Lit Apple Mac, iPhone, iPad User Group

[sultrysandy]

Following Protests, Apple to Allow Peanuts Specials to Air on PBS

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Peanuts specials "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" and "A Charlie Brown Christmas" will air on broadcast TV after all, with Apple planning to provide them ad-free on PBS and PBS Kids on November 22, 2020 and December 13, 2020, respectively.

Apple's decision to air the specials on PBS comes following a petition from Peanuts fans unhappy with Apple gaining rights to the Peanuts content through its partnership with Wildbrain. The petition ultimately garnered more than 250,000 signatures.

Apple had planned to provide access to the specials for free through the Apple TV app, but petitioners called on the Cupertino company to bring the specials back to traditional broadcast television. Those who want to watch the Peanuts specials on television instead of through the *Apple TV* app will now be able to do so on select dates.

"Peanuts" fans will have even more ways to watch Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the gang on their holiday adventures as Apple and PBS team up for special ad-free broadcasts of "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" and "A Charlie Brown Christmas." To complement their release on *Apple TV*+ this holiday season, "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" will also air on PBS and PBS KIDS on November 22, 2020 at 7:30 p.m. local time / 6:30 p.m. CT and "A Charlie Brown Christmas" will air on PBS and PBS KIDS on December 13, 2020 at 7:30 p.m. local time / 6:30 p.m. CT.

Apple also plans to stream the Peanuts specials ad-free on *Apple TV*. Apple will air "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" starting on November 18, and it will be free for everyone from November 25 to November 27.

"A Charlie Brown Christmas" will be available on *Apple TV*+ starting on December 4, and it will be free to watch from December 11 to December 13.
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[sultrysandy]

Apple Investigating Display Issues With iPhone 12 Models, Including Flickering and Gr

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In an internal document Apple has acknowledged an issue with some iPhone 12 displays exhibiting flickering, a green or gray glow, or other unintended lighting variations under some conditions.

In the document, shared with Apple Authorized Service Providers this week, Apple says that it is aware of customer reports related to this issue and is investigating. Apple has advised technicians to avoid servicing affected iPhones, at least for now, and instead inform customers that they should keep their iPhone up to date with the latest iOS version. This guidance suggests that Apple may be confident that it can fix the issue in a future software update.

A similar green tinted display issue affected some iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max models, and Apple was able to fix it in iOS 13.6.1.

There have been complaints about this new issue in the MacRumors forums and Apple Support Communities since shortly after iPhone 12 models launched. The issue can affect the iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max.

Based on customer reports, the issue appears to occur when the display brightness is set to around 90% or lower. Many users are experiencing the issue on iOS 14.1, iOS 14.2, and seemingly even the first two iOS 14.3 betas. The flickering or glowing is not always persistent, disappearing after a short time for some customers.
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[sultrysandy]

Is the base MacBook Air M1/8GB powerful enough for you?

Last year I picked up a very expensive computer — a top of the line 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro upgraded to an i9, 1TB of storage, and 16GB of RAM. But I just couldn’t wait to see how these M1 chips actually perform, so I decided to pick up the base $999 MacBook Air to see how it would hold up side-by-side with my 16-inch behemoth. The results are incredible.

When these computers launched — and early reviews confirmed their performance blew everything else out of the water — I faced a bit of a predicament. Like many others, I’m coming from a 16-inch MacBook Pro, so there’s no obvious upgrade path. For now, Apple Silicon is only available in 13-inch models.

But I couldn’t help myself — I had to check these out at least, and if I’m not buying an outright replacement for my daily machine (yet), it just made the most sense to go with the cheapest notebook model. If nothing else, I’d get an idea of what Apple’s entry-level laptops are like and I could write this article.

I almost didn’t do it; if you’re anything like me you probably can’t help but cringe at the idea of spending over a thousand dollars on a computer with just 8GB of RAM. But I’m here to report that not only does this machine more stuff at once better than my 16-inch i9 MacBook Pro for normal everyday use, it’s significantly better. Everything makes it obvious that Apple spent serious time optimizing every corner of Big Sur for Apple Silicon — and perhaps equally so put its Intel machines on the back burner.

While everyone else out there has done a great job of trying to quantify the performance boost with benchmarks — which do indeed confirm that the M1 outperforms the top-end MacBook Pro Intel chips — I wanted to try and provide a more subjective experience to answer one burning question that many people have: Under what circumstances is the base-level $999 MacBook Air with the M1 and 8GB RAM powerful enough?

I was skeptical going in, because it’s been readily apparent for years that 8GB of RAM on an Intel MacBook is not enough for me. My typical workload tends to involve juggling maybe half a dozen different apps open at the same time (Slack, Messages, 1Password, Notes, Safari/Chrome, and some others here or there), a dozen or more browser tabs, and some light podcast editing or the like. That load demands at least 16GB of RAM on an Intel MacBook in my experience. Not so on Apple Silicon.

So far, I’ve been able to push the laptop to the absolute limits of my normal workload and not see a single sign of sluggishness. I’m being actively “reckless” with managing my apps and leaving several things open that don’t need to be open. I’m able to keep as many Safari tabs open as I like. Seriously, unless you are actively working with files that are over 8GB in size (for video editing or the like), I just can’t imagine that most people can push this laptop hard enough to even slow it down.

In one experiment I did yesterday, I tried to push it to the absolute limits to see at what point it would slow down. So I opened up 12 apps at once. No sign of slowing down. Added 2 x86 apps emulated with Rosetta 2. No sign of slowing. Added an app running full screen to see if it would drop frames switching between screens. Nope. Added a Safari window with 24 tabs. Nothing. So I added six Safari windows, each playing videos at 2160p, Spotify in the background, and tried to take a screenshot. Only then did the computer finally grind a halt. I was greeted with the familiar rainbow spinning wheel of death.

OK I finally got it to slow down. Here's where it maxed before grinding to a halt: 12 apps, 2 of which x86 on Rosetta, 24 Safari tabs + 6 Safari windows (all of which playing YouTube videos at 2160p), Slack running full screen, Spotify playing, Monosnap to take the screenshot. pic.twitter.com/kUtsYea41X
https:// t . c o /kUtsYea41X

— Stephen Hall (@hallstephenj) November 18, 2020

Incredibly, even pushing the machine to this extreme, I was still able to recover normal lag-free usage. All I had to do was (very slowly because the machine was barely operational), close each YouTube 4K video playing one at a time. With each one closed the base MacBook Air came slightly back to life, and with the last, it was back to performing as normal, even with the rest of the things still open.

Someone else asked how the computer would do with an external display attached. Again, I tried to push it to the limit and see what it could handle, but didn’t even bother going beyond having 13 apps open and running in the dock with 7 full screen YouTube videos playing at full resolution. As you can see, I was able still to flick between the full screen videos on my external monitor without the computer dropping hardly any frames.

Some have asked me how the base 8GB/M1 MacBook Air does with external displays. How about 7 full screen YouTube videos at once and 13 apps running in the dock? pic.twitter.com/2q0u0428z4
https:// t . c o /2q0u0428z4

— Stephen Hall (@hallstephenj) November 18, 2020

As for the GPU, I didn’t really get into gaming — I don’t play games on my MacBook, and I doubt you do either — but I can say that this machine has 7 cores instead of 8 probably just… doesn’t matter? If playing 7 full screen YouTube videos at the same time and the machine not dropping frames is any indication, it’s going to be just fine for most people.

