Monthly Archives: August 2019

Apple Caught Listening to Your iPhone and iPad

Earlier this month, Facebook gave its 1.3 billion users the perfect reason to delete their accounts. Now Apple appears has done the same for its 1.4 billion iPhone and iPad users worldwide. 

Last month The Guardian revealed Apple was employing contractors to listen to and “grade” Siri recordings and they “regularly” heard confidential information from iPhone and iPad users, including medical information, drug deals and recordings of couples having sex. And now a new report from the Irish Examiner has given a sense of scale to what was happening.  

“Contractors in Cork [Ireland] were expected to each listen to more than 1,000 recordings from Siri every shift, before Apple suspended the practice last month,” explains the Examiner, who got its information from “an employee who had their contract abruptly terminated this week.” 

More:

www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2019/08/24/apple-iphone-ipad-privacy-siri-recordings-ios-upgrade-iphone-xs-max-xr-update/

The coolest iOS 13 features hitting your phone this fall | Popular Science

Whether you wait until the fall or install the beta this summer, here are some of the best changes coming to your iPhone with iOS 13.
— Read on www.popsci.com/ios13-new-features/

The Best:

A stab at stopping robo-calls

Robo and telemarketing calls are a plague on the smartphone-carrying masses. With a feature called “silence unknown callers,” iOS 13 will only permit calls to come through if it recognizes the number from someone in your contacts, or if that number appears in your emails or text messages. Your voicemail will greet calls that don’t meet that criteria, meaning that if your dentist office calls to confirm an appointment, you won’t miss out on the note entirely.

Google offers a related service on its Pixel phones, in which the Google Assistant answers the phone and holds a conversation with the caller.

Apple Readies Camera-Focused Pro iPhones, New iPads, Larger MacBook Pro

Apple Readies Camera-Focused Pro iPhones, New iPads, Larger MacBook Pro
— Read on www-bloomberg-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2019-08-22/iphone-11-new-ipad-pro-16-inch-macbook-pro-airpods-3-features

YouTube to End Targeted Ads on Kids Videos – Bloomberg

To satisfy regulators, YouTube officials are finalizing plans to end “targeted” advertisements on videos kids are likely to watch, according to three people familiar with the discussion. The move could immediately dent ad sales for the video giant — though not nearly as much as other proposals on the table.
— Read on www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-20/youtube-plans-to-end-targeted-ads-to-kids-to-comply-with-ftc

The Mountain in Beverly Hills, once listed for $1 billion, just sold for $100,000. – Los Angeles Times

After listing for $1 billion last year, a 157-acre Beverly Hills property called The Mountain has sold at foreclosure auction for $100,000 to the estate of Mark Hughes, the property’s previous owner.
— Read on www.latimes.com/business/real-estate/story/2019-08-20/beverly-hills-the-mountain-auction-100-000

Amazon can now sense your fear (when not selling you calming scented candles) | TechRadar

The company says its facial recognition tech can accurately read eight emotions, including terror of the concept.
— Read on www.techradar.com/news/amazon-can-now-sense-your-fear-when-not-selling-you-calming-scented-candles

What is a smart city and how does one plan for it? | TechRadar

The exponential growth of cities around the globe comes with new technical challenges, and the potential for smart cities.
— Read on www.techradar.com/news/what-is-a-smart-city-and-how-does-one-plan-for-it

MOVIE: Chef

2014: Directed by Jon Favreau. With Jon Favreau, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Dustin Hoffman.

A head chef quits his restaurant job and buys a food truck in an effort to reclaim his creative promise, while piecing back together his estranged family.


— Read on m.imdb.com/title/tt2883512/

Great movie playing right now on Amazon Prime.

BrownieBytes gives it 5 Brownies!

Warning for iPhone & iPad Apple Users – Security Threat!

Apple has failed to fix a 4 year old bug so now iPhone and iPad users are vulnerable to a security threat. www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2019/08/10/apple-iphone-ipad-security-warning-ios-12-ios13-iphone-xs-max-xr/