Substack users face privacy breaches as the service has released their email accounts through an email blast. Lots of freelance writers and journalists use Substack to grow their audience. Readers subscribe to Substack to receive email newsletters from the writers they like. How Substack Slipped Up in the Email Blast Gizmodo reports that Substack released the emails by accident. In sending out new terms of use and agreements, Substack support wrote the email addresses in the CC field instead of the BCC. The CC field shows all the email addresses of everyone who got the email. https://twitter.com/Gizmodo/status/1288313298044231687?s=20 Whose Email Addresses…
Author: Irene Hawkins
Irene Hawkins
Irene grew up in Dayton, Ohio, and now lives in New York as a full-time environmentalist and a part-time journalist. She was previously an editor at local online newspaper, where she wrote about topics including technology, finance and the media industry.
It’s bad news for Snapchat on Tuesday as it failed to add new users despite new COVID-19 lockdowns. The social media company had seen a spike in its users due to the pandemic. As COVID-19 forced millions of people to stay home, more people flocked to social media for diversions. Snapchat Breaks Its Winning Streak However, CNN reports that Snapchat couldn’t maintain its streak. Snap, Snapchat’s parent company, saw its stock drop by 10% Tuesday. They had expected millions of new users to continue coming in, but their numbers slowed down. Derek Andersen noted that the surge tapered off quicker…
Google employees can now work from home until the summer of 2021, the company announced Monday. The company had said its workers could work from home until the end of the year, with some coming back to work before then. COVID-19 has disrupted businesses worldwide. Companies are now allowing remote work until the pandemic ends. Google Employees And a Year of Remote Work CNN Business had obtained an internal memo from Google. CEO Sundar Pichai said the company is allowing employees to work from home if they wanted. Only workers with non-office roles can choose to work remotely. According to…
China’s space program seems to be making progress. Reports indicate that the country has launched a top-secret rocket and then landed it back on Earth. Since the rocket is top-secret, no one knows its design. All the reports say is that the rocket is a reusable model. China’s Reusable Rocket Gizmodo reports that China launched its new reusable rocket last Friday. The launch happened at the Jinquan Satellite Launch Center in Inner Mongolia. About the rocket, the South China Morning Post says that it was a Long March-2F rocket. After staying in orbit for the weekend, the rocket returned to…
Netflix released an apology over a movie petitioned for removal from the platform. The film’s promotional artwork received backlash for being “inappropriate.” ‘Inappropriate Image’ On August 20, the streaming giant issued an apology over a promotional poster and caption for the upcoming award-winning film slated to debut on the platform. Netflix renamed the French movie “Cuties.” Originally titled “Mignonnes,” the film tells the story of an 11-year old. The main character went against her family’s traditional view to join a dance crew. Netflix’s original image for the film shows the four young girls in their dancing outfits striking different poses. …
Facebook’s interest in VR and AR has led them to push the development of “smart audio.” The company has published an explainer into its ongoing AR research. Facebook’s Smart Audio The company has published an in-depth article on “smart audio.” According to Gizmodo, Facebook’s AR tech runs on a concept known as “social presence.” The report says the company wants to bridge gaps between perception and reality. For example, the smallest audio mismatch could take you out of the AR experience right away, even if your headset does work. https://twitter.com/Gizmodo/status/1301764436953358336?s=20 Facebook Reality Labs Research is hard at work to solve…
Get ready for what could be the coolest-looking smartphone yet. A new video has surfaced, showing the latest Vivo phone whose rear case can change color. Just press a button to see its colors shift. The Vivo Phone That Can Change Colors First posted on Weibo, the Vivo phone video is also now on the website Android Authority. Since the video’s release, the company has confirmed that it is making a phone that can change colors. However, they didn’t say when they plan to release it. The phone doesn’t even have a name yet. https://twitter.com/universeice/status/1301374405688217600?s=21 How Does the Vivo Phone…
Apple’s new effort to protect user privacy has to wait a while. The tech company has decided to delay a new privacy feature. With the update, iOS developers would have to ask the user’s permission to track their data across Apple devices. The Privacy Feature in iOS 14 In a blog post, Apple announced the new privacy feature. Apple had included the feature in iOS 14. However, the company decided to give more time for developers to follow the rules. Several companies have said they worry about the new policy. Among these companies is Facebook. https://twitter.com/verge/status/1301750847978733568?s=20 Apple’s Privacy Efforts Apple’s…
The AirPods Pro might face stiff competition now. Qualcomm plans to release Adaptive Noise Cancellation (ANC) for true wireless earbuds. Apple’s AirPods Pro relies on ANC as a selling point. Other companies could buy Qualcomm’s ANC to launch them on par with Apple. Qualcomm’s ANC The AirPods Pro uses ANC to adjust the buds’ noise-canceling levels “200 times per second.” Also, the AirPods Pro uses the “adaptive EQ” feature to adjust sound outputs based on your ear shape. This feature means sound quality changes depending on the shape of your ear. https://twitter.com/verge/status/1301422212579291136?s=20 In terms of features, Qualcomm wants to stand…
Despite the pandemic, Apple might be planning a release festival for 2020. This year, the company is planning to release 75 to 80 million 5G iPhones. With this number, Apple might not expect COVID-19 to affect people’s demand for the new iPhone. However, the company did say it has delayed the latest phones in October. Apple’s New iPhones Bloomberg reports that Apple wants to release 75 to 80 million phones in 2020. In the same report, Apple wants suppliers to build four new phones. Apple will split these phones into two model types. Two of them are basic models, while…