Of course, none of this is scientific. It’s still to be seen how things will hold up as I use the computer more and there are more background processes that creep their way in and I further diversify the apps I’m using. But it’s also notable that plenty of apps — like Slack, for example — are currently emulated Electron windows that will probably get better, not worse. Another critical point: Chrome is the most popular web browser, and I haven’t tested out how far the base MacBook Air can go there, yet. (When I was doing this testing, the ARM version wasn’t out yet — watch for more thoughts on that on 9to5Google when it’s available).

Why is the computer able to handle all this with such a low-energy-consumption processor and only 8GB of RAM? I’m still not crystal clear on the technical details, but it seems like some combination of low-level operations being massively improved in terms of efficiency, a new paradigm of “unified memory” and seemingly super-fast memory swap that makes it not even noticeable (actual memory used in Activity Monitor, even under the highest of loads described above, never even hit the full 8GB), and some other things. All of these things are made possible by the hardware and software being made to work together, pulling some of the same types of benefits that allow iPhones to outperform similar-pedigree Android phones with only a fraction of the RAM.

To put the cherry on top of this subjective analysis, I can also note that two other subjective things — heat and noise — when doing all of this stress testing is completely different from the experience of using an i9 16-inch MacBook Pro. Whereas that machine would be spinning a fan at full speed, loud enough to be heard across the room, this one didn’t even get noticeably warm. And obviously, the base MacBook Air with Apple’s M1 chip doesn’t even have a physical fan.

The cherry on top of the cherry is that, as all the reviews have noted, the battery life on this machine is stupid good. I’m sitting here typing this, more than halfway through my workday, with more than 60% battery remaining. As I mentioned, I’m not exactly going easy on it.


So is the base MacBook Air powerful enough?

I think the clear answer is that, for the vast majority of people, even for those who lean on the “professional” side of laptop multitasking with several apps and a dozen browser tabs and multiple types of media playing at the same time, the base models of these computers with 8GB of RAM are going to be enough. Not only are they enough — it’s seriously difficult to get them to slow down. Maybe if you’re heavy into Adobe suite multitasking you’ll find yourself in an in between that might have you leaning toward future-proofing your device, but even then the coming ARM versions of those apps should fly on these machines.

I have not tested doing intensive video editing in Final Cut Pro nor have I tried out making music in GarageBand or using this thing to run a live DJ setup — that’s not the point. The point is that for most people, a MacBook Air is about web browsing and light work and such. The base model MacBook Air is powerful enough that — as surprising as this may sound — the extra $200 to upgrade to 16GB of RAM is probably not worth it for most.







Sandy notes -

What I've read of the M1 chip reminds me when Apple announced iPhone 5S September 2013 with the A7 64-bit dual-core system-on-chip, the first 64-bit processor to be used on a smartphone, catching Qualcom, Google, and Samsung flatfooted and more than two years behind Apple.


Also, remember the M1 is the least powerful Apple Silicon for Macs. There are still Macbooks, Macbook Pros, iMacs, iMac Pro, and Mac Pro models.
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[sultrysandy]

Apple releases iOS 14.2.1 with bug fixes for iPhone 12 mini, MMS messages, more

Apple has released iOS 14.2.1 to the public today, bringing notable bug fixes for MMS messages, hearing devices, and lock screen responsiveness on the iPhone 12 mini. Head below for the full release notes.

In fact, iOS 14.2.1 is only available to the iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max.

iOS 14.2.1 address several notable problems that iPhone 12 users have been reporting. A large number of iPhone 12 users had been reporting missing messages from group text message threads, and the MMS improvements in iOS 14.2.1 should help resolve that problem.

As one affected user described:

I’m also having the same problem on a brand new iPhone 12 pro. It seems to only occur in sms threads (where at least one contact is not an iPhone user) and certain messages are never received making it pretty impossible to facilitate any sort of conversation.

iOS 14.2.1 also resolves commonly-reported problems with Made for iPhone hearing devices paired with the iPhone 12. Apple says that these problems were causing sound quality issues when listening to audio from iPhone.

Finally, iOS 14.2.1 resolves issues with touch screen responsiveness on the lock screen, specifically for iPhone 12 mini users. One user on the Apple Support forums described the problem like this:

My phone screen stops registering touch input randomly only when inside of a case and also with a screen protector on. With just the case on, the screen is fine, and with just the screen protector on the screen works fine. It’s only when they’re combined that my screen goes all janky.

Here are the release notes for iOS 14.2.1 on iPhone. Again, this update is available only for iPhone 12 users, not users of older iPhone models.

• Some MMS messages may not be received
  
  
• Made for iPhone hearing devices could have sound quality issues when listening to audio from iPhone
  
  
• Lock Screen could become unresponsive on iPhone 12 mini

iOS 14.2.1 is rolling out today to all iPhone 12 users, and you’ll be able to update by heading to the Settings app and choosing “Software Update.” Note that if you don’t see the update immediately, keep checking as it may take a few minutes to hit your device.
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[sultrysandy]

Apple releases new build of macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 for select users

Apple launched macOS Big Sur to the public on November 12 with version 11.0.1. Now a week later, Apple has released a new build of 11.0.1 with likely bug fixes and performance improvements, but apparently only for select users.

Instead of debuting Big Sur with version 11, Apple launched the public release with 11.0.1 which gave it a chance to make some final updates and fixes.

Following a tough first day of macOS Big Sur downloads due to critical server issues on November 12, macOS Big Sur was widely available with build number 20B29.

Apple has updated the macOS 11.0.1 build to version 20B50. Aaron says it looks like you need to be updating from a pre-Big Sur version to get the new build. So the tweaks may be minor here.

We are seeing the new 20B50 macOS 11.0.1 build in the release channel on Apple’d Developer website.

macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 has been updated with a new Build number. Previously it was 20B29. It seems you have to be on a previous build to get it though just like iOS 14.2 last night. pic.twitter.com/GWC3L77JS5
https:// t . c o /GWC3L77JS5

— Aaron Zollo (@zollotech) November 19, 2020

 

[sultrysandy]

Apple Offers Instructions on What to Do if macOS Big Sur Causes Installation Errors

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Apple Offers Instructions on What to Do if macOS Big Sur Causes Installation Errors on 2013 and 2014 MacBook Pro


Following the release of macOS Big Sur last week, a number of 2013 and 2014 MacBook Pro owners found that the update bricked their machines. Affected users saw their Macs get stuck displaying a black screen after attempting to install the new software.

Apple has now addressed this issue in a new support document that provides instructions on what to do if *macOS Big Sur* can't be installed on a 2013 or 2014 MacBook Pro machine. Apple suggests Mac owners experiencing these issues unplug external devices, attempt restarting, reset the SMC, and reset NVRAM or PRAM. From the support document:

• Press and hold the power button on your Mac for at least 10 seconds, then release. If your Mac is on, it turns off.
  
  
• Unplug all external devices from your Mac, including any displays and USB accessories, and remove any card inserted in the SDXC card slot. Then turn your Mac on.
  
  
• If the issue persists, reset the SMC as described for notebook computers with a nonremovable battery.
  
  
• If the issue persists, reset NVRAM or PRAM.

Apple says if these solutions do not work, affected customers should contact Apple Support for further help with the problem. The document also says that Apple plans to update the article as more information becomes available.

To be safe, those with older MacBook Pro models from 2013 or 2014 should avoid installing the *macOS Big Sur* update at this time until a more definitive fix becomes available. Apple today released a new version of macOS Big Sur 11.0.1, but it is not clear if this addresses the problems that are being seen with older MacBook Pro models.





