September 2014 - apple-list - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

FYI: Apple's Commitment to Privacy
by Wayne Billing 25 Sep '14

25 Sep '14

Apple Inc. is providing new web pages that lay out how your information, location, and transactions has been increased by Apple, iOS 8, and Yosemite. See how you can make best use of these extra protections: http://www.apple.com/privacy/ http://www.apple.com/privacy/privacy-built-in/ http://www.apple.com/privacy/manage-your-privacy/ http://www.apple.com/privacy/government-information-requests/ http://www.apple.com/privacy/privacy-policy/ ....you should also keep in mind that not many 3rd party (non-Apple Inc.) apps do not yet take advantage of the Apple supplied technology and may not fully encrypt/protect/etc. your information: Wayne Billing Classroom Technology Support Audio Visual and Classroom Technology Support Computer and Network Support 130 Machray Hall Building 204-474-6649 204-807-3153 (cell) 204-474-7625 (fax) Wayne_Billing(a)umanitoba.ca<mailto:Wayne_Billing@umanitoba.ca>

1 0

FYI: iOS8, iPhone 4s, & iPad2: Wait?
by Wayne Billing 18 Sep '14

18 Sep '14

...from: http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/09/ios-8-on-the-iphone-4s-performance-isn… iOS 8 on the iPhone 4S: Performance isn’t the (only) problem New OS wants screen space and processing power that the old phone doesn't have. by Andrew Cunningham<http://arstechnica.com/author/andrew_cunningham/> - Sept 17 2014, 8:26am CDT * Share<https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Farstechnica.com%2Fapple%…> * Tweet<https://twitter.com/share?text=iOS+8+on+the+iPhone+4S%3A+Performance+isn%E2…> 129<http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/09/ios-8-on-the-iphone-4s-performance-isn…> [cid:D5339AF5-E24F-42BA-9DA5-9F64A95DB65C]<http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/IMG_0052.jpg> Enlarge<http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/IMG_0052.jpg> / The iPhone 4S. I remember when this was the one that made my old phone feel slow. Andrew Cunningham iPhones have about a year to be top-of-the-line. Then they have a year to be the modest-but-capable midrange model. After that, they become the free-with-contract choice. And then, in their last year, they enter that no-man's-land where they're still getting software updates but are no longer being sold. 2014 is the year the iPhone 4S was told to pack up its things and move to the retirement home. As a going away present, Apple gave it iOS 8<http://ars.to/1rZUgRC>, which in all likelihood will be the last major version upgrade it gets. For the last two years, we've taken the oldest phone supported by each new iOS update and looked at what you stand to gain (and lose) by installing the update. We were impressed by iOS 6 on the iPhone 3GS<http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/09/tempting-fate-installing-ios-6-on-the-…>, but iOS 7 on the iPhone 4<http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/09/new-lease-on-life-or-death-sentence-io…> came with some serious compromises. The 4S has stayed pretty speedy over the years, but how does iOS 8 treat it? Missing features The iPhone 4S gets many of iOS 8's biggest additions, including support for extensions and most of the improvements to Apple's built-in applications. That said, it's missing out on several features that depend on newer hardware: * AirDrop * TouchID * Handoff for applications, though iPhone call forwarding to other devices works fine * Support for OpenGL ES 3.0<https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/DeviceInformation/Ref…>, the Metal graphics API, and 64-bit ARMv8 apps In addition to that list, keep in mind that the iPhone 4S is much slower than any other iPhone Apple currently sells. It uses 2.4GHz-only 802.11n Wi-Fi, lacks LTE, and uses an Apple A5 chip that only offers about a quarter the raw performance of the Apple A7 in the iPhone 5S (the A8 in the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus widens this gap yet further). iOS 8 doesn't leave the iPhone 4S behind, but you'll pick up quite a few features by moving to something newer. 