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it's fair to say that while many sites such as gmail had integrated advanced security features such as 2FA, apple had not done so in the name of usability. this was the fundamental flaw. after the fappening apple rolled out 2FA.

However, i would call this a security problem not a privacy problem.

Wrong.

Apple added two-factor Authentication to Apple IDs and iCloud in March, 2013.

The Fappening happened around September 1, 2014.

And it is well-established that the "breach" of iCloud happened due to good ol' Password-Guessing, nothing more, nothing less.

Nice try, hater.

it is keeping us safe you moron

Really? http://www.theverge.com/2015/6...

@tepples: 'A paragraph of the article you linked claims that Android infringes patents but doesn't specify or link to which'

That's because the legitimate Android patents holder refuses to reveal which specific patented technology resides in Android :)

Microsoft’s secret Android patents revealed by Chinese government

These people are increasingly rare, given that more gas stations lack "full-service" pumps.

Well, chalk one up for electrics, I guess.

Tesla's working on automated full-service battery swapping stations. And apparently also on charging cords that can plug themselves in:

http://www.theverge.com/2014/1...

Robots of that sort already exist, so you can see the sort of thing he's probably referring to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

http://www.theverge.com/2015/5...

Relevant to my comment above: http://www.theverge.com/2015/5...

It's not just porn and MMORGs. The Verge posted a story on slot machines where the industry puts a LOT of effort into figuring out what kind of bells and whistles best hit the reward-center of your brain to keep you playing. Now, designers of other kinds of games are getting in on it:

"I can’t tell you how often I’ve been approached since the publication of my book by Silicon Valley types who say things like, ‘Wow, the gambling industry really seems to have a handle on this attention retention problem that we’re all facing,'" Schüll told me. "'Will you come tell our designers how to do a better job?’"

Check out the thing they call the "zone", where players get so absorbed by the machine they pay no attention to their surroundings.

To understand the zone, you first have to understand "flow," the concept developed by Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi to describe a hyperfocused state of absorption. During "flow," time speeds up (hours feel like minutes) or slows down (reactions can be made instantly) and the mind reaches a state of almost euphoric equilibrium. Schüll, in her book, describes Csikszentmihaly’s four criteria of flow: "[F]irst, each moment of the activity must have a little goal; second, the rules for attaining that goal must be clear; third, the activity must give immediate feedback; fourth, the tasks of the activity must be matched with challenge." For most of their history, slots easily fulfilled the first two criteria; after lowering volatility, they fulfilled the third criterion, and with the introduction of multiple lines, endless bonus rounds, and the occasional mini-game, they finally fulfilled the four criteria.

If you've ever taking a stroll through a casino, you've seen this. No reason it can't go on in some kid's bedroom.
 

You think your brain is read-only?

HA.

http://www.theverge.com/2015/5...

"Sources also indicated that Apple offered to pay YouTube’s music licensing fee to Universal Music Group if the label stopped allowing its songs on YouTube. Apple is seemingly trying to clear a path before its streaming service launches, which is expected to debut at WWDC in June. If Apple convinces the labels to stop licensing freemium services from Spotify and YouTube, it could take out a significant portion of business from its two largest music competitors."

http://www.theverge.com/2015/5...

http://gizmodo.com/after-nearl...
http://techcrunch.com/2015/04/...
http://www.theverge.com/2015/4...

Even for the purpose of saving you that second, the Verge review says it's kinda slow for that. So instead of pulling your phone out to check something, flip your wrist, wait for the watch to wake up, swipe to notifications, and wait for that to load. Kinda pointless.

http://www.theverge.com/2014/1...

"The drives even have their own built-in GSM access. If the signal goes quiet for too long, the drive is destroyed."

Any GSM triggered bomb could also be rigged with a 'fail-dangerous' to detonate if signals are blocked.

For most companies, is just performing the experiment of how well individual rights hold up against outraged mobs in our society. (sadly they don't hold up particularly well, just ask this guy http://www.theverge.com/2014/1... )

I think it was in reference to this.

They weren't actually stories of people doing those stupid things, the maker (Palcohol) suggested doing those things on the website:

http://www.theverge.com/2014/4...

