AT&T offers to help its customers avoid spam calls for free
Let AT&T do the spam fighting for you.
Spammers are still a thing, which is why AT&T has launched Call Protect to help existing customers manage unwanted phone calls.
The feature enables automatic blocking of fraudulent phone numbers and warns you of suspected spam calls, though it’s worth noting the latter only works if you’re in an HD Voice cover area. To enable the Call Protect, simply add it through the myAT&T account app or start here.
There are already a plethora of apps in the Play Store that offer a feature like this — Should I Answer? is one of my favorite. But this is a good feature to keep in mind when you’re back at home visiting the folks. Older phone users may not be aware that they can protect themselves from preying companies, so you might considering signing Mom and Dad up for something that works in the backend rather than an app that pops up various notifications and the like.
If you aren’t on AT&T and you wish you had the same feature, download the aforementioned Should I Answer? and get it revved and ready to go. And if you’re simply not into the idea of installing an app that does this, remember that some Android devices have spam notification abilities built-in, too.
If you or someone you know is an AT&T subscriber and you want to know how to enable this feature, start here.
You can make Facebook posts colourful now – here’s how
Facebook is about to look totally different going forward.
The company has quietly launched a new feature for its Android app users (and, apparently, it’s coming to iOS users, too): colourful Facebook posts. With this new feature, you can add background colours to text-only posts. From what we can tell, the feature doesn’t work for links, images, or video posts, though The Next Web said the colours are visible to all on Android, iOS, and the web.
Facebook has long limited how its users can customise the look and design of their profiles. It has added features over the years so that users could showcase their notes, app integrations, etc. It also let users fill out their profile timelines with momentous occasions throughout their lives, but it’s taken away many of these small changes as well, and it’s never actually let people get creative with colourful posts on their pages.
So, not only are Android users getting a new Facebook feature first for a change, they’re also getting to do something Facebook has never before allowed. It’ll be interesting to see if the feature sticks. We played with it for a bit and think it’s cool. Here’s everything you need to know about it.
- What is Facebook Marketplace and how can you use it to buy and sell?
How can you change the colour of Facebook posts?
To use Facebook’s new colour-change feature for posts, simply tap on the “What’s on your mind?” status bar, then start typing, and choose a colour or gradient from the choices that appear below your text. When done, post it.
Who can change the colour of Facebook posts?
Android users can post colourful statuses. It appears iOS and web users can’t yet. However, the feature is due to roll out to them in the “coming months”, meaning all users should be able to start jazzing up their posts – like they did with MySpace back in the day.
Who can see colourful Facebook posts?
Everyone can see colourful Facebook posts as of 20 December 2016. It doesn’t matter which device or platform they are using.
How many colour choices are available?
At launch, there are eight colour options you can choose from: standard white, yellow, yellow and orange gradient, red-orange, green and blue gradient, blue, pink and purple gradient, and grey.
Two high-level Twitter execs leave the company
Something must be brewing over at Twitter, because two of its high-level executives have decided to leave the company. Chief technology officer Adam Messinger and VP of product Josh McFarland today tweeted separately that they would be departing from the social network. Messinger explained that he would be taking some time off, while McFarland is joining venture capital firm Greylock Partners.
These two departures follow the footsteps of chief operating officer Adam Bain, who stepped down last month after hundreds of layoffs. The company has reportedly been locked in an internal battle over whether to sell to buyers, with potential suitors rumored to include Google, SalesForce, Microsoft, Verizon and Disney.
Twitter has had a troubled year. Recently, it shut down its popular looping video service Vine, and ended a direct messaging app before even publicly releasing it. The company also turned its focus this year to live video streaming and dealing with its troll problem. It recently acquired app-making company Yes Inc, instating the latter’s founder Keith Coleman as a vice president of product. It’s unclear if Coleman’s role will now expand in the wake of McFarland’s departure, as well as who will replace Messinger, but one thing seems certain: Twitter’s future is shaky. We’ll have to see if 2017 brings good news for the social network.
