Apple Will No Longer Unlock Most iPhones, iPads for Police

Craig Timberg, at The Washington Post writes:

Apple said Wednesday night that it would no longer turn over data from most iPhones or iPads to police — even when they have a search warrant -- taking a hard new line as tech companies attempt to blunt allegations that they have too readily participated in government efforts to collect user data.

The move, announced with the publication of a new privacy policy tied to the release of Apple’s latest mobile operating system, iOS 8, amounts to an engineering solution to a legal dilemma: Rather than comply with binding court orders, Apple has reworked its latest encryption in a way that makes it all but impossible for the company – or anyone else – to gain access to the vast troves of user data typically stored on smartphones or tablet computers.

It will be entertaining to see various police agencies flip their shit over this.

Letter of Recommendation

Chris Breen, writing on his site Hair-Breened Ideas:

As you’ve no-doubt heard, Macworld, the company I work for, suffered massive layoffs on Wednesday. Essentially, just about everyone in the masthead was let go. I remain, as do Susie Ochs and Leah Yamshon, and we’ll do our very best to do right by Macworld—we owe it to those who came before and our readers. But I admit that seeing my colleagues leave has been a bit like having everyone around you suddenly raptured while you stand gawking with a ham sandwich shoved halfway in your mouth.

It’s not my business to get into the whys and wherefores, but if you’re of an age where you care about newspapers and print magazines, you’re well aware that publishing has become a very difficult business. Advertising is increasingly hard to come by and readers are unwilling to pay in large enough numbers to keep their favorite publications alive.

It’s easy to blame management because, hey, it’s always The Man, right? But the truth is that Macworld continued as a print publication for as long as it did because the people at the very top had a soft spot for it. They tried every way they could think of to make it work. Regrettably, the realities of economics eventually took hold.

...

But I’m not here to feed Internet tittle-tattle. Rather, as someone who’s been with Macworld (and MacUser before it) for a very long time, I’d like to provide potential employers (and those who are simply interested in their favorite writers) some details about my departed colleagues.

You should go and read the entirety of his post, which gives a wonderful rundown of his former Macworld colleagues, many of whom are now out of a job. This is an amazing opportunity for companies as all of these talented people would be a tremedous "get" if you could manage to hire them. I suspect they will all have many offers to pick from.

I for one will greatly miss reading their work in Macworld, but am looking forward to reading their work elsewhere as they all now branch out across the Apple journalist community.

Why Apple Seems To Be Favoring "Apple X" Product Names Over "iProducts" Now

During the tonight's live Accidental Tech Podcast John, Casey, and Marco were discussing the name of Apple's new watch, creatively called the Apple Watch. Others have also pointed this out on Twitter, speculating that Apple is now exclusivley favoring "Apple X" for product names now when written out and " X" when used as a logo mark. The guys discussed how this might be due to trends, in that the "iProduct" naming convention might be going out of style and if it now seems old to name a new product in this manner. They aren't the first to say this, either.

I think that could be it, and probably is at least part of the reason why they named the new Apple Watch (and Apple Pay) in this manner. I think there is another significant reason as well.

Dating back to the original Apple TV, when rumors said that Apple wanted to call it the iTV but due to the U.K. TV channel/network already using the iTV name, Apple was forced to go with Apple TV instead. Similarly, the original iPhone name was already being used by Cisco in a product (conviently launched by Cisco one month before Apple announced the iPhone) that Apple famously had to wrestle away from Cisco by court case or license agreement - I forget which exactly. Anyway, that isn't important. The point I'm trying to make is that since the original iMac in 1997, Apple competitors, other non-competitors, random other companies in other industries, and just anyone in the world who lacks creativity have been naming their products in this manner, copying the iProduct naming convention. In order to appear trendy and fashionable, or perhaps to deliberaly confuse customers, people and companies have been naming their products such as iHome, iTree, or iRock. If you take just about any common word in the dictionary, you'll find an unimaginative person who has already named a crappy product they came up with 6 years ago with a lower-case "i" in front of it.

The problem for Apple as they come out with new products going forward, is everything they could possibly name a new device is already being used by someone else. And this isn't something Apple can fix, because Apple cannot possibly own the legal right to append a certain lower-case letter in front every possible word in existence. That's just not how trademark law works.

Why is Apple moving away from product names? Because when it comes to technology, they do own a trademark on the word "Apple" and especially their stylized logo of an Apple with a bite taken out of it. This is something they can make crystal clear in a court to a judge and a jury, that will leave no room for argument. The "iProduct" names were unique and trendy in the late '90s when they first came out and the Internet was a new thing to society and mainstream culture. In 2014 it is no longer the case. I'm sure Apple prefers to be able to differentiate their devices, products, and branding over the average piece of crap you see on a late night infomercial that had the gumption to name their new electronic mop the iCleaner.

Initial Blast Video of Mount Tavurvur Eruption in Papua New Guinea

Update: Phil Plait has an awesome analysis of the blast from the video below that you should read.

The below video happened on August 29th. This was captured at the initial instant the volcano began errupting. I've never seen the initial blast of this type of volcano erupting before.

Pay close attention to:

  1. The shockwave of the blast
  2. The massive rocks and soil that were thrown into the air and splashed into the ocean around the volcano
  3. The fact that these rocks were still airborne and flying before the sound of the blast

The eruption of Mount Tavurvur volcano on August 29th, 2014. Captured by Phil McNamara.