If you leave biases aside, and want to compare the Macbook with something else, the Dell XPS 13 would be neck to neck. I would even venture to say that the Dell is far more computer for the money (i will qualify why). Here's a comparison.

http://www.theverge.com/2015/3...

The Dell XPS 13 is extremely well built (aluminum alloy, carbon fibre - I've held it, it is gorgeous) - might possibly be a hair lower than the new Macbook (which I haven't held) but really, I think you would be splitting hairs.

The XPS 13 however has two big things going for it - it has full blown Core i3/i5/i7 (2.1 - 2.4 GHz) as opposed to Macbook's Core M (measly 1.1 GHz) - which means much better performance (i would imagine 2x-3x better), much less thermal throttling, and better graphics (HD5500 vs 5300). The other big thing is its display. XPS 13 has a near zero bezel 3200 x 1800 pixel Sharp IGZO panel that is arguably the best and most cutting edge laptop panel one can get today.

You can read a review of this panel here: http://www.anandtech.com/show/...

And dimensions and weight. Macbook is 11" wide and 0.52" thick, and weighs 2 pounds. The XPS 13 is a bit heavier (2.6-2.8 pounds), but is only 12" wide and 0.33"-0.6" thick. The cool thing is that because of the near zero bezels, XPS 13 is a 13" screen while only being 12" wide (typical for a 11" laptop, not for a 13" laptop).

Again, I am not saying Macbook is not good. It still seems to have Apple's obsessive attention to detail in terms of build quality and user centric design approach. But to say that it has no competion - that is no longer true. I do believe that the XPS 13 is a genuine alternative in just about every respec. The extra 0.8 may be an issue for some, but you also sacrifice a *lot* of computer for that. Then I would say, might as well get an iPad.

Remember the Ubuntu phone? Remember what people were excited about regarding it? Notice how it hasn't been achieved due to various business cockblocks, thus leaving the gate wide open for someone bigger to step in? Hint hint.

Actually, there are a couple Ubuntu phones. Bq's Aquaris E4.5 was launched last month in Europe. (It's not the flagship device the Ubuntu Edge was suposed to be, but rather a semi-budget offering). And the Meizu MX4 Ubuntu Edition is a mid-range device.

I know this is the second, uh, let's-just-say-"story" about Blackphone in four days, but I think it should be noted that the stolen Gemalto keys may have included "OTA keys" that can be used for over-the-air SIM card upgrades:

Access to these encryption keys do not give governmental agencies only the power to monitor cellular communications, including calls and data, but they also come with additional perks, such as the power of instructing a device to install specific programs.

Spyware could be installed on the SIM card itself, and then it could be used to install additional spy apps on a phone without the user's knowledge, or to retrieve data from it.

From the Verge story:

Manufacturers can send a binary text message directly to the SIM card, and as long as it's signed with the proper OTA key, the card will install the attached software without question. If those keys were compromised, it would give an attacker carte blanche to install all manner of spyware.

So apparently it does matter.

Well, expect there to be signs all over banks and other secure locations, from now on, telling people to remove helmets, glasses and all articles of clothing.

Seriously, fucking with security cameras is really a needed thing?

Seriously, have you been living under a rock for the last 10 or so years?

What part of facial recognition did you miss in the article?

http://www.theverge.com/2014/7/7/5878069/why-facebook-is-beating-the-fbi-at-facial-recognition

I'll let you rethink that last post.

Porting the android userland, if that's your thing, ought to be simple enough, given Firefox 2.1 is Kitkat underneath.

I seriously don't get what justifies this-- I don't understand what Blackphone offers beyond what a well-patched Android phone-- especially one built from existing ROM project sources--does not already have. Okay, blackphone has encryption (but that's standard on Android), a "security center" which I don't see as being much different from the privacy settings in CyanogenMod (is it?), some pre-installed wifi apps you can get elsewhere... whisper systems-like encrypted chat and redphone-like functionality... anything else?

If I'm reading the reviews right, these are all pre-bundled together for the lazy and perhaps the very very trusting... but is that really worth a $50m investment? Isn't this available for free?

