pro will have 6GB of RAM and be 5G enabled. They also made predictions about the iPhone SE 2. MacRumors got a peek at their predictions.

In a research note viewed by MacRumors, the Barclays analysts said the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max will likely have 6GB of RAM, up from 4GB in the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max. They also expect both models to feature rear-facing 3D sensing and mmWave support for higher-performance 5G. The base model iPhone 12 is expected to have 4GB of RAM, equal to the iPhone 11. While the iPhone 12 is also expected to be 5G enabled, the analysts did not indicate whether the device will support mmWave, sub-6GHz, or both. Last, the analysts indicated that the so-called “iPhone SE 2” is still in the pipeline

Uber's London License is About To Expire

Uber’s London license expires on Monday, November 25th. However, Reuters reported that the firm does not yet know if it is going to be renewed.

Transport for London (TfL) rejected a renewal request in 2017 due to shortcomings it said it found in the firm’s approach to reporting serious criminal offences and driver background checks, prompting legal action. A judge in 2018 then granted Uber a probationary 15-month license, after the Silicon Valley-based company had made several changes to its business model. In September, TfL gave Uber just a two-month extension, far short of the maximum possible five years, and imposed further conditions covering ride-sharing, appropriate insurance and driver document checks.

Elon Musk Used Steve Jobs' 'One More Thing' Trick at The Tesla Cybertruck Launch

Elon Musk unveiled Tesla’s Cybertruck on Thursday. The event was notable for being full of glitches. But, as Cult of Mac, noted, it as also notable for another thing – Mr. Musk used Steve Jobs’ famous “one more thing” trick.

“Oh by the way, we made an ATV,” he said, before it was driven onto the stage. The Cybertruck was shown off during a crazy, science-fiction-style event. The vehicle ranges in price from $39,900 for the base model to $69,900 for the fully kitted-out version. It is scheduled for release in 2020. The demonstration didn’t go entirely according to plan. The vehicle’s “unbreakable” windows broke twice, after which Musk seemed to lose a bit of his stage confidence. However he regained it when it came to the event-closing “one more thing” line. While Musk didn’t say the actual line, he paused, held up a single finger and then let the crowd yell “one more thing.” At that point, the electric ATV was driven on stage. The ATV uses the same design language as the truck. It can be driven on board via an unfolding loading ramp. It can then charge from the truck’s battery.

Would Apple Leave Russia Over Device Ban?

Going into effect on July 2020, Russia just passed a law that would ban the sale of devices that don’t come pre-installed with Russian software. This obviously butts up against the integrity of iOS. Would Apple have the “courage” to leave the country if the Kremlin tried to force them to install their surveillance software? Because of course it’s for surveillance. Why else would a government meddle with device makers in this way?

The law will not mean devices from other countries cannot be sold with their normal software – but Russian “alternatives” will also have to be installed.

The legislation was passed by Russia’s lower house of parliament on Thursday. A complete list of the gadgets affected and the Russian-made software that needs to be pre-installed will be determined by the government.

Startpage News Tab Gives You ‘Unprofiled’ News

Startpage News Tab is a new feature of the search engine that promises to give people news that hasn’t been personalized.

Personally curated feeds, sometimes referred to as a “filter bubble,” are based on an individual’s online behavior constructed by previous search queries, browsing history, social media clicks, IP address, device, and so on…Our goal with Startpage News Tab is to help people break out of that bubble.

Adobe Announces Feature Roadmap for Photoshop for iPad

Just in time after my negative review, Adobe has announced a feature roadmap for Photoshop for iPad. Here are features coming in 2019: Access all Adobe Fonts on iOS; Select Subject using machine learning; Cloud documents that will only save incremental changes to speed up the process. Here are features coming in the first half of 2020: Refine Edge; Curves and Adjustment Layer options; Brush sensitivity and Rotate Canvas; Lightroom integration.

Your experience, your feedback and your point of view has always been a critical part of our process, and we take that very seriously as we chart a path forward with the iPad.

Adobe font integration is great, but I’m not able to install fonts from outside their ecosystem.

Lots of Android Apps Contain Old Security Flaws

Underlying security flaws from code copied from code libraries are in thousands of apps, according to new research from cybersecurity firm CheckPoint. Wired reported that it is causing big problems on Android.

“There are a lot of vulnerabilities out there in applications,” says Yaniv Balmas, head of cyber research at Check Point. “Some of these vulnerabilities are not specifically in applications, but they are found in code libraries. Modern applications use dozens or hundreds of these libraries to operate.” Code libraries (often known as software libraries) allow developers without expertise in specific areas, such as Java Script, to use code that’s already been created. Researchers at Check Point say they have identified existing code libraries that contained vulnerabilities and then compared them to apps scraped from the Play Store. The company says it regularly checks Android apps for its security teams to look for current threats.

