Last week, as part of his apparent ongoing campaign to rebrand himself as a more Musk-like figure, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg sat down with Joe Rogan for a three-hour discussion about free speech, government censorship, and how important it is that American companies win the AI race. But one of the other topics Zuck seemed intent to focus on was Apple.The Facebook founder aired many of his beefs with the company, particularly his displeasure regarding the fees that some developers need to pay on Apples App Store to distribute their wares on the platform (fees that Apple cut in half for small developers). Yet Zuck went even further, suggesting the Cupertino company isnt the innovative powerhouse it once wasand it hasnt been for decades.Its like Steve Jobs invented the iPhone and now theyre just kind of sitting on it 20 years later, Zuckerberg said, later adding, And Im pretty optimistic that just because theyve been so off their game in terms of not really releasing many innovative things, that eventually . . . if you just dont do a good job for like 10 years, eventually, youre just going to get beat by someone.A matter of privacyZucks comments about Apples supposed lack of innovation are baffling, especially coming from someone as knowledgeable about the tech industry and its progress over the past several decades as he is. But his comments are much easier to understand if you consider the degree to which Apples most important innovation over the past ten years has harmed Metas business practices.Zuckerberg seems to believe that hardware advancements are the only ones that count as innovation at Apple. But I dont think its fair to limit Apple to such a narrow scope. After all, the company isnt just a hardware company. It makes software and provides services, which all encompass an ecosystem that is unlike any other in the tech industry. It is an ecosystem that offers convenience, intuitiveness, and interoperability. And most importantly, it is an ecosystem that has revolutionized digital privacy.Apples greatest innovation over the last decade isnt something we can hold in our hands or show off to someone else. Its our power to keep more of our data away from the corporations and institutions seeking to harness our thoughts, locations, and connections for their own financial gain. Accessing and monetizing this information about us is Metas bread and butter, and many of the privacy innovations Apple has introduced to its ecosystem in recent years have harmed Metas ability to do this.Innovation after innovationTake, for example, just one of Apples recent privacy innovations in iOS 18the ability for users to restrict app access to only the contacts they choose. Social media giants like Meta hate this feature, because it means they can no longer gain unrestricted access to everyone in your address bookto your friends, doctors, and religious leaders. This means that they lose control over knowing everyone you know and cant build a complete social graph for you.Or take App Tracking Transparency (ATT), a privacy feature first introduced in iOS 14.5. ATT gave users control over whether an app would be allowed to track them across third-party apps and websites. This is a feature that faced strong opposition from companies, including Metas Facebook, that had business models that relied on selling your information. But its a feature that users have embraced overwhelmingly, with May 2021 data showing 94% of U.S. iPhone owners opting into ATT to prevent their tracking.More recently, Apple completely innovated the AI game by creating an entirely new technology called Private Cloud Compute that allows users to use its Apple Intelligence chatbot features without having their personal information or even past queries collected and retained by Apple or anyone else. This is the first time a major artificial intelligence provider has given users this level of privacy with an AI service, something you wont find with Open AIs ChatGPT (well, unless youre using it via Apple Intelligence) or Metas Llama 3-based Meta AI. Heck, Meta makes it hard for users to just opt out of their data being used to train its AI.These are just three of the dozens of major privacy innovations Apple has announced in recent years. Understanding how critical personal privacy will be in an increasingly intrusive world in the years ahead, it is ridiculous to say that Apple has not innovated much since the iPhone. Apples iPhone was a once-in-a-generationmaybe morecultural grand slam of a device. But Apples non-tangible privacy innovations since then are a far more important revolution: They help us keep vital parts of ourselves away from prying eyes like Metas, a company more than happy to sell our information to the highest bidder here or abroad.Mark Zuckerbergs blind spotIt seems unlikely that privacy would be as hot a topic in the personal tech space if it were not for Apple embracing it. As far as I can gather, it is the only major tech giant that not only doesnt try to hinder privacy but actively designs its products around it. And because it does thisand markets it all so wellthe importance of digital privacy is elevated in consumers minds, which forces other tech companies to (however begrudgingly) copy some of their innovations. In this way, even if you dont use Apples products, Apples innovations in the privacy space are benefitting you.As we move to a world where everything is connected and all-seeing AI is everywhere, privacy innovation is exactly the kind of innovation we need right now. And it is an arena where Apple currently excels.But if Zuck is still stuck on hardware-only innovation, he might stop to consider the Apple Watch and its numerous game-changing health features; Apple Pay, which brought contactless payments to the masses; Face ID, the most secure and user-friendly consumer biometric authentication out there; and Apple Silicon, the most powerful consumer chips in the world, which have enabled all sorts of new computer designsjust to name a few. These are innovations I see people using every day. Surely, Zuckerberg must see it, too.

