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J. J. Abrams: Working With Apple is 'The Wild West'

Charlotte Henry ·

J.J. Abrams spoke to Fast Company about what it is like to be stepping into the unknown and working with Apple. It comes alongside the news that Julianne Moore will star in ‘Lisey’s Story’ which he is producing for Apple’s new TV+ Service.

While you could say six or eight (episodes), what does it even look like when it comes out? I have faith in (Apple), but, again, it’s not like there’s complete clarity on how it presents in the world, how it’s perceived. What’s the interface, exactly? And what do people feel when they use it? Who knows. So it’s the Wild West.

TMO Deals

The Epic Mac Bundle Featuring Fantastical 2, PDF Expert, iStats Menu 6, More: $22.49 (Back for Limited Time)

Bryan Chaffin ·

The Epic Mac Bundle is back for a couple of days, and we have a coupon code for it, too. This bundle includes Fantastical 2, PDF Expert, Pagico 8, Flux 7, Command-Tab Plus, iLocker Pro, Ultdata Recovery, and one my all-time favorite Mac utilities, iStats Menu 6. This deal ended a couple of weeks ago, but Stack Commerce brought it back for a limited time. It’s  $29.99 through our deal, and coupon code LAST25 at checkout brings the price down to $22.49.

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AI-based Malware is Coming For Our Networks

John Martellaro ·

Security Week writes:

The threat of a HAL-9000 intelligence directing malware from afar is still the realm of fiction, so too is the prospect of an uber elite hacker collective that has been digitized and shrunken down to an email-sized AI package…  However, over the next two to three years, I see six economically viable and “low hanging fruit” uses for AI infused malware – all focused on optimizing efficiency in harvesting valuable data, targeting specific users, and bypassing detection technologies.

Author Gunter Ollmann describes six ways networks will be attacked.

Cool Stuff Found

Opera Launches Reborn 3 With VPN and Crypto Wallet

Andrew Orr ·

Today Opera is launching its Reborn 3 browser. It comes with a VPN and cryptocurrency wallet built in, and it’s also ready for Web 3.0, which is defined as a more intelligent web with machine learning, natural language search, data-mining, and more. You could make a strong argument that we’re already in Web 3.0, although Opera defines “Web 3” as a blockchain-based internet. In any case, the Reobrn 3 browser is ready for it. The crypto wallet syncs between the desktop browser and the Android app, and will be added to the iOS in the future. The update also brings a new, borderless design with light and dark modes. Opera created a short sci-fi film “in which a woman travels through a futuristic world in search of regaining control of her digital life.” You can watch that film here, and download Opera here.

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T2 Chip Makes a Big Difference When Encoding Video

Charlotte Henry ·

AppleInsider ran an experiment to test the effect of a T2 chip on video encoding. It found that a Mac Mini with a T2 chip encoded video in nearly half the time an iMac without one did.

Considering the possibility that the slow hard drive was the problem, we re-ran the test to both a USB 3.1 type C SSD on the iMac 4K with identical results. Additionally, running the test on an i7 Mac mini with an external 4200RPM laptop hard drive connected by USB 3.1 type A provided identical results with a higher speed encode, effectively eliminating the slow drive on the entry-level iMac 4K as a bottleneck. So, 100 percent of the difference between the iMac 4K and i3 Mac mini with the basic Video Toolkit is because of the T2.