If you don't like closed-source stuff getting rid of gapps is good but.. . are the phone's binary blobs for sensors, camera, radio, gpu, etc open sourced and audited too? Are the accelerometer privs removed from normal apps? Is this phone resistant to exploitation via stolen OTA keys?

How is this $50m better than Jacob Appelbaum's $100 modified Modified Moto e?

the oft discussed "fast lane" has yet to actually happen

Tell that to Sprint and T-Mobile and AT&T and the other carriers who announced plans to do exactly that, not to mention the numerous examples already in effect worldwide.

Only exist on paper? What the fuck. I seriously don't know what rock you're living under.

thats only until home battery storage catches up, http://www.theverge.com/2015/2...

Post the current cybersecurity issues faced by the White House

Okay, how about WhiteHouse.gov screws up SSL certificate on same day as Obama cybersecurity summit.

Some emails, which contain private data about person X, were sent by someone other than X.

A Verge article has two examples: an email about someone with employment troubles because of previous convictions, and an email about someone's major health problems. The name and SSN of the employee, and of the patient's mother, were in the emails. The emails were sent by someone other than the employee and the patient's mother.

So the problem is more complicated than "This is what happens if you put your own personal info into an email."

What about Iron Man vs. Hulk? That would be a matchup! :)

From the trailers it looks like we'll see in the new Avengers. But the answer will be Iron Man in the Hulkbuster suit. As for the others, the whole premise is that Spider-Man is like a spider and can pick up MANY times his own weight, so I think you are underestimating his chances against the others. He may be scrawny but I always imaged him being able to go toe-to-toe with the Hulk by dropping a building on him or something.

Update in the article:

The Verge has uncovered emails that contain Social Security numbers, home addresses, and other personal information from Floridians.

btw, lincoln used alot of surveillance during the civil war.

And why would you "presume" that??

We already know that Apple and Google are doing it that way because it makes sense for them to do so (it's in Apple's best interests to not have the ability to hand over your data since that improves their hardware sales, and Google's best interests to secure your data against illicit use since using your data is where they make their money) and is trivial to verify. Just run Wireshark or something similar on your network and check to see whether your phone is phoning home constantly or not. Easy peazy to check, and companies that fail get raked across the coals. Plus, Apple has published white papers over the subject, detailing exactly what steps they've taken to secure the data and how they are using it.

The reason I presumed that Microsoft was doing the same as its other competitors is because they've already been raked across the coals regarding this exact topic even when they were doing it exactly that same way (see: the "Xbox, on" controversy), so there's no way they'd be stupid enough to try and do otherwise...at least not until the market comes to accept this stuff.

As for how cozy they are with the NSA, that's an entirely separate issue. One worth discussing, I believe, but one which is entirely tangential to this discussion here.

P.S. It'd be a lot easier to take you seriously if you stopped with all of the unnecessary scare quotes and question marks.

What says Ubuntu or Jolla or Firefox isn't that?

Whatever you can modify it all that much after that I don't know.

What for a new phone (though they sold the tablet with the old phone at a discounted price)?
http://www.theverge.com/2015/1...

You mean the organization that damaged Peruvian Nazca Lines just a few months ago?

Or the Greenpeace that defaced a power plant ?

The issue was the Microsoft app didn't show the google ads, thereby depriving google of their sole revenue stream. No ads - no google. The internet runs on advertising clicks - or so google thinks.

Unless this The Verge story is totally wrong there was an odd HTML5 requirement on Microsoft only (not on iOS and Android), and it did show ads, just not the right way and MS claimed they didn't get the access necessary to comply to Google's ad requirements.

Microsoft has in the past complained that Google Inc., which manages Android, has blocked its programs from the operating system."

MS has a bunch of apps in the Play store. https://play.google.com/store/...

AFAIK, the only MS app Google has blocked was Microsoft's YouTube app, which violated the YouTube terms of service.

Yeah.. well, those "terms of service" was that they required Microsoft to implement their Youtube app in HTML5, while neither the iOS or Android Youtube app had such a requirement and was not implemented in HTML5.

As I recall it was about not making it easy for users to download copies of videos. I could be wrong.

