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Mark Zuckerberg still won’t ban ‘political’ ads from Facebook

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He added that, while it may be easier for Facebook to “choose a different path,” it is more important to stand up for free speech and free expression. “We need to be careful about adopting more rules that can restrict what people can say,” he said. “I don’t think it’s right for politicians to be censored.” Zuckerberg’s statements come in light of moves from TikTok and Twitter to put a stop to all paid political ads on their services. “For instance, it’s not credible for us to say: ‘We’re working hard to stop people from gaming our systems to spread misleading info,'” said Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey on Wednesday, “buuut if someone pays us to target and force people to see their political ad…well…they can say whatever they want!”

Facebook News Tab

Dorsey didn’t mention Zuckerberg or Facebook by name, but he didn’t have to. It was clear where Twitter’s new policy came from. Since the 2016 US presidential election, when Facebook was abused by Russia to sow discord amongst Americans, the company has been promising to double down on combating the spread of misinformation. And yet, at the same time, Facebook is allowing politicians to explicitly use ads to tell lies about their rivals. Zuckerberg said this isn’t a “political calculation” and that Facebook isn’t trying to appease conservative voices — it’s about protecting its values on free expression.

Despite what feels like an endless stream of controversies, though, Facebook has continued to rake in billions of dollars year after year. And today it announced a revenue of $17.7 billion during the third quarter of 2019, a 28 percent increase over the same period a year ago. In addition to that, Facebook’s user base is still growing: daily and monthly active users were at 1.6 and 2.4 billion in Q3 2019, respectively, each up 8 percent year-over-year. Altogether, Zuckerberg said, around 2.8 billion people are now using at least one app from the Facebook family, which includes Instagram and WhatsApp.

Images: AP Photo/Mark Lennihan (Mark Zuckerberg)

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Apple’s wearables and services businesses keep on growing

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For that matter, wearables will also likely continue its steady growth pattern, seeing as how the Apple Watch Series 5 had only just arrived when the quarter ended. Between that and the new AirPods Pro, this is another category that should continue being a winner for Apple. The gains in wearables and services helped Apple to an overall two percent revenue growth year-over-year; the company pulled in $64 billion all told. Apple did say that this was the biggest fourth quarter they’ve ever had, so it’s not like things are terribly grim here.

The reason that growth wasn’t bigger is largely because iPhone sales slipped this quarter — but like with the Apple Watch, the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro were only sale for few weeks, so we’re not going to see their true impact until three months from now. Total iPhone revenue of $33.4 billion was down 9 percent from a year ago. This marks four consecutive quarters where iPhone earnings were down compared to the previous year, cementing the last generation of iPhones as ones that didn’t really resonate with consumers as well as past models.

On the other hand, the iPad had a fairly successful quarter and year, with revenue jumping 18 percent year-over-year. In an opposite trend to the iPhone, iPad revenue has increased year-over-year for four consecutive quarters now — it seems the focus Apple put on refreshing its tablet lineup has moved the needle, even though the $4.7 billion in iPad revenue for the quarter makes it the smallest of the product categories Apple reports on.

Finally, the venerable Mac dropped slightly; revenues of $7 billion were down four percent over a year ago. With the Mac Pro and rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro redesigns waiting in the wings, some of Apple’s power users may be waiting to upgrade; it seems the refreshed MacBook Pro and Air from the summer didn’t quite move the needle in any major way.

Apple’s quarterly earnings call with investors will kick off at 5PM ET; we’ll be listening and will update this post with anything else we learn.

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Twitter will put a stop to political ads on November 22nd

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Twitter has found a way to get around the ethical questions surrounding political ads: like TikTok, it’s getting rid of them entirely. Jack Dorsey has announced that the social network is stopping all political ads outside of non-partisan exceptions (such as voter registration), whether they come from candidates or interest groups. It’ll provide the finished policy on November 15th, and will start enforcing it on November 22nd.



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‘Apex Legends’ adds two-player teams on November 5th

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Apex Legends players won’t have to choose between full three-player squads or (when it’s an option) going solo, at least for a while. Respawn is adding a “limited time” duos mode to the battle royale game starting on November 5th. Other details aren’t forthcoming, but the appeal is fairly self-evident. You can get backup from your go-to gaming buddy without having to recruit someone or (gasp) count on a stranger.



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The latest Windows 10 Insider build gets new PowerToys

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Microsoft first added kaomoji shortcuts (Japanese emoticons with especially expressive faces) to Windows 10 version 1903. Based on user feedback, it’s testing a few more, like ヾ(⌐■_■)ノ♪ and /ᐠ。ꞈ。ᐟ.

You might remember PowerToys from the Windows 95 and Windows XP era. While they’ve been gathering dust for a few generations, Microsoft is bringing them back. This build includes two new PowerToys: PowerRename, which lets you rename files in bulk, and FancyZones, a window manager that helps you arrange and snap windows into custom layouts. If you’re not a Fast Ring Insider, you can also find PowerToys v0.12 on GitHub.