Via: The New York Times
Source: Josh McFarland (Twitter), Adam Messinger (Twitter)
Obama uses 1953 law to block Arctic drilling under Trump
President Obama has blocked any attempts at drilling for oil off the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf. This would “indefinitely” stop oil and natural gas extraction in the areas, according to a report by CNBC. And unlike executive orders that’ve been signed into place over the past eight years, this apparently can’t be easily undone by President-elect Trump when he takes office.
This will protect some 31 underwater canyons in the Atlantic, and the Beaufort and Chukchi seas surrounding Alaska in the Arctic Ocean. Canada approved similar provisions to block oil and gas exploration.
“These actions, and Canada’s parallel actions, protect a sensitive and unique ecosystem that is unlike any other region on earth,” Obama said. “They reflect the scientific assessment that, even with the high safety standards that both our countries have put in place, the risks of an oil spill in this region are significant and our ability to clean up from a spill in the region’s harsh conditions is limited.”
Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton invoked the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act during their terms as well. The difference, according to CNBC, is that those were for short time periods. Obama’s is the “broadest use of the statute ever because it would be far-reaching in terms of the lands it would protect and come without an expiration date.”
The move could be challenged in court, and Congress, controlled by Republicans, could try altering the law. But, that would mean the case could be stuck in court for much of Trump’s term. However, energy companies have already left the region because of the high risk associated with drilling in the area, for relatively low reward.
Coupled with low oil prices, drilling becomes even more risky considering that energy companies can only extract for two months out of the year.
Rather than exploiting the area for short-term gain, Obama seems to be taking the longview here, protecting a fragile region from the effects of fossil fuel production and disasters that could arise from industry. It’s a direct shot at Trump’s plans to tear down regulations protecting the environment for the sake of business and the profits of his cronies — not to mention his multiple climate-change skeptic cabinet picks.
Source: CNBC
Employee sues Google for ‘illegal’ confidentiality policies
The Information has reported that a Google employee brought a lawsuit against his employer, accusing the company for internal confidentiality policies that supposedly breach California labor laws. One of the more egregious complaints is that Google apparently runs an internal “spying program” that encourages employees to snitch on one another if they think someone leaked information to the press. Further, Google apparently warns employees to not write about potentially illegal activities within the company, even to Google’s own attorneys. There’s even a note that prohibits employees from writing “a novel about someone working at a tech company in Silicon Valley” without approval.
The employee, known only as “John Doe” in the suit, said that one of the reasons for this strict policy is that the company is very fearful of leaks to the press, so much so that anyone who’s guilty of it could be fired. In fact, the employee in question was apparently falsely accused of doing just that. “Confidential information” is classified as “everything at Google,” and can’t be shared with “press, members of the investment community, partners, or anyone else outside of Google.” Essentially, the lawsuit alleges that employees are barred from discussing anything about Google anywhere.
According to the lawsuit, current labor laws state that employees should be able to discuss workplace conditions and potential violations inside the company without the fear of retribution. Additionally, that it should relax the policies so that employees are allowed to speak about the company to outsiders under certain circumstances.
The lawsuit was filed in the California Superior Court in San Francisco under California’s Private Attorneys General Act. If successful, the state would collect 75 percent of the penalty, while the rest would be paid out over to the company’s 65,000 employees. Since there are 12 alleged violations in the suit, the maximum fine could amount to $3.8 billion, with each employee getting about $14,600.
“Google’s motto is ‘don’t be evil.’ Google’s illegal confidentiality agreements and policies fail this test,” the lawsuit said.
Source: The Information
Apple’s tiny, totally wireless AirPods get meticulously torn down
After having been delayed for months — for reasons never publicly confirmed, no less — Apple’s AirPods are finally here. And really, what better to way to celebrate one of the most curious delays in Apple history than by tearing those things apart? The folks at iFixit have done just that (as always), and the end result is a fascinating look at $160 worth of meticulously crafted silicon and audio parts. Spoiler alert: there’s more glue in them than you’d think.
As you might imagine, the tiny scale of Apple’s work and all the glue sealing everything in place make the AirPods a nightmare where repairs are concerned. In fact, all the components are so tightly packed in there that the idea of replacing parts or fixing them in general is downright laughable. Still, this kind of surgery does a great job illustrating the insane, compact origami that goes into modern consumer gadgets. And if nothing else, iFixit’s strangely gorgeous imagery more thoroughly explains the importance of the AirPods’ most questionable design choice: those stems that dangle out of your ear.
