Innehållsförteckning för #404 från AppleMagazine

THE TECH-INSPIRED TRANSFORMATION OF AN INDUSTRY These days, when you want to quickly travel from one place to another but lack your own car, there’s a good chance that you opt not to hail a yellow taxicab, but instead to call upon the services of a regular driver through the Uber app on your iPhone. Similarly, when perusing accommodation options for your next getaway, you might do so through your device’s Airbnb app, which gives you the option of booking a stay in someone’s home rather than a traditional hotel. However, why are services like Uber and Airbnb proving so successful in upending the taxi and hotel industries respectively? On that whole subject, we could write a thesis. However, put simply, the main contributing factors behind these upheavals are the…

In June, Apple lifted the lid on macOS Catalina, one of the biggest releases for the Mac in years. As we get closer to public release this September, we thought we’d go hands-on with some of the most anticipated features to offer our thoughts, including cross-platform apps, the removal of iTunes, and SideCar, which allows an iPad to be used as a second screen… GOODBYE, iTUNES macOS upgrades are typically more reserved than the all-guns-blazing iOS overhauls, but it was the Mac that took center stage at this year’s WWDC. One of the biggest talking points was iTunes - or, at least, the removal of it from the Mac after more than eighteen years. As Apple looks to streamline the Mac, it decided to split up the bloated software and…

Attorney General William Barr said Tuesday that increased encryption of data on phones and computers and encrypted messaging apps are putting American security at risk. Barr’s comments at a cybersecurity conference mark a continuing effort by the Justice Department to push tech companies to provide law enforcement with access to encrypted devices and applications during investigations. “There have been enough dogmatic pronouncements that lawful access simply cannot be done,” Barr said. “It can be, and it must be.” The attorney general said law enforcement is increasingly unable to access information on devices, and between devices, even with a warrant supporting probable cause of criminal activity. Barr said terrorists and cartels switch mid-communication to encrypted applications to plan deadly operations. He described a transnational drug cartel’s use of WhatsApp group chat…

The Lion King: The Gift Beyoncé You’ve probably heard the Lion King remake’s soundtrack, on which Beyoncé guests, but the former Destiny’s Child singer has also produced and curated this companion album for the film, in which she voices lioness Nala. African influences run strongly through the album, with various African producers and artists little-known to the West featuring. FIVE FACTS: 1. Beyoncé has hailed the album as “sonic cinema”, adding that it has been “influenced by everything from R&B, pop, hip hop and Afrobeat”. 2. The African artists and producers appearing on the album include Nigeria’s Wizkid and Tiwa Savage, Ghana’s Shatta Wale and South Africa’s Moonchild Sanelly. 3. Beyoncé added: “I wanted to make sure we found the best talent from Africa, and not just use some of the…

OpenTable is getting into the food delivery business. The world’s biggest online restaurant reservation service — which was founded 21 years ago — has been watching warily as more and more diners opt for delivery. Between May 2018 and May 2019, U.S. restaurant visits were flat at 23.8 billion, but deliveries rose 3% to 2 billion, according to NPD Group, a market research company. So OpenTable decided to partner with three delivery companies — Caviar, GrubHub and Uber Eats — to offer that service through its app. “We want OpenTable to be the go-to dining app for every meal occasion,” said Steve Hafner, who leads OpenTable and Kayak, an airline fare search engine. Both companies are owned by travel conglomerate Booking Holdings. When OpenTable’s updated site launches this week, it…

An operator of hospitals and clinics began offering free DNA testing this week to 10,000 Floridians in a partnership with a private genomics company. Some biomedical ethicists warn that participants need to realize their data can be used for purposes other than their health care. Researchers at AdventHealth in Orlando said the DNA test screens for an inherited condition that can lead to high cholesterol and heart attacks if left untreated. Participants who screen positive will get a second blood test to confirm the diagnosis, get to talk with a genetic counselor at no charge and be put in touch with a cardiologist. “It’s treatable,” said Dr. Wes Walker, associate chief medical information officer at AdventHealth, who is one of the leaders of the $2 million project. AdventHealth said data…

A highway shoulder is where New York state troopers spotted Luke Patterson, walking by himself around 2 a.m. after his car became disabled. By the end of the encounter in rural New York, the 41-year-old chef would be killed by a trooper’s gunfire. Authorities say the trooper shot him when he made a sudden movement toward the cruiser after behaving strangely. The man’s family said he had been having psychiatric problems but posed no threat to anyone. Unlike many other police shootings across the U.S., no video of the May 23 confrontation exists to help determine what happened. That’s because New York remains one of only five states where the primary state law enforcement agency is not equipped with dashboard cameras, according to a nationwide Associated Press survey. Four of…

“Did you find some books already?” Deb Schutt recently asked a grandson. Sure enough, two minutes after walking into the Perry Creek branch of the Sioux City Public Library, Gavin had found three books he wanted to check out. For seven years, Schutt has been bringing two grandsons, Gavin, now 8, and Tyler, 11, to the plentiful summer reading program options of the city library system. One was about to start, when 17 children accompanied by nine mothers or other young women attended the storytime session related to the topic of hats, as led by librarian Robin Wagner. Some weeks the participation at storytime has been above 30 children, and Wagner recently showed a hat-related demonstration on a flannel board. A bit later, she led children in a song with…