3.5 inches is not that many [cid:C3F70C0E-8265-46D9-934C-04B740A9278B]<http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Photo-Sep-13-2-09-09-…> Andrew Cunningham Spotlight suggestions can fit one or two results at best. 1. [cid:90B65383-A73E-4050-B234-4C88D95E2194] <http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Photo-Sep-13-2-09-09-…> 2. [cid:83B10552-2A40-4933-AF1D-8F541261FE63] <http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Photo-Sep-13-2-12-39-…> 3. [cid:ADC477B2-8A92-481F-82EA-344C8489AC33] <http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Photo-Sep-13-11-29-57…> 4. [cid:6E7C37F6-07F3-4E23-BC65-35C7BBAED0E2] <http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Photo-Sep-13-2-21-48-…> 5. [cid:9DBBFC10-B180-4694-B53B-CA6040AAA940] <http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Photo-Sep-13-2-21-30-…> 6. [cid:11B6DA24-F813-485E-8387-64CB4FE457B3] <http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Photo-Sep-13-2-13-22-…> FURTHER READING [cid:311149A2-3E96-4AA3-9CC6-2D118672BE0A]<http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/09/new-lease-on-life-or-death-sentence-io…> NEW LEASE ON LIFE OR DEATH SENTENCE? IOS 7 ON THE IPHONE 4<http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/09/new-lease-on-life-or-death-sentence-io…> Apple's single-core A4 is really beginning to show its age. The iPhone 4S was Apple's last to use the original 3.5-inch iPhone screen size, which is now the smallest of four different phone screens that Apple supports. iOS 8's new stuff is all about fitting more information on those larger screens, whether we're talking about predictive typing, new Mail sorting options, Notification Center widgets, or Spotlight suggestions. The 4S' screen has always been small, but iOS 8 can make it feel cramped. Look at the Mail app, for example: you give up one strip of horizontal screen space to fit the typing suggestions and another strip at the top to show that Mail compose "windows" can be minimized to let you dig through the rest of your inbox. Both features work on the iPhone 4S, but they also leave you with only a very small bit of screen for what you're writing. If you don't mind (or actively prefer) your 4S' screen size, by all means, continue to enjoy it. You'll just have to do more scrolling than you do on and iPhone 5 or an iPhone 6. Needs more speed We want to open this section by saying that iOS 8 on the iPhone 4S is nowhere near as bad as iOS 7 on the iPhone 4. That OS ran so slowly and looked so different on the iPhone 4 than it did on any other device that it was obvious the hardware was struggling to keep up. The iPhone 4S made the jump to iOS 7 relatively gracefully, though, and it's fine with rendering all of the fancy transparency and translucency effects. We were expecting speed to stay roughly the same in the jump from iOS 7 to iOS 8, more or less as it did when we moved from iOS 5 to iOS 6 on the 3GS. Testing some application launch times under both operating systems reset those expectations. APPLICATION IOS 7.1.2 IOS 8.0 GM Safari 1.25 seconds 2.16 seconds Camera 1.5 seconds 1.8 seconds Settings 0.95 seconds 1.25 seconds Mail 0.91 seconds 1.30 seconds Messages 1.73 seconds 1.83 seconds Calendar 0.8 seconds 1.25 seconds Cold boot 36.4 seconds 39.8 seconds Each app was launched, timed with a stopwatch until it was ready for user input, then force-closed and opened again two more times; the speeds above are averages of those times. Again, we're not looking at an iPhone 4-level situation here, but iOS 8 can add as much as 50 percent more time to the same task compared to iOS 7. As you can read in our main iOS 8 review<http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/09/ios-8-thoroughly-reviewed/>, browser benchmarks are a little bit faster and battery life is about