John Martellaro and Andrew Orr join host Kelly Guimont for a discussion of Apple rolling out health records to the VA, and podcast picks.
MindFi Mindfulness Lifetime Subscription: $39
We have a deal on a subscription to MindFi, a mindfulness app created by top meditation teachers and neuroscientists. It’s designed to help you improve your focus, reduce stress, and improve your relationships through mindfulness exercises. A lifetime subscription is $39 through us.
Apple Health Records are Coming for Veterans
Apple has been working with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and announced that Health Records are coming for veterans.
The Success of AirPods and Apple's Product Strategy
But fast-forward to 2019 and, somehow, the £159-a-pair little pods have transformed into a bona fide status symbol.
I’m not so sure AirPods are a status symbol, and definitely not a millennial one (The word millennial isn’t even mentioned in this article except the headline). But the AirPods are a great example of Apple’s product strategy: Enter a market with crappy products with a better designed, easy-to-use product, and reap the rewards.
President Trump to Sign Order Launching U.S. AI Initiative
U.S. President Donald Trump is set to sign an Executive Order Monday launching a government AI initiative. According to the MIT Technology Review, the plan has five key aims: Redirect funding, create resources, establish standards, retrain workers, and engage internationally. However, the initiative, details of which were released ahead of President Trump’s signing, reportedly failed to provide much substantive detail or cash.
The initiative is designed to boost America’s AI industry by reallocating funding, creating new resources, and devising ways for the country to shape the technology even as it becomes increasingly global. However, while the goals are lofty, the details are vague. And it will not include a big lump sum of funding for AI research
Shazam 2019 Grammy Awards And Get Extended Apple Music
During the 2019 Grammy Awards Apple is extending the Apple Music trial for Shazam users.
Mars One Ventures is Bankrupt
LONDON – Mars One, the company that wanted to colonize the red planet, has gone bust. Its for profit arm has been declared bankrupt. The non-profit foundation is unable to act without further investment, Engadget reported. The company wanted to document the process of colonizing one of the planets nearest to Earth in a reality tv show. Not surprisingly, the finances turned out to be something of a challenge and it looks like the project is no more. In July 2018, an investment deal with Phoenix Enterprises was announced, that was set to inject $12 million into the firm over the coming year.
Mars One was split into two ventures, the non-profit Mars One Foundation and the for-profit Mars One Ventures. The Swiss-based Ventures AG was declared bankrupt by a Basel court on January 15th and was, at the time, valued at almost $100 million. Mars One Ventures PLC, the UK-registered branch, is listed as a dormant company with less than £20,000 in its accounts. There is no data available on the non-profit Mars One Foundation, which funded itself by charging its commercial partner licensing fees. Speaking to Engadget, Bas Lansdorp said that the Foundation is still operating, but won’t be able to act without further investment.
Apple Sued Because Two-Factor Authentication is Too Inconvenient
Apple is being sued because two-factor authentication is too disruptive, takes too much time, and can’t be turned off after two weeks.
The suit, filed by Jay Brodsky in California alleges that Apple doesn’t get user consent to enable two-factor authentication. Furthermore, once enabled, two-factor authentication “imposes an extraneous logging in procedure that requires a user to both remember password; and have access to a trusted device or trusted phone number” when a device is enabled.
It’s only Monday and this is already the dumbest thing I’ve read this week.
Backblaze: The Least Reliable Hard Drives
Cult of Mac writes about the experience Backblaze has had with its many thousands of hard drives. “Statistics on hard drive reliability just released by data-storage company Backblaze would seem to indicate it’s not a good idea to buy a Seagate hard drive. Of the 104,954 drives it uses, Seagate’s are the least reliable by a wide margin.” But there was one brand that was much more reliable.
Apple Doesn't Treat Roger Stone Any Differently
During Robert Mueller’s investigation they discovered Paul Manafort had tampered with witnesses. How was this discovered? Unencrypted WhatsApp messages that were backed up to iCloud. Apple handed over Roger Stone’s iCloud data, and apparently some people are angry. Stephen Silver breaks the issue down and says there is no double standard.
The argument went that Apple had refused to create a backdoor for the iPhone in the case of the one of the San Bernardino shooters following the December 2015 shooting. Yet, they were perfectly willing to easily hand over Manafort’s iCloud data. Why protect the privacy of terrorists, when they won’t do it for everybody?
