Microsoft is upping the ante in its war on unsupported PCs, displaying a watermark on those systems running Windows 11.
Windows 11 has stricter system requirements than its predecessors, requiring a CPU with Trusted Platform Module (TPM). While there are ways of installing Windows on an unsupported machine, Microsoft is not keen on the idea and is making it more irritating to do so.
According to Gizmodo, reports are surfacing of Windows 11 displaying a watermark when running on an unsupported PC. The issue appears to have started with the January 2023 Windows 11 update.
Microsoft already has a major adoption problem with Windows 11 and it’s unlikely this stunt will improve the situation.
Apple is in the hot seat following reports it ignores its own privacy settings and collects a massive amount of user data.
Google and Meta are usually the ones in the news for collecting large quantities of user data without permission. Apple is the latest company facing those allegations following a Gizmodo report citing researchers’ claims that Apple’s own apps collect user data, even when the iPhone Analytics setting is turned off.
According to the report, when iPhone Analytics is turned off, Apple promises it will “disable the sharing of Device Analytics altogether.” Unfortunately, Apple appears to do the exact opposite, collecting data from the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, Books, and Stocks. What’s more, there is simply no privacy setting that turns off the mass collection of data.
“The level of detail is shocking for a company like Apple,” researcher Tommy Mysk told Gizmodo.
Gizmodo outlines exactly what information the App Store is collecting:
The App Store appeared to harvest information about every single thing you did in real time, including what you tapped on, which apps you search for, what ads you saw, and how long you looked at a given app and how you found it. The app sent details about you and your device as well, including ID numbers, what kind of phone you’re using, your screen resolution, your keyboard languages, how you’re connected to the internet—notably, the kind of information commonly used for device fingerprinting.
Again, it’s important to note that absolutely no setting or preference inhibits Apple’s data collection.
The response has been — understandably — swift and severe, with Apple facing a class action lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed in California, citing a violation of the California Invasion of Privacy Act. Not surprisingly, the lawsuit points out Apple’s claims to respect user privacy, a point it has built much of its marketing around.
“Privacy is one of the main issues that Apple uses to set its products apart from competitors,” said plaintiff Elliot Libman, available on Bloomberg Law. “But Apple’s privacy guarantees are completely illusory.”
Cracks have been showing in Apple’s facade of respecting user privacy, but this may be the most damning evidence yet that the company may not be as different from its rivals as it likes to claim.
Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes is asking for a new trial based on a change of heart by a key witness for the prosecution.
Elizabeth Holmes was found guilty of fraud when her company failed to deliver what she had promised investors. According to Gizmodo, Holmes is now requesting a new trial, saying lab director Adam Rosendorff regretted his testimony and claimed “the government made things seem worse than they were.”
Holmes has already been denied an appeal on the guilty verdicts, so it remains to be seen if this request will fair any better.
The Holmes verdict was a controversial one, with some experts warning that it set a dangerous precedent for entrepreneurs and could make it difficult for them to attract investors or market their companies without fear of criminal charges if the company fails.
While a new trial seems like a long shot, it could help clear some of the ethical questions raised by the first one.
Russia appears to be planning to withdraw from the International Space Station (ISS) after 2024, possibly with a view to building its own.
Russia has been a partner in the ISS since its launch, with its rockets used to ferry personnel and supplies to the station. In the wake of sanctions against the country over its invasion of Ukraine, Russia says it is planning to end its participation, according to Gizmodo.
“You know that we are working within the framework of international cooperation at the International Space Station,” said Yury Borisov, the new head of space agency Roscosmos, during his meeting with Putin (machine translation via Google). “Of course, we will fulfill all our obligations to our partners, but the decision to leave this station after 2024 has been made.
“I think that by this time we will begin to assemble the Russian orbital station,” he added.
Only time will tell if the statement will come to pass or if it is an idle threat.
Apple employees are once again pushing back against the company’s hybrid work plans.