According to this story MS fixed that, but still met a HTML5 requirement from Google that was not required of the iOS and Android apps.

Queue the turbolift system from Star Trek http://www.theverge.com/2014/1...

Why doesn't NetFlix or smaller competitors chime in for the opposition?

They have.

That is in fact exactly what the article says. While the profit margin on FiOS is apparently 4.4%, the wireless side had a 23.5% profit margin. While those numbers are heavily encrusted with bullshit, they do show the relative value of the technologies to Verizon.

This will bite them in the ass eventually, if not sooner. Verizon refuses to be price and feature compeditive on wireless. They are coming under pressure from increased wireless competition. The duopoly between Verizon and AT&T isn't such a duopoly anymore- there are lots of wireless players.

I have heard very few complaints from people about the fiber service aside from "it isn't available in my area". It is a lot easier to maintain a monopoly on fiber lines compared to wireless.

They will be leaping back a second very soon.

Blackberry is Tweeting from an iPhone.

Actually, yes, yes I do. Go read this https://www.techdirt.com/artic...

But here is an excerpt from the story in case you are too lazy to go read.

A decade ago, we wrote about how Verizon had made an agreement in Pennsylvania in 1994 that it would wire up the state with fiber optic cables to every home in exchange for tax breaks equalling $2.1 billion. In exchange for such a massive tax break, Verizon promised that all homes and businesses would have access to 45Mbps symmetrical fiber by 2015. By 2004, the deal was that 50% of all homes were supposed to have that. In reality, 0% did, and some people started asking for their money back. That never happened, and it appeared that Verizon learned a valuable lesson: it can flat out lie to governments, promise 100% fiber coverage in exchange for subsidies, then not deliver, and no one will do a damn thing about it.

Same exact promise in NJ, Verizon backed out of that as well, and managed to avoid a 45B fine http://www.dslreports.com/show...

Oh hey, look, NY City has the same problem... http://www.theverge.com/2013/1...

So yes, I do expect Verizon to wire every single household in a particular area. They made billions of dollars on tax breaks, cities, counties and states gutted consumer protections and franchise laws to appease the likes of Verizon, ATT and Comcast, and those companies turn around, and screw the residents.

People tend to see anyone disagreeing with them as "harassment".

This. Sarkeesian is a good example, she collected comments on her videos and presented them to her followers as "mysogyny" and "harassment". If you actually read hem, they're pointing out the flaws in her videos (minor things like the controller being off, and the in-game footage being stolen from "let's play" videos). That's how cults work.

Note how I will get down-modded "troll" for the following sentence.

I've been modded troll here on /. simply for wondering why a story was on here (one of those misandrist pieces attacking the /. readership). I've seen it happen to others as lot lately, just for pointing out that developer jobs can be very stressful for example. The censorship that EFF is proposing has already been introduced here over a year ago, I've seen people claim it's CmdrTaco doing this. Twitter is also being censored now
http://www.theverge.com/2014/1...

Here you go, a keyboard with mechanical keys, announced at CES.

Turn off safe search?

Actually, back in December 2012 Google tweaked things so that SafeSearch is, to a limited degree, always on; unless you explicitly search for "pornographic" materials they will generally filter out such results. As a Google rep put it in a statement to the press,

We are not censoring any adult content, and want to show users exactly what they are looking for -- but we aim not to show sexually-explicit results unless a user is specifically searching for them.

The ACA was announced and pretended to be in operation before the software was ready: How Obamacare's epic fail exposed our government's biggest tech problem. Whoever is at the top of the U.S. government was obviously completely incompetent. (Often a U.S. president merely pretends to be in charge, hiding what is actually happening, and who is arranging it.)

The President is very much a figurehead - he wields no real power whatsoever. He is apparently chosen by the government, but the qualities he is required to display are not those of leadership but those of finely judged outrage. For this reason the President is always a controversial choice, always an infuriating but fascinating character. His job is not to wield power but to draw attention away from it. Douglas Adams - Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

"How many times has this administration embraced a petition and moved forward with it?"

How many times has this administration helped make the U.S. government better for its citizens in any way?