The U.S. Department of Justice opened a sweeping antitrust investigation of major technology companies and whether their online platforms have hurt competition, suppressed innovation or otherwise harmed consumers. It said the probe will take into account “widespread concerns” about social media, search engines and online retail services. Its antitrust division is seeking information from the public, including those in the tech industry. “Without the discipline of meaningful market-based competition, digital platforms may act in ways that are not responsive to consumer demands,” Makan Delrahim, the department’s chief antitrust officer, said in a statement. “The Department’s antitrust review will explore these important issues.” The terse but momentous announcement follows months of concern in Congress and elsewhere over the sway of firms like Google, Facebook and Amazon. Lawmakers and Democratic presidential candidates…

Instagram is expanding a test to hide how many “likes” people’s posts receive as it tries to combat criticism that such counts hurt mental health and make people feel bad when comparing themselves to others. The Facebook-owned photo-sharing service has been running the test in Canada since May. Now, Facebook said the test has been expanded to Ireland, Italy, Japan, Australia, Brazil and New Zealand. Facebook typically tests new Facebook and Instagram features in smaller markets before bringing them to the U.S., if it ever does. The company would not comment on what it’s learned from the Canada test or if it has plans to expand it to the U.S. any time soon. One group that may be affected is Instagram “influencers,” the major, minor or micro celebrities who use…

As a liaison at the U.S. Department of Education, J Collins watched as colleges by the dozen rolled out varsity esports programs, complete with scholarships, coaches and even some arenas. Collins had a gnawing concern: Gaming was beginning to have an impact on education, and at least anecdotally, the benefits were going largely toward male students. Now, Collins is on the ground attempting to solve a puzzle that’s perplexed an industry approaching $1 billion revenues — where are all the female gamers? Collins helped a private school near Cleveland become the first U.S. all-girls school to launch a varsity esports program during last school year. With Collins as coach, the 10-person team at Hathaway Brown competed against local schools and libraries, with players ranging from novices to avid gamers. The…

Life moves in a circle, “The Lion King” tells us, and, increasingly, so does studio moviemaking. Close on the heels of “live-action” remakes of “Aladdin” and “Dumbo” and on the precipice of a reborn “The Little Mermaid,”“The Lion King” is back, too. Round and round we go. Cue Savannah sunrise. Cue “Naaaants ingonyama bagithi baba!” The remakes have themselves been a mixed bag offering some combination of modern visual effects, fresh casting and narrative tweaks to catch up more dated material to the times. Don’t count on a new “Song of the South,” but much of the Disney library will soon have been outfitted with digital clothes for the Internet era. It’s easy to greet these remakes both cynically and a little eagerly. In the case of “The Lion King,”…

Microsoft is paying more than $25 million to settle federal corruption charges involving a bribery scheme in Hungary and other foreign offices. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Microsoft will pay about $16.6 million to settle charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. While the case centered on Hungary, the SEC said it also found improprieties at Microsoft offices in Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Turkey. The Justice Department said Microsoft will also pay an $8.75 million criminal fine stemming from the Hungarian bid-rigging and bribery scheme. Federal prosecutors said that from 2013 through 2015, a senior executive and other employees at the Hungary office took part in a scheme to “inflate margins in the Microsoft sales channel” in connection with Microsoft software licenses sold to Hungarian government…

HANNAH TELLS ALLTHE BACHELORETTE, SEASON 15 WHAT EZE THE PROBLEM?BELOW DECK MEDITERRANEAN, SEASON 4 PLAYING WITH FIRETHE HILLS: NEW BEGINNINGS, SEASON 1 I WANT TO KNOWBIG LITTLE LIES, SEASON 2 WHAT HAVE THEY DONE?BIG LITTLE LIES, SEASON 2 REUNION, PT. 2THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW YORK CITY, SEASON 11 CAN I GET A WITNESS?THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF POTOMAC, SEASON 4 IS ANYBODY OUT THERE?FEAR THE WALKING DEAD, SEASON 5 DON’T GIVE UPTEEN MOM, SEASON 8 EVERYTHING’S CHANGED SUITS, SEASON 9…

Alabama’s busiest airport is partnering with a company that can identify passengers through eye scans and fingerprints. Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport recently added kiosks offering the technology for a fee, Al.com reported. The CLEAR service is available for a $15 per month membership, paid annually, with various discounts for family members. The scan then serves as the passenger’s ticket and reservation, Al.com reported. After the biometric identification, CLEAR members move to the front of physical security screening without having to remove their shoes. The technology is available at more than 60 airports, including Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. It was used earlier this month at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Cleveland. The service has about 3.8 million members, the company said. In Birmingham,…

