Apple Brings Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in for Employee Talk

Apple brought Twitter cofounder and current CEO Jack Dorsey in for a talk with some Apple employees. We don’t yet know specifically what he talked about, but I thought it was an interesting development. We do know that he was speaking to folks in Phil Schiller’s marketing team, according to Bloomberg.

While the address itself didn’t point to a new partnership between Dorsey’s companies and Apple, it was indicative of their bond and existing collaboration. Apple promoted Twitter as an iOS app coming to the Mac this fall, and the social media service is deeply integrated into both the iPhone and iPad. Apple was also among the first retailers to sell Square’s now-common credit-card reader.

The 5G 'Health Hazard' Was a Misinterpretation

In 2000 a physicist was asked to study the health risks of wireless networks. He found [PDF] that there “was likely to be a serious health hazard.” Except he was wrong.

In his research, Dr. Curry looked at studies on how radio waves affect tissues isolated in the lab, and misinterpreted the results as applying to cells deep inside the human body. His analysis failed to recognize the protective effect of human skin. At higher radio frequencies, the skin acts as a barrier, shielding the internal organs, including the brain, from exposure. Human skin blocks the even higher frequencies of sunlight.

Despite all the studies showing a link between smartphones and cancer being debunked, I don’t think this idea will ever go away.

Turn Your Favorite Websites Into Searchable Documents: $47.88

We have a deal on a subscription to History Search Pro Plan, which turns websites you visit into searchable documents. You choose what gets added to the service, and it works through browser extensions for Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Opera, and Microsoft Edge. One year of History Search Pro Plan is $47.88 through our deal.

Lawmakers Target Amazon As Big Tech Goes to Washington

Amazon faced the toughest questioning from lawmakers during a hearing Tuesday attended by representatives of big tech firms. Reuters reported that Apple too, found itself in the firing line during the hearing. Questions to Apple focussed on costs associated with App Store Purchases

Legislators also demanded explanations from Apple Inc about charges for apps and in-app purchases, Facebook Inc for its rapidly changing privacy policy and Alphabet’s Google over whether its rivals are demoted in search results. The committee does not have authority to punish the companies, and any effort to change antitrust laws affecting tech firms would face hurdles in the Republican-controlled Senate. So the questioning served largely to convey the panel’s displeasure over many of the companies’ business practices.

PSA: FaceApp Owns Photos You Create With App

According to its terms of service, popular app FaceApp owns the rights to all photos you create with it.

Essentially, if you make something in FaceApp, FaceApp can do whatever it wants with what you’ve made. Not only can it repost your images without your permission, it can monetize the images, either directly or indirectly, without compensating you or notifying you that it has done so in any way.

Unfortunately, this sort of thing isn’t new. Facebook has similar terms, and so does Google.