the same, but speed does take a hit. The other problem is something that's not so easily measurable: animations on the Apple A5 SoC are markedly more choppy and inconsistent in iOS 8 than they ever were in iOS 7, something we confirmed by jumping back and forth between OSes a couple of times to make sure we weren't imagining things. Ars Culture Editor Casey Johnston confirmed that she was seeing the same kind of behavior on her iPad 2<http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/09/a-slide-into-obsolescence-ios-8-on-the…>, and the non-Retina iPad Mini I have for testing was also choppy. It's odd, because although the applications themselves have added features, the GPU shouldn't really be working harder to render stuff in iOS 8 than it had to in iOS 7. The most common problem is dropped frames during animations, which doesn't create slowness so much as it gives the impression of slowness. You'll see these whether you're looking at big sweeping animations (opening a new tab in Safari) or smaller, more subtle ones (hitting "send" on a text in Messages). Occasionally, though, a hitch in animation would actually slow the whole device down, and it would sometimes hesitate to respond to input in a way that it didn't before. The iPhone 4's severe performance problems were addressed to some degree by the iOS 7.1 update<http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/03/ios-7-1-on-the-iphone-4-as-good-as-its…>, and we're hoping to see the same done for older devices under iOS 8. Should you upgrade? [cid:A496584D-4DD5-45A4-B4DC-335C03FDDD8D]<http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/IMG_0050.jpg> Enlarge<http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/IMG_0050.jpg> Andrew Cunningham Despite the problems we ran into, we think the answer for most people will still be "yes." And if you happen to be using an iPhone 5 or iPhone 5C, the next-newest iOS 8 devices, go ahead and upgrade without fear; we didn't notice any of the same speed problems on those phones that we did on the 4S. iOS 8 is a big update, and it comes with a lot of big features. Although the iPhone 4S misses out on Handoff, it can still run extensions like widgets and third-party keyboards, two things iOS users have been awaiting for a long time now. By holding off on iOS 7, you were mostly just missing out on a redesign, but with iOS 8 there's good stuff here that you're going to want if you can get it. Ideally you wouldn't have to trade features for performance, but in our opinion getting the new stuff is worth putting up with the small slowdowns you'll experience. If you'd prefer to play it safe and wait for a future 8.0.1 or 8.1 update to improve performance on older devices, that's fine too—we hope that Apple makes it a priority as it continues to work on iOS 8. -== -=-=-== -= -= -= -= -= -= -= -= -= -= -= -= -= -= -= -= -= -=- = -= -= -= -= -= -= -= -= -= -= -= -= - ...from: INFINITE LOOP / THE APPLE ECOSYSTEM<http://arstechnica.com/apple/> A slide into obsolescence: iOS 8 on the iPad 2 It didn't seem like 6 could be worse than 7, but 7 to 8 is a different story. by Casey Johnston<http://arstechnica.com/author/caseyjohnston/> - Sept 17 2014, 8:29am CDT * Share<https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Farstechnica.com%2Fapple%…> * Tweet<https://twitter.com/share?text=A+slide+into+obsolescence%3A+iOS+8+on+the+iP…> 98<http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/09/a-slide-into-obsolescence-ios-8-on-the…> [cid:406DD54B-92AD-482C-A892-58B0BF4DE5A2] iOS 8 doesn't make a huge difference, visually, save a few small points. In case you've been so content with your iPad 2 over the last few years that you've drifted away from paying attention to the Apple product cycle, here is some six-month-old news: Apple finally stopped selling the iPad 2 model back in March. After it hung on at the bottom of the tablet product line for a couple of years to be a rock for the education and corporate markets, Apple