Apple’s efforts to bring employees back to the office have been fraught with challenges, with the company repeatedly pushing its return date back as a result of surges in the pandemic. The company finally began requiring employees to come back at least one day a week, starting in mid-April, and increased it to two days a week on May 2. By May 23, employees will be required to be in-person at least three days a week. In response, employees have sent the company an open letter voicing their objections.
Seen by Gizmodo, the letter calls out in-person office work as an outdated technology:
“Office-bound work is a technology from the last century, from the era before ubiquitous video-call-capable internet and everyone being on the same internal chat application. But the future is about connecting when it makes sense, with people who have relevant input, no matter where they are based.”
The letter also took aim at Apple’s reasons for wanting employees back in the office, “serendipity” and “in-person collaboration.” The letter pointed out how Apple’s secretive, siloed culture already didn’t lend itself to serendipity, while many roles within the company don’t require as much in-person collaboration as Apple is claiming, and could be accomplished on an as-needed basis.
Apple’s employees clearly want the freedom to make sensible decisions about where they work from, rather than a one-size-fits-all policy from management:
“We are not asking for everyone to be forced to work from home. We are asking to decide for ourselves, together with our teams and direct manager, what kind of arrangement works best for each one of us, be that in an office, work from home, or a hybrid approach. Stop treating us like school kids who need to be told when to be where and what homework to do.”
In case the point wasn’t clear enough, the letter drove it home even further:
“Here we are, the smart people that you hired, and we are telling you what to do: Please get out of our way, there is no one-size-fits-all solution, let us decide how we work best, and let us do the best work of our lives.”
The employees’ arguments are further reinforced by the fact that Apple has been turning in stellar, record-breaking quarters, an indication that its employees have clearly been doing the best work of their lives…remotely.
Given that Apple’s engineers and other employees are prime targets for corporate poaching, Apple would do well to take the letter seriously. If it doesn’t, it may find itself experiencing a substantial brain-drain as its top talent quits in favor of other companies that “think different.”
Amazon has reversed course on one of its long-standing policies, allowing warehouse employees to keep their cell phones after a deadly tornado.
Amazon had a long history of banning employees from having their cell phones when working in the company’s warehouses. That ban was suspended during the pandemic, but the company said it planned on reinstating it in January 2022. Deadly tornadoes in December, however, once again made the policy a focus of attention. Six workers were killed when a tornado struck the company’s Edwardsville, Illinois warehouse. Critics have said cell phones are an important tool for worker safety, giving them the ability to receive severe weather alerts, not to mention providing a way for family members to reach them in the event of an emergency.
According to an internal memo seen by Motherboard, Amazon has finally relented and made the policy permanent, after initially saying it would keep it in place “until further notice” following the tornado.
“We recognize the desire for employees to keep their mobile phones with them inside facilities, and the last two years have demonstrated that we can safely do so,” the notification read. “Therefore, we are making the temporary phone policy permanent worldwide, in all of our Operations facilities.”
As Gizmodo points out, employees were already comparing Amazon’s policies to those of other companies with better safety records.
“Amazon claims it’s a safety issue, but taking our phones means our families can’t reach us,” Amazonians United wrote in a petition. “Other companies like UPS do allow workers to keep their phones and even to have one headphone in as they work and they still have better safety records than Amazon. Taking our phones away isn’t about safety; it’s about controlling us. We demand that Amazon, like other companies, allow us to keep our phones on us.”
Although Amazon has relented on this issue, it remains to be seen if the company will relent on other issues that are driving multiple unionization efforts on the part of its employees.
iPhone production has been halted at Foxconn factories in China as a result of soaring COVID cases.
Foxconn is the primarily manufacturer of Apple’s iPhone, and any factor impacting that company has a profound effect on Apple’s production. According to Gizmodo, China reported 1,437 new COVID cases Monday, prompting Beijing to shut down all non-essential business operations in Shenzhen, where Foxconn has two factories.
