Update: I found an affordable Chromebook that should do the job for now, and I'm gonna take my Mac back home and wipe the entire thing and reinstall the OS. She doesn't have anything of substance that she needs to save to the Cloud, but I'm going to double check her documents etc. before I do that.

Thanks everybody for your advice! We'll see how this saga continues...

I don't have a ton of followers on this account, so I would love if people would boost this for reach :

I need #tech advice from #computer people who also have #aging parents.

I think it's time for me to replace my mom's laptop with something that she can't kill. Or, if she kills it, something I can replace each time for less than $500.

I'm wondering if a netbook type of device would work? I have no idea what's available in that realm anymore.

I am loathe to get her something in the #Google 'verse because fuck Google. And boy howdy do I *not* want to go back into #Windows with her. That is my least favorite realm in which to play tech support.

However, if there is something out there that would suit her needs and not give me as many headaches, and it happens to be Google or Microsoft, and I can get it for less than $500, I will consider it.

Right now, she has *my* 2020 M1 #MacBook Air, because she killed *her* 2020 M1 MacBook Air with viruses -- and by spilling coffee on it.

It is still sitting on my workbench because no tech guys in town would touch it. All of them said that she needed to buy a new machine.

I loaned her my machine knowing full well that eventually, she would message me to let me know that it had "all these viruses!" on it.

That day was today.

I have no goddamn idea where she goes online to pick this stuff up, but the trashy email lists she's addicted to and Facebook are the two main suspects.

So my main question is: is there a senior-proof, laptop-style machine that I could get for her that would be more of a walled garden and might cause me fewer headaches so I can stop her ruining these expensive #Apple machines?

A side question would be: if we keep her in the Appleverse, is there a way I can spy on her? Is there something that I can install so I can see remotely what she's doing? I am the Admin on this machine and I believe she just has regular user privileges.

I know that's a radical invasion of privacy, even if I get her permission, but if she's going to keep ruining expensive laptops, I need to know where she's going and how she's messing them up. It would rock to be able to log into them remotely to try to fix them. (Is that even a thing?)

The only advantage to her having a Mac is I know them the best, and it does play nice with her phone. Also I can see all of her devices on Find My. But as she never travels with her laptop, I don't think she needs an Apple laptop anymore.

My sister and I got her a 10th generation iPad that works with a Bluetooth keyboard for her birthday last October. I was hoping that she would switch some of her behaviors over to that, because I can keep it more locked down. But nope.

I'm really at a loss for how to proceed as she ages. She considers herself tech savvy, and I don't want to have to keep gently shaming her for going to these fucking awful sites and picking up computer diseases.

She hates using her iPhone (13 Pro) for Facebook, email, or banking. I'm pretty sure that banking on a laptop with viruses on it is how she got scammed last year, prior to me switching out her machine. 😬

I appreciate advice from people who have dealt with this with aging relatives. Thanks for reading.

Los incendios en Los Ángeles afectan a Apple TV+: retrasos en producciones y cancelaciones de eventos. La premiere de “Severance” se cancela. Apple dona apoyo y permite aplazar pagos a clientes afectados. 🏚️🔥 #Apple #LAFires #AppleTVPlus

Big Tech is digital colonialism, siphoning creativity and exploiting consumers for profit while deepening inequality. These corporations treat individuals as mere resources in their relentless pursuit of profit.

When will you rise up against their exploitation? Just look at the damage they cause!