Older U.S. east coast cities are leaking nine times as much natural gas into the air — from homes or pipes heading into houses — than the federal government had thought, a new airborne monitoring study finds. It’s probably not a safety problem because what’s coming out doesn’t reach explosive concentrations, but the extra methane heading into the air is a climate change issue, said study co-author University of Michigan atmospheric scientist Eric Kort. Scientists flew a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration airplane over New York City, Washington, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore and Providence, Rhode Island, for 1,200 hours in 2018 and found lots more methane. They couldn’t tell if the methane, a potent greenhouse gas, was leaking from inside homes or the pipes leading to homes. “You have a very…

Is Big Tech headed for a big breakup? The U.S. Justice Department has announced a major antitrust investigation into unnamed tech giants, while the House Judiciary Committee has begun an unprecedented antitrust probe into Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple over their aggressive business practices, and promises “a top-to-bottom review of the market power held by giant tech platforms.” In addition, at least two 2020 presidential hopefuls have expressed support for breaking up some of technology’s biggest players amid concerns they have become too powerful. Experts say breakups are unlikely in the short term, and Rep. David Cicilline, the Rhode Island Democrat who leads the subcommittee pursuing the House investigation, called such measures a “last resort.” But even without that, Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple could face new restrictions on their…

Equifax will pay at least $700 million — and potentially much more — to settle lawsuits over a 2017 data breach that exposed the Social Security numbers and similar sensitive information of roughly half of the U.S. population. The settlement with federal authorities and states, includes up to $425 million in monetary relief to consumers, a $100 million civil penalty, and other offers to the nearly 150 million people who could have been affected. It can’t, however, guarantee safety for individuals whose stolen information could circulate on the internet for decades. The breach was one of the largest ever to threaten Americans’ private information. The credit reporting company didn’t notice the intruders targeting its databases, who exploited a known security vulnerability that Equifax hadn’t fixed, for more than six weeks.…

Long Shot Reckless journalist Fred Flarsky (Seth Rogen) meets up again with Charlotte Field (Charlize Theron), who was his babysitter but is now the United States Secretary of State and running for the Presidency. The attractive Field recruits Fred as her speechwriter, and unexpected romantic sparks start flying between the odd couple as they travel around the world. FIVE FACTS: 1. The project was announced with the title Flarsky in February 2017. 2. A new title for the film, Long Shot, was announced in January 2019. 3. Long Shot was originally intended for theatrical release on February 8, 2019. However, highly positive test screenings saw the release pushed back to the more lucrative summer season. 4. The American R&B group Boyz II Men appear in the movie as themselves. 5.…

Quentin Tarantino has, for a while now, been reminding us what’s so great about movies — or at least, what he thinks is so great about them. He’s made an old-fashioned double-feature (“Death Proof,” of “Grindhouse”), resurrected the wide-screen format of 70mm Ultra Panavision (“The Hateful Eight”) and generally presided as the pre-eminent B-movie evangelist for a generation. The power and thrill of exploitation movies, he has earnestly espoused, can conquer all evils — or at least slavery (“Django Unchained”) and the Nazis (“Inglourious Basterds”). But “Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood,” set in 1969 Los Angeles, is Tarantino’s most affectionate and poignant ode yet to the movie business. It’s a breezy, woozy Hollywood fable that luxuriates in the simple pleasures of the movies and the colorful swirl of…

Sophisticated phony videos called deepfakes have attracted plenty of attention as a possible threat to election integrity. But a bigger problem for the 2020 U.S. presidential contest may be “dumbfakes” — simpler and more easily unmasked bogus videos that are easy and often cheap to produce. Unlike deepfakes, which require sophisticated artificial intelligence, audio manipulation and facial mapping technology, dumbfakes can be made simply by varying the speed of video or selective editing. They are easier to create and can be convincing to an unsuspecting viewer, which makes them a much more immediate worry. A slowed-down video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that made her appear impaired garnered more than 2 million views on Facebook in May. In November, then-White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted a sped-up video of…

A tiny spacecraft orbiting Earth appeared to successfully unfurl a solar sail Tuesday to test the potential of using only sunlight for propulsion, mission officials said. Deployment commands were sent to the Planetary Society’s LightSail 2 from mission control at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. “Sail deployment appears to have been very successful,” said Bruce Betts, LightSail program manager and chief scientist at the Planetary Society. Photos to be transmitted later were expected to confirm data received from the spacecraft that included a count of the number of turns by a deployment motor. “Success! We’re sailing, peoples!” tweeted Bill Nye, CEO of the Planetary Society and better known to TV viewers as “The Science Guy.” The crowd-funded spacecraft, about the size of a loaf of bread, was among…

The woodsy community of Wolcott, Connecticut, doesn’t see a lot of crime. But when the police chief heard about an opportunity to distribute doorbell cameras to some homes, he didn’t hesitate. The police who keep watch over the town of 16,000 raffled off free cameras in a partnership with the camera manufacturer. So far, the devices have encountered more bears than criminals, but Chief Ed Stephens is still a fan. “Anything that helps keep the town safe, I’m going to do it,” he said. But as more police agencies join with the company known as Ring, the partnerships are raising privacy concerns. Critics complain that the systems turn neighborhoods into places of constant surveillance and create suspicion that falls heavier on minorities. Police say the cameras can serve as a…