kicked the iPad 2 out and resurrected the iPad 4 as the new full-size budget model. But for now, Apple is continuing to update the iPad 2, in part because it has so much in common with the non-retina iPad mini, including the Apple A5 processor and 1024x768 display. But the iPad 2 hung around so long because it's also a legacy device. There are students depending on updates, as well as companies who used the iPad as a default device, like Square. iOS 7 didn't do a whole lot of damage to the iPad 2, and even improved it in some aspects, like how fast the browser could load webpages. But this time around, the new version of iOS 8 appears to make the start of a much bigger decline, not only in performance, but in appearance. Where we miss out, and what goes wrong FURTHER READING [cid:D129D789-CD64-4A62-9B15-84F07CF194A0]<http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/09/ios-8-thoroughly-reviewed/> IOS 8, THOROUGHLY REVIEWED<http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/09/ios-8-thoroughly-reviewed/> A big, developer-centric update completes the overhaul started in iOS 7. There were some features added to iOS 7<http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/09/dont-let-me-down-apple-ios-7-on-the-ip…> that were not available on the iPad 2, and iOS 8 adds to this list<https://www.apple.com/ios/whats-new/>: * Apple Health * Handoff features in Continuity * TouchID * Support for OpenGL ES 3.0<https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/DeviceInformation/Ref…>, the Metal graphics API, and 64-bit ARMv8 apps. The last time we wrote about an iOS transition, we noted that the bolder version of the OS-wide font helped everything look slightly better on the iPad 2's non-retina screen. With the font changes in iOS 8, though, this is no longer good advice—the bold font looks fat and unwieldy, especially on the everpresent clock time at the top of the screen and on the keyboard. Fortunately, Apple seems to have beefed up the standard font a bit in places where it needs it, so switching to bold is no longer necessary. [cid:EAF69CB2-5525-4B8C-853B-AE09E1729FA1]<http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Photo-Sep-16-1-38-07-…> Bold text on iOS 7.1.2... 1. [cid:481989F7-79DF-4732-94BF-35965143CACD] <http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Photo-Sep-16-1-38-07-…> 2. [cid:737637CA-DFC4-470B-BCFE-10C7DB379586] <http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Photo-Sep-16-1-39-39-…> 3. [cid:547E5D01-53E0-474D-9CB4-87483C4E4FF4] <http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Photo-Sep-16-1-39-50-…> 4. [cid:90BED20E-C2C1-49BD-8136-7B6B92E2D2C1] <http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Photo-Sep-16-1-41-35-…> 5. [cid:B4381E3F-E204-42AD-BFB7-5DCBC92A04A7] <http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Photo-Sep-16-2-25-19-…> 6. [cid:6B22B8D8-B4B0-4A55-92A7-83024A88326F] <http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Photo-Sep-16-2-26-22-…> 7. [cid:44A4E194-DB8A-4F6D-8758-C4A0D8D8CDF8] <http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Photo-Sep-16-2-25-25-…> 8. [cid:1AAD2D33-7232-41ED-A61F-515D53101511] <http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Photo-Sep-16-2-26-28-…> In addition to font problems, the iPad 2 also still doesn't get any of the watercolor translucency effects Apple introduced iOS 7. Generally, iOS 8 is noticeably slower and choppier than iOS 7, in everything from opening apps to typing. Back when we switched from iOS 6, we complained about how we could get 10 characters into typing something before the keyboard realized what was happening. This problem has returned with a force in iOS 8, especially on first opening an app. Screen rotation is stuttery, and any time some part of the OS needs to slide into place (text centering, apps minimizing), it can't do it smoothly. To quantify the difference in performance, we tried opening several stock apps on each version of the OS, as well as