Three people are suing Facebook for collecting call/text logs on Android

Like it or not, what Facebook did here was perfectly legal.

Shortly after the Facebook + Cambridge Analytica scandal broke, it was discovered that Facebook was also collecting call and text logs on people’s Android phones and storing all of them. The social network did this legally using Android’s permissions system, but even so, not everyone was pleased to learn about this.

Three users, in particular, were especially disgruntled, and as such, have decided to sue Facebook.

The lawsuit was filed at a federal court in California’s Northern District, and at this time, Facebook has yet to comment on it.

I understand being upset about what Facebook did here, but I personally don’t think these three users have any real chance at winning the suit. Is what Facebook did upsetting? Sure. However, just about all of us gave the company access to that data. Like Andrew said is his article explaining the issue —

But that’s what this all comes back to in the end: you gave Facebook access to that information. Android’s shaky and overly broad permissions settings gave Facebook a massive helping hand to accomplish this, but you installed the app and you pushed the button to allow the permissions as part of the installation.

Good luck, folks.

Facebook kept logs of calls and messages on Android phones, and followed the rules to do it

You can now pair your Google Home to other Bluetooth speakers

Your $49 Home Mini just got a lot more powerful.

When Google released the Home Mini, it received a lot of criticism for not including a 3.5mm headphone jack so you could connect it to another, more powerful speaker. This is one big advantage the Echo Dot has over the Home Mini, but that conversation is now changing with the ability to stream audio from Google Homes to Bluetooth speakers.

Prior to this update, users have only been able to send audio to Home speakers using Bluetooth on phones. However, with today’s update, you can now send audio from Home devices to other Bluetooth-enabled speakers.

To get started, simply go the device settings in the Home app and follow the instructions for pairing your Bluetooth speakers to your Google Home. Once this is done, you can either have your Bluetooth speaker replace audio output from your Google Home or add it to an audio group and quickly get multi-room audio.

You’ll still need to talk to your Home speaker to perform voice commands, but even so, this is a great feature to have. I imagine most people will use this with the Home Mini, but it also works on the regular Home and Home Max.

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Volkswagen goes full America with its truck concept

Volkswagen automaker really wants you to know that it’s building cars for America. In fact, at the New York Auto Show it delivered a concept vehicle that might as well have had the Stars and Stripes painted on the side of it. Get your tailgate parties ready for the Atlas Tanoak truck.

Volkswagen’s head of design Klaus Bischoff said that the truck is, “built for America by Americans” in reference to its plant in Tennessee where the Tanoak would be built if the automaker decides to put it into production. Based on the Atlas MQB platform, the pickup looks more like it’s ready for adventure than hauling hay and tools. To that end, the automaker called it a lifestyle utility vehicle.

The exterior does look rugged though (it’s even got a hitch) and the bed is ready for you to throw either your quad, mountain bike, or kayaks in it. Meanwhile, the interior caters to the fans of technology and luxury that enjoy the feeling of being pampered after a long day of experiencing the many splendors of the American outdoors.

Besides hoping to eventually have one of its vehicles seen at tailgate parties, Volkswagen also showed off its smaller crossover, the Atlas Cross Sport concept. It’s 7.5 inches shorter than the production Atlas with room for five passengers and looks ready to take on the small-SUV market.

While the truck is still an idea, the Atlas Cross Sport should go into production at the end of 2019. Meanwhile, pickup fans should hassle the automaker to make sure that Tanoak makes it into showrooms in the future. Because America.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from the 2018 New York Auto Show.

Apple trains Chicago teachers to put coding in more classrooms

Apple isn’t quite done announcing educational plans in Chicago. It just unveiled a partnership with Northwestern University and public schools to help teachers bring programming and other forms of computer science into Chicago-area classrooms. The trio will set up a learning hub at Lane Tech College Prep High School (conveniently, the venue for Apple’s iPad event) that will introduce high school teachers to Apple’s Everyone Can Code curriculum. They’ll also have the option to train in an App Development with Swift course to boost the number of high school-oriented computer science teachers.

Teachers will also have options for in-school coaching and mentorship to make sure they’re comfortable with the curriculum when they’re in front of actual students.

