Linked List: October 7, 2016

Friday, 7 October 2016

Microsoft to Hold Windows 10 Event on October 26 in New York ★

Paul Thurrott:

As expected, Microsoft will hold a major press conference on October 26, 2016 in New York City. And while details are vague at this point, it’s fair to say that the rumors we’ve heard so far are almost certainly correct.

I’ve received an email invitation to the event, but its a bit vague. So here’s what I’ve heard from my sources.

That’s one day before Apple’s event to announce new MacBooks on Thursday 27 October — if Apple moved its earnings from the 27th to the 25th to make room for an event.

After Samsung Galaxy Southwest Airlines Incident, Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile Now Offer Exchange Options for Galaxy Note 7 Replacement Models ★

At this point Samsung ought to just recall them all and scrap the product. Who can trust one if even the replacements are dangerous fire hazards?

U.S. Court Reinstates Apple $120 Million Patent Win Over Samsung ★

Reuters:

The court said that there was substantial evidence for the jury verdict related to Samsung’s infringement of Apple patents on its slide-to-unlock and autocorrect features, as well as quick links, which automatically turn information like addresses and phone numbers into links.

Friday’s decision was made by the full slate of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. In an 8-3 ruling, the judges said that a previous panel of the same court should not have overturned the verdict last February.

This case is so old, even Apple isn’t using slide-to-unlock anymore.

The Value of Twitter ★

Dave Winer:

When people say Twitter, the company, is a lost cause they are out of their minds or don’t understand systems. Twitter works. There’s a company behind it that makes it work. The service has a lot of value, not just as servers, but that it’s all together in one place. If that were to break it could never be replaced. Look at the void left after Napster’s demise for a clue. Set us back 20-30 years.

Exactly.

Bruce Schneier: ‘We Need to Save the Internet From the Internet of Things’ ★

Bruce Schneier, writing for Motherboard:

What was new about the Krebs attack was both the massive scale and the particular devices the attackers recruited. Instead of using traditional computers for their botnet, they used CCTV cameras, digital video recorders, home routers, and other embedded computers attached to the internet as part of the Internet of Things.

Much has been written about how the IoT is wildly insecure. In fact, the software used to attack Krebs was simple and amateurish. What this attack demonstrates is that the economics of the IoT mean that it will remain insecure unless government steps in to fix the problem. This is a market failure that can’t get fixed on its own.

Schneier’s reasoning for calling for government intervention is simple: The market won’t fix this because neither the buyer nor the seller cares.

Inside Apple’s Lightning Audio Adapter ★

Jeff Suovanen, with some gorgeous X-ray photography of Apple’s headphone jack dongle:

But it appears Apple’s engineers did their job, and this tiny adapter performs better than most people expected or even thought possible.

Why did they do it? Was it worth it? Will other manufacturers copy it?

If you have to ask “Why did they do it?”, you just don’t get Apple.