Cool Stuff Found

Check out this Tablet/Phone that Rolls Up Like Scroll

Bryan Chaffin ·

Let me state right up front that this thing is useless, a bad idea in search of a problem. I don’t care, because it’s also super cool and a herald of some crazy cool stuff yet to call. That out of the way, here’s the Magicscroll (via TechCrunch), a research product from scientists at Canada’s Queen’s University Human Media Lab. It’s part smart-ish phone, part tablet, and part wonky, because it rolls into a cylinder, thanks to a 7.5” 2K resolution flexible display. Watch the video, and you can see how they use the ends to navigate and unroll the screen to use it as a tablet. Ish. Here’s why I’m excited about it: it’s that rolled up display. While “displays” are eventually headed towards holographic projectors (I’m telling you now), an intermediary step is going to be displays that roll up into tight little cylinders we can take with us. Again, I’m telling yo now. The Magicscroll is an early step towards much more useful iterations, and you have to start somewhere. Also, I love to see anyone trying to think about different ways to do things, even if those ways seem absurd. You know, like this one. So, check it out!

Tips

How to Empty the Trash in Outlook for Mac

Jeff Butts ·

If you use Outlook on your Mac instead of Apple Mail, then it’s important for you to know that the program doesn’t empty its trash automatically. If you’d like to clear out old stuff within Outlook, then, come read this Quick Tip! We’ll give you plenty of options on how to do so.

TMO Deals

BeeLine Reader Lifetime Subscription: $29.99

Bryan Chaffin ·

We have an interesting deal for you on BeeLine Reader, a speed reading tool that works on Chrome or Firefox on your Mac or PC. According to the company, “this speed reading tool applies an eye-guiding color gradient to your text, with the color at the end of one line matching perfectly with the beginning of the next.” The deal is for a lifetime license good on one browser for $29.99. If you choose the 5-browser version ($39.99), the company will donate five licenses to low-income students.

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Middle East Espionage Involves Hacking Macs

Andrew Orr ·

A hacking team called WindShift has been responsible for hacking Macs for the past couple of years. They target certain individuals working in government departments in the Middle East.

Karim, a researcher at cybersecurity company DarkMatter, said the attackers had found a way to “bypass all native macOS security measures.” Once they’d penetrated those defenses, the malware would exfiltrate documents of interest and continuously take screenshots of the victims’ desktops. The attacks have been ongoing from 2016, through to today, the researcher added.

Scary stuff, and it sounds like whatever vulnerabilities WindShift is finding affect all Mac models. That being said, these are highly targeted attacks, so the rest of us probably don’t have to worry.

Link

Original iPhone Designer Shares Thoughts on Apple's Flaws

Andrew Orr ·

Imran Chaudri—an original iPhone designer—worked on the first iPhone’s user interface, and was once director of Apple’s human interfaces group. He talked to Fast Company about his time at Apple and some of Apple’s flaws.

There are issues any time you do something unnatural, when you ask humanity to interact with machines. It’s that simple. The side effects of interfacing with machines, whether it’s knobs and dials, or clicks and taps, or swipes and gestures, are always going to be there. You have to be smart enough to be ahead of them and anticipate what they are.

Even when using the first iPhone, Mr. Chaudri knew that a feature like Do No Disturb would be important.