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Instagram Seems to Think it’s a Startup When it Comes to an iPad App

Andrew Orr ·

When asked why there isn’t an Instagram iPad app yet, CEO Adam Mosseri said the company would like to create one, “But we only have so many people, and lots to do, and it hasn’t bubbled up as the next best thing to do yet.”

Instagram users have been asking for an official ‌iPad‌ app nearly since the social network launched in 2010, the same year that the first ‌iPad‌ was released. Some alternatives include third-party Instagram apps for ‌iPad‌, browsing Instagram on the web on ‌iPad‌, or using the upscaled iPhone app on ‌iPad‌.

The obvious answer is, “Hire more people because you’re owned by one of the richest corporations in the world: Facebook.” But I wonder what the actual answer is. Invasive tracking isn’t as lucrative on iPadOS?

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Mom Says Apple Watch Saved Her 13-Year Old Son's Life

Charlotte Henry ·

A mother in Oklahoma says that an Apple Watch saved her 13-year-old son’s life, 9to5 Mac reported. It adds to the growing collection of stories whereby the wearable has helped people by highlighting major health issues.

13-year-old Skylar Joslin was sitting in class when his Apple Watch detected a heart of 190 beats-per-minute. Local news outlet KFOR tells the story: Skylar was sitting in class in April of 2018, when he got an alarming notification on his two-week-old Apple Watch. “I got a text message along with a screenshot of his heart rate that was 190,” said Skylar’s mom Liz. “The following message saying, ‘Mommy, there’s something wrong. I’m not doing anything.’” Liz then came and picked up Skylar from school and took him to the emergency room — his heart rate peaked at 202 bpm during the drive and as high as 280 bpm at the hospital. Doctors then diagnosed Skylar with supraventricular tachycardia, or SVT, which is a disease that forces the heart to speed up. Skylar then underwent a seven and a half hour cardiac ablation to help fix his heart’s rhythm.

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Iran Hackers Put Backdoors in VPN Servers

Andrew Orr ·

A new report finds that hackers from Iran have been putting backdoors in VPN servers around the world in the “Fox Kitten Campaign.” It sounds like affected companies provide VPN for enterprise, rather than consumers. ZDNet suggests Pulse Secure, Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, and Citrix.

Though [sic] the campaign, the attackers succeeded in gaining access and persistent foothold in the networks of numerous companies and organizations from the IT, Telecommunication, Oil and Gas, Aviation, Government, and Security sectors around the world.

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'AirPods Pro Lite' Production Unlikely to Start in Q2 2020

Charlotte Henry ·

Rumors began recently that Apple was set to release so-called “AirPod Pro Lite” headphones in the not too distant future. However, their launch could be delayed. MacRumors picked up on a report from DigiTimes that suggested production is unlikely to start in the second quarter of 2020.

While we still don’t have a full picture of what to expect with these upcoming earphones, DigiTimes today published another short paywalled blurb specifically describing ‌AirPods Pro‌ Lite as an “entry-level version of Apple’s ‌AirPods Pro‌ series” and saying that production will not kick off in the second quarter of this year as originally planned. Production of the ‌AirPods Pro‌ Lite, an entry-level version of Apple’s ‌AirPods Pro‌ series, is unlikely to kick off in the second quarter as originally planned, according to industry sources.

Podcast

Upgrades, Slow Internet, Hard Drives, and More – Mac Geek Gab 802

John F. Braun & Dave Hamilton · · 2 Comments

How’s your Catalina installation behaving? Have any Macs left to upgrade? Your two favorite geeks talk through it all. Then it’s time to diagnose the cause of slow internet, always a pesky one to diagnose! Add in some hard drive diagnostics, follow-ups on your subscription tracking, and John and Dave have a show chock-full-of-infotainment goodness to share with you!

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Clearview AI Faces Class Action Lawsuit Similar to Facebook

Andrew Orr ·

Two weeks ago Facebook settled a lawsuit alleging that it violated Illinois privacy laws. Now, Clearview AI is also facing a class action lawsuit in the state.

The lawsuit, filed yesterday on behalf of several Illinois citizens and first reported by Buzzfeed News, alleges that Clearview “actively collected, stored and used Plaintiffs’ biometrics — and the biometrics of most of the residents of Illinois — without providing notice, obtaining informed written consent or publishing data retention policies.”

Not only that, but this biometric data has been licensed to many law enforcement agencies, including within Illinois itself.

All this is allegedly in violation of the Biometric Information Privacy Act, a 2008 law that has proven to be remarkably long-sighted and resistant to attempts by industry (including, apparently, by Facebook while it fought its own court battle) to water it down.

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‘Robo Revenge’ Will Block and Automatically Sue Robocallers

Andrew Orr ·

The newest service from DoNotPay is Robo Revenge. It will block robocallers and automatically sue them for you.

Robo Revenge combines both features to automatically add you to the Do Not Call Registry, generate a virtual DoNotPay burner credit card to provide scammers when they illegally call you anyways, use the transaction information to get the scammer’s contact information, then walk you through how to sue them for as much as $3,000 per call under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), a law already on the books meant to protect consumers from calls that violate the Do Not Call Registry. The app also streamlines the litigation paperwork by automatically generating demand letters and court filing documents.

As a reader pointed out below, you’ll find this service within the DoNotPay app.