This build also includes a Linux update. Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) 2 will send unused Linux memory back to your Windows machine. Before, the memory would grow to meet your needs, but it would not shrink back when excess memory wasn’t being used. Now, when memory is no longer being used by your virtual machine, it will return to Windows.

As part of its announcement today, Microsoft shared that Samsung phones using Phone screen (which lets you allows you to interact with your Android apps and phone content directly on your PC) in the Your Phone app will no connect via Bluetooth. Instead, they’ll use the local network connection.

Finally, in an unrelated update to Microsoft 365, Microsoft is bringing new file and sharing experiences to Teams and Outlook. Those will allow users to collaborate in real time and use AI to secure data.

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Amazon Echo review (2019): Low-priced, but not low-end

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While the Echo lacks the smart hub features from the Pro model, I didn’t miss them much. Previously, the biggest benefit with the more expensive model was better audio quality, but now that they sound the same, the Pro is even harder to recommend. I didn’t find its smart home features very useful when I tested the 2017 model, and Amazon hasn’t improved that aspect at all. It’s still stuck with the Zigbee protocol, which keeps it from working with Z-Wave devices. You can also connect plenty of smart gadgets to any Echo device with Alexa skills — that’s how I control my Hue lightbulbs — which makes the Pro’s smart hub even more pointless.

Amazon is also stepping up its privacy efforts after reports emerged that employees were listening to recordings with the goal of improving the voice assistant. Now, you can opt out of that review process entirely. It wasn’t a fully noble decision on Amazon’s part, especially since Google and Apple have also been criticized for similar programs, but at least the company isn’t ignoring privacy concerns completely. Every smart speaker is a potential security risk — they’re all basically a bunch of microphones connected to the cloud — so it’s worth considering their downsides before you bring one home. (It’s also why smart speakers don’t make great gifts, you never know how much people really value their privacy.)

For the privacy conscious, standalone Bluetooth speakers or wireless systems like Sonos make more sense. (Just be sure you avoid the models with microphones and voice assistants baked in.) But if you’re reading this review, I wager you’ve already accepted that the convenience of voice commands trumps potential privacy concerns.

There are also plenty of other ways to get started with Alexa, like the Echo Dot (), the Echo Glow nightlight ($29.99), and the tiny Echo Flex (), which can be plugged into any electrical outlet. Those devices are all ways to spread Echo throughout your house, but any of them could easily serve as a gateway to Amazon’s voice assistant. The Echo speaker makes the most sense if you want something that can play music too. And if you’re looking for better sound quality, the Echo Studio () or Sonos One ($199) might be a better fit. There’s also the Echo Show 5 ($90), which is a good option if you’d rather see information than hear it.

Amazon Echo 2019 third gen

If you’re a heavy Android user, or fully enveloped in Google’s ecosystem, one of its smart home devices might make more sense. The Google Home is still around and is technically the Echo’s direct competitor, but it also hasn’t been updated in four years. Instead, Google is pushing the Nest Hub ($99, formerly Home Hub) smart display. If you haven’t invested in any of these smart devices yet, it’s worth taking a step back to think about which ecosystem you should be a part of. Alexa makes more sense if you don’t use many Google services, and if you want the largest amount of support for third-party devices and services.

As an entry into the world of Alexa, it’s hard to find fault with the third generation Echo. It’s relatively inexpensive, it sounds fantastic and it handles voice commands like a charm. It’s taken several years, but Amazon has finally managed to deliver a $100 Echo that gets all the basics right. But, ironically, Amazon’s success means it also has plenty of other competing options to choose from

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AT&T’s new unlimited phone plans drop WatchTV

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The other two plans are considerably more straightforward. Unlimited Starter ($35 per line for four lines) is the no-frills option with unlimited calling, texting and on-device data in the US, Canada and Mexico, but not much else. Unlimited Extra ($40 per line), meanwhile, throws in 15GB of hotspot data. Both will debut on November 3rd.

You might have noticed an absence, however: there’s no WatchTV. AT&T has confirmed to Engadget that none of the plans will include the live-oriented TV service you get with the outgoing unlimited plans. WatchTV will still be available as a stand-alone offering, but it’s clear that AT&T wants to steer customers toward HBO Max (and its highest-end plan) whenever possible. That’s not necessarily a problem if you prefer on-demand video. However, it’s not so hot if you’re used to getting some kind of video bonus with lower-priced plans.

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Your obsession with celebrities is helping scammers spread spam

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According to a recently released study by security firm McAfee, Gilmore Girls and Handmaid’s Tale star Alexis Bledel has been named Most Dangerous Celebrity 2019 as internet searches for her in these famous roles (as well as news of a Gilmore Girls reboot) have led more people to malware this year than those for any other celebrity.

“We rely on our WebAdvisor web reputation tool, which looks at some 16 billion websites,” Gary Davis, McAfee chief consumer security evangelist, told Engadget. This Windows OS browser plugin prevents users from mistyping URLs and blocks access to phishing and spam sites should the user accidentally click on a bad link, redirecting them towards safer URLs.

McAfee looks at a number of different categories in determining its most dangerous celebrity. “We take the celebrity name with a popular search term that could expose them to a malicious site, like torrents, pirate streaming sites, things like that,” Davis explained. “‘Free’ was a big one because, if you look at this year’s Top 10, a lot of these [celebrities appear] on paid services. Then we rank those results based on what we find in our web reputation tool outputs.”

