WhatsApp is contesting accusations it has not done enough to prevent child sexual abuse, insisting it had “no tolerance” of such behavior.
Financial Gain in Modern Tech Dehumanizes Us
Axios writes:
Tristan Harris, the former Googler who helped popularize the notion of “time well spent” laid out the shift he says the tech industry needs to make in order to stop, as he puts it, “downgrading humanity.” … Harris made the case that today’s technology downgrades humanity by creating a vast artificial social system powered by “overwhelming” AI and an “extractive” attention economy.
The problem, as Harris notes, is that the first company to blink loses.
Mighty Vibe Spotify Offline Player: $76.99
We have a deal on the Mighty Vibe Spotify Offline Player. This device is just what the name suggests: it will play your Spotify music on-the-go without a smartphone or Internet connection. It’s Bluetooth and Wi-Fi enabled, supports wired and most Bluetooth headphones and speakers, has 1,000+ song storage, and is durable and has a built-in clip-on. Plus, the promo video below is definitely funny. It’s $76.99 through our deal.
iOS Mouse Support Could Come This Year
Federico Vittici and Steve Troughton-Smith are saying that iOS mouse support could be coming this year as an accessibility feature of iOS 13. Mr. Vittici mentioned it on the Connected podcast, while Mr. Smith confirmed the rumor via Twitter.
https://twitter.com/stroughtonsmith/status/1120447708215554049?s=21
I personally don’t see the need for a mouse on a touch-oriented device. But I’m glad it will be optional, instead of a required component of iOS. Edit: 20190425: I take that back. I didn’t think of the scenario where many people can hook up an external monitor to their iPad. In that case, mouse support is perfect.
Butterfly Keyboard Woes, SSD Upgrades – TMO Daily Observations 2019-04-24
Today is an all hardware episode, Andrew Orr and John Martellaro join host Kelly Guimont to discuss butterfly keyboards and SSD upgrades.
WhatsApp is Failing to Stop People Sharing Child Abuse Material
Material depicting child abuse l is still being widely shared across WhatsApp. An investigation by The Next Web found the Facebook-owned messaging service had failed to tackle the problem, despite assurances it would do so.
Despite Facebook’s attempts to clamp down on inappropriate content, the two-week long investigation conducted in March found dozens of WhatsApp chat groups with hundreds of members that share child sexual abuse material. The groups were identified through a third-party WhatsApp public group discovery app that Google recently banned from Play Store, but can still be sideloaded using the installation files that are available online elsewhere. Nitish Chandan, a cybersecurity specialist who is also the project manager of CPF, found that members are being solicited using invite links, who are then called on to join a more private group using virtual numbers so as to evade detection.
Bumble’s New Tool Can Block Nudes in Chat
Starting in June, people that use dating app Bumble will find themselves protected against unwanted nudes using an AI tool called Private Detector.
Tim Cook On Why You Should Turn Off All Those Push Notifications
Tim Cook addressed the TIME 100 Summit Tuesday. There, he encouraged people to put down their iPhones. He even said he turned off push notifications from lots of apps, reported Techcrunch.
Today, when users install new apps they often say “No” to push notifications. And with Apple’s new tools to control notifications, users are now actively triaging which apps can get in touch. In fact, that’s what Tim Cook says he did, too. “If you guys aren’t doing this — if you have an iPhone and you’re not doing it, I would encourage you to really do this — monitor these [push notifications],” the CEO suggested to the audience. “What it has done for me personally is I’ve gone in and gutted the number of notifications,” Cook said. “Because I asked myself: ‘Do I really need to be getting thousands of notifications a day?’
Sir Jony Ive on Design and Apple's Values
Sir Jony Ive does not make a huge number of media appearances. When he does, they tend to be worth taking in. Design magazine Document has an in-depth interview with Sir. Jony and Dior top designer Kim Jones in its new edition. In it, he talked about design tools, the future, and the values that run through Apple.
To me, what the institution represents first and foremost is a set of values and a clear sense of why Apple exists, and what contribution we can make to culture—what contribution we can make to society. What I can bring to that is to practice what I do within those values and to extend them. I think it stems from my sense of curiosity. I’m absurdly, frantically inquisitive. Given that I’ve been at Apple for nearly 30 years now, I think I’m sort of steeped in those values. I think the values are powerful but they’re general, and it’s how you turn your curiosity and ideas into vision. I think that very simplistically describes my relationship with Apple.
Huawei to Build Part of UK 5G Network
The British Government has decided to allow Huawei to build part of its 5G network, a move at odds with the U.S. administration.