All Major Carriers to Have 5G by 2020, Predicts Qualcomm President

All major carriers are going to have 5G networks by 2020, Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon told Yahoo Finance. Given we’re mere weeks away from the new year, that seems a bold prediction. I assume he meant the carriers will have the capability at some point in 2020, not right at the start.

Next-generation 5G wireless connectivity is coming — in fact, it’s available now in some small pockets in major U.S. cities right now. According to Qualcomm (QCOM) President Cristiano Amon, the successor to our current 4G LTE wireless networks will be up and running in all metropolitan areas by next year. “We are at the very beginning of a new technology transition, and like with every technology transition, networks have to be built, you have to have coverage,” Amon told Yahoo Finance’s On The Move on Wednesday. “However, what is great about this time is that we accelerated 5G by a year, and the device ecosystem is ready.” But it will take time before 5G reaches the ubiquity of today’s 4G LTE connections.

This Trick Might Save Your AirPods’ Battery Life

Redditor u/smakusdod proposes a trick that could help with your AirPods’ battery life. It involves resetting the AirPods case and draining the batteries of both the AirPods and the case to re-calibrate the battery life measurement system.

I completely reset the AirPods case (holding down the white button on the back for 10+ seconds), and re-paired them with my iPhone. I then completely drained both AirPods down to zero, and the case itself down to zero through normal usage. Then, I put the dead AirPods into the dead case, and charged them both up to 100%.

At some point over the weekend I’ll try this to see what happens. My AirPods haven’t significantly lost battery life, but I have noticed one Pod has a slightly lower maximum charge than the other one.

VSCO Redesigned its Feed to ‘Slow Your Scroll’

Photo app VSCO has redesigned its feed so that images are bigger. You’ll see single images at a time, instead of the old style where each image was smaller and alternated.

We believe this redesign will help you explore your VSCO feed in a new way, allowing the subtleties of each image to be front and center as you scroll. At VSCO, creative expression often starts with inspiration and sometimes that requires taking the time to appreciate the details as much as the complete work itself.

I think it’s an improvement and I’m glad to see it.

Mozilla Unveils 2019 Privacy Not Included Gift Guide

Mozilla announced its third annual 2019 *Privacy Not Included gift guide to highlight gadgets and toys that are secure, and ones that aren’t secure.

This year we found that many of the big tech companies like Apple and Google are doing pretty well at securing their products, and you’ll see that most products in the guide meet our Minimum Security Standards. But don’t let that fool you. Even though devices are secure, we found they are collecting more and more personal information on users, who often don’t have a whole lot of control over that data.

Google doing well at securing its products.

Disney+ Could Rocket to 60 Million Subscribers Sooner Than Expected

Disney+ gained 10 million subscribers on its first day and the service’s growth shows no sign of slowing down. Variety reported that it could hit its target of 60 million subscribers by 2022, two years earlier than its aiming for.

Expectations were already enormous ahead of the launch. Disney Plus was largely expected to accrue about 8 million users across the seven remaining weeks in calendar 2019 — but not 10 million in one day. Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives believes that at its current pace, Disney could hit its 2024 goal of 60 million to 90 million global streaming subscribers potentially two years earlier than targeted. That would mark admirably aggressive growth. For context, streaming market leader Netflix boasts more than 60 million subscribers in the U.S. and 158 million worldwide, a base built over the last 12 years or so. Ives’ estimates suggest Disney could get within spitting distance of a nine-figure subscriber base in just three years.

Humans Place in Suspended Animation for First Time

Humans have been placed in suspended animation for the first time, in a technique called emergency preservation and resuscitation (EPR).

EPR involves rapidly cooling a person to around 10 to 15°C by replacing all of their blood with ice-cold saline. The patient’s brain activity almost completely stops. They are then disconnected from the cooling system and their body – which would otherwise be classified as dead – is moved to the operating theatre.

A surgical team then has 2 hours to fix the person’s injuries before they are warmed up and their heart restarted. Tisherman says he hopes to be able to announce the full results of the trial by the end of 2020.

Years ago I remember reading in Popular Science of experiments like this involving dogs. It’s amazing that it’s moving to the human stage.

‘Settlers of Catan’ Could be Niantic’s Next AR Game

Niantic has had two popular AR games on its hands in the form of Pokémon Go and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. What possibly be next? Maybe Settlers of Catan.

Late last month, the company behind Catan said during a board games conference in Germany that it was working on a “upcoming massively multiplayer location based game” (albeit with no mention of Niantic). Called Catan: World Explorers, they noted that it “transforms the entire Earth into one giant game of CATAN”.