Sandy note - when can't troubleshoot a problem on a Mac, these are common things to try. Seems Apple acknowledges the problem but don't yet have a solution.
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[sultrysandy]

Apple doubles down on upcoming iOS 14 privacy features, slams Facebook

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Already have a followup post, and in a few hours we have Facebook's response



Apple doubles down on upcoming iOS 14 privacy features, slams Facebook for collecting ‘as much data as possible’

Last month, a coalition of eight civil and human rights organizations penned an open letter (Ranking Digital Rights Joint Letter to Apple iOS14 delay) to Apple CEO Tim Cook regarding the company’s decision to delay the release of the new App Tracking Transparency feature in iOS 14.

Apple has now responded to that letter, doubling down on its privacy practices and offering more color on the decision to delay the App Tracking Transparency feature in the first place.

In a letter sent to the Ranking Digital Rights organization, Apple’s Jane Horvath, senior director of global privacy, reiterated that the company believes that “privacy is a fundamental human right.” Horvath explains that Apple delayed the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature in an effort to give developers more time to prepare for the changes.

The letter also confirms that the App Tracking Transparency feature, which is designed to allow users to disable tracking between different applications, is still coming next year. Once in effect, developers will also be required to ask for permission before tracking a user across apps or websites.

“We delayed the release of ATT to early next year to give developers the time they indicated they needed to properly update their systems and data practices, but we remain fully committed to ATT and to our expansive approach to privacy protections. We developed ATT for a single reason: because we share your concerns about users being tracked without their consent and the bundling and reselling of data by advertising networks and data brokers.”

Horvath goes on to emphasize that App Tracking Transparency features don’t prevent advertising, but rather encourages advertising that respects privacy:

“Advertising that respects privacy is not only possible, it was the standard until the growth of the Internet. Some companies that would prefer ATT is never implemented have said that this policy uniquely burdens small businesses by restricting advertising options, but in fact, the current data arms race primarily benefits big businesses with big data sets. Privacy-focused ad networks were the universal standard in advertising before the practice of unfettered data collection began over the last decade or so. Our hope is that increasing user demands for privacy and security, as well as changes like ATT, will make these privacy-forward advertising standards robust once more.”

Furthermore, Horvath has sharp criticism for Facebook, saying that the social network has “made clear” that its intent is to “collect as much data as possible” on its users:

“By contrast, Facebook and others have a very different approach to targeting. Not only do they allow the grouping of users into smaller segments, they use detailed data about online browsing activity to target ads. Facebook executives have made clear their intent is to collect as much data as possible across both first and third party products to develop and monetize detailed profiles of their users, and this disregard for user privacy continues to expand to include more of their products.”

On the flip side, Facebook has criticized the App Tracking Transparency feature and said it could cause ad revenue to drop as much as 40%. Facebook has reportedly met with advertising partners to discuss the impact the change will have on advertising when users have the ability to easily opt-out of cross-platform tracking.

Apple emphasizes again today that advertising that protects user privacy is possible. For example, Apple gives users the ability to disable ad personalization based on first-party data in the Settings app. For users with Personalized Ads enabled, Apple groups together users with similar characteristics, which ensures that a campaign can’t identify a given user.

Once available in 2021, the App Tracking Transparency feature will be accessible by opening the Settings app, then looking for the Privacy menu, and looking for the Tracking section. Apple also says that its new “nutrition labels” for app privacy will be required in the App Store starting on December 8.


You can view this document on Scribd
https://www.scribd.com/doc/485006035

 

[sultrysandy]

Federighi defends Apple's iOS 14 anti-tracking feature

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Apple Software Chief Craig Federighi Defends App Tracking Transparency Feature

Apple's Craig Federighi says the iOS 14 anti-tracking move is a core Apple value, and expects advertisers' fears will prove unfounded.

Following Apple's statement that it is "fully committed" to its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) privacy feature, the company's Craig Federighi has been backing up the policy. He claims that it is part of what has always been Apple's core values, and that he believes it ultimately won't damage advertisers as much as has been claimed.

"We introduced intelligent tracking prevention, several years ago, and at the time, parts of the ad industry were saying that the sky was going to be falling in and that their business was going to be destroyed by the fact that they couldn't track everyone from website to website to website," he told The Independent in an interview about ATT.

"Well, in fact, if you look at what happened to the industry, that didn't happen at all," he continued, "and yet we also protected user privacy."

He went on to say that over time, the impact will really be that Apple's doing this will prove "better for even the people that are currently, at times, protesting these moves." Federighi argues that with users more in control, the feature increases trust in apps.

The senior vice president of software engineering at Apple also expects that this feature will be taken up by competitors. "Because we've shown customers [that] they should expect those kinds of privacy protections... [they will] start to demand them and the rest of the industry starts to follow," he continued. "And we'd love to see that in many other ways."

According to Federighi, Apple's decision to delay the introduction of ATT until early 2021 was entirely because of technical issues rather than any reconsidering of the policy. Reportedly developers said they had "so much tracking" built in that "we can't live up to" what the user wants when asked to switch it off.

Federighi also argues that Apple has already created SKAdNetwork, an alternative system for providing advertisers with information that does not compromise users. "We created a framework for doing that in a privacy-protecting way," he told The Independent. Apple plans to update this to "improve [advertisers] ability to do effective advertising while preserving privacy, and we want to work technically on solutions to make that more and more effective."
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[sultrysandy]

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In a statement Facebook said that Apple's letter is a "distraction" away from Apple's own privacy issues. Facebook also said that Apple is using its dominant market position to self-preference data collection while making it nearly impossible for competitors to use the same data.

"Apple is being accused of monitoring and tracking people's private data from their personal computers without their customers' knowledge through its latest update to macOS - and today's letter is a distraction from that. They have a history of this. The same happened when it was revealed that Apple had violated people's privacy and allowed millions of people's private audio to be accessed without their knowledge through a vulnerability in FaceTime. In that instance, they enforced against our internal business apps to change the topic. Sadly, we're not perfect and it worked.

The truth is Apple has expanded its business into advertising and through its upcoming iOS14 changes is trying to move the free internet into paid apps and services where they profit. As a result, they are using their dominant market position to self-preference their own data collection while making it nearly impossible for their competitors to use the same data. They claim it's about privacy, but it's about profit. Don't take our word for it. Small business advocates are speaking up about the crushing effect this will have on small business's personalized advertising. As the Executive Vice President for Policy at the Interactive Advertising Bureau said today, 'Don't be fooled: the ad industry is still in a bind & Apple's chokehold on small business is still real...Sadly, for consumers & businesses, it'll change the rules of the game in its favor.' Indeed, we are not fooled. This is all part of a transformation of Apple's business away from innovative hardware products to data-driven software and media."







Facebook said, "... is trying to move the free internet"

Want to keep this short and not go off on tangents (and there are some that are easy).


We surf the web, go to a website, then basically information is recorded that we're there, then the website sell that to analytics firms, then in turn sell it to companies, and this is called advertising. This should not be a surprise. Have even said how Literorica is pretty good compared to others.


Speaking of others, how about look at Facebook. There are two big ways they collect our info.

Same as other websites they collect our info. However it's all they collect. You'd shit bricks if I posted the list all they collect. Seems damn near stealing our identity.

Also Facebook pays websites to have Facebook trackers load as toy visit the sites.

Facebook doesn't only package up our info and sell it, they are known allowing other firms access to all sots of your info. This is why two and a half years ago when the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal came out, more than fifty million Facebook users' personal data was acquired without the individuals' consent. There are other incidents, but not to this magnitude.

