Trump retweets violent anti-Muslim propaganda

This morning, President Trump retweeted violent anti-Muslim propaganda videos that were originally tweeted by verified user Jayda Fransen (@JaydaBF on Twitter). We are not linking to the tweets or the videos because they contain graphic content; one of the videos appears to be of a person’s murder.

It’s no secret that Twitter has an abuse problem, and despite the service’s continued promises to improve how they deal with these issues, users haven’t seen much improvement. The service also got into hot water recently because it verified the account of a white supremacist. The Twitter team later acknowledged that verification could be seen as validation of a user’s beliefs, and paused the process to put together rules to address the situation. They now will supposedly remove the verification of anyone who “promot[es] hate and/or violence against, or directly attacking or threatening other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or disease.”

Twitter’s terms are clear when it comes to violent and graphic images. It prohibits graphic violence, which includes “any form of gory media related to death, serious injury, violence, or surgical procedures.” Additionally, Twitter prohibits “hateful conduct”: “You may not promote violence against, threaten, or harass other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease.”

It’s pretty clear that Fransen is engaging in both of these behaviors. Why hasn’t Fransen’s account been suspended? How is it still verified? This user is clearly tweeting racist, bigoted content that violates Twitter’s terms of service. Fransen, who is the deputy leader of Britain’s far-right party Britain First, was arrested back in August for using threatening and abusive language during an anti-terrorism demonstration in Belfast. Her “political party” is well-known for racist anti-Muslim stunts, such as invading mosques.

And now the president of the United States is retweeting this hateful anti-Muslim propaganda. Trump has violated Twitter’s terms before, spewing bigoted comments and violent threats, and the service has done nothing. In fact, the support team has tripped over themselves to explain why his tweets are “newsworthy” and therefore will not be removed.

We’ve reached out to Twitter for clarification on both Fransen’s Twitter account status, as well as if they will take any action on President Trump’s retweets. Even if Twitter suspends Fransen’s account, it doesn’t solve the Trump Twitter problem. If the president of the United States is tweeting this racist propaganda, and Twitter won’t do anything about it, it’s hard to imagine that it will ever fully solve its abuse problem.

Netflix adds social sharing to its Fast.com speed test

Back in 2011, Netflix started issuing ISP report cards to head off possible throttling, and now, as the future of net neutrality is in doubt it’s upgrading Fast.com. The simple speed test debuted last year, and according to Netflix has already been used over 250 million times, with an even split between people testing on desktop or mobile devices (there’s an app). Now, anyone who uses it can easily share their results on social media, where they can be quickly checked by and compared with others.

While Netflix’s large customer base should head off most attempts by ISPs to mess with it, if there’s another situation where connections drop off then this tool could be useful for spotting and sharing the news.

Source: Netflix Blog

Snapchat’s redesign separates friends’ posts from media content

Snapchat’s major redesign is here and it’s all about separating your relationships from content. Snap CEO Evan Spiegel wrote on Axios today that Snapchat has always been primarily geared towards conversing with friends and with the new layout, Snapchat will make that even easier. “With the upcoming redesign of Snapchat, we are separating the social from the media, and taking an important step forward towards strengthening our relationships with our friends and our relationships with the media,” he wrote.

Prior to this redesign, opening the app would bring you to the camera. You would swipe left to get to your messages, swipe right to get to your Stories and swipe right again to get to the Discover page. Now, all of that is being shuffled. Opening the app still brings you to the camera, but swiping left now takes you to the new dynamic Friends page. There, you’ll find friends’ Chats and Stories. That page will learn how you use it and who you message and will then begin to arrange your friends in the order in which you talk to them most. Swiping right will bring you to the new Discover page, which will have all of your subscriptions up top and Stories it thinks you might be interested in below. Those suggestions will also be curated based on how you use the app and what content you seek out.

“Separating social from media has allowed us to build the best way to communicate with friends and the best way to watch great content – while addressing many of the problems that plague the Internet today,” Snapchat said in a statement. You can check out the video below for a demonstration on how the new Snapchat works.