There are some kinds of furniture that I dont really pay much attention to their design. Since I have a limited space (and a lot of stuff), my preference for them is more functional than aesthetic. Side tables are one kind of home furniture that are like that for me, although there are several designs there that do catch my attention, even if I probably wont actually buy them.Designer: Ross Sorokovyi (MUDU Design)The Totem concept for a side table is one of those eye-catching designs as its pretty cute. Named after its inspiration, it is a minimalist kind of furniture and when I say minimalist, I also mean small. Thats why I say that I probably wont use it since it may not be so useful for a maximalist like me. But if youre looking for a cute kind of side table, then this may appeal to you.The base and pole of the side table is made from solid wood while the table top uses a stainless steel material. It has a three-legged base which makes it look like a cartoon character. The table top seems to be detachable based on the product renders. It also can be connected to other Totems, if like me, you find it too small. There also seems to be different heights for the side table so you can create a more aesthetic look if you have space.The thin metal edges can also be a bit intimidating, as if it could cut into your skin if you press too hard. Circles are also not the most space-efficient shape, as you are cutting corners, almost literally. You lose out on some space in exchange for a unique and pleasing visual. Then again, as a minimalist side table, that might be fine for some people.For now, Totem remains a concept as the designers are still looking for a manufacturer, although theyre looking at 2025 as the year they will actually produce it. When it comes an actual side table, we might get more details about it, in case it interests you. The post Totem side table brings cute, minimalist, modular concept first appeared on Yanko Design.

If you missed the recent live, subscriber-only Q&A about money and AI scams with WIREDs advice columnist Reece Rogers, you can watch the replay here.

January 19Iva Toguri1419 Hundred Years' War: The siege of Rouen ended with English troops capturing the city from Norman French forces.1909 A deed was recorded for David Hanbury to sell Island No.2 in northern California to his brother John for $10 ($339.00 in 2023).1977 Iva Toguri (pictured), convicted of treason for broadcasting Japanese propaganda, was granted a full pardon by U.S. president Gerald Ford.1996 A tank barge and a tug grounded on a beach in Rhode Island, causing a spill of an estimated 828,000 U.S. gallons (3.13million litres) of home heating oil.2006 In the deadliest aviation accident in Slovak history, an Antonov An-24 operated by the Slovak Air Force crashed in northern Hungary, killing 42 of the 43 people on board.Giuseppe Millico (b.1737)Sophie Taeuber-Arp (b.1889)Choor Singh (b.1911)Sarah Burke (d.2012)More anniversaries: January 18January 19January 20ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

Welcome toIndie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If youre a developer and would like your app featured, getin contact.PostPocket is a simple tool, aiming to help users keep track of various links, posts, articles, videos, or anything from across the internet. It allows you to save everything in one centralized place. The app also has categorization, allowing you to keep all of your links sorted. The app is available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.Why PostPocketObviously, many social media platforms have their own bookmarking features, allowing users to save posts they like for later. Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube all have their own version of a bookmarking feature.However, some platforms make it easier than others. Instagram, for example, requires you to crawl through a couple of menus to find your saved posts. Additionally, with all of the varying Twitter alternatives on the market, you might come across a post on one platform that you want to save, but cant. Threads doesnt offer a bookmarks feature, so it can be hard to find something later, especially if youre liking a ton of posts.With all of that being said, theres obviously a lot of fragmentation when it comes to saving things to view later, especially within apps. PostPocket aims to simplify things a bit.How it worksPostPocket integrates within the share sheet of iOS, allowing you to quickly hit the share button in any app, then with just the tap of a button you can start adding it to PostPocket.Once youre in PostPocket (from within the share sheet), you can just save the post as is, or you can choose to apply a category, tag, or custom title in the moment. Categories give you an easy way to sort from within PostPocket, and tags allow for additional granularity within a category. PostPocket offers a ton to help keep your varying links organized. All of your data is also stored on iCloud, allowing it to easily sync across all Apple devices. That also means all of your links are kept private.PostPocket is available for free on the App Store in a limited capacity, and you can purchase PostPocket+ for just $8.99 lifetime. Theres also a monthly plan for $0.99/month, if that interests you. PostPocket+ is ad free, enables tags, and allows you to import/export your data.Follow Michael:X/Twitter,Bluesky,InstagramAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

