What was also really cool was that we got an interview in with the folks at Microsoft about the New Surface Pro!
This is a sweet machine!
Here are 2 links to get a sense of what we spoke about.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Q4YkzK3soI4lzP6d2
https://photos.app.goo.gl/3dgG2Lsq5TvdnyxN2
The show notes.
Facebook Targeting update
Our community standards strictly prohibit attacking people based on their protected characteristics, including religion, and we prohibit advertisers from discriminating against people based on religion and other attributes.
Facebook AI Research (FAIR), this new team will join more than 100 scientists across Menlo Park, New York, and Paris in working to advance the field of artificial intelligence. The Montreal lab will house research scientists and engineers working on a wide range of ambitious AI research projects, but it will also have a special focus on reinforcement learning and dialog systems.
I have a section already recorded talking with Microsoft about the New SurfacePro
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This is NASTY
Users of the Avast-owned security application CCleaner for Windows are advised to update the software immediately.
Malicious software was slipped into CCleaner, a popular program that cleans up junk files and cookies to speed up your Android device or Windows PC.
CCleaner is developed by Piriform, and was purchased by Avast in July, with the company saying CCleaner had 130 million users at the time of the deal, according to Reuters.
Cisco’s Talos revealed today (18 September) in a blog post that its team found a specific executable that was triggering its advanced malware protection systems during an analysis.
Malicious version active for weeks
The affected version of CCleaner was released on 15 August of this year, with an update following on 12 September. The malicious version was active in the several weeks between updates, leaving users vulnerable.
The malicious payload could have made it possible for affected devices to download and execute other dangerous software varieties including ransomware.
This particular attack is quite devious as users are far less likely to be suspicious of historically-trusted anti-virus and computer optimisation apps and services such as CCleaner, and shows the increasing sophistication of cybercrime collectives.
Another large-scale attack
In a security notice on the Piriform website, the company estimated that the affected users could be as many as 2.27m people, but it said the problem had been swiftly resolved with no reported harm done to users.
What if you could pay to have great access to clean toilets around the city?
The main theme with Good2Go bathrooms is they’re all hands-free. The startup installs sinks, lights, hand dryers, and toilets that work by waving your hand across the sensor. While bathrooms have utilized this technology before, it’s rare to see an entire bathroom consist of strictly “touchless” devices. Every Good2Go location is all-genderand includes a baby-changing station.
With so many apps on the market these days, Good2Go isn’t the first of its kind — even though it does have an edge when it comes to cleanliness and modernized facilities. But with locations limited to the San Francisco area, it could be a while until they’re more accessible nationwide. To keep up with its expansion, you can sign up through the company’s website to be notified when the service becomes available in your city.
The Good2Go app is now available on iOS through the App Store with an Android version coming soon. For a limited time, the company is offering a free trial subscription. After that it’s $3 for a day pass, $15 for weekly, $20 for monthly, and $50 for three months.
A cool tool in the UAE
hope you are well and had a lovely summer? Are you familiar with mrUsta? I wanted to see if they might be of interest for you to discuss on show? It is essentially the google of service providers, creating an online market place where the consumer can find the best price guarantee from a number of service providers that are on the site and have been vetted and received by mrUsta
As well as giving the consumer a great option to what can often be a headache; finding a plasterer, technician, tyre company etc, it also greats a community in a place where not many exist and it also supports the underdog as a business; many of these providers do not have the means to do their own marketing. MrUsta gives them the platform and gives us, the consumer, access to the likes of small businesses in Sharjah and Ajman who charge considerably less than the UAE.
Some stats that also show mrUsta is also working as a business idea: www.mrusta.com - usta means guru or expert in Arabic by the way.
Look forward to hearing from you - thanks Laetitia
1. The value of jobs posted on mrUsta has tripled over the last 6 months
2. We more than doubled our customer based in the last 6 months
3. We have over 40K application downloads
4. We had a 20% increase in Ustas in the last 6 months
5. We have tripled our instant booking jobs revenue quarter on quarter
6. 40% of our jobs come from returning customers (this have been consistent for over a year now)
7. 60% of our jobs are organic and direct
8. Almost tripled our jobs year on year
9. First to launch customer loyalty in the market (service provider’s marketplace)
10. Partnership with Ariston
11. Working on partnerships with big educational and financial institutes
Google deletes android backups of unused phones!
A little-known Google policy on Android backups in Drive has sent one poor and now very angry Android user back to square one.
Until recently Redditor Tanglebrook had a Nexus 6P. He handed it in for a refund and has been using an iPhone since.
With a dozens of new phones, including Google's Pixel 2 coming out soon, the plan was to eventually buy a new Android phone and restore the 6P's data on it from Google Drive's Backup folder, where the device's settings, Wi-Fi passwords and apps had been stored.
However the Android fan didn't realize that Google deletes a Backup folder if a device hasn't been used in two months, as noted in a support page.
Google may show an expiration date on the folder if a device hasn't been used in two weeks, but it doesn't warn users with a notification or email. The same policy applies to backups from computers.
Not sure I like the gamification of Google photos that I put on maps! Cool idea though!