Source: Snapchat

Microsoft’s Redmond HQ is getting a multi-billion dollar makeover

Microsoft is planning a multi-billion dollar expansion of its Redmond campus, as it looks to add room for an extra 8,000 workers. Over the next five-to-seven years, the company will construct 18 new buildings, add 6.7 million square feet of renovated workspace, and pump $150 million into transportation improvements and recreational facilities alone. The massive project, which spans the equivalent of 180 football fields, will kick into gear in fall of 2018.

It seems Microsoft has been suffering from office-envy of late, watching from the sidelines as fellow tech titans hogged the limelight with their new HQs. As if Apple’s jaw-dropping ‘spaceship’ campus wasn’t enough, Amazon flipped the script this year by asking cities across the US to bid to host its second headquarters. Meanwhile, Google is gradually taking the wraps off its $1 billion London campus, complete with a pool and multi-purpose games area.

Unlike its counterparts, though, Microsoft is staying put. The company has become synonymous with Redmond, Washington, since moving there in 1986. And in the future, parts of the campus will be open to the public, including its two-acre open-air plaza that packs sports facilities, a retail space, and hiking trails. The site will hold up to 12,000 people, claims Microsoft. To accommodate commuters, car parking is moving underground and a pedestrian-and-cyclist-only bridge is being built across the WA-520 highway, in preparation for the local light rail arriving in 2023.

It’s also hoping to generate goodwill by touting the external job growth (particularly in construction) the project will create. And, by pointing to the millions in investments and donations it’s already given back to the community. Maybe it recalls that Facebook went as far as building affordable housing in East Palo Alto, San Francisco, to appease local residents fed up with Silicon Valley’s new builds hiking up rent prices. In the words of Microsoft president Brad Smith, the project is “good for [our neighbors in]…Puget Sound.”

Source: Microsoft

Waze Becomes First Navigation App to Support Carpool Lanes

Waze today announced it is rolling out three new features in its popular crowdsourced navigation app for iOS and Android, the most notable of which is support for high occupancy vehicle lanes, also known as carpool lanes.

Image via TechCrunch
If you are driving with at least one passenger, or have a hybrid or electric vehicle with a special permit, Waze will now take carpool lanes on highways into consideration when determining your optional route.

If you are carpooling, the feature can enabled under Navigation > Add Toll/HOV pass within Waze’s in-app settings. If you have a fuel-efficient vehicle, it can be selected as an option under Navigation > Vehicle Type.

Carpool lane support is initially available to Waze users in 22 states across the United States, and in the Canadian cities of Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal. More cities in the United States and Canada will be added over time.

The states supported include Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. Washington D.C. is also supported.

Next, a new “OK Waze” voice command allows for true hands-free use, allowing drivers to initiate navigation, get a preview of the route ahead, send traffic-related reports, add stops along the way, and more while staying focused on the road ahead. The feature can be enabled under Sound & Voice > Talk to Waze > OK Waze.

Talk to Waze is initially available to English-speaking Waze users in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, and will continually roll out in more languages soon.

Last, Waze now supports motorcycles as a vehicle type. In this mode, motorcycle riders will be directed on routes optimized for motorcyclists. Waze says the more motorcyclists ride in this mode, the smarter the routing will become.

Waze, developed by Google, is a free download on the App Store [Direct Link] for iPhone. Today’s update doesn’t appear to be available yet, although “OK Waze” functionality is working, so some changes may be implemented on the backend.

Tag: Waze
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Review: Logitech’s CRAFT Wireless Keyboard is Pricey, but the Input Dial Is a Useful Addition

Last month, Logitech released the CRAFT, a wireless “Advanced Keyboard” complete with a creative input dial for controlling customizable, app-specific functions. I’ve been testing one out over the last few weeks to see if the company’s latest Mac/PC accessory can live up to its $200 price tag.

Design

At 960 grams (2.1 pounds), the full-size CRAFT Advanced Keyboard felt heavy against my daily workhorse, Logitech’s compact K810. The extra space it took up on my desk was immediately noticeable, but on the upside it instills the CRAFT with a premium feel and there’s absolutely no chance of it sliding about as you type or turn the dial.

The keys aren’t any wider apart than you would expect of a typical full-size keyboard, but that does take a little getting used to if you’re coming to it from the K810 or a 13-inch 2015 MacBook Pro keyboard. Just something to think about.