More specifically, McAfee used the search terms: Torrent, Fix gamble, Free mp3, Nudes, Pirated download, Sledging, and Streaming. Combined with the celebrity’s name, the company then scoured the internet for matches using Google API Console to search for popular mobile, PC and platform games. McAfee’s WebAdviser tool then generated a score for each domain and URL based on its relative risk to visitors on a scale of -127 to 127 with higher scores indicating higher risk. Searches for Bledel scored a 10.6, higher than any other celebrity surveyed.

Indeed, Bledel beat out Late Late Show host James Corden, Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner, Pitch Perfect lead Anna Kendrick, and Lupita Nyong’o who starred in both Us and Little Monsters this year. All of those shows and films are currently available on one or more streaming services, like Hulu or HBO. But people are cheap. And given the prospect of scoring premium content for free, the potential dangers of viral infections on their home computer or mobile device can easily be rationalized away.

Of course, not every website is equally dangerous. If you go searching YouTube for Gilmore Girls clips, you’re generally in the clear. However if you start clicking links in the comment sections of those videos, the ones promising access to full episodes or nude images of the featured stars, then things can get dicey.

You “click on this link and it takes you someplace else, that’s where you start getting into the more nefarious sites,” Davis said. “But for YouTube alone your odds of encountering something bad are not very high.” The malware one encounters on these sites runs the gamut from run-of-the-mill keyloggers, rootkits, and backdoors to more dastardly bot programs which lie dormant in your system until they’re remotely activated for use with a distributed denial of service attack.

Thankfully these sorts of scams are rarely targeted at companies, large or small. “Just because, by nature of what you’re searching for, you’re probably not looking for nude pictures of celebrities from your workplace,” Davis continued. All modern society sincerely hopes you’re not doing that either.

While McAfee did not have a demographic breakdown of the sorts of people who go searching for this illicit material, Davis points out that children and teens are often taken by these schemes. That’s not necessarily because they were specifically looking for racy pics of famous people, but because they simply may not have access to the paid streaming service that the content is originally from and feel that torrenting it (at least, what they think is it) is their only recourse. Davis recommends that parents, guardians, and caretakers sit down with their young charges and explain the need for proper “online hygiene.”

But that’s just a start. Users should also make sure that both their desktop and mobile operating systems are patched with the latest updates. Activate your operating system’s built-in antivirus protection and firewall, ie Windows Defender. Or, if you feel you require a more robust online security solution, pony up for a subscription-based service like Norton 360. Keep a copy of Malwarebytes on hand as well. This on-demand malware removal tool could prove invaluable should you ever slip up and get your system infected.

You’d also do well to use a VPN service to obscure your internet traffic — never ever broadcast from an open Wi-Fi connection — and pick up a password manager like 1Password or LastPass so you’re not reusing the same login credentials on every site you visit because if that password is compromised, your entire online ecosystem becomes at risk. The easiest and free-est anti-malware method you can employ, however, is a little common sense.

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Snapchat's latest effect lets you draw in AR

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If Snapchat's canned effects aren't enough for you, there's now a simple solution: draw your own. Snapchat for iOS now includes a 3D Paint feature that uses the camera to draw augmented reality visuals on top of whatever you see, whether it's your f…

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Ford’s Sync 4 system will add wireless CarPlay and Android Auto support

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Another major selling point of Sync 4 is compatibility with a greater variety of screen sizes. According to Ford, the platform will work with touchscreens as small as 8 inches and as big as 15-inches. As you can see from the screenshots, Ford also plans to start making portrait-oriented touchscreens. The larger displays will ship with a new multitasking feature called Adaptive Dash Cards. Essentially, these cards are dashboard widgets you’ll be able to tap on to access certain features quickly. For instance, one of the Dash Cards will allow you to pause and skip songs without having to go into Ford’s music app. Meanwhile, the new 12-inch screens Ford plans to ship inside some of its upcoming vehicles will allow you to split the screen into smaller windows so that you can access multiple apps at the same time.

Ford Sync 4

If you purchase the company’s optional FordPass Connect add-on, your Sync 4 vehicle will also be able to connect to the cloud. This will allow you to take advantage of voice commands to ask for directions and send SMS and email messages.

Alongside Sync 4, Ford announced that starting in 2020 some of its vehicles will be able to receive over-the-air (OTA) software updates. The automaker didn’t say which model will launch with the feature first, but did note that it plans to add the functionality to both its upcoming gas and electric vehicles.

Ford estimates it will deliver its first set of software updates approximately six months after its first OTA-capable vehicles are on the road. When an update does arrive, it will install in the background. Ford claims it is the first automaker to build an OTA platform that includes this type of capability.

Among conventional automakers, Ford is the second company behind GM to embrace what’s traditionally been a feature that’s most closely associated with smartphones. In a lot of ways, today’s announcements see Ford playing catch up Tesla, and other conventional automakers like Volvo that have been quicker to adapt to what people want from their cars.

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