This isn’t coming out of nowhere. Apple had already been working with Chicago to expand its Everyone Can Code program across the city. However, it does address a common problem with initiatives to bring coding to schools: educating the teachers themselves. It’s relatively easy for tech giants to supply devices and course material, but that doesn’t matter much if the teachers don’t have a good grip on the information they’re passing along. Apple clearly stands to gain from this (more kids will grow up using its products), but it could benefit the larger educational community if teachers feel more at ease with technology on a broader level.

Source: Apple

Uber reportedly reduced the number of sensors on its autonomous cars

Uber is facing some intense scrutiny after one of its self-driving cars struck and killed a pedestrian in Arizona ten days ago. The company (along with it’s partner, NVIDIA) has stopped testing its autonomous vehicle in cities across the US, and the Arizona governor suspended the tests specifically in that state. According to a report by Reuters, Uber allegedly scaled back on the number of safety sensors used to detect objects in the road, resulting in a blind zone on the Volvo SUV model involved in the accident.

Autonomous cars use radar, cameras and LiDAR to detect obstacles and pedestrians in their path. Reuters reports that Uber scaled back to a single LiDAR sensor on the Volvo test cars the company currently uses in its fleets. The resulting vehicles have more blind spots, says Reuter‘s sources, than Uber’s previous generation of self-driving cars as well as that of rivals, which can use five or six sensors. It’s unclear whether the lack of LiDAR played a role in the accident, but it’s a fact likely to come under some sort of scrutiny during any investigation. We’ve reached out to Uber for comment and will update this post when we hear back.

Source: Reuters

DJI will let developers fully customize its drones

Drone company DJI is expanding its efforts in the commercial sector with a new thermal imaging camera and a payload software development kit (SDK) that will allow startups and developers to integrate custom gear onto DJI drones.

The Zenmuse XT2 thermal imaging camera, developed as part of an ongoing partnership with FLIR Systems, builds upon the original Zenmuse XT which was released in 2015. Side-by-side visual and thermal imaging sensors have been designed with emergency services and disaster recovery in mind, allowing operators to capture heat signatures otherwise invisible to the naked eye. QuickTrack mode centers the camera on a selected area, while HeatTrack automatically detects the hottest object in view. The on-board Temp Alarm interprets thermal data in real-time, alerting drone operators if an object exceeds critical thresholds.

DJI’s new SDK, meanwhile, is another boon to the industrial use of drones. Startups and gear manufacturers can now develop payloads specific to their customer’s needs, thanks to what Jan Gasparic, head of enterprise partnerships at DJI, calls a “powerful, flexible and standardized platform which customers from different industries can build upon.” The potential uses for commercial drones is almost unlimited — indeed, the company earlier this month signed a deal to provide Skycatch imaging drones to a Japanese construction firm — so it seems DJI is wasting no time placing itself at the center of this expanding field.

What educators think about Apple’s new iPad

Yesterday’s Apple event showed that the company wants to make a serious push back into the education sector. This isn’t anything new, though, according to CEO Tim Cook; it’s just the company going back to its roots. The centerpiece here is a “new” iPad, a 9.7-inch tablet with Apple Pencil support that aims to woo teachers everywhere. There’s also a redesigned iWork suite that lets students doodle and create digital books within Pages; the Schoolwork app, for tracking, well, schoolwork; and a kid-friendly tool for coding AR. Apple is hoping that will be enough to win over schools.

Apple had educators onstage during its press conference, but they had been handpicked to extol the values of the iOS ecosystem. We wanted to see what others thought about the new iPad and its classroom-friendly apps.

Because, as everyone knows, Apple products don’t come cheap. The company is pricing its latest, entry-level iPad at $299 for educators, $30 less than retail. Apple said at the event that last year’s 9.7-inch model has been the most popular iPad in education “by far,” so it sees this as the perfect opportunity to get into as many schools as possible. The problem is that with Google Chromebook devices (which are also aimed at the education market) going for as low as $150, there are cheaper alternatives for school districts. And that $299 price tag is just for the iPad; if teachers want a Pencil, that’s an extra $89, plus up to another $100 for a keyboard. That puts the total price closer to $500 for the full setup.