“The operation of Foxconn in Shenzhen, China has been suspended from March 14 onwards in compliance with the local government’s new covid-19 policy. The date of factory resumption is to be advised by the local government,” a Foxconn spokesperson told Gizmodo.
“Due to our diversified production sites in China, we have adjusted the production line to minimize the potential impact. Meanwhile, we have required all the employees to have covid PCR test on top of existing prevention measures to ensure the health and safety of our employees,” the spokesperson continued.
With Apple just announcing the new iPhone SE, it remains to be seen how much this development will impact orders.
John Pinette, Vice President of Global Communications at Meta (formerly Facebook), is leaving the company.
Meta has had a rough couple of years. The company has faced the Cambridge Analytica scandal, been mired in controversy over the the 2020 election, the January 6 insurrection, multiple lawsuits and legislative scrutiny, as well as the release of the “Facebook Papers,” a series of internal documents that placed the company in an unfavorable light.
Despite the challenges it’s facing, Pinette is leaving the company at a time when he’s arguably needed the most. First reported by The Wall Street Journal, via Gizmodo, Pinette broke the news in a post to employees.
“Today will be my last day at Meta,” Pinette wrote in the post, and confirmed by the Journal. “I know the team will continue to thrive as you do some of the most important—and most difficult—work in Communications.”
According to Reuters, Meta has confirmed Pinette’s resignation in a statement, and has said Chris Norton, Vice President of International Communications, will fill in on an interim basis.
“John Pinette has left Meta. We are thankful for his positive contributions during an intense and significant time in the company’s history, and we wish him well going forward,” the statement said.
Tesla has issued a recall for more than 475,000 vehicles for two separate issues involving the rear camera and front trunk.
According to Gizmodo, 356,309 Model 3 sedans have a faulty connection to the rear camera. This connection can be damaged as a result of opening and closing the rear trunk. Once the connection is damaged, users may lose rear camera functionality.
Meanwhile, 119,009 Model S vehicles appear to have a misaligned front trunk latch that may prevent it from properly closing.
The camera issue impacts Model 3s made between 2017 and 2020. Vehicles made in 2021 are not affected. The front trunk issue impacts Model S vehicles manufactured between 2014 and 2021.
Regulators in the UK are taking the gloves off, considering legislation that would impose jail time for execs whose platforms are guilty of “crimes.”
Social media and online platforms are increasingly under scrutiny around the world for their role in abusing user privacy, interfering in politics, endangering minors and spreading misinformation. Regulators have been struggling to come up with solutions that will effect change, with little results so far.
According to Gizmodo, UK regulators have proposed adding penalties to the Online Safety Bill that could land executives in jail if their platforms are found to be causing “online harm.” The recommendations were made by Ofcom, the parliamentary group that oversees the telco and broadcasting industry.
Unfortunately for tech companies, the bill has been accused of being so broad that it could encompass virtually anything thought to be “harmful,” with little clear guidelines of what that may be. The bill would also penalize any website that allows individuals to post content and/or interact with each other online, not just the Big Tech platforms. Ofcom does seem to address some of this, recommending more narrow definitions of what “online harm” may be covered.
Whatever the outcome, if the bill becomes law it will have profound implications for how companies do business in the UK.
The next generation iPhone SE will receive a major upgrade, becoming the latest iPhone to get the 5G treatment.
Carriers and phone makers around the world are racing to adopt 5G, as the next-gen wireless technology delivers revolutionary performance, compared to previous generations. Starting with the iPhone 12, Apple has begun including 5G on iPhone and iPad models.
The iPhone SE is Apple’s budget iPhone, but it’s due for a high-end upgrade. According to Japanese Apple blog Macotakara, via Gizmodo, the next iPhone SE will receive 5G, along with a spec boost.
Customers looking for a redesign, including a larger screen, may be in for a disappointment, as Macotakara says the SE’s form factor will remain the same for the time being.
Europe is once again establishing itself as a leader in privacy protection, preparing to ban the use of facial recognition by law enforcement.