#BigTech #Facebook #Meta #Alphabet #Google #Microsoft #Amazon #Apple #Trash #Anarchism #Anarchist #AnarchoSyndicalism #AnarchoSyndicalist

Apple says Siri isn’t sending your conversations to advertisers

https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/8/24337477/apple-responds-rumors-siri-advertising-privacy-lawsuit

#ADVERTISING #APPLE #SIRI #KEWLNEWS #PRESS

Apple’s inaccurate AI news alerts shows the tech has a growing misinformation problem

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/08/apple-ai-fake-news-alerts-highlight-the-techs-misinformation-problem.html

#AI #APPLE #MISINFORMATION #KEWLNEWS #PRESS

Apple says it will update AI feature after inaccurate news alerts https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/07/apple-update-ai-inaccurate-news-alerts-bbc-apple-intelligence-iphone #Artificialintelligence(AI) #Technologysector #Digitalmedia #Technology #Worldnews #Business #iPhone #UKnews #USnews #Apple #Media

Apple plans to expand Apple News to more countries, with a focus on locally tailored coverage in the UK. 🇬🇧 With 125M monthly users, Apple News continues to grow its global presence! 🌍 #AppleNews #TechNews #GlobalExpansion #Media #Apple #UK #DigitalNews

Looks like we’ll each get about $20 for letting Apple surreptitiously use Siri to eavesdrop on us while we were on our devices. Allegedly, Apple recorded conversations through iPhones for MORE THAN A DECADE. Sound fair? (And @Apple won’t admit any wrongdoing.)

shorturl.at/Gvu4B #press #apple

Trump inauguration pulls in $200 million in donations, doubling previous record

https://www.salon.com/2025/01/04/inauguration-pulls-in-200-million-in-donations-doubling-previous-record/

Apple's chief hypocrite [Tim] "Cook 'believes the inauguration is a great American tradition, and is donating to the inauguration in the spirit of unity,' those close to the CEO told Axios. An archived list of all big-money donors to President Joe Biden’s inauguration shows no donation from Apple or Cook."

#TRUMP #USA #BABYLON #APPLE #TIMCOOK #HYPOCRISY #BIDEN #POLITICS #KEWLNEWS #PRESS

I like this little roundup of prominent #Apple bloggers'/commentators' views on Tim Cook's #Trump donation: https://www.manton.org/2025/01/04/the-long-goodbye-for-tim.html

#blog

Apple CEO Tim Cook plans to donate $1 million to Trump’s inauguration: report

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/tim-cook-trump-inauguration-donate-apple-b2673585.html

The Donald Trump-JD Vance inaugural fund is expected to raise a record-setting $150 million

#APPLE #TRUMP #INAUGURATION #TIMCOOK #PRESS

"Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a proposed class action lawsuit that accused the iPhone maker of invading users' privacy using its voice-activated Siri assistant.

The development was first reported by Reuters.

The settlement applies to U.S.-based individuals current or former owners or purchasers of a Siri-enabled device who had their confidential voice communications with the assistant "obtained by Apple and/or were shared with third-parties as a result of an unintended Siri activation" between September 17, 2014, and December 31, 2024.

Eligible individuals can submit claims for up to five Siri devices – iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, MacBook, iMac, HomePod, iPod touch, or Apple TV – on which they claim to have experienced an accidental Siri activation during a conversation intended to be confidential or private. Class members who submit valid claims can receive $20 per device."

https://thehackernews.com/2025/01/apple-to-pay-siri-users-20-per-device.html

#Apple #Siri #Privacy #USA #DataProtection

#Apple #Siri #spying #fraud #technology

arstechnica.com/tech-policy/... #news #press #Apple #Newssky

Siri “unintentionally” recorde...

"(Employees) ...formerly of #Meta, #Microsoft and #Apple... recount their in-house struggles over the (#Palestinians) #genocide, which... led to... their dismissals.

#Instagram, #Facebook, #X as well as other tech platforms and companies like #Google, Microsoft and Apple have actively worked to stifle information regarding the genocide in #Gaza... Dissent is often met with swift reprimand in the form of job loss."

#ChrisHedges Report: #BigTech’s Complicity in Genocide

https://consortiumnews.com/2025/01/02/chris-hedges-report-big-techs-complicity-in-genocide/

Apple will pay $95 million to people who were spied on by Siri

https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/2/24334268/apple-siri-recording-privacy-lawsuit-settlement-proposed

#APPLE #PRIVACY #SIRI #KEWLNEWS #PRESS

"Of course, this user never requested that my on-device experiences be "enriched" by phoning home to Cupertino. This choice was made by Apple, silently, without my consent.