That may be an easy pill to swallow for private schools in well-off areas, but not so much the public ones. After all, many teachers in the US have to spend money out of their own pocket to buy pencils, pens, notebooks and other essential supplies. NPR reported last December that some teachers in the US spend as much as $1,000 a year on school supplies, noting that, while they used to be able to write off up to $250, that all changed when President Trump’s new tax plan went into effect on January 1st, 2018. That’s why Apple needs more than apps to win over educators — it needs to make its products more affordable.

The majority of the teachers we spoke to seemed to think that the iPad, even starting at $299, is simply too expensive — especially when there are less costly devices like Chromebooks around. That said, many of them agree that the iPad can certainly make a difference in the classroom, thanks to its “lock-down” ecosystem (which keeps kids from wandering around the internet) and apps like Kahoot, a game-based learning platform that makes it easier to engage students.

Editor’s note: Some quotes have been edited for brevity and clarity.

On the new iPad’s $299 price (without accessories)

Joe Bryant, social studies teacher at Ánimo Jackie Robinson Charter High School in South Los Angeles: “The iPad looks like a really great tool — if you have the money to afford them for students. I teach in a low-income neighborhood, and while I do have pretty good support at our school site, there’s a limit to what is fiscally reasonable. $299 is really expensive. My current school site provides me with a classroom budget (many do not), but that budget in and of itself is $250. I’m sure someone could fiddle around with a department, school site or district budget to make buying these things financially feasible. But even if I were to buy one for myself for use in the classroom, I would need to use my own funds. My budget would be better spent on more traditional supplies. $500 for the whole setup is even more of an ask.”

Amanda Brueschke, teacher at Webb Middle School, ELDA (English Language Development Academy), in Austin, Texas: “Without a grant, there is no way whatsoever I would have the funds available to buy a class set. [But] there are always technology grants: Someone who really wants one — or even a set — will be able to find grants to cover it. It’ll be work, but the money is out there. The districts do not generally pay for them, that I know of, [and] almost all of our technology other than our teacher computers are funded or mostly funded by grants.”

Katy Parker, former English teacher at corporate-owned private school Halstrom Academy in California: “I’m sure this would be quite limiting for many school districts. There are other factors to consider beyond the purchase price as well. Some school districts are better equipped than others to adapt their infrastructure to support management and maintenance of these devices. Others would simply not have the resources to sustain the use of student iPads. It depends on the district, the needs of a given community, the source of funding, the goals of administrators, and many other factors. I think the question of whether investing in a specific technology alone can bring about increased student achievement has already been answered. It doesn’t solve problems; it is merely a tool.”

Cara Conrad, geography teacher at Worthing High School, Worthing, West Sussex, England: “My current school does not have a class set of them, due to the price, and could definitely not afford to pay £299 for 30 iPads to make up a class set. We barely have enough money for glues! I think that any tablet could be used for the main things that teachers want them for: making videos, movies, presentations and research. So if there was a cheaper option, I’m sure schools would go for this. Additionally, there are many cheaper options for using technology in the classroom. There are loads of websites designed for teachers to do interactive quizzes with students using their mobile phones, [and] these are free as long as you let students use their phone in class … the idea of them sounds great, but the price and the need for staff training might stop them being used on a large scale and to their full potential.”

The new iPad.

John Gress / Reuters

On Chromebooks as an alternative, or a companion, to the iPad

Dr. Martina Blackwood, director of Instructional Technology at Dyson College: “With so many competing interests, finding the funding to support the purchase of both laptops and tablets for all may be unrealistic for some institutions. It may be best to purchase a smaller number of tablets that can be housed in a computing lab or library, where users can borrow the devices for a limited time. Laptops or desktop computers may continue to account for the majority of the tech purchases. Some courses call for the use of software that has not been made available for tablets, so having access to more robust machines will be crucial in keeping up with software needs. Chromebooks and tablets are not always equipped to meet the ever growing software needs for select disciplines.

“In addition to the prohibitively high cost of purchasing tablets for all students and instructors, we need to discuss BYOD (bring your own device) as a factor in what may appear to be the declining interest in purchasing tablets. Students and faculty often have their own devices that they prefer, and when they arrive on campus they just expect it to work seamlessly with the infrastructure of the institution. When users have selected a device that meets their needs functionally and financially, it may cause administrators to think twice about supporting a specific tablet, especially considering the rate at which these devices are upgraded. The increased size and functionality of cellular phones could also be a contributing factor in the dwindling desire to own the latest tablet.”