The EU's Battle With Big Tech is Only Just Beginning

The EU’s executive, the EU Commission, has increasingly turned its attention on Big Tech in recent times. It fined Apple $14.5 billion in 2016, and is looking at alleged competition issues around the Walle App.  At the center of it all is competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager. The New York Times has a really good profile of her, picked up by Cult of Mac. It shows’ that the EU’s battle with Big Tech is only just beginning.

A New York Times article writes that Vestager “envisions a more aggressive agenda” for moderating the tech industry. It notes that: “Ms. Vestager, a 51-year-old former Danish lawmaker, is doubling down. She has signed on for a rare second five-year term as the head of the European Commission’s antitrust division, and assumed expanded responsibility over digital policy across the 28-nation bloc…” There are few specifics in the article, aside from the overall sense that Vestager is looking to double-down on her moderating of tech companies. The European Commission is already looking into a number of tech giants. This includes the question of whether Apple is abusing its marketplace position with the App Store.

Did Apple Maps Forget Michigan’s Upper Peninsula?

The upgraded Apple Maps has been slowly rolling out across the United States this year. The team recently added some western and midwestern states to the redesign, including the lower peninsula of Michigan. But I live in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and don’t see the upgrade. No surprise there, because people often think the U.P. is part of Canada or Wisconsin. There’s even an entire subreddit dedicated to it. Since it looks like Wisconsin hasn’t gotten the upgrade either, I’m assuming Apple is in the latter camp.

In terms of area, this latest expansion is Apple’s largest yet……and it’s the second largest in terms of population. It also has arrived faster than almost all of the others.

DuckDuckGo Smarter Encryption will Serve You HTTPS Sites

The DuckDuckGo Smarter Encryption feature will automatically give you the encrypted HTTPS version of websites as they are available.

It’s available on DuckDuckGo’s mobile browser for Android and iOS, and through the company’s desktop browser extension for Firefox and Chrome. DuckDuckGo is also open sourcing the code behind the feature so other sites and platforms can adopt it as well. First up? Pinterest.

I especially like how they’re open-sourcing it for others to use.

FBI Draft Resolution Calls for End-to-End Encryption Ban

An FBI draft resolution for Interpol calls for a ban on end-to-end encryption. It’s for Interpol’s 37th Meeting of the INTERPOL Specialists Group on Crimes Against Children.

A draft of the resolution viewed by Ars Technica stated that INTERPOL would “strongly urge providers of technology services to allow for lawful access to encrypted data enabled or facilitated by their systems” in the interest of fighting child sexual exploitation. Currently, it is not clear whether Interpol will ultimately issue a statement.

Remember when I mentioned the Four Horses of the Infocalypse? Terrorists, drug dealers, pedophiles, and organized crime. Four fears to use as a way to push their agenda. I know it’s a delicate issue. These groups are definitely ones that the majority of society would want to stop. But removing end-to-end encryption for everyone isn’t the way to do that.

Report Twitter Lists With This New Feature

You can now report Twitter lists with a new feature that the social media company is rolling out. People can create a list of Twitter users and other people can subscribe to it. Certain people have used Lists as a way to harass minorities and/or women, but they can now be reported for abuse.

Similar to reporting an abusive tweet, Twitter users will tap on the three-dot icon next to the List in question, and then choose “Report.” From the next screen, you’ll select “It’s abusive or harmful.” Twitter will also ask for additional information at that point and will send an email confirming receipt of the report along with other recommendations as to how to manage your Twitter experience.

Tim Cook to Talk with Marc Benioff at Salesforce Conference Tomorrow

Apple CEO Tim Cook will talk with Salesforce boss Marc Benioff tomorrow at the firm’s Dreamforce conference, MacRumors reported.  It will take place at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time at the Yerba Buena Theater, and will also be live-streamed. It also announced new iOS enterprise apps.

Apple and Salesforce formed a strategic partnership in 2018. Salesforce has since redesigned its customer relationship management app with support for the latest features on iPhone and iPad, including Siri Shortcuts and Face ID. The new Salesforce app is available in the App Store. Salesforce has also announced a Trailhead GO learning app with more than 700 modules covering business and tech skills. Trailhead GO is available on the App Store for iPhone and iPad. Additional features, including support for Dark Mode and Sign in with Apple, are expected to be available later this year.

Twelve South’s AirFly Pro is a Bluetooth Headphone Adapter

AirFly Pro is a wireless headphone adapter that plugs into a headphone jack to let you use your Bluetooth headphones on devices that don’t support Bluetooth, like the Nintendo Switch.

AirFly Pro works with most popular wireless headphones and earbuds. Even when you pair two sets of headphones with AirFly Pro, you can use any combination of wireless headphone brands. You connect your wireless headphones to this little splitter pretty much the same way you would pair your favorite headphones with any other wireless devices, such as your iPhone.

You can pick one up starting at US$54.99.