cold-booting to the lock screen. APPLICATION IOS 7.1.2 IOS 8.0 GM Safari 1.07 seconds 1.81 seconds Camera 1.01 seconds 1.04 seconds Settings 1.16 seconds 1.63 seconds Mail 1.60 seconds 2.61 seconds Messages 0.92 seconds 1.19 seconds Calendar 0.97 seconds 1.48 seconds Cold boot 29.12 seconds 31.53 seconds IOS 7 was overall slower at opening apps than iOS 6 last year, but a lot of the difference could be attributed to the sweeping and slow animations that Apple introduced between the two versions. Even after Apple expedited the animations in newer versions of iOS 7, iOS 8 is still one half to a full second slower to complete certain tasks than iOS 7 on the iPad 2. Cold boots take a couple seconds longer, too. None of these opening times are huge roadblocks, but they add up to a noticeable poky feeling that wasn't there (or wasn't as strong) coming from iOS 7. [cid:C2488662-189A-455E-BB04-21174FF28B02]<http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/charts.005.png> 1. [cid:E353F12D-DFB6-4452-A455-9603A331198B] <http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/charts.005.png> 2. [cid:2532D096-F72C-4106-A026-45E24E4489CC] <http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/charts.006.png> 3. [cid:F239B316-1F55-4745-968F-CAEA7744F44D] <http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/charts.007.png> Surprisingly, the browser performance on iOS 8 is marginally better than on iOS 7 according to benchmarks. iOS 8 barely edges out 7 in Kraken, but it loses out in running SunSpider. The iPad 2 could not run Google Octane v2 on iOS 8 without crashing, but when we ran v1 on both versions, iOS 8 beat iOS 7 by a solid margin. FURTHER READING [cid:3C588B9A-B832-4803-A91E-93F9F1BE37E7]<http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/09/ios-8-on-the-iphone-4s-performance-isn…> IOS 8 ON THE IPHONE 4S: PERFORMANCE ISN’T THE (ONLY) PROBLEM<http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/09/ios-8-on-the-iphone-4s-performance-isn…> New OS wants screen space and processing power that the old phone doesn't have. Experientially, though, iOS 8 feels like it reloads tabs and reacts to input slower than iOS 7 did. Because of all the reloads, browsing is a disjointed experience with either version. Do I upgrade, or not? Last year our attitude toward the iOS 6-to-7 upgrade was "how much worse can things get," and it turns out we'd never find out. iOS 7 stayed roughly on par with 6 in terms of performance. After that experience, we could advocate for an upgrade with few reservations. But now, iOS 8 has convinced us that things can, in fact, be worse. Not a whole lot worse, and not all the time, but it's enough of a regression with few enough upsides that acquiescing to the "download software update" prompts may actually be a bad idea. FURTHER READING [cid:DDEA7E11-3447-4EC6-85AD-89DDC6E1AE7E]<http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/09/dont-let-me-down-apple-ios-7-on-the-ip…> DON’T LET ME DOWN, APPLE: IOS 7 ON THE IPAD 2<http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/09/dont-let-me-down-apple-ios-7-on-the-ip…> The A5 processor is less of a problem than the sad non-retina display. With that course of action comes some caveats: opting out of software updates can be risky from a security standpoint. There is also the possibility that later versions will become more stable, so closing your device off permanently may not be the best decision in the long run. It is possible, though not strictly sanctioned, to roll back to iOS 7 from 8 if you do want to give it a try but are worried you'll find it lacking. Ultimately, the iPad 2 is still our couch Internet-surfing device, occasionally a night-reading device. We don't demand much at all from it in terms of performance and expect it's the same for others who are still using this model a full three and a half years after it came out. This means that upgrading to iOS 8 won't ruin the experience; then again, neither would just staying on iOS 7.