Facial recognition is widely used by law enforcement around the world, but the practice is highly controversial. Studies have shown that many facial recognition algorithms unfairly target people of color. There are also concerns about how data is collected, with companies like Clearview AI drawing criticism for scraping social media platforms to collect photos without consent.
According to Gizmodo, the EU Parliament wants lawmakers to permanently ban facial recognition for law enforcement use. Parliament also wants a moratorium on tech companies collecting biometric data. The one exception is when facial recognition is used solely to identify the victim of a crime.
Calls, however, for a moratorium on the deployment of facial recognition systems for law enforcement purposes that have the function of identification, unless strictly used for the purpose of identification of victims of crime, until the technical standards can be considered fully fundamental rights compliant, results derived are non-biased and non-discriminatory, the legal framework provides strict safeguards against misuse and strict democratic control and oversight, and there is empirical evidence of the necessity and proportionality for the deployment of such technologies; notes that where the above criteria are not fulfilled, the systems should not be used or deployed.
The EU has always been far ahead of the US, in terms of protecting consumer privacy. If the EU passes its facial recognition legislation, it could have far-reaching effects beyond the borders of Europe.
ExpressVPN may be one of the most popular VPN options available, but some are calling for users to abandon it as its integrity is now in question.
The US intelligence community was rocked by accusations that former operatives had turned mercenary-for-hire, working for the UAE to surveil the regime’s critics. Code-named “Project Raven,” the operatives’ efforts were not restricted within the UAE. Instead, Project Raven included surveillance of the regime’s critics around the world, including the US. The targets included activist and journalists.
This revelation has roped in ExpressVPN, as one of those former intelligence operatives working as part of Project Raven included the company’s Chief Information Officer, Daniel Gericke. Some concluded that ExpressVPN was not aware of Gericke’s past when they hired him, but the company has said they were aware of that past — and hired him anyway.
The news has not gone over well with the company’s critics or customers. In fact, Gizmodo has gone so far as to say customers should look for other options.
ExpressVPN acknowledged how much it knew about Gericke’s past in a statement:
When we hired Daniel in December 2019, we knew his background: 20 years in cybersecurity, first with the U.S. military and various government contractors, then with a U.S. company providing counter-terrorism intelligence services to the U.S. and its ally, the U.A.E., and finally with a U.A.E. company doing the same work. We did not know the details of any classified activities, nor of any investigation prior to its resolution this month.
The investigation ExpressVPN mentions is one led by US prosecutors. A deal was reached in which the defendants, including Gericke, were able to avoid jail time in exchange for fines, cooperation and certain employment restrictions.
ExpressVPN goes on to explain why it hired Gericke:
To do that job effectively—to do it, as we believe, better than anyone else in our industry—requires harnessing all the firepower of our adversaries. The best goalkeepers are the ones trained by the best strikers. Someone steeped and seasoned in offense, as Daniel is, can offer insights into defense that are difficult, if not impossible, to come by elsewhere. That’s why there is a well-established precedent of companies in cybersecurity hiring talent from military or intelligence backgrounds.
The company says its decision ultimately paid off:
Since Daniel joined us, he has performed exactly the function that we hired him to do: He has consistently and continuously strengthened and reinforced the systems that allow us to deliver privacy and security to millions of people.
Even if ExpressVPN was not aware of an active investigation into Gericke, it’s hard to imagine the company couldn’t see potential issues if they were aware of his past as they say they were.
On the heels of losing out on a major NASA contract, Blue Origin is also losing some of its top talent to its rivals.
SpaceX beat out Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin in a bid for NASA’s contract for a lunar lander. NASA had originally wanted to source multiple companies, but went with SpaceX exclusively due to budgetary constraints. Blue Origin appealed the decision, an appeal that was denied by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Blue Origin filed a lawsuit against NASA in hopes of overturning the decision.
According to Gizmodo, however, some of Blue Origin’s top talent are already leaving the company. Nitin Arora, lead engineer for the company’s lunar lander program, has left for SpaceX — an especially bitter blow given Blue Origin’s loss to the company. Lauren Lyons has moved on to become COO at Firefly Aerospace, and former astronaut Jeff Ashby, as well as Steve Bennet, have also left.
