Last minute geek

1. Pay what you want for these 10 Mac apps & get the most out of your MacBook
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... for hackers or malware. This service locks it (and your microphone) down with state-of-the-art app blockers and access PINs. Read the rest Read all  ...

2. Short documentary about people living in tunnels under Las Vegas
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

According to this short documentary, there are hundreds of miles of service, storm, and sewer tunnels beneath the glitz and neon of Las Vegas, and these tunnels are home to many people. The video has ...

3. NYC Ferry department lies about reason for not letting Muslim families aboard
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... equal and fair service free of discrimination, especially when using public transportation like the NYC Ferry. These families were humiliated and traumatized in public view because they happen to be Muslim.https://t.co/iE2CT0yN3b ...

4. Donotpay adds a feature that waits on hold for you, and now I'm ready to subscribe
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... services that users could pay for in order to get even more automated anti-fuckery services. I was a little skeptical at the time, but now Browder has released a feature that has convinced me to sign up ...

5. Verizon and T-Mobile aren't supporting RCS on the Pixel 4 at launch
(English/engadget)

Google has been pushing its SMS-alternative Rich Communication Services (RCS) for years. And it's no secret that the roll out has been a bit of a mess. Now, in another set back, Verizon and T-Mobile ...

6. Lebanon plans to charge a fee for internet voice calls
(English/engadget)

... a range of services, including FaceTime Audio and WhatsA... Read all  ...

7. Google Books redesign makes it easier to find background info
(English/engadget)

It's Google Books' 15th birthday, and the tech giant is celebrating it by giving the service a makeover. The redesigned version makes each title's most pertinent information easier to access ...

8. Wyden's "Mind Your Own Business Act" would force online services to respect Do Not Track
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

Do Not Track was a standardized way for browsers to tell services that their owners did not consent to having their activities and usage logged; however, it was subverted by Big Tech and big media companies ...

9. Trump appointed the author of "100 Secrets and Habits of the Illuminati for Life Success" to the Commission on Presidential Scholars
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... The Scholars demonstrate exceptional accomplishments in academics, the arts, career and technical education and an outstanding commitment to public service." Is it any surprise that Trump's idea of an ...

10. Leaks reveal how creepy, cultish monopolist Intuit lobbied Congress and the IRS to kill free tax-filing
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... But then the industry used "dark patterns" and out-and-out fraud to ensure that no one actually used the service, even as they stepped up their lobbying efforts, zeroing out the IRS's budget for advertising ...

11. Google Voice users can start calls and send messages with Siri
(English/engadget)

Following its latest iOS update, Google Voice now works with Siri. You can use Apple's assistant to start calls or send messages through the service. You can enable Siri control by going to the Google ...

12. Iowa family wakes up to find 5 inches of blood flooding their house
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... help pay for the mess, too, although they were cooperating with local health and sanitation services before that.) From the Des Moines Register: Two weeks later, the blood is still seeping into the basement ...

13. Amazon is hosting a two-day music festival in Las Vegas
(English/engadget)

Amazon has been aggressively pushing into the music business. It's already promoted its Music streaming service by holding a concert for Prime Day and appealing to audiophiles by offering lossless ...

14. 3 VPN options that will help you stay protected in 2019 and beyond
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... beginning of their benefits. Looking to try out a service? Here are three top options that just happen to have subscriptions on sale. Disconnect VPN Premium The malware blockers on Disconnect don't just ...

15. Felicity Huffman to serve 13 days of her 14 day sentence
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... actress was sentenced to 14 days in federal prison, plus a $30,000 fine, 250 hours of community service and a year of supervised release. Huffman reported to FCI Dublin on Tuesday morning to begin serving ...

16. London Metropolitan Police Service bans Extinction Rebellion from entering the city
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... period, London's Metropolitan Police Service threw over 1,300 of the protesters in the clink. It seems that the MPS was so sick of filling out paperwork for the arrests that they opted to make it illegal ...

17. #RedForEd rebooted: Chicago's teachers are back on strike
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... of public services, after 40 years of Reagan-derived, neoliberal contempt of any state-provided service and a concerted effort by billionaires dilettantes to hollow out the public education system and ...

18. "The People's Money": A crisp, simple, thorough explanation of how government spending is paid for
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

Modern Monetary Theory is an economic paradigm that treats money as a utility that governments issue and tax in order to mobilize resources needed to provide the services that the public wants; it explains ...

19. A San Diego Republican operator ran a massive, multimillion-dollar Facebook scam that targeted boomers
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... on these ads -- the Facebook version of Uber's illegal greyball system that wouldn't accept bookings from transit regulators checking up on the service. Read the rest Read all  ...

20. Google needs a sustainable phone moonshot
(English/engadget)

... and services said onstage yesterday. "It impacts all of us... Read all  ...

21. Britain's unbelievably stupid, dangerous porn "age verification" scheme is totally dead
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... government's plan was to put recalcitrant sites on an official blacklist—and then require Internet service providers in the UK to block traffic from those sites. Critics warned that this approach could ...

22. There's now a Harry Potter subscription service
(English/engadget)

Everything is a subscription service nowadays, so frankly it's a surprise it's taken so long for the Harry Potter franchise to get in on the action, but that it has, in the form of Wizarding ...

23. TiVo's 'free' streaming service starts rolling out
(English/engadget)

TiVo's leap into streaming services is underway. The DVR creator has started rolling out TiVo+ to users, who should see it pop up on their devices in the "next few weeks." The service ...

24. 1 in 14 Trump appointees is a former lobbyist, four times the rate under Obama
(English/BoingBoing ibag)

... secretary for legislation for mandatory health in Trump's Department of Health and Human Services. His recusals are confidential, but prior to his appointment, he was working for the price-gouging dialysis ...

25. Walmart's direct-to-fridge delivery service now available in three US cities
(English/engadget)

... InHome Delivery service is now available in the US.... Read all  ...