1 0

FYI: "Android Browser flaw a privacy disaster for half of Android users"
by Wayne Billing 17 Sep '14

17 Sep '14

...from: http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/09/android-browser-flaw-a-privacy-disa… Android Browser flaw a “privacy disaster” for half of Android users Bug enables malicious sites to grab cookies, passwords from other sites. by Peter Bright<http://arstechnica.com/author/peter-bright/> - Sept 16 2014, 6:00pm CDT * Share<https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Farstechnica.com%2Fsecuri…> * Tweet<https://twitter.com/share?text=Android+Browser+flaw+a+%E2%80%9Cprivacy+disa…> 60<http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/09/android-browser-flaw-a-privacy-disa…> [cid:6B50831D-9AD1-474E-90A9-49648DA366F2] Thanks to a bug in the Android Browser, your cookies aren't safe. Surian Soosay<https://www.flickr.com/photos/ssoosay/5762345557/in/photolist-9Mcwzt-46PRKe…> A bug quietly reported on September 1 appears to have grave implications for Android users. Android Browser, the open source, WebKit-based browser that used to be part of the Android Open Source Platform (AOSP), has a flaw that enables malicious sites to inject JavaScript into other sites. Those malicious JavaScripts can in turn read cookies and password fields, submit forms, grab keyboard input, or do practically anything else. Browsers are generally designed to prevent a script from one site from being able to access content from another site. They do this by enforcing what is called the Same Origin Policy (SOP): scripts can only read or modify resources (such as the elements of a webpage) that come from the same origin as the script, where the origin is determined by the combination of scheme (which is to say, protocol, typically HTTP or HTTPS), domain, and port number. The SOP should then prevent a script loaded from http://malware.bad/ from being able to access content at https://paypal.com/. The Android Browser bug breaks the browser's handling of the SOP. As Rafay Baloch, the researcher who discovered the problem<http://www.rafayhackingarticles.net/2014/08/android-browser-same-origin-pol…> found, JavaScript constructed in a particular way could ignore the SOP and freely meddle with other sites' content without restriction. This means that potentially any site visited in the browser could be stealing sensitive data. It's a bug that needs fixing, and fast. As part of its attempts to gain more control over Android<http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/10/googles-iron-grip-on-android-control…>, Google has discontinued the AOSP Browser. Android Browser used to be the default browser on Google, but this changed in Android 4.2, when Google switched to Chrome. The core parts of Android Browser were still used to power embedded Web view controls within applications, but even this changed in Android 4.4, when it switched to a Chromium-based browser engine. But just as Microsoft's end-of-life for Windows XP didn't make that operating system magically disappear from the Web, Google's discontinuation of the open source Browser app hasn't made it disappear from the Web either. As our monthly look at Web browser usage shows<http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/09/august-growth-puts-wi…>, Android Browser has a little more real-world usage than Chrome for Android, with something like 40-50 percent of Android users using the flawed browser. The Android Browser is likely to be embedded in third-party products, too, and some Android users have even installed it on their Android 4.4 phones because for one reason or another they prefer it to Chrome. Google's own numbers paint an even worse picture. According to the online advertising giant<https://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html>, only 24.5 percent of Android users are using version 4.4. The majority of Android users are using versions that include the broken component, and many of these users are using 4.1.x or below, so they're not even using versions of Android that use Chrome as the default browser. Baloch initially reported<https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/pull/3759#issuecomment-55638…> the bug to Google, but the company told him that it couldn't reproduce the problem and closed his report. Since he wrote his blog post, a Metasploit module has been developed to enable the popular security testing framework to detect the problem, and Metasploit developers have branded the problem a "privacy disaster<https://community.rapid7.com/community/metasploit/blog/2014/09/15/major-and…>." Baloch says that Google has subsequently changed its response, agreeing that it can reproduce the problem and saying that it is working on a suitable fix. Just how this fix will be made useful is unclear. While Chrome is updated through the Play Store, the AOSP Browser is generally updated only through operating system updates. Timely availability of Android updates remains a sticking point<http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/08/the-state-of-android-updates-whos-fa…> for the operating system, so even if Google develops a fix, it may well be unavailable to those who actually need it. Users of Android 4.0 and up can avoid much of the exposure by switching to Chrome, Firefox, or Opera, none of which should use the broken code. Other third-party browsers for Android may embed the broken AOSP code, and unfortunately for end users, there's no good way to know if this is the case or not.

1 0

INTEREST: Apple's Tim Cook interviewed on Charlier Rose
by Wayne Billing 16 Sep '14