The CRAFT, top, compared to Logitech’s K810 keyboard ($99)
The CRAFT features smart illumination, with backlighting that detects hands and adjusts automatically based on room lighting conditions. The backlighting bleeds around the edges of the keys, which is something to note if that is likely to bother you. There are also proprietary buttons above the insert/home/page up keys that let you dynamically switch between any three connected devices.

Standard Mac system controls are clearly labeled along the top row of function keys, but are numbered slightly differently due to an additional “Show Desktop” function (F5). Helpfully, the modifier keys are labeled with both Mac and Windows commands.

Along the right-hand side of the keyboard’s rear edge is a power switch and a USB-C port for connecting the supplied USB-C to USB-A cable, which charges the integrated 1,500mAh battery. The LED on the top-right of the raised aluminum strip glows blue when it has a decent charge, and red when the battery is low.

Meanwhile, the dial or “Crown” sits on the opposite end of the aluminum strip and is touch sensitive, so you can tap or turn it to adjust particular settings depending on the application.

Included in the box is a small USB Unifying receiver that uses 2.4GHz wireless technology to provide a connection up to 33 feet (10 meters) away. It’s capable of connecting up to six keyboards and mice to one computer, so from that perspective it’s a useful inclusion if you have any existing wireless Logitech accessories. Otherwise it just takes up another USB port. Fortunately, you can pair over Bluetooth instead, which is what I set out to do straight out of the box.

Performance

Unfortunately, my initial attempts at pairing the CRAFT failed. The keyboard kept disappearing from the Devices list in Bluetooth preferences before I was able to input the pairing code. After replicating the behavior on several other devices, I concluded that the keyboard was faulty and resorted to using the Unifying USB receiver until Logitech could get a replacement unit sent out to me.

The second keyboard I received paired over Bluetooth without a hitch. The backlight on the first pairing key pulsated as I connected the CRAFT to my MacBook Pro. Later I added an iPad mini 4 and an iPhone X to the mix, and was able to switch seamlessly between the three of them by tapping pairing keys 1, 2, or 3.

One of the first things I noticed after just a few minutes of typing on the CRAFT was the location and size of the Enter key: I can’t tell you how many times my little finger has missed and accidentally hit the key directly above it (“”) .

As a UK user familiar with ISO-style keyboard layouts, my muscle memory continually expects Enter to extend vertically across two rows in an inverted L-shape, as it does on the UK versions of the K810 and the MacBook Pro, as well as on Apple’s Magic Keyboards. The CRAFT is available only in an ANSI layout that will be familiar to US users, so it’s something to consider if you’re used to an ISO keyboard. Even now I will sometimes hit the wrong key.

The CRAFT’s key travel is very reminiscent of pre-butterfly era MacBook Pro keys, which many users will undoubtedly welcome. The keycaps themselves have a shallow concave depression, which also feels nice to the touch. The keys are certainly closer together than on my MacBook Pro which takes some adjustment, but in my experience, finger fatigue isn’t an issue with the CRAFT, and the angle of the keyboard feels just right for use on a computer desk. The hand proximity sensors also do a great job of illuminating the layout before you start typing, so you’re never squinting in the dark for the correct key.

The Crown’s functionality can be adjusted using the Logitech Options software utility, which has custom profiles for Adobe Photoshop CC, Adobe Illustrator CC, Adobe Premiere Pro CC, and Adobe InDesign CC. Profiles for Microsoft PowerPoint, Excel and Word currently only work on PC, according to Logitech.

Tapping the dial brings up an onscreen menu overlay offering functions specific to that app, like brush size, brightness, chart type, font size, and so on. Turning the Crown moves you through the menu, clicking it selects the appropriate tool, and turning it again adjusts the value or setting. After playing with it for a few hours, using it this way soon became second nature.

Additionally, the touch-sensitive Crown can be set up to access a variety of global Mac controls, so you can use it do things like activate screen zoom, navigate between apps, adjust brightness, or even assign to it a particular shortcut key combination.

It’s also possible to assign Crown functions to each of your favorite apps, but after a bit of fiddling I found that I preferred to keep the controls global, so that turning the dial switched desktops, pressing it took the current app fullscreen, and pressing then turning changed the system volume. Using the Crown this way turned out to be a convenient method of performing these functions without having to look down at the keyboard, and made up for the fact that my MacBook Pro’s trackpad is perennially out of reach on a raised stand.