People stare, but they probably don’t realize that those stems are mostly all battery — their charge capacity works out to 1 percent of the iPhone 7’s — with long antennas glued to them to maintain a strong connection between the Pods themselves and the phone. (For what it’s worth, we’ve had a pair of AirPods for months and the multiple wireless connections were more-or-less rock-solid the entire time.)
Knowing that doesn’t make the stems look any better, though, as evidenced by all the shade thrown at me by coworkers whenever I wear these things. Also nestled deep within there is what makes the AirPods really tick: the minuscule W1 chip. It’s responsible for the Pods’ dead-simple pairing and power-sipping tendencies, which so far have been the big reasons our review units have seen such consistent use. The level of tension subsides when attention is turned to the AirPods’ charging case, but make no mistake: if you’re a fan of lilliputian tech, this is one teardown you have to see.
What’s on TV: ‘The Walking Dead: A New Frontier,’ ‘Sense8’
The third season of Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead series is here, with the first two epsidoes available on PC, Xbox One and PS4. While most TV shows drop off for a holiday break, we’ll enjoy bowl games including the mighty Ohio Bobcats vs. Troy in the Dollar General Bowl. If that’s not your speed, then just open up Netflix. It’s new miniseries The OA is perfect binge material for a long weekend, plus this weekend it’s dropping a Sense8 holiday special, and a new time travel series, Travelers. On TV, BBC America airs a Doctor Who Christmas special episode Sunday night. Look after the break to check out each day’s highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).
Blu-ray & Games & Streaming
- The Magnificent Seven (4K)
- Sully (4K)
- 31
- Storks (4K) (3D)
- F1 2016 Official Review
- ESPN 30 for 30 Season 2
- Oasis: Supersonic
- The Walking Dead: A New Frontier: Episode 1 & 2 (PS4, PC, Xbox One)
- Lethal VR (PS4)
- Wild Guns Reloaded (PS4)
Tuesday
- Gabriel Iglesias: I’m Sorry for What I Said When I Was Hungry, Netflix, 3AM
- Ten Percent (S1), Netflix, 3AM
- The Break (S1), Netflix, 3AM
- WWE Smackdown, USA, 8PM
- Brooklyn Nine-nine, Fox, 8PM
- WWE Smackdown, USA, 8PM
- Terry Crews Saves Christmas, CW, 8PM
- Michael Buble Sings and Swings, NBC, 8PM
- New Girl, Fox, 8:30PM
- Tony Bennett Celebrates 90: The Best is Yet to Come, NBC, 9PM
- Good Behavior, TNT, 9PM
- Teen Wolf, MTV, 9PM
- Inside the NFL, Showtime 9PM
- Scream Queens (season finale), Fox, 9PM
- Shooter, USA, 10PM
- Aftermath (season finale), Syfy, 10PM
- Cyberwar (season finale), Viceland, 10:30PM
- Too Legit, MTV, 11PM
- Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11PM
Wednesday
- The Timeline (season finale), NFL Network, 8PM
- Lip Sync Battle Holiday Special, Spike TV, 8PM
- Terry Crews Saves Christmas, CW, 8PM
- Star, Fox, 9PM
- Poinsettia Bowl: BYU vs. Wyoming, ESPN, 9PM
- NFL Turning Point, NBC Sports Network, 9PM
- Frequency, CW, 9PM
- Vikings, History, 9PM
- Blood & Fury: America’s Civil War, American History Channel, 10PM
- Game Changers with Robin Roberts, ABC, 10PM
- Incorporated, Syfy, 10PM
- Epic Fails of 2016, MTV, 11PM
- Happy Holiday’s Love, MTV, MTV, 11:30PM
- Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11PM
Thursday
- The Grand Tour, Amazon Prime, 7PM
- Potato Bowl: Idaho vs. Colorado State, ESPN, 7PM
- Giants/Eagles football, NBC, 8:25PM
- Nightwatch, A&E, 9PM
- The Great American Baking Show, ABC, 9PM
- Alone, History, 9PM
- Falling Water (season finale), USA, 10PM
- Pure Genius, CBS, 10PM
- Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11PM
- This is Not Happening (season finale), Comedy Central, 12AM
Friday
- Sense8 Christmas Special, Netflix, 3AM
- Travelers (S1), Netflix, 3AM
- Trollhunters (S1), Netflix, 3AM
- Dollar General Bowl: Ohio vs. Troy, ESPN, 7PM
- A Home for the Holidays, CBS, 8PM
- Terry Crews Saves Christmas (season finale), CW, 8PM