Two years ago New York Times reported:
Facebook let Netflix, Spotify, and other companies read your private messages
Between 2010 and today, Facebook shared users’ private data, including private messages and contact info, with more than 150 companies.
And as the most eye-popping quote from the Times report reveals:

“ Facebook allowed Microsoft’s Bing search engine to see the names of virtually all Facebook users’ friends without consent, the records show, and gave Netflix and Spotify the ability to read Facebook users’ private messages.

The social network permitted Amazon to obtain users’ names and contact information through their friends, and it let Yahoo view streams of friends’ posts as recently as this summer, despite public statements that it had stopped that type of sharing years earlier.”


And how much profit has Facebook been reporting?

Facebook Annual Net Income
(Millions of US $)
2020 $25,275
2019 $18,485
2018 $22,111
2017 $15,920
2016 $10,188
2015 $3,669
2014 $2,925
2013 $1,491
2012 $32
2011 $668
2010 $372
2009 $122

Did you notice beginning 2013, they were reporting more than one billion dollars?
Net income can be defined as company's net profit or loss after all revenues, income items, and expenses have been accounted

source - https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/FB/facebook/net-income



WAIT! Didn't Facebook say "free internet"?

Guess that means they don't charge us to steal our info and track us around the web. And don't forget they don't tell us, much less with our consent.






Let me know if you have questions, or want additional info, and will see what I can do.

Sandy
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[sultrysandy]

Apple updates Windows Migration Assistant for macOS Big Sur

Apple has released an update for its Windows Migration Assistant, enabling the tool to help users transfer from a Windows PC to a Mac that's running macOS Big Sur.

The new update, released overnight on Friday, brings with it support for macOS Big Sur, Apple's latest version of its Mac operating system. Version 2.3.0.0, spotted by iMore, continues to function with no major changes to how it works, except it is fully compatible with Big Sur.

The Windows Migration Assistant is software by Apple that helps with software migration from Windows-based systems to macOS. This includes the transferring of contacts, calendars, email accounts, music, pictures, movies, and other files from the PC to the Mac.

Once installed on the PC, the tool will automatically run, and can be used in conjunction with the Setup Assistant on a new Mac or the Migration Assistant in the Mac's Utilities folder. Once a transfer has been decided upon, users have to enter their administrator name and password, select their PC from an available list, check passcodes on both the Windows and Mac displays, select files and data to transfer, and then start the migration itself.

Apple actually has four versions of the Windows Migration Assistant available to download, with the latest version just covering macOS Big Sur. The previous version was compatible with macOS Mojave and macOS Catalina, the one before dealt with macOS Sierra and High Sierra, and a fourth works for OS X El Capitan and earlier releases.

The latest Windows Migration Assistant is compatible with PCs running Windows 7 or later.

 

[sultrysandy]

How to turn on/off optimized battery charging on Mac

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How to manage battery health and optimized charging on Intel and M1 Macs

Over the last year, Apple has introduced battery health management to its devices like iPhone, AirPods, Apple Watch, and the Mac got it this past April. Follow along for how to turn on/off optimized battery charging and battery health management on Intel and M1 Macs.

Apple’s new battery health management feature debuted for Mac with Catalina 10.15.5. Here’s how Apple describes it:

Battery health management is designed to improve your battery’s lifespan by reducing the rate at which it chemically ages. The feature does this by monitoring your battery’s temperature history and its charging patterns.

Based on the measurements that it collects, battery health management may temporarily reduce your battery’s maximum charge. This happens as needed to ensure that your battery charges to a level that’s optimized for your usage—reducing wear on the battery, and slowing its chemical aging.

Apple has two support documents, one for Intel Macs and one for Apple Silicon Macs. The description above is the exact same for both, but the Apple Silicon guide doesn’t include the steps for turning the feature off.

Interestingly, as far as Apple details, the optimized battery charging feature is the primary aspect of battery health management. Curious enough, it’s just called “Optimized Battery Charging” on iPhone. But when it arrived on Catalina it was labeled as “Battery health management” and could be turned on/off.

With macOS Big Sur, Intel Macs have retained the “Battery health management” option and also get an option to turn off “Optimized Battery Charging.” And they appear to work separately for now (e.g. turning off battery health management doesn’t auto turn off optimized battery charging).

However, on M1 Macs, the option to turn off battery health management is gone but users can still turn off optimized battery charging. Long story short, it appears there may be more to battery health management on Macs than just the optimized charging but that is the main aspect according to Apple (and the more minor aspects can’t be or don’t need to be disabled on M1 Macs).


How to turn on/off optimized battery charging on Macs (and battery health management)

• Battery health management and optimized charging in macOS is turned on by default in macOS Big Sur
  
  
• You can turn both off on Intel Macs and on M1 Macs you can turn off optimized charging
  
  
• Keep in mind it’s best to keep these features enabled but if you want your Mac to charge to 100% as fast as possible, follow along below

Here’s how it all works on Intel Macs on Big Sur, M1 Macs on Big Sur, and Intel Macs on Catalina 10.15.5 and later:


Intel Macs running Big Sur: turn on/off optimized battery charging

1. Open System Preferences
   
   
2. Choose Battery at the bottom
   
   
3. You can turn off optimized battery charging with the checkbox (option to turn off completely or “Turn off Until Tomorrow”)
   
   
4. Click “Battery Health…” near the bottom
   
   
5. And you’ll get the option to turn off battery health management too
   
   
6. Click “Turn Off” to confirm the change

Here’s how this looks:

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M1 Macs: turn on/off optimized battery charging

1. Follow the same steps
   
   
2. System Preferences > Battery > Optimized battery charging
   
   
3. You can “Turn Off Until Tomorrow” or turn it off permanently
   
   
4. However, if you click “Battery Health…” you’ll see the condition of your battery but no option to turn off “Battery health management”

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Macs running Catalina (at least 10.15.5)

1. Head to System Preferences > Energy Saver
   
   
2. Now click Battery Health…
   
   
3. You can uncheck Battery health management

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[sultrysandy]

Apple Provides Instructions to Fix macOS Reinstallation Errors on M1 Macs

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Shortly after the launch of Apple's new M1 Macs, we saw reports that attempts to restore and reinstall macOS on those machines right away could result in an installation error that would leave your Mac non-functional.

Specifically, the error message would read: "An error occurred preparing the update. Failed to personalize the software update. Please try again."

Over the weekend, Apple posted detailed instructions for users experiencing this issue. Specifically it seems the issue arises if you erase/restore your Mac before upgrading to macOS Big Sur 11.0.1.

If you erased your Mac with Apple M1 chip before updating to *macOS Big Sur* 11.0.1, you might be unable to reinstall macOS from macOS Recovery. A message might say “An error occurred while preparing the update. Failed to personalize the software update. Please try again.”

Use either of these solutions to reinstall macOS. You should then be able to use macOS Recovery as expected when reinstalling macOS in the future.

Apple suggests that you could create a bootable installer using another Mac. Otherwise, Apple details a more technical 17 step process using Terminal to restore your M1 Mac to a functional state.

If you are still having trouble, Apple recommends contacting support
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[sultrysandy]

Some HomePod mini users report WiFi connectivity problems, with no permanent fix

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Some HomePod mini users report WiFi connectivity problems, with no permanent fix available

The HomePod mini is now widely available to consumers, but some early buyers are reporting issues with WiFi connectivity. A thread on Apple’s support forums highlights the problems that some users are facing, and the currently-suggested fix appears to only temporarily remedy the issue.

