Apple’s Time Machine lets you backup to a network drive… but which network drive should you use now that Apple no longer sells a Time Capsule? John and Dave are here to answer this question and many, many more! Listen as your two favorite geeks answer all the questions YOU sent in this week, plus sharing Quick Tips and Cool Stuff Found to give you lots to think about… and to get! Press play and enjoy learning at least five new things about your Mac, iPhone, and other tech.
Happy Holidays 2020 from The Mac Observer!
Whether you’re into Christmas, Hanukkah, Festivus, Solstice, or any end-of-the-year holiday, The Mac Observer hopes this is a wonderful time for you. We’re taking Thursday and Friday off this year, but we’ll be back on Monday, December 28th, with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Media, and probably even car coverage, along with a fresh TMO Daily Observations episode.
Fashion App ‘21 Buttons’ Exposes Data of European Influencers
An e-commerce app called 21 Buttons has exposed the private data of hundreds of people across Europe.
Among the millions of photos and videos, we also viewed hundreds of invoices detailing payments to users in the 21 Buttons Rewards program, covering the last few months. Some of these invoices appear to be test data, but many of them were definitely legitimate invoices detailing real records of payments made.
Cellebrite Has Not Broken Signal’s Encryption
On Tuesday, security company Cellebrite claimed to have broken the encryption that Signal uses to keep user communication safe. The blog post has since been removed, but the BBC has an archived version here. But Signal says that claim isn’t true.
It is important to understand that any story about Cellebrite Physical Analyzer starts with someone other than you physically holding your device, with the screen unlocked, in their hands. Cellebrite does not even try to intercept messages, voice/video, or live communication, much less “break the encryption” of that communication. They don’t do live surveillance of any kind.
How Apple Thrived After Not Buying Tesla
A while back, Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed that he had “reached out to Tim Cook” about buying his company. Obviously, that never happened. A missed opportunity for Apple? Liam Denning, writing for Bloomberg News, doesn’t think so.
Is Cook kicking himself for not buying Tesla when he had the chance? I suspect that, in some well-appointed office deep inside the Apple Park donut, the soft thud of self-kicking is not to be heard. Musk may well have “reached out.” On the other hand, the gossamer-veiled dig at Cook’s apparent short-sightedness contained in the Tesla CEO’s tweet suggests this may be more about taking the shine off Apple’s rumored vehicle ambitions. Musk has been known to lash out on Twitter. There is also some history here, given Musk once dissed Apple as a “graveyard” for defecting Tesla employees. That was a few years before he apparently reached out to the chief gravedigger.
Facebook Thinks It's Defending Small Firms Against Apple. Not All Its Employees Agree.
Facebook recently ran a high-profile ad campaign against Apple. The social media giant said changes to iOS privacy rules would hurt small businesses. According to Buzzfeed News, its employees don’t necessarily agree.
While the $750 billion company’s public relations effort has presented a united front with small businesses, some Facebook employees complained about what they called a self-serving campaign that bordered on hypocrisy, according to internal comments and audio of a presentation to workers that were obtained by BuzzFeed News. A change in Apple’s iOS 14 mobile operating system — which requires iPhone owners to opt in to allow companies to track them across other apps and websites — hurts Facebook, some employees argued on the company’s private message boards, and their employer was just using small businesses as a shield. “It feels like we are trying to justify doing a bad thing by hiding behind people with a sympathetic message,” one engineer wrote in response to an internal post about the campaign from Dan Levy, Facebook’s vice president for ads.
Eligible Devs Start Receiving Emails to Join App Store Small Business Program
Apple has begun to contact developers who earn under $1 million per year and are eligible for its new App Store Small Business Program.
MOGICS Coconut Portable Waterproof Light: $36.95
We have a deal on the MOGICS Coconut, a waterproof portable light that floats. It features four brightness modes, an internal, rechargeable battery, and self-inflates. This device is $36.95 through our deal. There are also options for two Coconuts, as well as multicolor options.
Should Apple Open its NFC Chip to Third Parties?
Karen Webster writes about Apple’s position in the payments industry and how Apple’s restriction of its NFC chip has hurt consumers.
Granted, it’s always hard to prove a negative, but not having access to the NFC chip has likely prevented innovators from investing time and money in developing the innovations that could have made the in-store POS experience better for iPhone users. And since iPhone users skew more to the affluent, it also denied those innovators the opportunity to monetize their spend.
Last Minute Gift Ideas – TMO Daily Observations 2020-12-23
Andrew Orr and Bob “Dr Mac” LeVitus join host Kelly Guimont to discuss gifts you can still get in under the holiday deadline, no shipping required.