Apart from assigning Crown controls, the Logitech utility also very usefully lets you remap function keys. For example, I never use the macOS Launchpad, which can be invoked using F4, so I re-assigned the key to display the Notifications sidebar instead.

Bottom Line

I found Logitech’s wireless CRAFT advanced keyboard to be a solid, well-built peripheral that is comfortable in daily use – even despite my Enter key issues. I would have liked a longer battery life – for me it averaged about 8 days – but this isn’t sold as a portable keyboard and anyway, you get plenty of warning before it completely runs out of juice.

As for the Crown, I found it intuitive and easy to get to grips with, requiring little thought when used to adjust system controls and only a gentle learning curve when working within Adobe apps.

That said, if you’re a professional who spends a lot of time in a more niche creative application, you may run into trouble. The CRAFT’s software support is still wanting on Mac, but that’s something Logitech hopes to address soon.

My only real gripe is the price. $200 – or £180 in the UK – is a lot to pay for a wireless keyboard, dial or no dial. In my opinion, $150 would have been a more reasonable ask, given the current state of the CRAFT’s software compatibility.

Pros

• Customizable dial and function keys
• Comfortable to use
• Pairs with up to 3 devices

Cons

• Battery life could be better
• Lack of app support
• Expensive

How to Buy

The Logitech CRAFT Wireless Advanced Keyboard costs $199.99 and can be ordered directly from the company’s website.

Note: Logitech supplied the CRAFT Keyboard to MacRumors for the purposes of this review. No other compensation was received.

Tag: Logitech
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Snapchat Unveils Redesigned App Aimed at Separating Your Best Friends From Brand Content

Following an op-ed shared on Axios earlier this morning by CEO Evan Spiegel, Snapchat has now unveiled its radical redesign with the goal of creating a personalized user experience that’s easier to navigate, particularly for new users (via TechCrunch). The app’s update will start to roll out to iOS and Android users on Friday, and will be introduced to everyone “within a few weeks.”

The update aggregates both Stories and direct messages into one place, to the left of the main camera section of the app, and an algorithm sorts and prioritizes this section by “who you talk to and view most.” This personalized content is now separate from premium publishers, celebrity Snapchatters, and aggregated Story events in “Discover” to the right of the camera, where Stories were located previously.

Images via TechCrunch
According to Spiegel, this is an attempt to “separate the social from the media” and ensure that it’s simpler to keep up with your real friends and not be inundated with things you might not care about created by brands and influencers.

With the upcoming redesign of Snapchat, we are separating the social from the media, and taking an important step forward towards strengthening our relationships with our friends and our relationships with the media. This will provide a better way for publishers to distribute and monetize their Stories, and a more personal way for friends to communicate and find the content they want to watch.

The Discover area is curated by Snapchat employees but is also affected by an algorithm that will sort content based on your past viewing behavior, which Spiegel stated is inspired by Netflix’s recommendation algorithms. Spiegel said that research has shown “your past behavior is a far better predictor of what you’re interested in than anything your friends are doing,” referencing rival companies like Facebook and Twitter.

All of this borders the camera section of the app, which you’ll still see first when you open Snapchat. Navigation is made simpler thanks to icons that push you to specific sections of the app from this launch menu, including more obvious buttons for My Story, adding friends, Snap Map, and more.

The biggest change comes on the Friends page and its combination of Stories and direct messages. When you come to this area of Snapchat, you’ll first see new Snaps and messages at the top, then Stories from close friends (who you watch and chat with the most), and then last will be other Stories from friends you don’t interact with as much. Auto-advancing is back but with a new quality of life fix that provides a brief title screen that pops up with the name of the next friend in the queue, which you can easily swipe to skip.

Snapchat has been facing intense competition from Instagram and its own Stories feature, which it launched in August 2016. The Facebook-owned company’s version of Stories quickly caught on with users and eventually managed to capture more daily active users than Snapchat in less than a year.

