Microsoft launched the Ultimate Xbox Game Sale earlier this week and today the company announced that even more Xbox One and Xbox 360 games will get price cuts from now until Sunday, Feb. 22.

There’s been a plethora of Twitter apps for Windows Phone devices, and a lot of them went packing due to Twitter’s API restrictions, but here’s another one, and it looks quite good. Aeries has been designed to make using Twitter easier and features a neat and intuitive UI.

I’ve been using a beta version of Aeries for a few weeks, and I can safely say that along with Tweetium, it is definitely one of the top Twitter apps for Windows Phone in 2015.

Update: New information has come forward to suggest that this is really the unannounced Lumia 640

Mobile World Congress is just a few short weeks away, and Microsoft is expected to unveil some new additions to the Lumia line. No flagships are on the horizon to our knowledge, not at least until later this summer. However, an expected replacement for the aging Lumia 1320 is certainly plausible, bringing the affordable phablet series up to par with the ’30 series of Lumias.

The site Janela Tech has found a filing with Anatel, the regulatory agency in Brazil similar to the FCC that jives with a new Lumia model they may be for a Lumia 1330. The model number RM-1109 is tossed around the documents, but the only piece of real information about the device is its battery model and size: BV-T5C model and 2500mAh of power.

Lenovo, by injecting Superfish adware into its Windows laptop PCs and leaving them open to man-in-the-middle attacks, has so fundamentally betrayed its customers that every one of them should immediately consider switching to the Mac.

Earlier this week it was discovered that Lenovo, a prominent manufacturer of Windows PCs, had loaded Superfish adware into some of its laptops. In order to insert advertising on websites, the adware broke HTTPS certificate authority — and that leaves these machines open to untold traffic monitoring and manipulation.

The public discovery of this adware made for a very bad day at Lenovo headquarters. But it made for a very bad, no good, downright horrible day — and conceivably, a year or more — for Lenovo’s customers.

If you think I’m being sensational or overstating, you’re wrong. I’m sensationally understating it.

This is such an egregious assault on customer privacy and data, and in my personal opinion, it should be taken as an opportunity for everyone and anyone to re-consider the benefits of going with an Apple-made computer and switching to the Mac.

The Adware deceit

It’s no secret that in the cut-rate world of ultra-competive, cheap-as-a-feature PCs, manufacturers try to make up for the money they don’t make from hardware sales by selling out their customers. These hardware insertions are typically called “crapware” or “adware;” not only does it junk up and slow down Windows PCs the world over, it also hurts the company’s customers. They may think that they’re getting a deal, but they’re really the ones getting dealt.

If it sounds like I feel strongly about this, you’re damn right. I can’t count how many times I’ve had to help PC-using family and friends de-junk their brand new, sluggish Windows desktops — sometimes having to buy them new copies of the Windows OS to nuke and pave over whatever utterly unremovable adware and crapware the vendor installed.

What Lenovo did was far worse than simple adware or crapware insertion, however. The company didn’t just add programs that slowed down your PC or encouraged you to buy antivirus software: Lenovo’s Superfish adware hacked into HTTPS security within every web browser installed on an affected machine so that it could inject adware into even supposedly secure web sessions.

Worse, Superfish used an incredibly easy-to-crack password — a common dictionary word guessed in minutes — to “protect” the forged certificate they used for the hack. That password is now common knowledge, and anyone with one of the affected machines is now thoroughly unprotected on the Internet.

The actual danger to any specific customer is hard to assess: It could well be minimal. Your average user may not be a huge target, but a group with the same vulnerability can make a larger, more attractive en-masse target to hackers. Think about the kinds of websites protected by HTTPS security: Banks. Tax services. Healthcare information. Now, think about that information accidentally ending up in unfriendly hands.

I want to make it completely clear in plain English:
There is absolutely no possible way that Lenovo didn’t know exactly what Superfish did.

— InfoSec Taylor Swift (@SwiftOnSecurity) February 20, 2015

A betrayal of trust

Now, all software has bugs, and all bugs can potentially be exploited. That’s a risk something everyone — on every platform — has to live with, and something every well-intentioned platform owner and vendor has to be ever-vigilant about discovering and patching.

But this isn’t a bug, or a risk. What Lenovo did was deliberate. They didn’t fail to find or fix an exploit. They intentionally created one. The company isn’t the victim of hackers. They’re the perpetrators of a hack.

