Apple Releases High Sierra Root Login Bug Fix

Jason Tate Nov 29, 2017

Apple:

Security is a top priority for every Apple product, and regrettably we stumbled with this release of macOS.
When our security engineers became aware of the issue Tuesday afternoon, we immediately began working on an update that closes the security hole. This morning, as of 8:00 a.m., the update is available for download, and starting later today it will be automatically installed on all systems running the latest version (10.13.1) of macOS High Sierra.
We greatly regret this error and we apologize to all Mac users, both for releasing with this vulnerability and for the concern it has caused. Our customers deserve better. We are auditing our development processes to help prevent this from happening again.

If you have macOS High Sierra installed on your computer, you should update as soon as you can.

Tumblr’s Founder Steps Down

Jason Tate Nov 27, 2017

Tumblr’s founder, David Karp, has stepped down. He posted the letter he sent to colleagues this morning on his blog:

I look back with so much pride. At a generation of artists, writers, creators, curators, and crusaders that have redefined our culture, and who we have helped to empower. There are no words, though, that can express how sincerely grateful I am for the privilege of working with you. This team and place has been my family and home for most of my adult life. That I have gotten to spend this time working with people so spectacularly talented and unstoppably optimistic is a blessing I hope you have shared, and will continue to share.

The FCC Looks to Repeal Net Neutrality

Jason Tate Nov 21, 2017

The Washington Post:

Federal regulators unveiled a plan Tuesday that would give Internet providers broad powers to determine what websites and online services their customers can see and use, and at what cost.
The move sets the stage for a crucial vote next month at the Federal Communications Commission that could reshape the entire digital ecosystem. The FCC’s Republican chairman, Ajit Pai, has made undoing the government’s net neutrality rules one of his top priorities, and Tuesday’s move hands a win to broadband companies such as AT&T, Verizon and Comcast.

Fuck these guys, and specifically fuck Ajit Pai.

Blog: SuperDuper 3.0

Jason Tate Nov 13, 2017

SuperDuper 3.0 has been released:

With that last bit of explanation, I’m happy to say that we’ve reached the end of this particular voyage. SuperDuper! 3.0 (release 100!) is done, and you’ll find the download in the normal places, as well as in the built-in updater, for both Beta and Regular users.
SuperDuper! 3.0 has, literally, many hundreds of changes under the hood to support APFS, High Sierra and all version of macOS from 10.9 to the the present.
SuperDuper! 3.0 is the first bootable backup application to support snapshot copying on APFS, which provides an incredible extra level of safety, security and accuracy when backing up. It’s super cool, entirely supported (after all, it’s what Time Machine uses… and it was first overall), and totally transparent to the user.

Fantastic app that I highly recommend. I have a reoccurring task scheduled to make SuperDuper clones of my entire hard drive as part of my back-up strategy.

Musical.ly Sells for Almost a Billion Dollars

Jason Tate Nov 11, 2017

Musical.ly is being sold for at least $800 million. Recode reports:

The deal hasn’t closed yet, but Bloomberg pegs the price at $800 million, while the Wall Street Journal puts it at “$800 million to $1 billion”, which is the range I’ve heard. Without a public disclosure of the price, you’re generally safe betting on the lower number on deals like these, and assuming that the bigger number includes hard-to-hit earnout targets.

Snapchat Redesign Coming December 4th

Jason Tate Nov 9, 2017

Snapchat will be releasing a redesign of their app on December 4th. Alex Heath has the scoop over at Business Insider:

With the company seeking to kick-start stagnant user growth, CEO Evan Spiegel on Tuesday publicly said the app would be redesigned to make it “easier to use” but didn’t specify when the redesign would be released. Snap employees were internally notified of the planned December 4 release date this week, according to a source familiar with the matter.

I don’t have a good feeling about Snapchat’s future.

Something Is Wrong on the Internet

Jason Tate Nov 6, 2017

James Bridle, writing at Medium:

Someone or something or some combination of people and things is using YouTube to systematically frighten, traumatise, and abuse children, automatically and at scale, and it forces me to question my own beliefs about the internet, at every level. Much of what I am going to describe next has been covered elsewhere, although none of the mainstream coverage I’ve seen has really grasped the implications of what seems to be occurring.

This entire story is jaw-dropping.

From the Makers of Fantastical: Cardhop

Jason Tate Oct 18, 2017

Flexibits, the creators of my favorite calendar app Fantastical, have launched their new contacts app, Cardhop.

MacStories has a good run down:

Cardhop is based on a single text field that sometimes acts as a search field and other times is a text input field. Clicking on Cardhop’s icon in your menu bar opens a detachable drop-down window with a cursor blinking in an empty field. Below that is a column of contact groups on the left, which are the same ones you’d find if you open Apple’s Contacts app, and a list of recently contacted people and upcoming birthdays on the right. If you want to see all your contacts though, they are just one button click away. You can also hide the groups panel with a button at the bottom of the Cardhop window, which reduces Cardhop to its most minimal UI, which is how I prefer to use it because I don’t usually organize contacts into groups.

