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Cloud Platform 'Cryptee' Now Warns You of Insecure URLs

Andrew Orr ·

The team behind Cryptee, an end-to-end encrypted platform for documents and photos, announced new features for 2022. One in particular caught my eye.

We’ve improved our URL boxes on mobile. Cryptee can now intelligently detect and warn you if your links are insecure. (i.e. using “http” instead of “https”) All insecure links are automatically highlighted yellow, and all secure links are highlighted green.

Podcast

The One After 909 – Mac Geek Gab 910

Dave Hamilton & John F. Braun · · Add Comment

Listen as your two favorite geeks share tips and tricks about sharing photo libraries, writing Shortcuts, scanning pictures with your iPhone, choosing the best USB or Thunderbolt dock, and more. Press play and enjoy learning at least five new things along with Dave and John in this week’s episode of Mac Geek Gab.

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FTC Oculus Probe Examines Meta for Potential Anticompetitive Practices

Andrew Orr ·

Bloomberg has a report (paywalled link) about an FTC Oculus probe launched recently along with multiple states. A paywall-free summary can be found in the link below.

The agency is seeking to explore how Meta may be using market power in the VR space to stifle competition – in particular whether the Oculus app store might be discriminating against third parties selling apps that compete with Meta’s software. The inquiry also includes a probe into sales practices and pricing for the Quest 2 headset, at $299 notably less expensive than many rival models, according to the report.

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Netflix Price in 2022 Rises For Customers in US, Canada

Andrew Orr ·

Netflix price in 2022 has risen for customers in the U.S and Canada, depending on the plan. This is the first price increase since October 2020.

The standard plan, which allows for two simultaneous streams, now costs $15.49 per month, up from $13.99, in the United States. The U.S. price of Netflix’s premium plan, which enables four streams at a time and streaming in ultra HD, was increased by $2 to $19.99 per month.

Photo by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash

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Mozilla 'Pixel Hunt 'Study Aims to Track Facebook Tracking You

Andrew Orr ·

Mozilla is launching a study called Facebook Pixel Hunt. The goal is to track Facebook tracking around the web.

According to its own privacy policy, Facebook may collect information about you across the web even if you don’t have a Facebook account. One way Facebook performs this tracking is through a network of “pixels” that may be installed on many of the sites you visit. By joining this study, you will help Rally and The Markup investigate and report on where Facebook is tracking you and what kind of information they are collecting.

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New Mexico School District Employee Sentenced For Part in Scheme Stealing Students' iPods

Charlotte Henry ·

A school district employee in New Mexico named Kristy Stock has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for being part of a scheme looking to steal and resell over 3,000 iPods. Engadget reported the devices were meant to go to Native American students.

While overseeing the program, Stock was supposed to use federal grant money to buy iPods to distribute to students. However, thanks to help from other conspirators including her friend James Bender and Saurabh Chawla, the group ended up shipping the stolen iPods to Maryland where they were listed on eBay before being sold at a “substantial” markup. Due to his own account having previously been suspended due to security concerns, Chawla was forced to use Bender’s eBay account to list the stolen devices for auction, with Bender serving as an intermediary. Later, between 2015 and 2018, Stock communicated directly with Chawla, providing info on the make, model, color and quantity of devices before agreeing on a price and putting them up for auction.

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New Venmo Gift Wrapping Feature Can Make Your Payments Fancy

Andrew Orr ·

Venmo gift wrapping is a new feature that adds eight new designs for sending and receiving payments.

Customers can send a gift-wrapped payment in just a few simple steps, at no additional cost. Simply tap the “Pay or Request” button on the home screen and add the recipient, payment note and payment amount. Customers can then tap the gift-wrap icon (next to the “Pay” button) and choose the gift-wrap they’d like to send along with their payment, where they will be able to preview the animation before confirming and sending the payment.