When first exposed, Lenovo responded by saying it used the adware to try and create a better shopping experience for their customers, which is both disgusting and insulting. The company also said that there was no security risk — which is negligent and malicious. When pressed, a follow up admitted to the security concerns.

Lenovo: “We have thoroughly investigated … do not find any evidence to substantiate security concerns.” Bullshit. http://t.co/goTKUYXAKv

— Ed Bott (@edbott) February 19, 2015

Why I’m putting my trust in Apple

This isn’t the first time a manufacturer has deliberately sabotaged its products to service its own ends. (Sony, famously, implemented Root Kits on their own customers to try and prevent them from enjoying their own music on their own computers.) And despite the inevitable fallout from Lenovo’s massive misstep, it probably won’t be the last time, either. Adware and crapware have become increasingly ubiquitous on OEM PCs, and declining industry profits may turn yet more vendors towards their worst angels.

Except Apple.

Apple makes its money up front. The company makes great products that provide far more value than they cost, and enough people feel that to way to have made the Mac the only current desktop and laptop success story in the market. The Mac’s share keeps growing even when the PC market as a whole has shrunk. And it’s beyond profitable enough that we, as customers, don’t have to worry about Apple implementing any adware or crapware schemes anytime soon.

Just like with Apple’s services, the company believes in selling the product, not selling out the customer.

Whether anyone chooses to trust in Lenovo’s products again makes no difference to me — I’m using a Mac. My interests and Apple’s currently align. I’m fine. Not having to wake up one morning to discover the company that made my computer has betrayed me is of enormous comfort and value to me — far beyond the cost of the device itself.

Apple isn’t perfect, and there are certainly bugs and features on OS X and iOS that need to be fixed. But they aren’t intentional, they aren’t malicious, and they aren’t out to deceive or trick customers into giving away their personal data. As of right now, today, the company is making privacy, security, and integrity not only a point of pride, but a core feature and value proposition of its product line.

And I bet more and more people take notice of that, and more and more people switch to the Mac.

What to do if you’re at risk

If you’re afflicted with Superfish, Lenovo has posted resources on how to remove the damage to your system:

• http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/product_security/superfish
• http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/product_security/superfish_uninstall

You wouldn’t be faulted, however, for getting a clean version of Windows and reinstalling from scratch. Better still, if you have to run Windows, get a PC from a Microsoft Store that’s adware free. Otherwise, seriously, consider switching to Mac.

• How to switch to the Mac

The latest mobile gaming app hit is Trivia Crack, but its method of using questions supplied by its many players has created a backlog of questions that are still awaiting approval. The app, developed by Etermax, gets an average of one million questions per day submitted by users, according to the developer’s founder Maximo Cavazzani.

Speaking up for yourself is hard enough. When others try to silence you through threats of violence and intimidation, what should be the appropriate response?

A game developer announced plans this week to withdraw from exhibiting at the upcoming PAX East game conference in Boston, Mass. Giant Spacekat cited death threats against the company’s head of development as the reason for the decision. What’s happening is nothing less than a mental health crisis in online communities.

Giant Spacekat is the developer of Revolution 60, a game that debuted for iOS in 2014 — one that iMore crowned iOS Action Game of the Year for its multitouch-optimized interface, delightful animation, and cinematic story and Macworld named one of the 20 best games of 2014 for its ambition and character development.

Checking my privilege

Brianna Wu is Giant Spacekat’s head of development. I first met Brianna during WWDC in 2014, when she spoke at AltConf, the free alternative to WWDC. Wu’s speech was entitled, “Nine ways to stop hurting and start helping women in tech.”

Wu pulled no punches, talking about some of the ways she’d been belittled and harassed by men online. Wu’s session, and the audience discussion she led, was eye-opening for me. It was as eye-opening as some of the discussions I’ve had with my wife, who feels the same about Wu does on many subjects concerning gender equality and identity.

I’ve always thought of myself as a pretty liberal, open-minded person: The child of a single mother who has fought her entire life against institutional patriarchy and societal injustice. The husband to a woman who routinely deals with objectifying, sexist behavior in daily life. A father who has emphasized the importance of equality and self-determination in his children.

Ultimately, however, I remain a white, cisgendered male, and that gives me societal advantages and privileges that others lack. I’m largely invisible to police, unless I have a complaint; I can expect, on average, to make more money doing the same work as if I were a woman; I’ll still be allowed to use public restrooms in Florida if a controversial bill is passed.

