Last night, on The Shift with Drex, guest host Alex Carr and I talked about the changes Apple brought to personal privacy with iOS 11.3, Facebook’s announcement that more than 600,000 Canadians were been impacted by the data mining by Cambridge Analytica, how Facebook pays for music licensing in your posts, the Tapplock padlock that opens with a fingertip, and actor Andy Serkis’ incredible digital performance of Macbeth.
This week, Facebook is licensing music for you, a new padlock opens with your fingerprint, and digital character animation takes another leap forward. But first, Apple’s released a new update to iOS.
Privacy features key additions in new version of Apple’s operating system for mobile devices
The latest version of iOS was released by Apple last week. iOS 11.3 includes a new approach by the company to be transparent about the personal data we all have on our devices.
A new privacy icon has been designed to appear whenever Apple features or services need access to your personal information. This is associated with more detail about what the company is asking for and why.
This privacy shift has also been deployed with macOS 10.13.4, the latest update to the High Sierra operating system for Apple computers like iMacs and Macbooks.
Another feature introduced with iOS 11.3 gives you more insight into the health of your iPhone battery, including whether it needs to be replaced.
This update is part of Apple’s response to the revelation that iPhones with older batteries were automatically reducing performance in an effort to prevent the phones from spontaneously shutting down. Users can now disable this feature.
Other changes to iOS 11.3 include new augmented reality experiences and, for iPhone X owners, four new animoji: bear, dragon, lion, and skull.
Facebook will pay for music on user posts
Once upon a time when you celebrated a birthday in a restaurant, and the servers would all come over and serenade you, they weren’t allowed to sing “Happy Birthday to You” without paying a licensing fee to Warner Music. The America courts finally put an end to that ridiculousness in 2016 and declared the song to be in the public domain.
But every time you create a Facebook post and there’s some music associated with it, you’re supposed to be paying a fee to the rights holder.
Yes, even if it’s a video of your kid in a dance competition.
Facebook knows this, but doesn’t want to limit your ability to share these moments, and has been going around signing deals with owners of music rights. They just agreed to terms with Warner, in fact, to go along with existing agreements with Universal and Sony.
So if you’re still a Facebook user, you go ahead and post that video of you crushing Bruno Mars at the karoake bar. Facebook’s got you covered.
Tapplock One padlock secures your bike with a fingerprint
I’ve been riding bikes with my kids to school since they were in kindergarten. With both of them, there comes a time, around 7 or 8, when they decide they don’t want to ride anymore. And this has nothing to do with actually riding the bike, it has to do with the process of locking and unlocking that bike.
What they don’t like doing is struggling with having to get their bike after school when I’m not there to unlock it for them.
We’ve tried combination locks and key locks, we’ve tried chains and cables, all in an attempt to make it easier for them.
But it is the Tapplock One that’s made all the difference in the world, because they don’t need to remember a combination or worry about losing a key. They only need a fingertip.
This unique product comes from a Toronto startup and it can actually be opened three different ways:
• With a fingertip; you can store up to 30 different scans
Using a connected smartphone using the Tapplock app (Android and iOS)
Using “Morse code”, by entering a combination of short and long presses on an interface button on the padlock
The Tapplock app is used to manage your padlock, and it’s a simple process to register the scans of fingers. It’s also where you can monitor the device’s battery life, which the company says will last up to a year, depending on how frequently it is locked and unlocked.
The only thing I don’t know about is how the Tapplock will fare in the Vancouver climate. It’s rated to work down to temperatures of -10 Celsius, which is fine here. But it does rain a bit in our city, and while the padlock is IP66 water resistant, it’s difficult to know at what point a deluge would wreck the it.
And at a price of US$99, I don’t want to be frivolous with the Tapplock.
For now, as spring arrives, I’m just glad my son is excited to ride his bike again.
Epic Games and Andy Serkis show off advances in digital character animation
At the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago, Epic Games showed how animations can be mapped directly onto the facial footage of a human actor’s performance. In real time.