Whatever the outcome of Blue Origin’s lawsuit, the company’s bigger issue may be keeping morale up and top talent in-house.
Despite some losses, Firefox is still sitting at a relatively healthy 200 million users a year — not 50 million.
A recent article in Gizmodo cited a Firefox Public Data Report, saying the browsers usage “number has sagged to just under 50 million.” In point of fact, the Firefox Public Data Report shows the browser’s usage share dropped from 253,000,000 in January 2019 to 196,000,000 in August 2021. While a drop of 50+ million is certainly unfortunate, roughly 200,000,000 million active users is a far cry from the 50 million Gizmodo proclaims.
Firefox occupies a unique position in the web browser market. Unlike the more popular alternatives, Firefox is open source, developed and maintained by a non-profit organization, Mozilla. In addition, Firefox is one of the most privacy-conscious browsers on the market.
Anyone interested in privacy and security, as well as supporting a diverse web browser market, would do well to make the switch to Firefox — or at least give it a try.
Major websites, including The Washington Post, New York Magazine and the Huffington Posthave been flooded with hardcore porn.
Readers of many major websites and news sources received an eyeful, starting Thursday, when hardcore porn started showing up, embedded in otherwise family-friendly sites. The issue appears to be the result of the Vidme domain — a brief competitor to YouTube that went out of business in 2017 — being bought by 5 Star Porn HD.
The most likely explanation is that, since the porn company bought Vidme’s expired domain, any embedded links to Vidme now forward to 5 Star’s website. The sites in question may have had outdated links embedded in their code.
Interestingly Gizmodo says it’s also possible the whole thing could have been a marketing stunt. 5 Star may have paid to have Vidme links embedded, and then forwarded them to its main site — unbeknownst to the mainstream victims — in an effort to boost its own popularity.
Either way, the whole fiasco illustrates the benefits of having a good adblocker installed in your browser of choice.
Venmo is making a major change to its terms of service, allowing business transactions on personal accounts for the first time.
Venmo is a popular digital payment app that is owned by PayPal. Until now, the company did not allow business transactions on a personal account. Individuals who tried to break the rules quickly found their accounts suspended.
The company is doing an about-face, according to Gizmodo, with users soon able to choose goods or services as a reason for a transaction. The new feature is not without its caveats, however, with a Venmo spokesperson telling The Wall Street Journal that business transactions will be subject to the standard fees that business accounts pay.
Even so, the move is sure to make things easier for users, especially those that were maintaining multiple accounts just to stay on the right side of the rules. The new feature is scheduled to roll out July 20.
Gizmodo is warning of a new scam involving text messages posing as FedEx tracking notifications.
Android and iOS users (including this writer) have received text messages including what purports to be a FedEx tracking number and a link to set delivery preferences. Clicking on the link, however, goes to a fake Amazon listing and survey.
As Gizmodo highlights, this is where the scam takes a turn. “If you proceed any further, the survey will then ask users for a range of personal information including their credit card information, which for anyone who hadn’t already started feeling suspicious, should set off serious alarms.
“Apparently, by entering in your address and credit card number and agreeing to pay a shipping fee for your “prize,” you are also signing up for 14-day trial that turns into a $100 recurring subscription for a range of products, which you will continue to get billed for every month until you figure out how to cancel the payment.”
One way to spot the scam is the alphanumeric nature of the supposed tracking numbers. FedEx tracking numbers are almost always exclusively numbers, whereas the fake ones include letters as well. Similarly, FedEx tracking numbers are 12 or 15 digits long, as opposed to the 10-digit fake ones.
Police departments are warning citizens of the scam and encouraging individuals to check any tracking numbers they receive directly on FedEx’s website, rather than following a link in a text message.
In case you missed it, see Steve Jobs play FDR in a corporate retreat video for Apple employees in 1984.
