You've entered the Twilight Zone. . . . X-Files

How Apple is Crippling Its Old Devices with New Software

How Apple is Crippling Its Old Devices with New Software Several months ago, we warned everyone about suspicions we had, and then reports began to come in, so we warned everyone again DO NOT UPGRADE iPhone 4, 5, or 6 generations to the new OS.

Each time there's an update or upgrade to the OS, strange things happen to existing equipment. Does Apple really have that big switch to "turn off" older versions of the iPhone so people will buy new ones? Well, we really don't know -- but the occurrences sure seem too frequent to be coincidental.

Some upgraded anyway, and now are sorry.. . .

Quoting  begins I’m still using an old iPhone 6 and I was ready and eager to replace it this fall with one of the new models. I was waiting. But something happened along the way and now I’m considering switching to Android. Quoting  ends

What happened? iOS 11. I’ve made a mistake to update my old device to the new system. And iOS 11 made my iPhone 6 unusable.

Maciej Lipiec
      Product Designer. User Experience Director @ K2.

READ THIS REPORT Here's the full sad story
      How Apple is Crippling Its Old Devices with New Software

How Quantum Computers would destroy Internet Security

Quantum Computers  Threat or Treasure? If all the world had were water balloons, the guy with the Super Soaker would reign supreme. That’s essentially the situation with the arrival of quantum computers. They’re so powerful that it takes them mere hours to solve problems that would take modern computers years to work through. That means that the moment the first quantum computer turns on, encrypted data across the internet is pretty much up for grabs.

Shahmeer Amir
      Shahmeer Amir is an Ethical Hacker, A Cyber security researcher and a bug bounty hunter from Pakistan.

READ THIS REPORT Full story : Shahmeer Amir explains his theory ...

Facial recognition? Threat or Treasure?

Facial recognition?  Threat or Treasure? With the announcement of the new Apple iPhone with facial recognition, a lot of questions are being pondered. Likewise there have been many, many questions since the tech's first uses from all corners of the world -- from average citizens to Homeland Security. Is it legal? Does it rob you of your 4th Amendment rights? Will it be the slippery slope to the police state? Can it be used against you? This is a very scary prospect of the future, and Silicon Valley is already taking it beyond our society's ability to understand it and our government's ability to protect us from it. You will all be sorry about it some day! But let's see what they're saying . . .

  • A surprising number of people can't recognize faces — sometimes even their own
  • Is it possible to beat facial recognition software? One company says it is.
  • What happens when machines become smarter than humans?
  • Can we build AI without losing control over it?
  • No Longer Just Another Face in the Crowd

READ THIS REPORT Full story : Here's the full story

Letters : Is it SPAM or NOT?

Here we reprint a question sent in by a reader, wanting to qualify if various practices would be considered spam.

READ THIS REPORT Full story : Here's the full story

IRS warns about fake web page for tax preparers almost identical to the real one

IRS_mThe Internal Revenue Service is issuing a warning about a new tax scam that uses a website that mimics the IRS e-Services online registration page. The actual IRS e-Services page offers web-based products for tax preparers, not the general public. The phony web page looks almost identical to the real one.
     

READ THIS REPORT Full story : Contact the IRS if you have questions or if you think you've been scammed!

FBI : The Scourge of Child Pornography

FBI_wraps_crime_ring_headlines

Digital Evidence Response Team

Working to Stop the Sexual Exploitation of Children

Rarely a week goes by in the United States that a child pornographer is not charged or sentenced for federal crimes related to the sexual exploitation of children. The press release headlines above from the Department of Justice were issued on a single day last month.

North Hills Man Sentenced to 18 Years in Prison for Producing Sexual Images of Minors. Melrose Man Sentenced to 60 Months for Child Pornography Offenses. Boylston Man Charged with Distributing Child Pornography. Navajo Man from Churchrock Pleads Guilty to Federal Child Sexual Abuse Charge. Vestal Man Pleads Guilty to Distributing and Receiving Child Pornography. Binghamton Man Pleads Guilty to 12 Counts of Distributing Child Pornography.

GO Get the full story at : www.fbi.gov/news/

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Farewell From Lynn

lynn_2011It is hard to accept this, but it is necessary.

Since purchasing my Apple ][+ in 1981 in the Chicago suburbs, I have moved around the country and meet many of you. I was considering joining Northwest of Us (Now Suburban Chicago Apple Users Group) before I got transferred to the islands, so I started my user group experience in 1982 with the Honolulu Apple Users Society (HAUS). But have worked with many groups over the years including the Boston Computer Society, the MacPack (Now DMUG), Washington Apple Pi, Cowtown MUG and the Apple Corps of Dallas. Currently spend a good deal of time trying to rebuild the Tulsa Users of Macintosh Society (TUMS).

When I talked to Fred about joining his efforts on here back in 1995, I believe, I called my material The Rumor Manager after the BCS Mac Group BBS. But then Apple began a crack down on rumor sites and I thought that InfoManager would be a good compromise.

We had previously worked together on the AOL User Group Forum along with several other people on staff. Unfortunately most of those names now escape me. Fred mentioned so many good people in his Farewell. I’m not going to try to duplicate his eloquent article.

All in all it has been a great journey with all of you. While I have seen this day coming for quite awhile, I could not bring myself to stop. Hopefully we can still contribute on a less frequent basis via the Facebook pages and perhaps via the User Group Resource pages.

Thanks for supporting us all these years and thanks for continuing to support your users.

Farewell for now!

      Lynn Wegley

UGNN : the end of an era, goodbye to this old mouse

InfoManager : what's new onlineIn the famous words of Jimmy Buffett, here we are : “Who would have thought those flames would still be burning?”

fred_and_odinI watched my son showing his new son how to do gestures on an iPad. I was immediately taken back to my son (his father) sitting on my lap learning to use the mouse. Twenty-five more years slipped away. Yes, the world of Apple and the User Group life created many fond memories — standing in the hallway with John McWade waiting to be called to the podium at Apple World ’87. Guy Kawasaki poking fun how honored he was that I payed the most ever for one of his books — Rye Livingston refusing to give up his original Apple tshirt for the charity auction. Standing with Lynn and David Pogue giving awards to user groups. All of those faces and all of those places, I wonder where they all disappeared.

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New phishing wave uses Apple cloud to bait you into clicking

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Apple phishing spoof

Bank spoofs stealing your identity

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bank phishing BE CAREFUL

Always check the destination before clicking!