Affected users report that their HomePod mini will disconnect from the internet, leading Siri to respond with an error message saying “I am having trouble connecting to the Internet.”

I am having issues with HomePod mini not connecting to the internet. My other HomePods have no issue when I ask a question etc. But when I ask one or both of the HomePod mini’s it says ” I am having trouble connecting to the internet.

I followed the trouble shooting steps apple provides but it goes back to “I am having trouble connecting to the internet.” after a couple of hours. Then it is normal again.

The troubleshooting steps provided by Apple include rebooting HomePod mini or even restoring it to its default settings. In both instances, the fix is only temporary. Some users on Reddit have also reported similar issues with their new HomePod mini.

Having this problem with one of my mini’s as well. It seems to stream music fine when I control it directly (not airplaying from phone/device, but this also works fine). However, when I ask it to do something. It says it is having trouble with the connection.

When I restart it. It works for a while and eventually runs into the same issue.

Personally, I have noticed similar issues with one of my HomePod mini units. It will randomly disconnect from the WiFi, and the only fix that works for me is to factory reset the HomePod mini, then re-add to the Home app. Like many people on the Apple support forums, this fix is only temporary and the HomePod mini inevitably ends up dropping its WiFi connection again.

HomePod mini runs on tvOS, so ideally Apple will be able to fix this problem by releasing a new version of the operating system soon.
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[sultrysandy]

How to factory reset your HomePod or HomePod mini

The HomePod and HomePod mini are incredibly easy to set up. You just hold your iPhone near it and the pairing process instantly begins. What’s slightly less clear, however, is how to reset your HomePod.

Read on for those instructions…

Apple says that the first step you should take if your HomePod or HomePod mini is not responding is unplugging it from power and plugging it back in. If that doesn’t solve your problems, or if something else is wrong, you may want to completely reset it.

Apple’s support site highlights the cases when you should reset your HomePod or HomePod mini:

• HomePod isn’t responding after a restart
  
  
• You want to reset HomePod to factory settings
  
  
• You need to send HomePod in for service
  
  
• You want to sell or give away your HomePod

There are two ways to completely reset HomePod or HomePod mini. The first method, and arguably the easiest, is to use the Home application on your iOS device:

1. Open the Home app and make sure your iOS device is signed in with the same Apple ID used to set up your HomePod.
   
   
2. In the “Home” or “Rooms” tab, find your HomePod and press and hold
   
   
3. Choose “Details”
   
   
4. Scroll to the bottom and tap “Remove Accessory”

After you do this, HomePod will take several minutes to restart and erase itself, after which you can begin the pairing process as normal.

If your HomePod or HomePod mini isn’t appearing in the Home app, there is one other way to reset it with the hardware itself. Here’s how to do that:

1. 
   Unplug HomePod and plug it back in
   
   
2. Press and hold the top of HomePod, keeping your finger on top of the device at all times. If you lift your finger, you’ll have to start over.
   
   
3. After you press and hold on the top of HomePod, the spinning white light at the top of the device will turn red and Siri will tell you that your HomePod is about to reset.
   
   
4. Keep pressing the top of HomePod until you hear three beeps.

The HomePod mini can also be reset using a Mac, but the full-size HomePod can’t because it doesn’t use a USB-C connection.

1. Plug HomePod mini into your computer using the USB-C cable that came with it.
   
   
2. Wait a few seconds. Find your HomePod in the sidebar under Locations and select it.
   
   
3. Click Restore HomePod.

If neither of those methods works for resetting your HomePod or HomePod mini, or resetting doesn’t fix your problems, your best bet is taking the device to your local Apple Store.
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[sultrysandy]

Apple Silicon app database lists all the apps compatible with M1 Macs so far

A valuable database for all of the M1 compatible apps available so far.

Official Apple Silicon support for apps offers finely tuned efficiency and really impressive performance, but even non-supported apps running through Rosetta 2 translation run really well (which happens automatically after macOS Big Sur prompts you to download Rosetta 2 for the first time). Rosetta translation is so good that M1 Macs can even run x86 instructions faster than Intel Macs.

But in any case, especially for your most used or most critical apps, it’s exciting and important to see developers rolling out full Apple Silicon M1 Mac support.

A new resource called “Is Apple silicon ready?” has popped up on the web and includes pretty much all app categories besides games. The only confusing thing about the database is the big bold “Not yet!” response in answer to the question of the site’s name. We’d argue that even though official support will be rolling out over the coming weeks and months from third-parties, Apple Silicon is definitely ready and offers a much-improved experience even with Rosetta translation.

The Apple Silicon supported apps database features filters for categories and includes whether an app is Apple Silicon optimized, is relying on Rosetta 2 (partial or full), if the developer has announced a future build with support on the way, and the last update.

Further you can click on individual apps to get even more details:

Check out this useful Apple Silicon M1 compatible apps database here. You can also follow along on the Is Apple Silicon Ready? Twitter account.

Apple has also published a featured story on the Mac App Store highlighting many of the M1 compatible apps already available. And you can also head to the Mac App Store and your downloads (account bottom left > scroll down > and click the iPad & iPhone apps toggle) to see what iOS apps are available on your Mac.
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[sultrysandy]

Users complain about Bluetooth connectivity issues with new M1 Mac mini

The new Mac mini with M1 chip has been available for some time and although the machine impresses with its amazing performance, it’s also causing problems for some users. More specifically, there are users complaining about Bluetooth connectivity issues with the new M1 Mac mini.

YouTuber Patrick Tomasso is one of those users who’s having trouble using Bluetooth accessories with the new Mac mini. As he describes in a video on his channel, using a Bluetooth mouse on his M1 Mac mini is almost impossible as the connection gets lost all the time.

According to Tomasso, he has already tried using Mac mini with a Logitech MX Master 3 and a Magic Mouse 2, but “all of them cut out intermittently” during use. He also experienced problems with Bluetooth connection when pairing AirPods Pro and other wireless accessories to his Mac.

There are also other users with similar complaints in Reddit. Based on one of the reports shared there, the M1 Mac mini doesn’t recognize the Bluetooth mouse and keyboard at all, which makes the machine unusable.

I am using the Logitech Mx keys keyboard, and MX Master 3 mouse. On the very first boot, it would not recognize the keyboard or mouse as available to pair via Bluetooth. I resorted to a wired keyboard and mouse to get through setup. After that I was able to pair both, and they work great. However any time I reboot the machine, I can’t log in because the keyboard and mouse are not connected.

Apple M1 Mac Mini Has MAJOR Bluetooth Issues - What's causing it? - 4:38

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6oKsozPZUI&feature=youtu.be



The reasons behind these connectivity problems are unknown as this could be either a software bug or a hardware malfunction. Apple is yet to recognize the problem and unfortunately there are no known workarounds for this besides using a third-party Bluetooth receiver.
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[sultrysandy]

Apple Reportedly Solves Widespread iCloud Music Library Sync Issues

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Apple experienced ongoing server issues with its iCloud Music Library service over the last 72 hours, based on multiple user reports across the internet, leaving many Apple Music subscribers unable to access their music libraries. However, the problem appears to have been solved, at least for now.

*iCloud* Music Library allows PC, Mac and iOS users to store their personal music library online, by matching uploaded tracks to songs listed on the iTunes Store or uploading tracks directly if no match is available. The service is included as part of every *Apple Music* subscription, and is also available as a standalone service called iTunes Match.

However, reports of persistent *iCloud* Music Library syncing problems gathered pace over the last few days, with users taking to the Apple Music subreddit, Twitter, and Apple's support forum to voice their frustration.