The future might be now, but that doesn't mean you're in it.A leaked memo from media giant Dotdash Meredith (the owner of titles including People, Food & Wine, Better Homes & Gardens, and Investopedia) has revealed that the company "America's largest digital and print publisher," according to its own PR fluff will be laying off 143 people, approximately 4percent of its workforce. This comes on the heels of a smaller layoff in November of 2024, where 53 media workers lost their jobs at the company.The layoffs wouldn't be so notable in a scarred and barren post-COVID media landscape, save for Dotdash's massive "strategic partnership" with OpenAI in the spring of 2024. The deal is set to lavish Dotdash with at least $16 million in annual revenue, or at least until the AI bubble bursts. In exchange, OpenAI gets to plug "trusted content" articles written by humans,presumably, though Meredith was involved in a hazy dalliance with an AI company prior to its acquisition by Dotdash from the media corp's 40-plus brands into its model, prioritizing answers that send users back to its content wherever possible."As part of the agreement, OpenAI will display content and links attributed to Dotdash Meredith in relevant ChatGPT responses," reads a Dotdash press release announcing the deal. "OpenAI will also collaborate with Dotdash Meredith to create new AI products and features for its readers and use historical and ongoing DDM content to enhance its model's performance.""This partnership delivers the best, most relevant content right to the heart of ChatGPT," it continued, using apreferred term among those who see journalism as an amorphous product called "content."For its trouble, Dotdash will see a vague "technological investment" into its targeted ad-platform D/Cipher, which will enable the AI platform to spam slop to "something like 30 million more URLs or somewhere in that neighborhood," according to Joey Levin, CEO of IAC Inc, the parent company overseeing Dotdash Meredith.When asked to follow up on what this means for web users and how D/Cipher will be deployed across the open web, Dotdash Chief Innovation Officer Jon Roberts said, rather disconcertingly: "Thats our special sauce. Were not ready to talk about it yet."In light of this huge round of layoffs and ChatGPT's untrustworthy performance, we must ask the question and not for the first time who does this "special sauce" serve?Certainly not the 176 media workers who are now out of the job, nor for users who are inundated with mountains of AI schlok at every turn.The answer? Stakeholders! Who doesn't love to see those guys winning?In the three fiscal quarters since announcing the partnership, IAC's licensing revenue has skyrocketed, as the OpenAI money furnace floods the media conglomerate in "If you look at Q3 of 2024... licensing revenue was up about $4.1 million year-over-year," said Christopher Halpin, who holds the mouthful title of EVP, CFO & COO of IAC Inc. "The lion's share of that would be driven by the OpenAI license." (Not coincidentally, Q3 2024 was the company's strongest financial quarter since Q3 of 2021.)In the face of a growing AI-pocalypse which workers and consumers are powerless to stop, corporations like IAC have some pretty important questions to answer. How does OpenAI recoup its costs in this scenario? What happens to your licensing revenue stream when or if the well runs dry? How many more layoffs does Dotdash plan to reward their workforce with in exchange for their "help" training OpenAI's LLMs? And who will be left holding the bag when the whole bubble bursts the media workers who've made the company what it is today, or C-Suite terminators who hoard 3-letter titles like ChatGPT hoards personal data?Share This Article

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called TikToks threat to go dark tomorrow a stunt, and said there is no reason that TikTok or any other companies should take any actions under the ban before the Trump administration is sworn in Monday morning, several news outlets are reporting.It is a stunt, and we see no reason for TikTok or other companies to take actions in the next few days before the Trump Administration takes office on Monday, MSNBC quotes Jean-Pierre as saying. We have laid out our position clearly and straightforwardly: actions to implement this law will fall to the next administration.So TikTok and other companies should take up any concerns with them.The statement comes one day after TikTok threatened to go offline if the Biden administration doesnt offer reassurance that companies like Apple and Google wont be held liable for defying the ban, which the Supreme Court upheld yesterday. Company CEO Shou Chew also appealed to Donald Trump, saying the company is grateful for his support of the platform. Trump said that a 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done during an interview with Meet The Press moderator Kristen Welker for NBC News. That followed reporting earlier this week that the incoming President plans to issue an executive order doing so. Given that the bans deadline is up before hes sworn in, its not clear whether Trump can actually extend it. He can choose not to enforce the ban, just as Biden says he will, but that still leaves Apple and Google to decide if Trumps word is worth the legal risk that would come with defying the ban by leaving the app available for download.