16 Sep '14

"Between zero and two hundred and fifty..." ...from: http://gizmodo.com/tim-cook-on-user-privacy-at-apple-youre-not-our-produ-16… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmm5faI_mLo http://www.charlierose.com/watch/60444569 [cid:D119CACF-7295-41B8-83C3-F860FC761B32] Tim Cook Says Apple Has Never Shared Data: "You're Not Our Product"<http://gizmodo.com/tim-cook-on-user-privacy-at-apple-youre-not-our-produ-16…> Profile<http://alissawalker.kinja.com/>Follow<http://gizmodo.com/tim-cook-on-user-privacy-at-apple-youre-not-our-produ-16…> [cid:15C3A2EB-4AE3-4E73-A34C-8E2F59ADDDBF]<http://alissawalker.kinja.com/> Alissa Walker<http://alissawalker.kinja.com/> Filed to: APPLE PAY<http://gizmodo.com/tag/apple-pay> * APPLE<http://gizmodo.com/tag/apple> * TIM COOK<http://gizmodo.com/tag/tim-cook> * CHARLIE ROSE<http://gizmodo.com/tag/charlie-rose> * PRISM<http://gizmodo.com/tag/prism> * DATA<http://gizmodo.com/tag/data> * DATA MINING<http://gizmodo.com/tag/data-mining> * PRIVACY<http://gizmodo.com/tag/privacy> * IPHONE 6<http://gizmodo.com/tag/iphone-6> Today 7:30pm<http://gizmodo.com/tim-cook-on-user-privacy-at-apple-youre-not-our-produ-16…> As part of Apple's ongoing glasnost campaign, Tim Cook was on Charlie Rose last Friday<http://gizmodo.com/tim-cook-talks-icloud-hack-iphone-6-and-more-with-cha-16…>. Part two airs tonight and it looks like it will be a lot meatier, just based on the clip released today<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmm5faI_mLo&feature=youtu.be>: Cook will apparently talk more about the role of privacy at Apple, including their choice not to release or mine user metadata. "When we design a new service, we try not to collect data," Cook says in regards to how they structured Apple Pay to protect delicate user information like credit card numbers. "We're not reading your email. We're not reading your iMessage. If the government laid a subpoena on us to get your iMessage, we can't provide it. It's encrypted and we don't have the key." He goes on to slam other tech companies for handing over information to the government, seeming to particularly point a finger companies like Yahoo, which was supposedly coerced into joining PRISM<http://gizmodo.com/the-nsa-was-going-to-fine-yahoo-250k-a-day-if-it-didnt-1…><http://gizmodo.com/the-nsa-was-going-to-fine-yahoo-250k-a-day-if-it-didnt-1…>. No one has ever been granted access to Apple's data, says Cook. "We would never do that. They would have to cart us out in a box before we would do that."

1 0

FYI: Australia: in "airplane mode", electronics soon fly
by Wayne Billing 03 Sep '14

03 Sep '14

...from: http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/new-inflight-device-rule-clear… New in-flight device rule clears the way for smartphones and tablets to be used during takeoff and landing * 11 DAYS AGO AUGUST 23, 2014 12:00AM [Devices weighing less than 1kg will be allowed to be used in flight mode during takeoff a] Devices weighing less than 1kg will be allowed to be used in flight mode during takeoff and landing, once CASA gives airlines the green light. Source: Supplied AUSTRALIAN airlines are just a signature away from allowing passengers to use electronic devices from gate to gate on domestic flights. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority late yesterday published its new regulation all but clearing the way for smartphones and iPads weighing up to 1kg to be operated in flight-mode during takeoff and landing. IN-FLIGHT DEVICES: Virgin and Qantas lobby for rule change<http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-news/virgin-and-qantas-lobby-for-chang…> CASA is now seeking a “revised submission” from airlines confirming they have completed a safety checklist. Virgin Australia and Qantas must show aircraft manufacturers are happy for personal electronic devices to be used from gate to gate. Then they need to explain what safety systems they will implement to ensure passengers are complying with the regulation, and not using the device in a disruptive or unsafe way. Only devices weighing up to 1kg will be able to be used during takeoffs and landing to limit the risk of heavier items becoming airborne and causing injury. Laptops will still have to be stowed securely in overhead lockers. Finally airlines will need to revise training procedures so flight crew are aware of the regulations and the requirement passengers pay attention to cabin safety announcements. Among the issues highlighted in the safety advisory was an incident in November last year, when a Qantas plane en route to Sydney was diverted to Newcastle because of severe turbulence. One passenger was struck by an iPad from three rows away, and another was hit in the head with a laptop and needed hospital treatment. CASA spokesman Peter Gibson said he expected the airlines would have their revised submissions ready to go. Virgin Australia chief customer officer Mark Hassell confirmed last night the new submission had already been lodged and they were just waiting for CASA’s tick-off. Once that happened, the airline would work to “immediately implement the use of handheld devices from gate to gate”. “In-flight entertainment is a key driver of customer satisfaction and this application marks the next phase of that product evolution,” said Mr Hassell. A Qantas spokeswoman said the change would be “an exciting development to an already exceptional in-flight entertainment service”.

