Tech and Hack

By elmidwill

Technology
Windows 7 users: You need SHA-2 support or no Windows updates after July 2019
ZDNet - Mary Jo Foley
Microsoft will begin rolling out SHA-2 standalone updates for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 in March in preparation for its July 16 …
Technology
Microsoft really doesn’t want you to use Internet Explorer anymore
The Verge - Tom Warren
Microsoft calls it a compatibility solution, not a browser Microsoft killed off the Internet Explorer brand nearly four years ago, choosing Edge as its modern browser for Windows 10. Internet Explorer
Apple
Many popular iPhone apps secretly record your screen without asking
TechCrunch - Zack Whittaker
Many major companies, like Air Canada, Hollister and Expedia, are recording every tap and swipe you make on their iPhone apps. In most cases you won’t even realize it. And they don’t need to ask for permission.
Magnetism
Earth's Magnetic North Pole Has Officially Moved
Forbes - Trevor Nace
Earth’s magnetic North Pole has drifted so fast that authorities have had to officially redefine the location of the magnetic North Pole. The extreme wandering of the North Pole caused increasing concerns
Technology
Apple now sells a Belkin Ethernet + Power dongle for iPhones and Lightning iPads
9to5Mac - Zac Hall
If you follow Apple news even casually, you’ve probably seen your fair share of dongles and adapters over the years. The latest recruit to the dongle gang is Belkin’s Ethernet + Power Adapter with Lightning
Apps
Apple blocks Facebook from running its internal iOS apps
The Verge - Tom Warren and Jacob Kastrenakes
Facebook’s internal iOS apps simply don’t launch anymore Apple has shut down Facebook’s ability to distribute internal iOS apps, from early releases of the Facebook app to basic tools like a lunch menu.
Technology
Bluetooth will soon be able to pinpoint devices down to the centimeter
Android Authority - Eric Zeman
Bluetooth already knows how to find phones, and location accuracy is fairly decent. A planned update to Bluetooth, however, will give the short-range radio tech the power to pinpoint devices’ direction
Tech Industry
Google and Ad Industry Accused of “Massive” Abuse of Intimate Personal Data
Fortune - David Meyer
Last September, a coalition of privacy activists and browser-makers targeted Google and the advertising technology industry with complaints about “a …
Technology
Future Chrome update may kill ad-blocking extensions
androidpolice.com - Corbin Davenport
Horror stories about Chrome extensions secretly copying user data, injecting ads into pages, or mining cryptocurrency in the background have become …
Technology
donates $2 million to Wikipedia’s parent org
TechCrunch - Megan Rose Dickey
Google, as well as many other companies, have long relied on Wikipedia for its content. Now, Google and Google.org are giving back. Google.org President Jacquelline Fuller today announced a $2 million
Twitter will stream live NBA games with a camera that tracks one player like a stalker
CNET - by Joan E. Solsman
The NBA says fans can watch the action through a single-player, isolated camera view during 20 games it will livestream free on Twitter.
I Gave a Bounty Hunter $300. Then He Located Our Phone
VICE - Joseph Cox
T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T are selling access to their customers’ location data, and that data is ending up in the hands of bounty hunters and others not authorized to possess it, letting them track most
Inside Project Athena: How Intel and PC makers are creating the ultra-responsive laptops of tomorrow
pcworld.com - Mark Hachman
A little less than eight years ago Intel helped usher in the era of thin-and-light notebook PCs, then called ultrabooks. Now, Intel and a number of its partners are ready to take the ultrabook to the level
Technology
Apple Struggles With Demand For Dull Devices
Forbes - Jon Markman
It is hard not to admire how well Apple sells iPhones. Through thick and thin, this has been its one constant. The Wall Street Journal reported November 19 that the Cupertino, Calif., company cut supply
Female rapper pulls off the most accurate Siri impersonation ever
Cult of Mac - Luke Dormehl
A Baltimore-based rapper named HAZMATCAZ has taken the internet by storm. No, it’s not her ability to spit sick bars, but rather her astonishingly on-point Siri impression. Check it out below. Footage
Technology
AAPL hits 52 week low of $149, down 36% from $233 October high
9to5Mac - Michael Potuck
Along with the entire market diving, AAPL today hit a 52 week low of $149 just before the market closed. The stock jumped just a touch to end at $150.92 for the day, but as analysts have noted, AAPL share
Microsoft issues emergency update to fix critical IE flaw under active exploit
Ars Technica - Dan Goodin
Memory corruption vulnerability allows drive-by attacks. Microsoft has issued an emergency update that fixes a critical Internet Explorer …
Tech Industry
Gates Among Billionaires Backing Alphabet Energy Spinoff
Bloomberg - Mark Chediak, Mark Bergen
Alphabet Inc.’s secretive X moonshot lab is spinning off an energy-storage project with backing from billionaires including Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates. …
Windows 10
Microsoft's new Office app for Windows 10 is coming to all Office users for free
ZDNet - Mary Jo Foley
Microsoft is replacing its existing 'My Office' app with a new Office app for Windows 10 -- a Progressive Web App which will be available to all …
Containers Are Poised To Quash VMware In 2019
Forbes - Paul Teich
Enterprise application development has reached a tipping point. I predict in 2019 new enterprise application development will rapidly shift away from legacy virtual machines (VMs) and strongly toward and
MS-Linux? Lindows? Could Microsoft release a desktop Linux?
ZDNet - Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
Yes, yes they could. And I would no longer bet they won't. Here's why. I used to say that Microsoft would release a Microsoft desktop Linux -- …
What's the difference between USB-C and Thunderbolt?
imore.com - Joseph Keller
Best answer: USB-C and Thunderbolt may use the same port, but they are by no means the same connector. There are some key differences that prevent …
Microsoft's Notes and Tasks strategy explained
ZDNet - Mary Jo Foley
Microsoft's Notes and Tasks (NoTa) team is 'in the business of giving people's brains more storage space.' Here's how they're working to fulfill that …
Open Source Movement
Winterize your Bash prompt in Linux
opensource.com - Jason Baker
Hello once again for another installment of the Linux command-line toys advent calendar. If this is your first visit to the series, you might be …
Technology
Google relents and transfers to DuckDuckGo
The Verge - Jon Porter
Clearing up confusion for users DuckDuckGo, the privacy focused search engine, has acquired Duck.com from Google, reports NamePros. Responding to rumors from a few days ago, CEO Gabriel Weinberg said the
Meet The Linux Desktop That's More Beautiful Than Windows 10 And MacOS
Forbes - Jason Evangelho
As a fairly new desktop Linux user I’ve been a distro-hopping fanatic, exploring the functionality and key differences between the array of excellent options out there. While a “forever distro” is the
Microsoft is making its first web browser for the Mac in 15 years
yahoo.com - Jordan Novet
Microsoft's web browsing technology is coming back to the Mac . On Thursday Microsoft said that its Edge browser, which was introduced in 2015 as part …
Qualcomm announces the Snapdragon 8cx, an ‘extreme’ processor for Windows laptops
The Verge - Sean Hollister
Could Qualcomm replace Intel in your next Windows PC? The “X” stands for “extreme.” That’s what Qualcomm’s marketing department wants you to think about the new eight-core Snapdragon 8cx. It’s a brand-new
Phone makers, stop lying about how good your cameras are
TNW - Abhimanyu Ghoshal
Samsung has been caught for the second time trying to pass off photos from a DSLR camera as image samples from its phones. In the latest instance, its Malaysian division was spotted using a shot taken