In BriefPosted:12:48 PM PST January 18, 2025Image Credits:Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto / Getty ImagesFTC says partnerships like Microsoft-OpenAI raise antitrust concernsThe Federal Trade Commission said in a staff report issued Friday that there are potential competitive issues in partnerships between big tech companies and generative AI developers specifically, Microsofts backing of OpenAI and Amazon and Alphabet/Googles partnerships with Anthropic.The FTCs report sheds light on how partnerships by big tech firms can create lock-in, deprive start-ups of key AI inputs, and reveal sensitive information that can undermine fair competition, said FTC Chair Lina Khan in a statement. (President-elect Donald Trump plans to replace Khan as chair.)The report focuses on Microsoft, Amazon, and Googles roles as cloud service providers working with OpenAI and Anthropic; among other things, it suggests that these partnerships could affect access to computing resources and engineering talent, increase switching costs for companies working with AI developers, and might give cloud providers unique access to sensitive information.Microsofts deputy general counsel Rima Alaily told Bloomberg that the companys partnership with OpenAI has enabled one of the most successful AI startups in the world and spurred a wave of unprecedented technology investment and innovation in the industry.Topics

This site, in the heart of Cornwall village, was once occupied by an early 19th century Federal style residence, built by the wealthy Pierce family in town. The Pierces large home was acquired by John E. Calhoun (1859-1940), a successful New York businessman, who retreated to his fathers hometown for summers away from the city. In 1911, a fire destroyed the home, which was wood-frame construction. This event mobilized Mr. Calhoun, who was untrained but interested in architecture, to begin planning a new summer residence, but of fireproof construction. Calhoun is said to have designed (and funded) the towns library just years before, and modeled his home in line with the Colonial-era residences in the village, just larger and of brick. From the 1950s through the 1990s, the house was occupied by the headmaster and administration of the local Marvelwood School, but was re-established as a private home, a use that remains today.

Tick-tock for TikTokAnadolu via Getty ImagesSo here we arethe long-running TikTok ban saga finally enters what could be its end-zone just hours from now. All 170 million U.S. users will be questioning what happens next, and what they can expect when they wake up Sunday morning.While we originally expected the app to continue working for existing users post a ban coming into effect, that now seems not to be the case. TikTok has essentially warned that it will go dark in the U.S., given that service providers underpinning the platform wont be able to continue doing so lawfully.The inside track from TikTok appears to be that you will be directed to a website with a message and explanation from the platform, and perhaps an option to download your data. Although for all 100-million-plus users to do that all at once might stretch the ecosystem, so be ready for some chaos and delays. Theres no confirmation on timing. It could be midnight or some time shortly afterwards. Theres still a chance a last minute deal will let it run until the change of administration next week.Many users have asked whether a VPN will resolve the issue as has been the case with state-wide porn shut-outs across the U.S., where users turn to VPNs to pretend theyre somewhere else. That seems unlikely to work here, given the platform itself is going dark as opposed to being blocked. But well know more on Sunday.MORE FOR YOUIts critical that you do two things before the ban comes into effect. First make sure your account has been secured, which will help you restore it if and when it comes back. You can find details on doing that here. And second, dont fall for any lures coming at you by email or message or social media post, promising to restore yoiur account or provide a workaround. They will be dangerous scams.Most expect some form of fudge if not tomorrow then early next week, with the new Trump administration giving TikTok a pass for 60-90 days, time for the situation to resolve. That could still mean 24-72 hours of darkness though, so just make sure youre prepared. With unfortunate timing, TikTok is now under fire in Europe, with a new privacy lawsuit claiming it unlawfully sends data to China. TikTok tells me it strongly denies the claim and I dont expect it to make any difference in the U.S.Your app wont disappear from your phone tomorrow and you dont need to delete it. But it wont work if the platform goes dark until it is restored and it wont be available in any of the app stores. The risk of an app with no access to security updates running on 170 million phones does seem to have passed with the latest turn of events, which is good, but for millions of users this new dark reality could be worse.Above all, dont do anything rash. And keep your fingers crossed.