The issue occurred whenever an *Apple Music* library sync was attempted within the Music app on macOS or in iTunes on Windows PCs. For those affected by the problem, syncing failed and users were met with the error "Genius results can't be updated right now. The network connection was lost."

The message appeared despite all other systems working fine on the local network, and left affected users unable to access their synced playlists and music on Mac, PC and iOS devices. Users reported that logging out and in again, reauthorizing their machine with *Apple Music*, restarting, and even reinstalling macOS did nothing to rectify the situation.

Apple's system status page didn't indicate any problem with *iCloud* servers, *Apple Music*, or the iTunes Match service when the problem was widespread, yet Apple support staff were said to be able to reproduce the issue. However, there are indications that Apple has got on top of the problem overnight, so it's worth trying to sync your music library again if you were one of those affected.
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[sultrysandy]

Amazon Web Services outage causes issues for Roku, Adobe

Amazon’s cloud-computing service on Wednesday was hit with an outage that took down some websites and services.

A notice on Amazon Web Services’ status page said it was experiencing problems with Kinesis, its service that processes large streams of data, causing “increased error rates” for a number of websites. The outage also impacted its ability to post updates to the status page.

“We continue to work towards recovery of the issue affecting the Kinesis Data Streams API in the US-EAST-1 Region,” the notice stated, adding that the issue appeared to be affecting the “subsystem” responsible for handling incoming requests.

“The team has identified the root cause and is working on resolving the issue affecting this subsystem,” the notice said.

Among the services that reported issues as a result of the outage were Amazon’s smart security subsidiary Ring, Roku, software maker Autodesk, fintech lending company Affirm, Target’s Shipt delivery service and the subway status site operated by New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Tribune Publishing properties the Baltimore Sun and the Chicago Tribune also reported errors.

Major AWS customers including Apple, Slack and Netflix didn’t appear to be experiencing any issues as a result of the outage.

This is the first major outage to interrupt many customers since 2017, when the same US-EAST-1 Region experienced issues, knocking some websites offline.
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[sultrysandy]

iOS and macOS tips and tricks to assist friends and family during Thanksgiving

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t’s Thanksgiving in the United States, and many of us are getting ready to spend time with family, watch some American football, relax, and get ready to hunt for Black Friday deals ahead of the Christmas shopping season. Even if you aren’t seeing all of your family this year, you might be spending some time with just a few people, so Thanksgiving “tech” tune-ups might be in order.


Check iOS, macOS, and watchOS updates

If you have a family member running iOS 12 or a really old version of macOS, Thanksgiving is a great time to go ahead and update them. They will receive all the latest features of iOS 14, watchOS 7, and macOS Big Sur, and will likely stay up to date all through 2021 thanks to automatic updates.

Before updating to macOS Big Sur, make sure they have a local backup of their system (more on that later). If you only do one thing for Thanksgiving tech support, checking for updates is the most crucial.


Check iCloud settings

When you are looking over family members’ devices, you will want to make sure they are signed in to iCloud. I know it may seem crazy that in 2020, someone could use iOS without iCloud, but stranger things have happened. Go to Settings > iCloud to verify they are signed in. While you are in that section, please scroll down to Backups and make sure they’ve completed a backup recently. If not, trigger a manual backup and make sure it completes.

Next, go back to the main iCloud screen and verify that iCloud Photos is enabled. If it’s not, check to see if they will have enough iCloud space to start using it. Losing photos due to a damaged device is one of the worst things that can happen, and it’s a preventable problem.

You’ll want to do the same thing on macOS as well. Check to make sure iCloud is enabled (Apple Logo > System Preferences > iCloud). You’ll also want to open the Photos app to make sure it’s syncing correctly.


Time Machine and offsite backups

While they may not have their external drive with them, you should make sure they are at least backing up their Mac regularly. If they aren’t, Amazon carries multiple hard drives that are incredibly inexpensive. I recommend getting at least double the size of the built-in drive. You can verify Time Machine is working by going to System Preferences > Time Machine. If they don’t have a drive talk to them about ordering one and setting it up over Christmas.

If they don’t want to use Time Machine, you may mention a service like Backblaze as an option for only $6 per month. I have a few co-workers who didn’t want to deal with having to remember to plug in an external drive to make backups, so they just opted for Backblaze. Backblaze will automatically back up a Mac or PC offsite. Offsite backups are especially crucial in case of fire, flood, or theft. Once it’s installed, there is nothing left else to do.


Check Chrome extensions

Chrome is a popular browser for Mac users thanks to its easy syncing to PCs and robust extension ecosystem. I run across many instances of Chrome that have a decent amount of malware installed, though. Fortunately, it’s relatively easy to clean up.

Go to Window > Extensions. Look for anything abnormal (PDF converters, etc.), and remove them. Also, double-check to make sure their homepage and default search engine are Google, DuckDuckGo, or Yahoo. A lot of rogue extensions install their own search function as a way to make revenue. If your family is complaining about Chrome pop-ups at the dinner table, it’s likely due to extensions, so make it part of your Thanksgiving tech support.


Check for macOS malware

While macOS is very secure, you can still get malware by clicking on a random pop-up ad that tells you to download a new flash player, etc. My favorite tool for cleaning up malware is Malwarebytes. It’s a free download, and there are paid options for automatic scanning in the future. If you want to run a quick scan and remove it, you can do that for free.


Discuss Wi-Fi upgrades

One of the many things I am getting asked about now is how to improve home Wi-Fi connections. Long gone are the days of spending $30 on a cheap router. In my house, we have 50 devices on the network at any given time. That is mainly due to HomeKit devices but also includes Apple TVs, iPhones, and iPads.

I personally prefer the AmpliFi Alien (see my review), but solutions from Linksys and Eero are also strong contenders. Now that Wi-Fi 6 is available across the iOS and macOS lineup (M1 only), it’s time for people to start considering upgrades.


Wrap-up on Thanksgiving tech support

It’s always fun to get your friends and family members set up for the new year by ensuring their devices are backed up, up to date, and clean from malware. Enjoy the holidays, and avoid controversial topics like iPhone vs. Android and Chromebooks vs. iPads, and we will all have a Merry Christmas!
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[sultrysandy]

Microsoft 365 feature lets companies spy on employees, says report

Privacy and misuse concerns have been raised about a Microsoft 365 feature that allows companies to spy on employees.

A ‘productivity score’ feature promoted as providing aggregated data on how organizations are performing can be used by managers to monitor individual employees …

The Guardian reports.

Microsoft has been criticised for enabling “workplace surveillance” after privacy campaigners warned that the company’s “productivity score” feature allows managers to use Microsoft 365 to track their employees’ activity at an individual level.

The tools, first released in 2019, are designed to “provide you visibility into how your organisation works”, according to a Microsoft blogpost, and aggregate information about everything from email use to network connectivity into a headline percentage for office productivity.

But by default, reports also let managers drill down into data on individual employees, to find those who participate less in group chat conversations, send fewer emails, or fail to collaborate in shared documents.

Researcher Wolfie Christl says this is problematic as it allows employees to be judged on purely arbitrary metrics, rather than the quality of their work.

– Not least, Microsoft gets the power to define highly arbitrary metrics that will potentially affect the daily lives of millions of employees and even shape how organizations function

— Wolfie Christl (@WolfieChristl) November 24, 2020

The software company claims that individual-level data is purely intended for IT support.

Insights are shown in aggregate over a 28-day period and are provided at the user level so that an IT admin can provide technical support and guidance.