Tag: Snapchat
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Waze adds hands-free navigation to keep your eyes on the road

Waze has a number of measures to reduce distractions and keep your eyes on the road ahead, but there has been one inescapable distraction: you usually have to touch the screen to get things done. That’s a problem, especially in areas where distracted driving laws make it illegal to poke at your phone while on the move. It shouldn’t be a problem for much longer. Waze’s latest update includes a hands-free navigation option that lets you handle most tasks using only your voice. Say “OK, Waze” and you can navigate to a destination or report a traffic jam without losing focus.

Also, Waze is now one of the few navigation apps that acknowledges the two-wheeled motoring crowd. There’s a new motorcycle mode that can route you through roads too narrow for cars, gives bike-appropriate ETAs and refines paths based on input from other motorcyclists. While the experience is otherwise largely the same, this could make all the difference if it shaves a minute or two off your ride and makes sure you arrive on time.

This update will also be important if you regularly take advantage of special lanes to zip through traffic. Waze is now billed as the first navigation app to explicitly support high-occupancy vehicle lanes, potentially saving you gobs of time if you’re carpooling or otherwise eligible. HOV support is available in 22 states plus three major Canadian cities (Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver), with more on the way.

Source: Waze

VW’s ‘affordable’ crossover EV comes to the US in 2020

Volkswagen has announced that it’s I.D. Crozz EV, currently touring auto shows around the world as a concept, will go on sale for real in America by 2020. It’ll be the first of VW’s I.D. vehicles to hit US shores, so its success will be crucial to the German company’s wide-ranging plans to electrify its lineup. The I.D. Crozz will have dual electric motors that put out 302 horsepower in total and an 83-kWh battery that can be charged to 80 percent of its 300-mile capacity in a half hour.

Volkswagen says that the Crozz’s I.D. Pilot self-driving system will go into production by 2025, but presumably it will have some kind of advanced driver assist ahead of that. The company clearly has the tech, as Volkswagen Group sibling Audi recently announced the first Level 3 self driving, semi-autonomous system for its luxury 2019 A8 hybrid.

The production car is expected to look much like the concept, minus the gaudy show-car touches like a gesture-control user interface, voice-activated doors and retractable steering wheel. The performance and battery should also stay largely with what VW has promised, but as with all EVs, your battery life will better in the city than when driving at freeway speeds.

In 2025, VW will roll out the I.D. Buzz, its retro-but-futuristic mini-bus with nearly ten times as much power (369 HP) as the original VW Bus (40 HP). Both the Buzz and the Crozz (yes, VW is trying too hard to be cool) will be based on the same platform, giving the automaker economies of scale.

VW hasn’t given a price, but promised that the I.D. Crozz will be within the reach of most folks. “We stand for making electric cars affordable; as we like to say, we build cars for millions, not millionaires,” said Hinrich J. Woebcken, VW America’s president. Left unsaid was that VW really needs these vehicles to succeed after its brand was nearly destroyed by the dieselgate scandal.

Made for an all-electric future: the new I.D. CROZZ. #conceptcar #volkswagen #vw

A post shared by Volkswagen (@volkswagen) on Nov 28, 2017 at 8:55am PST

Via: Autoblog

Source: Volkswagen

Uber says 2016 hack affected 2.7 million UK customers and drivers

As Uber prepares to defend itself following news that it suffered — and subsequently hid — a massive data breach in 2016, the company has begun shedding light on how many people it affected locally. At first count, 57 million global users were implicated in the attack, but the ride-hailing service today revealed that as many as 2.7 million UK customers and drivers had their names, email addresses and mobile phone numbers stolen.

Uber says the number is an approximation rather than an exact count, due to the fact that some users might disclose a location that is different to where they actually reside. Uber currently has over 5 million riders and 50,000 drivers in the UK, although figures would have been lower a year ago.

It also believes that trip location histories, credit card numbers, bank account numbers and dates of birth were not included in the breach, at least according to third-party forensics experts hired by the company.

Last week, the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) opened an investigation into the October 2016 hack, noting that it had “huge concerns” about Uber’s data practices and its decision not to disclose it. Uber kept details of the breach secret for about a year — although its new CEO knew two months before news went public — choosing instead to pay the hackers $100,000 to delete the information.

In a statement, Uber said that affected customers won’t need to take any further action. “We have seen no evidence of fraud or misuse tied to the incident,” it added. “We are monitoring the affected accounts and have flagged them for additional fraud protection.”

Source: Uber