We revisit some of the audience’s favorite editors, then discuss the reality of terrible engineers.

Then Chris spends the weekend with a smartwatch & believes he’s discovered their purpose. We examine the audience for smartwatch apps in light of the Apple Watch announcement today.

Thanks to:

• Get Paid to Write for DigitalOcean

Direct Download:

MP3 Audio | OGG Audio | Video | Torrent | YouTube

RSS Feeds:

MP3 Feed | OGG Feed | Video Feed | Torrent Feed | iTunes Audio | iTunes Video

Become a supporter on Patreon:

Show Notes:

Feedback / Followup

• DevOps Is Bullshit: Why One Programmer Doesn’t Do It Anymore

Hoopla

• Atom Editor Second-Look
• Secretly Terrible Engineers
• Microsoft’s Universal Hope?

Watching for Apple Watch Opportunities.

• App V Extensions?
• Who’s the customer?
• Pricing?

The post Apple Future vs Pebble Past | CR 144 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

Apple outlines the immediate improvements to iCloud security they’ll be making but the core issues are still rotting. Facebook is killing your cell & why we can’t wait to buy our NSA Nanny Cam!

Direct Download:

MP3 Audio | OGG Audio | Video | HD Video | Torrent | YouTube

RSS Feeds:

MP3 Feed | OGG Feed | iTunes Feed | Video Feed | Torrent Feed

Become a supporter on Patreon:

Show Notes:

Tim Cook: Apple to Add Security Alerts for iCloud Users, Broaden Two-Factor Authentication – Mac Rumors

Apple will add security alerts for iCloud users, broaden two-factor authentication and make a more aggressive effort to alert users about protecting their accounts, Apple CEO Tim Cook told the Wall Street Journal in his first interview since the recent hacking incident involving celebrities’ iCloud accounts.

To make such leaks less likely, Mr. Cook said Apple will alert users via email and push notifications when someone tries to change an account password, restore iCloud data to a new device, or when a device logs into an account for the first time. Until now, users got an email when someone tried to change a password or log in for the first time from an unknown Apple device; there were no notifications for or restoring iCloud data.

Cook said the new notifications will begin in two weeks and will allow users to take action on potential hacking immediately, allowing them to either change the password to retake the account or alerting Apple’s security team. Cook echoed Apple’s previous press release on the hackings, stressing that the best prevention for future incidents are more human than technological.

Exclusive aerial footage of Apple’s mysterious white box next to ‘iPhone 6’ event site

The large white structure is being erected next to the Flint Center for the Performing Arts in Cupertino, Calif.

The included photos and video were captured by a DJI Phantom 2 Vision+ drone, offering a unique perspective on the mystery building.

Apple hasn’t used the Cupertino Flint Center venue for introducing new products since the late 1990s. The space is notable in Apple’s history for serving as the first public introduction of the Macintosh in 1984.

[DARPA Develops Implants that Treat Diseases and Depression Without Medication

](https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/188908-darpas-tiny-implants-will-hook-directly-into-your-nervous-system-treat-diseases-and-depression-without-medication)

DARPA, on the back of the US government’s BRAIN program, has begun the development of tiny electronic implants that interface directly with your nervous system and can directly control and regulate many different diseases and chronic conditions, such as arthritis, PTSD, inflammatory bowel diseases (Crohn’s disease), and depression. The program, called ElectRx (pronounced ‘electrics’), ultimately aims to replace medication with “closed-loop” neural implants, which constantly assess the state of your health, and then provide the necessary nerve stimulation to keep your various organs and biological systems functioning properly.

The ElectRx program will focus on a fairly new area of medical therapies called neuromodulation. As the name implies, neuromodulation is all about modulating your nervous system, to improve or fix an underlying problem. Notable examples of neuromodulation are cochlear implants, which restore hearing by directly modulating your brain’s auditory nerve system, and deep brain stimulation (DBS), which appears to be capable of curing/regulating various conditions (depression, Parkinson’s) by overriding erroneous neural spikes with regulated, healthy stimulation.

Facebook’s autoplay video feature is destroying cell phone bills – Sep. 3, 2014

Smartphone users could be at risk of maxing out their data plans if they don’t change this default setting in the Facebook app, which otherwise will automatically start streaming videos in the News Feed window.

The issue was flagged by consumer finance site MoneySavingExpert.com, which said it had “seen many complaints from people who have been stung with data bills after exceeding their monthly allowance and who believe it to be because of Facebook autoplaying videos.”

A Smart Nanny Cam With Facial Recognition and Air Pollution Sensors

It’s a nanny cam with upgraded intelligence: Not only can it send images to your phone via an app, it can also serve as a autonomous sentry, alerting you to strange activity in the house thanks to facial recognition and air-quality sensors.

It supplies users with a live, high-definition video feed of their house. The white-and-wood device—it almost looks like a little candle for your mantel—has a 135-degree viewing angle on the room it’s in, night vision, and two-way audio.

Likewise, for audio, Withings has programmed the device to discern between, say, a baby crying and a motorcycle engine. Whenever something is a awry, users get a push notification on their phone. If the user chooses to view the notification later, it gets saved in a timeline. (How far back the timeline goes will be based on a pay-for-space subscription model.)

These clever systems for detecting abnormalities also work with the Home’s air quality sensors. These pick up on volatile organic compounds, or harmful gases often released by cleaning products or building materials. When the Home alerts users about harmful chemicals, it also points out the likely culprit.

This allows you to isolate a problem area of the house.

Borderlands 2 Also Looks Like It’s Coming To Linux, UPDATE: Confirmed | GamingOnLinux

Michael Blair, Aspyr Media: Yes! BL2 Linux is absolutely real! We’ve been working hard on it for months and will talk about a release date as soon as possible.

• Borderlands 2 · AppID: 49520 · Steam Database

The post Facebook Lobotomy | Tech Talk Today 53 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

In this special edition of Tech Talk Today we look back at Pointcast. A fascinating look back at an earlier generation of the Internet, before RSS feeds and news aggregator sites, there was Pointcast.

Based on the idea of “pushing” news to your computer at scheduled intervals, and this displaying that news via a built in screen saver and reader application.

By the end of 1996, PointCast’s network boasted 1.5 million users, $5 million in annual revenue, and a list of marquee advertisers. The company had attracted more than $48 million in funding

Direct Download:

MP3 Audio | OGG Audio | Video | HD Video | Torrent | YouTube

RSS Feeds:

MP3 Feed | OGG Feed | iTunes Feed | Video Feed | Torrent Feed

Become a Tech Talk Today supporter on Patreon:

Show Notes:

— Pointcast —

43. Pointcast — The 50 Worst Internet Startup Fails of All Time

Pointcast basically amounted to a screensaver that displayed breaking news. The product often required more bandwidth than dial-up connections would allow at the time and was totally impractical for corporate networks. Despite its shortfalls, News Corporation made a $450M offer to purchase the company’s technology. Pointcast’s then-CEO Christopher Hasset balked at the deal and was immediately ousted by the company’s board of directors. The company botched another deal to be acquired by an investment group that included Microsoft and was later purchased for $7 million before its network was shut down.

Support Tech Talk Today creating DAILY PODCASTS

Hosts:

Chris:

• Twitter ChrisLAS
• Google+ +ChrisFisher

The post Retro Tech: Pointcast | Tech Talk Today 10 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.