Emotional terrorism

Like the characters in Revolution 60, Brianna’s a pretty kick-ass, take no prisoners person. Even though Wu’s talk and her subject material happened months before the GamerGate online controversy erupted, Wu’s comments put her squarely in the crosshairs of a contingent of online users who first became aware of her because of GamerGate.

This isn’t about GamerGate, though. It’s about very real, very violent, very antisocial behavior.

Wu’s a firebrand about gender equality in tech. Before and after her talk at AltConf, she attracted literally dozens of death threats, including threats from people who make no attempt to disguise their real-life identity. Wu counts 46 death threats sent to her just in the last five months alone. Wu has reported the threats to police but says precious little has been done to investigate them.

That brings us to what happened this week. The inaction of police, combined with inaction on the part of PAX East’s promoters, led to Giant Spacekat’s decision to pull up stakes from the upcoming Boston show.

I checked with Wu: She told me that no specific threats have been made against Giant Spacekat or her at PAX East. But its proximity to the last known geographical location of people who have threatened Wu, literally with murder, has her concerned enough.

That fear is very real, and it’s not fear internally generated by Wu: It comes from direct threats that have been made against her.

“I’ve received a lot of Boston area threats, including a man wearing a skull mask in a video holding several weapons,” said Wu. “Nothing at this point that is PAX specific. But the volume that can be traced to the Boston area is really enough.”

Calling what’s happened to Wu “trolling” diminishes what she and countless others have experienced: Emotional terrorism, the use of the threat of violence and intimidation to silence others.

Power and control

I’ve played video games my entire life. I’m part of the first generation of computer gaming hobbyists, have played console systems since the days of the Magnavox Odyssey, and I was in a computer club in high school.

As a youth, I was routinely marginalized and ridiculed by others with more mainstream interests. I certainly felt oppressed, and games and computers helped me escape that sensation. Even within gaming, though I’m a minority: I’m a Mac gamer. Even some of you laid the “No true Scotsman” fallacy on me last week when I talked about it.

When I call myself a “former gamer,” what I’m talking about is the realization of self-identity beyond games. Wu’s message causes a violent reaction in those people with a really fragile self-identity. Anything that threatens that identity causes them to lash out. Suddenly the once-bullied become the bullies.

Mea culpa

Throughout my life I’ve been painfully aware of the issues women, minorities and marginalized groups face. Yet I myself have been guilty of the sort of behavior I now find so repugnant in others. I’ll never forget the first time my wife told me that she was afraid of my anger.

That led me to some serious soul-searching. It led to counseling. It led to medical treatment. Wu’s talk and the discussions we’ve had since then, constant communication with my wife and children help me keep my perspective in check.

If you engage in threats of violence, make no mistake: It’s aberrant behavior. This isn’t about ethics in game journalism anymore. It’s about a mental health crisis.

With the ever-growing number of apps and games in the Windows Store, it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with what’s out there.

For that reason, every Friday we showcase some apps that have piqued our interest for one reason or another. They are the 5 Intriguing Apps of the Week.

The Dell XPS 13 has been a huge hit since it knocked us off our feet at CES earlier this year. And we have been almost equally impressed with Waterfield Designs’ cases for the Surface Pro 3.

So when WaterField Designs announced their new line of custom laptop sleeves for the Dell XPS 13, Lenovo, and ASUS laptops, we were pretty excited. I was fortunate enough to get one to check out firsthand.

Peter Hortensius, the chief technology officer for Lenovo, has now admitted the company “messed up” when it decided to pre-install the Superfish software on some of its notebooks in the fall of 2014. Users discovered the application placed third-party ads on Google search results and other websites, and also used a root certificate that was quickly cracked by security researchers.

A weekly look at new, exciting, and cool apps to try

Howdy CrackBerry nation! It is the end of another fine week which not only brings us closer to spring (the Northeast is in a bit of a deep freeze with snow as of late), but the long-awaited rollout of OS 10.3.1 has begun bringing with it a wealth of new features in this version. Not only that but today marks the release of the BlackBerry Classic and the exclusive version of the Passport on AT&T.

Now on to the more important topic of the day. It is time to bring you this week’s picks for all your passionate BlackBerry addicts out there. You can find each app and game I’ve rustled up for you by clicking through the gallery below. If your favorite did not make the cut this week, remember you can help by offering your suggestions at the end.

Autodesk Pixlr – photo editor by Autodesk Inc.

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