Turn Your iPhone or iPad into a Microscope: $101.99

Check out today’s deal of the day, the uHandy Duet kit that turns your iPhone or iPad (or Android device) into a microscope. It comes with two lenses, a battery-powered Hi-Mag Lens with a magnification of 30x-200x on 5″ cellphones and 60x-360x on 7.9″ tablets. The Lo-Mag Lens doesn’t need a battery and has magnification of 10x-60x on 5″ cellphones and 20x-120x on 7.9″ tablets. This is the sort of thing I’d write up as a Cool Stuff Found if we didn’t have a deal. The deal listing has all the tech specs, and it’s $119.99 through us—but if you use coupon code “LABORDAY15” (no quotes), you get 15% off, for a price of $101.99.

Back to School CSF, APFS on Externals, Cable Modems, and Beware iPhone Lint! – Mac Geek Gab 725

Going back to school often means needing to take things from the digital world and connect them to the analog. Need sound? Need printouts? John F. Braun and Dave Hamilton have some Cool Stuff Found for you! Then it’s on to troubleshooting external disks (including APFS), cable modem advice and what to do with an extra Mac mini. All this and more, just press play!

Nix Mini Color Sensor: $58.65 with Labor Day Coupon Code

We have a deal on the Nix Mini Color Sensor. This device senses color so you can match it to one of 31,000 brand name paint colors. If you’re looking for digital color matching, it will also give you the RGB, HEX, CMYK, and LAB colors. The Nix Mini Color Sensor is $69 through us, but if you use “LABORDAY15” (without the quotes) at checkout, you’ll save 15%. That brings it down to $58.65. Cool, yeah?

Happy Labor Day, from TMO!

In observance of Labor Day, a U.S. holiday, The Mac Observer will be taking the day off for a little outdoor fun with friends and family, and we hope you are, too. We’ll resume our regular publishing schedule on Tuesday, September 4th. Enjoy the holiday!

Smart TVs Could Get Smarter About Tracking You

It’s estimated that smart TVs will make up 70% of televisions shipped this year. This will give companies new data on the shows we watch and how long we watch them, which means better TV ad targeting.

Typically, TV and app makers say they don’t collect your data unless you’ve opted-in to share it, and what data they share isn’t linked to any personally identifiable information, but to an identifier that connects to a wealth of other data about you. In any case, Navin and other TV techies generally like to emphasize all that you get in exchange for turning over your viewing data. Samba’s software, for instance, can recommend shows for you to watch based on what you’ve already seen.

Can This California Privacy Law Bring Back Net Neutrality?

On Thursday, the state’s State Assembly voted 58-17 on a California privacy law called S.B. 822. It would implement the strongest net neutrality provisions in the U.S.

Here’s where it goes above and beyond the policy developed under the Obama administration: The bill also bans zero rating, which allows service providers to charge customers for data use on some websites but not on others. If you want to dive deeper into the nitty-gritty, take a look at the bill here.