-google tells you how many views you are getting!
What Apple Launched, do we care? Have we been acculturated to expect HUGE and when we get cool change it is not enough?
-wireless charging on new watches and phones
-better watch
-expensive phone
Linkedin allows you to now record video! In the app!
(See Below)
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Snap, Spectacles and advertising…
Nearly a year ago, Snap announced Spectacles, its high-tech sunglasses that records video, thanks to an integrated camera, from the wearer’s eye-level perspective. Spectacle’s branding potential has consistently intrigued marketers, as they can utilize the devices to create either organic or PR-driven buzz on Snapchat, Snap’s flagship property.
Burger King and Sainsbury’s are the first two Snap clients to use the glasses to shoot ads that appear on Snapchat. (Snap ran house ads, which were shot via Spectacles, on Snapchat earlier in the summer.) The creative difference between Spectacles’ clips and other footage lies in how the glasses capture video in a circular fashion.
The brands’ ads are going live today, with Burger King’s ad appearing via the app in the U.S. for National Cheeseburger Day and Sainsbury’s—which is a grocery store chain—rolling out in the U.K.
“This is the first time [we’ve] produced anything on Spectacles,” said Brooke Scher Mogan, Burger King spokesperson, via an email. She also noted, “The brand has done a bunch of successful campaigns with Snapchat in the past.”
From DuckDuck Go
Remove Google from your life? Yes, it can be done! Google trackers have been found on 75% of the top million websites. This means they are not only tracking what you search for, they're also tracking which websites you visit, and using all your data for ads that follow you around the internet. Your personal data can also be subpoenaed by lawyers, including for civil cases like divorce. Google answered over 100,000 such data requests in 2016 alone!
More and more people are also realizing the risk of relying on one company for so many personal services. If you're joining the ranks of people who've decided Google's data collection has become too invasive, here are some suggestions for replacements with minimal switching cost. Most are free, though even those that are paid are worth it — the cost of not switching is a cost to your personal privacy, and the good news is we have a choice!
Boy choosing from a selection of ice cream.
Google Search -> DuckDuckGo (free)
Let's start off with the easiest one! Switching to DuckDuckGo not only keeps your searches private but also gives you extra advantages such as our bang shortcuts, handy Instant Answers, and knowing you're not trapped in a filter bubble.
Gmail, Calendar & Contacts -> FastMail (paid)
We host @duckduckgo.com addresses on FastMail, an independent, paid service that also includes calendar and contacts support across all devices. There are also several ways to get encrypted email between trusted parties by integrating PGP encryption tools. Even more private email alternatives are ProtonMail and Tutanota, both of which offer end-to-end encryption by default.
YouTube -> Vimeo (free with paid options)
For videos that are only on YouTube (unfortunately, a lot), you can search for and watch them on DuckDuckGo for better privacy protection via YouTube's "youtube-nocookie" domain. If you're creating and hosting video yourself, however, Vimeo is the best-known alternative which focuses on creators.
Google Maps -> Apple Maps (free), OpenStreetMap (free)
For iOS users, Apple gives you an alternative built in via Apple Maps, so no installation is necessary. For wider device support, check out OpenStreetMap (OSM) which is more open, though may not have the same ease-of-use or coverage quality as Apple Maps.
Google Drive -> Resilio Sync (free with paid options)
Another service we use internally, Resilio Sync, provides peer-to-peer file synchronization which can be used for private file storage, backup, and file sharing. This also means your files are never stored on a single server in the cloud! The software is available for a wide variety of platforms and devices, including servers.
Android -> iOS (paid)
The most popular alternative to Android is of course iOS, which offers easy device encryption and encrypted messaging via iMessage by default. We also have tips to increase privacy protection on your iPhone or iPad.
Google Chrome -> Safari (free), Firefox (free), Brave (free)
Safari was the first major browser to include DuckDuckGo as a built-in private search option. A more cross-device compatible browser is Mozilla's Firefox, an open source browser with a built-in tracker blocker in private mode. Brave goes one step further with tracker blocking switched on by default. There are also many more browsers that come with DuckDuckGo as a built-in option.
Blogger -> Ghost (paid), WordPress (free with paid options)
Ghost is both a hosted (paid) and self-installable blogging platform, tracker-free by default and run by a non-profit foundation. We like it so much we use it for our own blog! A free alternative is WordPress, powering an estimated 25% of the world's websites. It's also available both for self-installation and as a hosted service with no third-party trackers by default. The community is huge with extensive multilingual documentation and many themes to choose from.
Google Hangouts -> Zoom (free with paid options), appear.in (free with paid option)
Zoom is a robust video chat alternative we use internally that works well even for large numbers of participants, though requires software to be installed. A web-only alternative is appear.in which doesn't require an account — just go to the website to open a chat room and you're ready.
Google Allo -> Signal (free)
There are several services offering private messaging but, as we've mentioned before, Signal gets our recommendation. It offers free, end-to-end encryption for both messages and private calls. It's also recommended by Edward Snowden and renowned security expert Bruce Schneier, among others.