To demonstrate, Epic filmed actor Andy Serkis, who is famous for his work playing digital characters like Gollum, reciting a soliloquy from Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
This was done using Epic’s video game development software, Unreal Engine. Advancements like this will result in visual fidelity improvements in animation, while making the production time and effort simpler and more efficient.
IGN put the two videos into split-screen so you can see just how accurately Serkis’ acting is rendered in the digital character.
Last night, on The Shift with Drex, Drex and I talked about how you can download a copy of the data Facebook has collected on you, Microsoft’s revision to its terms of service, the Dota 2 tournament coming to Vancouver, and the new iPad announced last week by Apple.
This week, will we ever stop talking about Facebook? Plus, Microsoft is worried about offensive language and the world’s biggest esports tournament comes to Vancouver. But first, Apple announces a line of lower-priced iPads.
Apple’s new iPad is priced for classrooms
At an education-themed event at a Chicago school yesterday, Apple revealed a new iteration of iPad.
It’s priced at Cdn$429 for Wi-Fi only, or $599 for Wi-Fi and cellular. Schools can purchase the new devices for only $399.
The new model is 9.7-inches and is equipped with 32 GB of storage. It’s got much of the functionality of the iPad Pro including the A10 Fusion chip and Touch ID, as well as augmented reality (AR) apps and experiences. It also supports the Apple Pencil, a powerful stylus tool that enables all kinds of activities, including note taking and drawing.
But while Apple’s dropped the price of its base iPad, the Apple Pencil is still priced at $129 in Canada ($115 for schools).
At the same event, Apple showed off Schoolwork, a Mac and iPad app designed for teachers that helps manage a classroom. Educators using it can create assignments and track student progress, distribute announcements an assignments, and deploy other apps.
This is all furthering Apple’s drive to support education, which includes the curricula Everyone Can Code, and the newly announced Everyone Can Create.
Take a look at how much Facebook knows about you
Yes, we’re still talking about Facebook. Yes, you should be paying attention.
Start by navigating to your Facebook settings page and clicking on the link at the bottom to, “Download a copy of your Facebook data.” On the resulting page, you’ll be able to have Facebook begin collecting your complete archive for download.
How big this archive is, and how long it takes to prepare and download, depends entirely on how long you’ve been a Facebook user and how active you’ve been in that time.
I’ve been on the system since 2007, but have been sporadically active. My archive contained every photo and video I’ve posted – including Instagram posts, because it’s owned by Facebook – as well as every message I’ve sent and received, including any photos or videos that were attached to those.
It also included a list of every location Facebook had tagged me in the past four years, recentl logins and logouts, and a list of IP addresses from which I’ve accessed the network.
More interesting were the data on advertising, including a list of topics, ads that I’ve clicked on, and advertisers who have my contact information. There were some listed there that surprised me.
It’s worth taking a look at just how much Facebook knows about you so you can make informed decisions.
Microsoft is updating its terms of service for online channels
I believe that the intent here is well meaning, but the execution certainly isn’t. There needs to be much more clarity around the definitions of terms like “offensive”. I think Microsoft would be well suited to provide some examples of everyday activities and behaviours that do and do not violate the terms. And they should also clarify how decisions will be made to declare things to be offensive, and what that process might look like.
Then we’d have a bit more to challenge.
Dota 2 tournament to be held in Vancouver
Every day, millions of players across the globe play Dota 2, a free-to-play game published by Valve on its Steam platform. It’s a team-based game where players defend their base, while trying to destroy their opponents.
Every year, teams gather and compete in the International, one of the world’s biggest esports competitions. Last year, the prize pool topped US$24 million.
Tickets were priced at Cdn$125 for the mideweek preliminaries, with finals tickets costing $250. But they sold out last Friday (March 23) on the day they were released.
Curious to know what all the fuss is about? Here’s a recap of the final day of competition from last year’s International.
Last Wednesday, on The Shift with Drex, Drex and I talked about how you can control Facebook’s access to and use of your data, the outlook for driverless cars given the death caused by one in Arizona, the flying taxis coming to New Zealand, and what space does to your genetics.
The Mind Control Division is the intelligence arm of Blaine Kyllo's Solo Corps Creative Incorporated. This department conducts investigations and experiments into media and technology culture.