Bryant: “Our school uses Chromebooks, and I personally see more immediate value for our students in that product. The lack of an included keyboard peripheral for the iPad seems like a really poor choice. At the end of a lesson, I want my students to produce writing that shows they understand a topic. It’s a little difficult (though not impossible) to do that without a keyboard. Apple usually makes products marketed for higher-income customers, so it doesn’t surprise me that their product costs a lot and doesn’t have everything you need out of the box, but the minor teacher discount is kind of baffling. I also feel like Google has them beat in terms of classroom accessibility. My students use Google Suite every single day, and I utilize Google Classroom to distribute materials for lessons and track student progress.”

Brueschke: “I am absolutely much happier with the students on their iPads than on their Chromebooks (we are a 1:1 school) now that I have the iPads truly locked down. Although the iPads are more of a temptation for some reason to go off-task, the lock-down factor makes them “less fun” than their Chromebooks, and I tend to go with those before I let them use their computer. I would definitely find another way to utilize the computers if the iPads weren’t there, for things like Kahoot, but honestly, it streamlines the process of starting class activities like Kahoot so much now that they’re [all] set up. ‘Go get your assigned iPads, and we will Kahoot!’ [and] they are back in their seats within moments and the app [is] ready to go.

“Apple has always been more expensive. [Apple products] last longer, and that is supposed to be the draw. I do find that they are functional for longer, but that the students complain about them being too old and sometimes just refuse to do their work because of old tech. I would honestly rather have a Chromebook set in a classroom than a set of iPads. It is very disappointing to hear they [iPads] are less than 10 percent discounted. I’d rather have a Chromebook cart than an iPad cart — it’d cost less and I could do more with it.”

You can’t replace effective pedagogy with technology.

Joe Bryant, a high school teacher in Los Angeles.

On whether Schoolwork, educational apps and digital curricula can make a difference

Blackwood: “The inherent mobility of tablets can allow instructors the flexibility to share content and engage their students in ways that might be more challenging with traditional computers … As the number of available apps continues to grow, those in education have more tools at their disposal to bring content to life in the classroom. If the classroom is equipped with the appropriate connectors for projection, in many cases instructors can make use of tablets as they would a typical computer.

“Both Schoolwork and ClassKit have my attention. I like the idea of providing users with their own profiles and Apple IDs, which will come with increased cloud-based storage. Allowing students to work on specific assignments in select apps, or checking in on students to see how they’re progressing, mark major improvements over the current capabilities. I am looking forward to an opportunity to personally work with these new features.”

Parker: “In my experience, student engagement increases when there is an iPad involved. It is nice to have digital textbooks stored on one device. The iPad offers ways to interact with learning material that has never been available to previous generations of students. iPads also break somewhat easily, can be easily lost, and are easily separated from their chargers. Without a keyboard or mouse, it is hard to produce quality written work using only an iPad.”

Brueschke: “Anyone who says technology saves time in a classroom has never worked with students and technology. It might save time for upper-level high school teachers and teach students immeasurably important skills, but for now, a 12-year-old doesn’t have a lot of skills we take for granted. I don’t mind teaching them skills, but I do think that a learning curve has to be built in to accommodate students with low but growing skills.

“I have previously used iPads to great success in a high school credit-recovery biology class, for an ecology study the students designed themselves. The iPads (with Numbers and Pages apps) could record, analyze, and report all the data. The cameras were fantastic for putting together their presentations. Put together, the whole thing made a beautiful presentation, all in the same piece of equipment. The only tricky part was making it so that they could display with a projector. Other than that, literally the entire project was done on those iPads, including in the field, in the classroom (preparing and analyzing data) and even the presentation. It was incredible.”

Bryant: “When I taught middle school, all the teachers were issued iPad Minis, [which] we used to aid in instruction. I used it to take attendance, and I used an app called ClassDojo for classroom management. It was nice, but I never had the knack for it that other teachers had. Personally, I don’t think it made that big a difference to my teaching practice, but there were some teachers there that swore by it. I wasn’t deft enough as a newer teacher to use it and learn the ropes simultaneously.

