Web Finds — December 9, 2023

Welcome to Web Finds, where I curate a collection of interesting and useful web links that I’ve come across this week.

• Apple reveals ‘push notification spying’ by foreign governments “Apple has confirmed that foreign governments have been carrying out what has been described as “push notification spying,” stating that the company was not previously allowed to disclose the practice. Governments have been serving both Apple and Google with secret legal orders to hand over details of the push notifications sent to iPhones and Android smartphones …”
• Apple has seemingly found a way to block Android’s new iMessage app Apple on Friday managed to block Beeper Mini from sending and receiving iMessages from Android phones — just days after the new app was released to the public.
• ​Apple Readies New iPads and M3 MacBook Air to Combat Sales Slump “Apple Inc., seeking to reverse a decline in Mac and iPad sales, is preparing several new models and upgrades for early next year, according to people familiar with the situation.”
• On macOS, it’s best to start with the default A question from reader Jack B. has led me on a journey of reflection about the result of Apple iterating on macOS for a couple of decades.
• Exclusive: Trump’s loyalty-first Cabinet could include Stephen Miller, J.D Vance and Steve Bannon Trump would turn to loyalists who share his zeal to punish critics, purge non-believers, and take controversial legal and military action.
• Instapaper doubles ‘Premium’ subscription price, but promises ‘more features faster’ — 9to5Mac “Instapaper, the popular read-it-later service, is doubling the price of its subscription for new and existing subscribers alike.”
• ​Google Updates Bard Chatbot With ‘Gemini’ A.I. As It Chases ChatGPT “After more than eight months of research and development, Google has unveiled its most powerful A.I. so far. But only parts of it are widely available.”
• 23andMe confirms hackers stole ancestry data on 6.9 million users | TechCrunch “Genetic testing company 23andMe announced that hackers accessed the personal data of 0.1% of customers, or about 14,000 individuals. The company also said that by accessing those accounts, hackers were also able to access “a significant number of files containing profile information about other users’ ancestry.” But 23andMe would not say how many “other users” were impacted by the breach that the company initially disclosed in early October.”
• HP printer app is installing on PCs whether they have HP printers or not | Ars Technica “Earlier this month, Microsoft posted a new entry in its list of known issues with fully up-to-date Windows 11 PCs: The HP Smart printer app was installing automatically on Windows 10 and Windows 11 PCs whether they had an HP printer installed or not, changing the names and icons of their connected printers and causing error messages.”

Originally published at http://ldstephens.net on December 9, 2023.