I think it looks really good, but I don’t have much of a usage for something like this. It sure is pretty though.

The War to Sell You a Mattress Is an Internet Nightmare

Jason Tate Oct 17, 2017

David Zax, writing for Fast Company:

In January 2015, Krim wrote Mitcham that while he supported objective reviews, “it pains us to see you (or anyone) recommend a competitor over us.”
Krim went on: “As you know, we are much bigger than our newly formed competitors. I am confident we can offer you a much bigger commercial relationship because of that. How would you ideally want to structure the affiliate relationship? And also, what can we do to help to grow your business?”

This entire story is bonkers.

Serious Flaw in WPA2 Protocol

Jason Tate Oct 16, 2017

Dan Goodin, writing for Ars Technica:

Researchers have disclosed a serious weakness in the WPA2 protocol that allows attackers within range of vulnerable device or access point to intercept passwords, e-mails, and other data presumed to be encrypted, and in some cases, to inject ransomware or other malicious content into a website a client is visiting.
The proof-of-concept exploit is called KRACK, short for Key Reinstallation Attacks.

This is bad.

Rene Ritchie, writing for iMore:

Apple has confirmed to me that the KRACK exploit has already been patched in iOS, tvOS, watchOS, and macOS betas. As soon as the updates leave beta, they’ll be pushed out to everyone. We’ll have to wait and see how fast other manufacturers are to respond, and how many of our connected devices receive updates.

Twitter CEO Promises to Crack Down on Hate, Violence and Harassment

Jason Tate Oct 16, 2017

Matthew Panzarino, writing for TechCrunch:

“We decided to take a more aggressive stance in our rules and how we enforce them,” Dorsey says. “New rules around: unwanted sexual advances, non-consensual nudity, hate symbols, violent groups, and tweets that glorifies violence. These changes will start rolling out in the next few weeks. More to share next week.”

Sure.

Movies Anywhere App Launches With Joint Studio Backing

Jason Tate Oct 12, 2017

Stephanie Prange, writing for Variety:

Five of the six major Hollywood studios have joined forces to make digital movie collecting easier than ever.
Movies Anywhere, a free app and website digital locker service, launches tonight at 9 p.m. PT, backed by four top digital retailers and content from Walt Disney (including Pixar, Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm), Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Film, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. Entertainment — a combined library of more than 7,300 digital movies.
Movies can be redeemed through digital retailers Amazon Video, Google Play, iTunes and Vudu (owned by Walmart).

Twitterrific 5.0 for Mac

Jason Tate Oct 10, 2017

Twitterrific, the long running Twitter client, has released a new Mac version today:

Twitterrific for macOS features a clean, uncluttered timeline displaying just the content you care about. There are no advertisements, promoted tweets, or “while you were away” updates getting in the way of the stuff you care about most. In addition, tweets are presented in chronological order and other people’s likes aren’t cluttering up your timeline.

It looks like a solid release. I still prefer Tweetbot, but the customization options offered here are really nice. I hope this inspires Tweetbot to keep pushing forward and improving their version.

AOL to Discontinue AIM

Jason Tate Oct 6, 2017

On December 15th, AOL will be discontinuing their instant messaging service:

If you were a 90’s kid, chances are there was a point in time when AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) was a huge part of your life. You likely remember the CD, your first screenname, your carefully curated away messages, and how you organized your buddy lists. Right now you might be reminiscing about how you had to compete for time on the home computer in order to chat with friends outside of school.

R.I.P. Twenty8FootFall.

Dropbox Unveils New Logo and Brand

Jason Tate Oct 4, 2017

Dropbox have announced a new logo and “brand” (and the website feels like it was written by hipster Don Draper):

Our old logo was a blue box that implied, “Dropbox is a great place to store stuff.” The new one is cleaner and simpler. And we’ve evolved it from a literal box, to a collection of surfaces to show that Dropbox is an open platform, and a place for creation.

Armin, over at Brand New (no, not that one), has a good run-down on the changes:

While there is something exciting about all the individual identity elements, concepts, and executions of each, perhaps there is too much to each of them and when they come together, it’s hard to tell what we are supposed to take away from it. Right now, you can see the new identity on this Dropbox area of their website and it all feels kind of random, from the color of the logo to the background colors to the co-creation image. I feel like I should like this more than I do and perhaps it’s my hesitation to accept Dropbox not just as file-storage but as a tool that enables and empowers me to be more creative… because it is not. It would be like saying that my portable 1 terabyte hard drive allows me to come up with ideas. It does not. The same way Dropbox does not. Which is fine as I am not expecting or looking for a product like Dropbox to inspire me.

The logo looks fine, the type looks great, but I don’t know why all the other stuff is needed. I still love me some basic Dropbox though. A folder that syncs. That’s all I want.