But Christl points out that this appears to be contradicted by the fact that Microsoft assigns ‘influence scores’ to employees.

In Workplace Analytics, Microsoft assigns every employee an ‘influence score’, a ‘numeric score that indicates how well connected a person is within the company.’

Microsoft’s documentation shows that this score is calculated based on the use of … Microsoft tools.

A numeric score that indicates how well connected person is within the company. A higher score means that the person is better connected has greater potential to drive change. (A person’s connection is based on the frequency of collaboration activities, which include emails. meetings. Teams calls. and Teams chats with other people within the company.)

Basecamp founder David Heinemeier Hansson described the practice of offering tools to spy on employees as worse than dystopian.

The word dystopian is not nearly strong enough to describe the fresh hellhole Microsoft just opened up. Just as the reputation of a new and better company was being built, they detonate it with the most invasive workplace surveillance scheme yet to hit mainstream.

Being under constant surveillance in the workplace is psychological abuse. Having to worry about looking busy for the stats is the last thing we need to inflict on anyone right now.

Sandy notes:

I hope no one is the least bit surprised by this. Or actually believes that people have privacy on the so called "free web" (according to Facebook).

After all, this software is made by the same company that also makes Windows, and same as Android by Google, record and track users activity, then phone home iwth that info.

And those are just operating systems. Doesn't include apps, those you pay or are called free since you don't pay up front for them, but do in the back end (and yes pun is definitely intended) or by websites.
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[sultrysandy]

Shazam Promotion Offers Users Up to Five Free Months of Apple Music

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Apple is offering up to a five-month free trial of Apple Music to new users of the streaming service, with the promotion appearing in the company's Shazam music identification app.

Apple usually offers up to a three-month free trial of Apple Music to users who haven't subscribed to the service before, so this latest promotion represents one of its best deals yet.

To access the promotion, download the Shazam app on your iPhone or iPad, then identify a song that's playing in your environment by tapping the big Shazam icon in the app. After recognizing the song, you should see the option to play the track in Apple Music.

Tap the option and you should see the five-month free trial offer of Apple Music appear. Some users have also had success activating the promotion by opening Shazam's options screen and tapping the Apple Music banner.

According to Shazam's App Store page, the offer runs through January 17, 2021, and is available in the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Canada, and other countries.

If after activating the deal you're not convinced, you can cancel your Apple Music subscription without losing your five months of access to the service.


How to Cancel an Apple Music Subscription


Shazam is a free download from the App Store [Direct Link].
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[sultrysandy]

10 ways to protect yourself against scams during Black Friday and Cyber Monday

A shopper browses the internet for deals



Only about 16% of shoppers are planning to visit stores in-person this Black Friday. Instead, most shoppers are planning to go online to score deals on their holiday gifts.

But while online shopping helps you skip the crowds at the mall, it can be a cybersecurity minefield. After the online holiday shopping season is over, there is typically a significant increase in data breaches, says Gal Ringel, cybersecurity expert and CEO of Mine. Up to 30% to 50% of the annual average of data breaches happen in November and December alone, he says.

“The holidays are a bonanza for cybercriminals,” says Dave Baggett, co-founder and CEO of anti-phishing start-up Inky. “People are buying a lot of things over a short period of time, and they are hurried about it. This presents opportunities for crooks.”


Here’s how to best protect yourself while shopping this holiday season.

1. Don’t click links in emails

Emails are a particularly common way for fraudsters to gain access to your credit card information or identity. Hackers send what’s called a phishing email, in which they copy a store’s sale or discount email and include a link to a false portal asking for your info.

“Retailers have been hit hard by the pandemic, and will likely send out even more emails showcasing their discounts and offers, which can be easily spoofed to trick consumers,” says Tony Pepper, CEO of cybersecurity firm Egress.

A quick and easy way to avoid falling for a phishing scam is to check the sender’s details carefully and hover over links before you click. “If you’re still not sure, you can always reach out to the retailer via their website, to check that the email you received is genuine,” Pepper says.


2. Don’t open attachments from retailers

Just as you should avoid clicking on email links, don’t open attachments from retailers. “Retailers won’t hide deals in attachments — that’s where attackers hide malware,” says Michael Madon, senior vice president and general manager of security awareness for Mimecast and a former cybersecurity director for the U.S. Treasury.

Cyber criminals aren’t only impersonating retailers, either. You could get a fake email that seems to be from a major shipping company like UPS, FedEx or DHL. Instead of clicking on a tracking number listed in an email or opening up an attachment, go directly to ups.com or fedex.com to check the tracking number.


3. Avoid pop-ups and ads

Malware and viruses aren’t just spread via email. They can follow you around the Internet in the form of pop-ups and advertisements — these are actually referred to as malvertising, or malicious advertising.

These types of ads can send you to sites that ask for your information, but they can also infect your device with a wide variety of harmful programming such as adware, spyware and ransomware. This is a form of malware that locks up specific files or your entire computer and forces you to pay to get access back.

“If a deal is legitimate, it will be on the company’s site. Pop-ups are an easy way for cybercriminals to lure you in,” Madon says.


4. Beware of e-skimmers

Card skimming has been happening for years. It’s a scam that typically happens at gas stations or ATMs, where a criminal installs a device that gathers credit card numbers and information when you swipe your card. That practice has gone digital, the FBI says. Cyber thieves can install malicious code on a retailer’s website to gather credit card data when you check out.

To protect yourself from this practice, you can pay using a third party such as PayPal, Venmo or Amazon, if the retailer allows it, so the store never actually has your credit card number. Or you can create a virtual credit card through sites like Privacy.com, or on your card issuer’s website, that provide temporary numbers so your information stays secure.


5. Use a credit card

Many experts recommend that you use credit cards instead of debit cards. That’s because the Fair Credit Billing Act makes it so consumers are only liable for up to $50 in fraudulent charges. And many major credit card companies, including American Express, Discover, Mastercard and Visa, offer “zero liability” policies, so you don’t have to pay for any fraud.

Save your debit card for taking out cash, Ally Bank recommends. Not just during the holidays, but year-round. Also, make sure to avoid suspicious ATMs. If the ATM looks broken, or anything on the front of the machine appears dislodged or jerry-rigged, it could mean that someone has installed a card-skimming machine.


6. Use a secure network to shop

More than three quarters of Americans, 76%, have used public Wi-Fi to access sensitive information, according to a survey last year by cybersecurity company Bullguard. But with all the bad bots and cyber criminals lurking during the holiday season, it can be a particularly dangerous time of year.

When shopping online, make sure you’re using a private Wi-Fi connection or your smartphone’s cellular network to browse the internet. Public Wi-Fi networks are notoriously insecure and could open you up to malware or hacking.

“Without proper network precautions, the hacker sitting a few seats down at your local Starbucks could sneak into your device and watch you input your credit card information,” Madon says.

If you absolutely need to use public Wi-Fi, use a Virtual Private Network, or VPN, that will encrypt your browsing history and activity. Hotspot Shield Free is a free VPN that will allow you to connect up to five devices from one account. If you’re willing to pay, experts recommend ExpressVPN, which has packages starting at about $100 a year.


7. Be suspicious of free offers

During the holidays, Baggett says there’s an “explosion” of survey and gift card scams. These are generally emails that supposedly offer you payments or gift cards in exchange for taking surveys.

Instead, when the user clicks through, they end up on websites that may look legitimate and ask you for your credit card information or Amazon account credentials “so they can pay you.” Yet when you type your credentials in this site, you’re giving them directly to the attacker.