“That being said, technology can be a great motivator for students, especially when it’s something different than what they usually do in a classroom setting. Having something like an iPad would be awesome, but it can’t help a teacher do their job better if they are struggling. You can’t replace effective pedagogy with technology.”

Conrad: “I do think iPads can be extremely useful in the classroom and can definitely help with making learning more exciting and interesting. Anything that can bring excitement into a classroom is always good: Students are so used to using technology outside of school, it makes perfect sense to bring this into the classroom. I have mainly used iPads in the past for things like iMovie, where I would get students to make trailers and films linked to their learning in geography (e.g., earthquake movies). They loved this, and it really helped them remember the topic and it was easy to use for me. I used these iPads in my school in Malaysia, where they had enough money to buy a class set.

“Also, any new software would definitely need a substantial amount of staff training, as many teachers are not up on the newest technology, and this would take time we don’t have! I myself wouldn’t have a clue how to use any new software and I am not confident enough with technology to play around and figure it out for myself. Often, new technology in schools is wasted, as teachers never get trained on their full usage potential. I can’t help but think the new iPads might go this way!”

‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ season two somehow looks darker than the first

The first season of The Handmaid’s Tale ended with Offred/June (Elisabeth Moss) leaving the Commander’s house, jumping into the back of a van that was headed who knows where. Now we have a look at the second season, which will be going beyond the Margaret Atwood novel the Hulu series is based on. In a new trailer, we see Offred in the back of the van and we hear her ask herself what will happen when she gets out. “There probably is no out,” she says. “Gilead is within you.”

Throughout the trailer we see familiar faces. The Commander (Joseph Fiennes) and his wife (Yvonne Strahovski) fight about the repercussions of Offred’s leaving. Moira (Samira Wiley) protests in Canada, where she escaped to last season. We also see Ofglen/Emily (Alexis Bledel) and Janine (Madeline Brewer) in what must be the Colonies — the place misbehaving handmaids are sent to work. And Nick (Max Minghella), the likely father of Offred’s unborn child, is seen saying he’s trying to protect her, while suspicion appears to mount on those within the Commander’s house.

In some of the more darker images, we see the Commander holding a gun to someone’s head, Nick yelling in agony, the Commander whipping something or someone with a belt and dozens of handmaids in nooses.

The first season of The Handmaid’s Tale was a big success for Hulu, winning a number of Emmys and Golden Globes. Season two debuts April 25th.

Source: Hulu

Airbnb starts sharing Chinese hosts’ info with the government

China is determined to make foreign companies bow to its surveillance rules, and that extends to home rental services. Airbnb has told hosts that it will start providing their information to Chinese government agencies on March 30th in order to obey regulations. The country requires that citizens and visitors alike register their addresses with police in the first 24 hours after they either arrive in the country or stay at a hotel.

The company was quick to note that this is “similar to other hospitality companies” that operate in China, and that those worried about the consequences could deactivate their listings.

Airbnb hasn’t elaborated on just what it’s disclosing. However, a spokesperson told Reuters that it honors Chinese law. The company started its own Chinese division and moved data onshore to make sure it stayed in the country’s good books.

As with other foreign companies operating in China, Airbnb is in an awkward position. It has to show concern for privacy in countries like the US, but it also has to erode privacy in China if it wants to maintain a presence in the largest market on Earth. It could stay out on principle, but it would risk being permanently locked out of China as local competition cemented its dominance.

Source: Reuters

Google Home’s multi-room audio now works with Bluetooth speakers

Google Home is getting a long-awaited feature: Bluetooth. Previously, only Google Cast-enabled speakers could be looped in to a network of Home-commanded devices. Now users can pair their speaker of choice with the dedicated Home app and voice command it to play your tunes or podcasts.

You don’t even have to specify the speaker: By making it the default audio projector, just use the Home-standard “Hey Google” prompt and voice-command away. (You’ll still have to talk into whatever device has the Home app installed, not the speaker in question.) Users can even add a Bluetooth speaker to a group, if they have one set up. This effectively enables multi-room audio without needing a Home device or Chromecast in each space.

And seeing as you can use Home with any music provider, unlike Amazon Alexa, which is limited to playing audio Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, and TuneIn, this update enables a much more liberated audio experience. Apple’s Homepod, as usual, remains behind in this race.

Source: Google