The Full 8 minute video can be seen HERE It is definitely worth a view. It reminds me of what Micheal Scott might have done if he had Steve Jobs’ money.
Gizmodo was one of the first to show it, citing NetworkWorld as the original source. Now they have found a blog post for a filmaker that worked on the project, Michael Markman. Markman gives a detailed account of the events leading up to making the film, most of it uninteresting, until he gets to talking about pitching the idea to Jobs:
“Mike talked to us in general terms about marketing strategy. He said that in 1984, Macintosh had established a beach head in businesses, but had very little penetration so far compared to IBM. In the coming year, however, with new products coming on line—including a laser printer, a revolutionary plug-and-play network architecture (AppleTalk), a file server, new software, and ways to bridge into existing IBM networks, Mac would move in from the beach.
“If you know Apple history, you’ll know that some of those products didn’t make it to market on time. AppleTalk and the LaserWriter were the few that shipped. The rest of what was termed “The Macintosh Office” was announced, but were not ready for the market. In 1985, Mac sales stalled. Apple went into crisis. Steve into exile—until 1997. Mike Murray moved on to Microsoft where he became VP of HR. Image Stream folded as Apple contracted, and I hired on at Apple.
“But as Glenn and I sat in Mike’s office, we had no clue that Mike’s strategy rested on some unrealistic development schedules.
“As Glenn and I listened to Mike [Murray, head of Mac marketing] talk about beach head and market penetration, and as we watched him draw on his white board, the parallels to the landings at Normandy seemed obvious. I think Glenn was first to connect 1984 to 1944. And the idea clicked in almost immediately.
“Given the way Steve had positioned Apple against IBM, it just seemed to fit. Glenn, Mike, and I began brainstorming right there in the office. Ideas came tumbling out. IBM had Charlie Chaplin for P.C. advertising. And, it turns out that Charlie Chaplin not only had a Hitler-like mustache, he had actually done a Hitler sendup in The Great Dictator. We’d show oppressed workers liberated by the brave forces of Macintosh. We got so excited by the idea that Mike wanted to rush right in and pitch to Steve.
“I called Chris in L.A. to outline what we were thinking. War movie. Stock footage from the D-day landings. Chaplin as Adenoid Hynkel hanging on the wall. Mac marketing team in cameo roles. And the topper: Steve as FDR…
“Glenn, Mike, and I marched into Steve’s office to give him the pitch. Pretty much the way I outlined it in the previous paragraph. Steve’s eyes were sparkling through it all. By the time I got to, “and you as FDR,” I had made the sale. In the binary universe of Steve Jobs, something is either a zero or a one. This was a one. Instantly. Definitively.”
So basically, the only reason this worked as a pitch is because of Steve Job’s immense love for himself, and the desire to see himself like the fearless leader FDR was. Makes sense.
Brad Stone at the New York Times Bits Blog has an interesting article up in which he talks to Andy Rubin, vice president of engineering at Google and co-founder of Android. While the article is mainly about Android, there’s a part toward the end that is humorous when Stone jokes with him that his press relations colleague wanted to confess that he had left a prototype Android phone at a local bar.
"I’d be happy if that happened and someone wrote about it," Rubin is quoted as saying. "With openness comes less secrets."
Considering all the hubbub about the iPhone/Gizmodo incident (which even led to the police seizing Gizmodo editor Jason Chen’s computers from his home while he was not even there), Rubin’s response is a well-placed jab.
In fact, that’s not the only jab at Apple Rubin took in the interview. Stone writes, that he even "seemed to compared [sic] Apple to North Korea." On the general public caring about mobile software being open or a walled garden like Apple’s, Rubin is quoted, "When they can’t have something, people do care. Look at the way politics work. I just don’t want to live in North Korea."
There’s no question that Google and Apple are becoming much fiercer rivals. It’s always fun to look at the jabs each takes at the other. Apple CEO Steve Jobs recently painted Android as all but the red light district of mobile operating systems.
