We're Witnessing the Death of Tumblr in Real Time

We’re witnessing the death of Tumblr in real time. Recently the company announced it would ban all porn starting December 17 using special algorithms that flag content. But they’ve been flagging everything except porn.

On a purely conceptual level, this was already bad news for many Tumblr users. An NSFW content ban will hurt the livelihoods of artists and sex workers on the site, and potentially lead to a mass exodus of bloggers who want to retain their creative freedom. However, it looks like the problems go even further because Tumblr’s content flagging algorithm is hopelessly incompetent.

I’ve never been much of a Tumblr user myself, but I still knew the platform was like 90% porn. Tumblr will end up losing up to half of its user base. *shocked Pikachu face*

Apple Employee Joins ACLU to Fight Government Back Doors

Security expert Jon Callas formerly led a team of hackers to break into Apple products before they were released to test their security. Now he has joined the ACLU to fight against government back doors.

Wizner said he expects Callas to help the group resist governments demanding access to company platforms for surveillance of users and to weigh in on issues including fairness and transparency in artificial intelligence.

Hopefully Jon can help the ACLU fight things like Australia’s recent anti-encryption bill.

Find Out If Your Data Was Leaked With This Data Breach Tool

A data breach tool called have i been pwned? is an app and website that helps you find out if your information was included in data breaches. It’s easy to use, just enter your email address. Have I been pwned? allows you to search across multiple data breaches to see if your personal data was compromised by any of the big hacks on record.  The app includes no  or automatic collecting of private data, searching among published databases and so-called pastes, getting real-time updated by receiving push notifications when new breaches happen, and information behind certain hacks, provided with relevant links to more information. The app has also been provided as open source software, found at GitHub. App Store: Free

PDF Expert for Mac: $19.99

We have a deal on PDF Expert for Mac from Readdle.  This PDF editor has a nice list of distinctions, including being The 2015 App of the Year in the Mac App Store, Top Paid App in the Mac App Store, Editors’ Choice by Apple, and 4.6 out of 5 stars from 1,1000 ratings on the Mac App Store. The deal is for PDF Expert 2.4.2, the version on Readdle’s website. It’s $19.99 through our deal, 75% off retail.