These types of emails may also contain a common technique Baggett calls “hidden text.” Normally invisible to you, this is text scammers put in to confuse the mail protections that Microsoft, Google and others use to try to protect you.


8. Diversify your passwords

Almost half of Americans, 53%, use the same passwords over and over again, according to identity company SecureAuth. But cyber thieves can use a stolen password to try to break into other accounts and sites that may expose your personal data.

This is especially common during the holiday shopping season. “Phishing attempts can often be disguised as sign-ups for retail rewards programs,” Madon says. “If you take the offer, use a password that you haven’t used before,” he recommends.

For a more long-term solution, consider getting a password manager like Dashlane (free limited version, unlimited password plans starting at $4.99 a month). These programs will automatically generate unique, secure passwords for all your accounts and remember them for you.


9. Monitor your accounts

Throughout the holiday season, keep a close eye on your bank and credit card accounts. “Often, criminals will make small charges using bot technology to see if the charge will go through before making larger purchases,” Pavan Thatha, head of bot management at Radware.

To help protect your identity, set up alerts and monitoring — either with your bank or an outside app such as IdentityForce — that will let you know if any suspicious activity occurs. Also, keep a close eye on your annual credit report for any new accounts or queries you didn’t initiate.


10. Beware gift card scams

A gift card can be the perfect holiday gift for that hard-to-please person on your list. In fact, 35% of consumers plan to purchase a lot more online gift cards this year, McAfee finds.

But scams tied to these cards are becoming increasingly popular. One popular strategy used by criminals is to scan or write down the card number in the store, draining the funds before they are even gifted.

When buying physical gift cards off the shelf, carefully inspect it to make sure there’s no tampering and you cannot see the code or PIN. Many experts recommend buying electronic gift cards online.

“At the end of the day, bad guys like to exploit our holiday spirit and use it against us,” Baggett says. “Sadly, we need to be more vigilant this time of year than at any other.”
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[sultrysandy]

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai will step down on January 20

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FCC chairman Ajit Pai to resign next month after controversial four years under President Trump

Pai served as the FCC chairman throughout the entire Trump administration. He kicked things off by undoing the net neutrality protections put in place by President Obama, stripping the “Title II” classification for broadband service. Pai also oversaw the merger between Sprint and T-Mobile.



Pai’s decision to step down could have significant implications on net neutrality, an issue that helped define his term as chairman. In 2017, Pai voted with his fellow Republican commissioners to remove rules that prohibited internet providers from from blocking or slowing traffic to particular sites and offering higher speed “lanes” at higher prices. Many major internet providers have not yet taken advantage of that rule change, however.

Pai had recently said that the FCC could move forward with rulemaking around President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting social media companies. He said the commission’s general counsel determined it had legal authority to interpret Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the law that shields tech platforms from being held liable for their users’ posts (and for removing those posts or reducing their reach). Pai’s departure makes it much less likely that significant action on the executive order will take place anytime soon, given that the two Democratic commissioners opposed Pai’s decision.
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[sultrysandy]

iPhone 12 unexpectedly dropping LTE and 5G service for some users

The iPhone 12 lineup has been in the wild for a little over a month and is the first generation of Apple’s smartphones to come with 5G support. But there seems to be a notable issue with the iPhone 12 dropping service unexpectedly (both 5G and LTE) and users are seeing it happen most when driving or traveling.

It’s unclear exactly how widespread the problem with iPhone 12 dropping coverage is but over 500 people have now chimed in that they have the same issue as user joxesCA since they posted details about the issue on Apple’s forums back at the end of October.
iPhone 12 dropping service unexpectedly

From multiple user accounts, it appears there could be an issue with how iPhone 12 is handling switching towers. Here’s what’s happening:

Received my iPhone 12 Pro on Friday. Activated it on Saturday. Sunday I drove for 10 mns and when I arrive to my destination I saw no reception bars and No Service. And in the middle of the screen in a grey box: Your iPhone is not Activated.

The only way to get the connection back was to toggle Airplane mode to ON then OFF.

The iPhone had the cellular mode to 5G Auto. I switched it to LTE to test. And it was the same.

So I resetted the network settings: same issue and I resetted the iPhone as a new iPhone and reinstalled everything from scratch (not from a saved backup): same issue.

I drove my car and found the exact location where the phone lost the network. If the phone lost the network it means I reach the end of the coverage area from a certain antenna. It looks like something happened with the phone when I reach a zone covered by a new antenna.

I called my operator and they told me that everything is good on their end and I have the right SIM card for a 5G device.

I called the Apple Tech Support and they remotely installed on my phone two profiles:

– Baseband and Telephony Logging

– CFNetwork Diagnostics

I was able to replicate the issue after talking to the Apple Tech and I was able to submit the report.

I pushed a little bit the research and I found on Reddit a lot of people talking about the same issue not only on Verizon (my carrier) but also on AT&T. Just use the title I typed and you will find the article.

I never had such issue with the 11pro.

Many others have shared they’re seeing the same on Reddit with this thread on the iPhone 12 dropping service problem seeing over 400 comments. Users on Verizon and AT&T seem to be seeing the problem the most but we’ve also heard from readers seeing the trouble on T-Mobile.

Redditor Professional_Title noted last month that Verizon’s executive relations team was aware of the issue:

EDIT 6 (11/9): I did end up getting a phone call from executive relations who confirmed with me the issue I was having and also confirmed that they have no open alerts about the issue on the front end. She then said that she would be contacting their backend executive team and will be calling me back in 24-48 hours about the results on the investigation. Hopefully this leads them to let support reps know there’s a problem, as that’s the most frustrating part for me.

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[sultrysandy]

Updated backdoor malware again targeting macOS users in Vietnam

A new version of an existing macOS backdoor thought to be tied to a nation-state hacking group is targeting Vietnamese Mac users.

The updated piece of malware can provide an attacker access to a compromised machine, allowing them to surveil and steal sensitive information, security analysts at Trend Micro detailed in a new report.

According to the report, the malware arrives bundled as a ZIP file that disguises itself as a Word document and is distributed via phishing emails. It's currently able to avoid detection by anti-malware software through obfuscation techniques, such as using special characters in its app bundle name.

Once it's on a machine, the malware launches a series of payloads that change access permissions and install a backdoor onto the system. That backdoor allows attackers to snoop and download user files, gain additional information about a computer, and upload other malicious software.

Trend Micro believes the backdoor is tied to a hacking group called OceanLotus, or APT32, that's thought to have links to the Vietnamese government. OceanLotus is known for targeting foreign organizations working in Vietnam, and it's thought that their goal is cyber espionage to bolster Vietnamese-owned companies.

The backdoor itself contains a piece of malware with close similarities to past samples found by Trend Micro in 2018. The new samples is believed to be aimed at users in Vietnam, since its file name is in Vietnamese and the older samples targeted users in the country.

"Threat groups such as OceanLotus are actively updating malware variants in attempts to evade detection and improve persistence," the researchers wrote.


Who is impacted, and how to protect yourself

Because the malware appears to be designed for targeted espionage in a specific geographical region, it's unlikely that it poses much risk to the majority of macOS users.

Trend Micro still recommends that users avoid clicking links or downloading any attachments from email senders they don't know or trust. Keeping your macOS device up-to-date with the latest security patches is also highly recommended.






Sandy note -

Can hear people complaining, "Sandy you stupid broad, this is America"

Living in an interconnected world, can be hear faster than it takes to fill your coffee cup. Plus, I've seen this type of app modified creating new malware haven't heard about.
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