The U.S. government has been arranging that the rich get richer, allowing the violent to be more violent, and helping those who want to make money by killing people.

For example, the "Affordable Care Act" is, in my opinion, in the direction of other recent changes in government. Instead of 2 organizations between you and a health care provider, there now are 3 or 4. The ACA gathers money from those like myself who never get sick. See, for example, Oregon Health Care Cost Increases under the Affordable Care Act.

The ACA was announced and pretended to be in operation before the software was ready: How Obamacare's epic fail exposed our government's biggest tech problem. Whoever is at the top of the U.S. government was obviously completely incompetent. (Often a U.S. president merely pretends to be in charge, hiding what is actually happening, and who is arranging it.)

The ACA helped technology companies take advantage of state officials who are completely ignorant about technology development. For example, Oregon sues Oracle over failed Obamacare website.

Quoting: Oregon's suit, filed Friday in state court, alleges that Oracle, the largest tech contractor working on the website, made falsely convinced officials to buy "hundreds of millions of dollars of Oracle products and services that failed to perform as promised." It is seeking $200 million in damages.

If you love the U.S. like I do, help deal with the immense problems and lack of good leadership.

Well, at least it's less than $6 billion.

The original Walkman cost $150 in 1979. Toss that into a handy inflation calculator and you get $487.92 in 2014 dollars. So this high-end audiophile device is priced about 2.5x what the first mass-market portable music player. Not really outlandish if you think of it that way. Even less so if you factor in that it has 128GB of built-in storage - other companies charge $300 for that much flash alone.

Kindle ebooks account for 19.5% of all ebook sales, ebooks make up 30% of book sales. I'm not sure about the paper book stats, but that's not really what we're talking about here anyway.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/je...

Twenty percent is no monopoly. Not even close. As of a year ago, iTunes accounted for 63% of digital music sales. Are they also a monopoly that must be regulated? They're more than three times the offender that Amazon is with ebooks.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/4...

Amazon wasn't even the first on scene. Sony had e-ink readers and an online store for quite some time. There's also nothing stopping vendors from selling to Kindle users. They wouldn't be able to use DRM, but we're all against DRM here anyway, right? Supply your special Amazon email address that links to your reader, and off you go. Easy cheesy. There are a number of publishers already selling DRM free content, even on Amazon itself. This is what Amazon tried with Apple. They had all DRM free digital music and made it simple to drop their tracks into your iTunes catalog. The door is open for others to do that to Amazon with ebooks.

I don't see your distortion in unrelated fields. All I see is some claims that can't be substantiated from the evidence. You're arguing pre-crime. You want to harm a company for a position they might be in in the future. That's awful. That's not the type of country we live in.

Ok, so how was it unlikely that NK did the hack?

Technical fingerprints: the tools used in the hack were not unique to NK and the hackers' "C&C infrastructure" was public proxies. This renders worthless all of the FBI's proof against NK since it was based on no one else having these tools or IPs.

More technical fingerprints: Sony has been hacked by everyone for years. It can be assumed that multiple hacker groups were inside Sony at any time, and any one of them could have been the one to take over Sony's network and destroy their data.

Motive: One of the GOP hackers has been identified as a Sony sysadmin who said their motivation was equality. Sony had been caught paying a newly hired male executive $1 million more than a woman with the same job title a few months before that sysadmin lost their job at Sony. The stuff about North Korea came after the equality claim, after the media raised it as a possibility.

forgot the link, oops http://www.theverge.com/2014/1...

It is a very good way to stop anyone talking about what was actually in all the released internal documents though. While the media's been all over this stupid N. Korea angle, where are the reports about the actual scandals in the released documents?

Oh, I don't know.. everywhere, actually. Unless you are implying you know something that we don't, if so you should just say it.

http://www.cnet.com/news/13-revelations-from-the-sony-hack/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/sonys-hacked-e-mails-expose-spats-director-calling-angelina-jolie-a-brat/2014/12/10/a799e8a0-809c-11e4-8882-03cf08410beb_story.html
http://www.theverge.com/2014/12/18/7417891/google-condemns-sony-project-goliath
http://time.com/3625326/sony-hack-files/
etc.