1 0

FYI: "Online Social networks": negative effect on individuals
by Wayne Billing 01 Sep '14

01 Sep '14

SUMMARY: MIT study concludes that people tend to feel more satisfied with their lives and to be more trusting of people if they often meet with friends in person. In all, the study finds the overall effect of social networking on individuals to be "significantly negative" despite its power to keep people connected. ...from: http://www.technologyreview.com/view/530401/evidence-grows-that-online-soci… http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/01/social-networks-negative-effect-study/?n… August 29, 2014 Evidence Grows That Online Social Networks Have Insidious Negative Effects A study of 50,000 people in Italy concludes that online social networks have a significant negative impact on individual welfare. [cid:6A5A3F61-8EA5-43DF-AB13-D9614F6863BA] Online social networks have permeated our lives with far-reaching consequences. Many people have used them to connect with friends and family in distant parts of the world, to make connections that have advanced their careers in leaps and bounds and to explore and visualize not only their own network of friends but the networks of their friends, family, and colleagues. But there is growing evidence that the impact of online social networks is not all good or even benign. A number of studies have begun found evidence that online networks can have significant detrimental effects. This question is hotly debated, often with conflicting results and usually using limited varieties of subjects, such as undergraduate students. Today, Fabio Sabatini at Sapienza University of Rome in Italy and Francesco Sarracino at STATEC in Luxembourg attempt to tease apart the factors involved in this thorny issue by number crunching the data from a survey of around 50,000 people in Italy gathered during 2010 and 2011. The survey specifically measures subjective well-being and also gathers detailed information about the way each person uses the Internet. The question Sabatini and Sarracino set out to answer is whether the use of online networks reduces subjective well-being and if so, how. Sabatini and Sarracino’s database is called the “Multipurpose Survey on Households,” a survey of around 24,000 Italian households corresponding to 50,000 individuals carried out by the Italian National Institute of Statistics every year. These guys use the data drawn from 2010 and 2011. What’s important about the survey as that it is large and nationally representative (as opposed to a self-selecting group of undergraduates). The survey specifically asks the question “How satisfied are you with your life as a whole nowadays?” requiring an answer from extremely dissatisfied (0) to extremely satisfied (10). This provides a well-established measure of subjective well-being. The survey also asks other detailed questions such as how often people meet friends and whether they think people can be trusted. It also asked about people’s use of online social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. This allowed Sabatini and Sarracino to study the correlation between subjective well-being and other factors in their life, particularly their use of social networks. As statisticians they were particularly careful to rule out spurious correlations that can be explained by factors such as endogeneity bias where a seemingly independent parameter is actually correlated with an unobserved factor relegated to the error. They found for example that face-to-face interactions and the trust people place in one another are strongly correlated with well-being in a positive way. In other words, if you tend to trust people and have lots of face-to-face interactions, you will probably assess your well-being more highly. But of course interactions on online social networks are not face-to-face and this may impact the trust you have in people online. It is this loss of trust that can then affect subjective well-being rather than the online interaction itself. Sabatini and Sarracino tease this apart statistically. “We find that online networking plays a positive role in subjective well-being through its impact on physical interactions, whereas [the use of] social network sites is associated with lower social trust,” they say. “The overall effect of networking on individual welfare is significantly negative,” they conclude. That’s an important result because it is the first time that the role of online networks has been addressed in such a large and nationally representative sample. Sabatini and Sarracino particularly highlight the role of discrimination and hate speech on social media which they say play a significant role in trust and well-being. Better moderation could significantly improve the well-being of the people who use social networks, they conclude. Facebook, Twitter, and others take note.

1 0