Saturday
- Bengals/Texans football, NFL Network, 8:25PM
- Hawaii Bowl: Hawaii vs. Middle Tennessee State, ESPN, 8PM
Sunday
- Broncos/Chiefs Sunday Night Football, NBC, 8:20PM
- 60 Minutes, CBS, 7PM
- The Librarians, TNT, 8PM
- Doctor Who: The Return of Doctor Mysterio, BBC America, 9PM
‘Emoji Movie’ teaser sends an eggplant text to 2017
Listen: Nobody had high hopes for a movie based on language-abbreviating conversational images. In fact, it’s probably against their broad-strokes ambiguity to give them life and personality in a film. But The Emoji Movie is coming in August 2017 and we all have to deal with that by watching the film’s first trailer and queuing up our collective sighs.
Discover the secret 🌎 inside your📱. Only on your 📲. Watch the new #EmojiMovie 😄🎬 teaser trailer now! (best viewed on your phone) pic.twitter.com/8C062Br969
— The Emoji Movie (@EmojiMovie) December 20, 2016
Like any youthspeak, emojis have been the subject of countless thinkpieces dissecting the era’s new symbolic patois, from how-did-we-get-here to the dilemma of consciously diversifying emoji skin tone to our inevitable societal conversion into thinking exclusively in emoji. I’ve frontloaded these existential excursions out of the assumption that The Emoji Movie won’t go near any of them. But maybe, as you rewatch the trailer for the third time scraping meaning from less-than-a-minute of talking blobs, you’ll scare up some hope, any hope, that 2017 will rebound so hard that this film pulls a Lego Movie and shocks us all.
Source: The Emoji Movie (Twitter)
Apple Releases Firmware Update 7.7.8 and 7.6.8 for AirPort Base Stations With Back to My Mac Bug Fix
Apple today released new firmware updates for its Wi-Fi base stations, including the AirPort Express, AirPort Extreme, and AirPort Time Capsule. The 7.7.8 update is available for 802.11ac base stations, while the 7.6.8 update is available for 802.11n base stations.
According to Apple’s release notes, the update fixes an issue that caused AirPort base stations from appearing in the AirPort Utility when Back to My Mac is enabled. The firmware updates can be installed using the AirPort Utility app for iOS or OS X.
Apple has reportedly stopped development on its AirPort wireless routers, with no new AirPort products planned for release, but the company will continue to offer bug fixes and updates in the near future.
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First LG UltraFine 5K Display Orders Shipping Out Soon
The first U.S. customers who placed orders for an UltraFine 5K Display from LG will begin receiving their shipments over the next few days, with Apple starting to send out pre-shipment notifications this afternoon.
MacRumors reader Jesse, who placed an order for an UltraFine 5K Display order when orders were briefly accepted in late November, has got a notice that his order will ship out soon with an expected delivery date of December 28 to December 29.
Apple first took LG 5K Display orders on November 28 with six to eight week shipping estimates, but supplies sold out quickly and no more were available for order. Those orders placed in November will be arriving to customers ahead of schedule and before the end of the year.
The display became available for sale again just this morning, with initial shipment estimates of three to five business days. Shipping estimates quickly slipped to two to four weeks, but the first customers who ordered new displays this morning may also get them in late December.
The LG 5K UltraFine Display was created in partnership with Apple for the new MacBook Pro. The display connects to the MacBook Pro over Thunderbolt 3 and include features like built-in USB-C ports for charging, stereo speakers, P3 wide color gamut support, a camera, and a microphone.
Apple has extended its discounted pricing for the LG 5K Display until March, making it available for $974 instead of $1,299.
Related Roundup: Displays
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