From my own perspective, computing privacy is simple: if something happens entirely on my computer, then it's private, whereas if my computer sends data to the manufacturer of the computer, then it's not private, or at least not entirely private. Thus, the only way to guarantee computing privacy is to not send data off the device.

I don't understand most of the technical details of Apple's blog post. I have no way to personally evaluate the soundness of Apple's implementation of Enhanced Visual Search. One thing I do know, however, is that Apple computers are constantly full of privacy and security vulnerabilities, as proved by Apple's own security release notes. You don't even have to hypothesize lies, conspiracies, or malicious intentions on the part of Apple to be suspicious of their privacy claims. A software bug would be sufficient to make users vulnerable, and Apple can't guarantee that their software includes no bugs. (To the contrary, Apple's QA nowadays is atrocious.)

It ought to be up to the individual user to decide their own tolerance for the risk of privacy violations. In this specific case, I have no tolerance for risk, because I simply have no interest in the Enhanced Visual Search feature, even if it happened to work flawlessly. There's no benefit to outweigh the risk. By enabling the "feature" without asking, Apple disrespects users and their preferences. I never wanted my iPhone to phone home to Apple.

Remember this advertisement? "What happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone.""

https://lapcatsoftware.com/articles/2024/12/3.html

#Apple #ApplePhotos #Privacy #DataProtection #Encryption #iOS #iPhone

"In blatant contradiction with its proclaimed commitment to freedom of information, #Apple is yielding to the demands of Russian censors by removing independent journalistic apps and content from its App Store in #Russia."

#Censorship #Journalism

https://rsf.org/en/apple-s-complicity-russian-censorship-rsf-calls-tech-giant-refuse-compliance-regulators-do-not

I keep being told over and over again that AI is practically perfect right now and that it will take over things like journalism. Then I see articles like this:

"Press freedom advocates are urging Apple to ditch an "immature" generative AI system that incorrectly summarized a BBC news notification that incorrectly related that suspected UnitedHealthcare CEO shooter Luigi Mangione had killed himself."

https://www.theregister.com/2024/12/20/apple_ai_headline_summaries/

#FAIL #Apple #Journalism #AI

"Bedrohung für #Journalismus": Aus für Apples KI-Mitteilungen gefordert | Mac & i https://www.heise.de/news/Bedrohung-fuer-Journalismus-Aus-fuer-Apples-KI-Mitteilungen-gefordert-10216157.html #Apple #AppleIntelligence #ArtificialIntelligence #journalism

#Apple is urged to remove AI-generated news headline summaries, as it would threaten "reliable #journalism", according to @rsf. https://mindsconnect.jcink.net/index.php?showtopic=909&view=getnewpost #AppleIntelligence #AI #fakenews #pressfreedom

Apple urged to axe AI feature after false headline

The BBC made a complaint to apple after Apple Intelligence, which summarizes and groups together notifications, falsely created a BBC News headline that murder suspect Luigi Mangione had shot himself

Reporters Without Borders has also called on Apple to remove the technology

#BBC #ReportersWithoutBorders #apple #appleintelligence #LuigiMangione #murder #media #news #ArtificialIntelligence #AI #technology #tech

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2v778x85yo

New post on The Digital Renaissance: On: Stage Manager

"Stage Manager is one of those super controversial Apple features, I figured I would share some thoughts on it”

https://blog.samclemente.me/on-stage-manager/

#Apple #Technology #Blog #IndieWeb #iPad #Mac

The Democratic Republic of #Congo has filed criminal complaints in France and Belgium saying that #Apple's supply chain is contaminated with "blood minerals".

Their lawyers argue Apple is complicit in crimes committed by armed groups that control mines.

#bloodminerals

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn8g540wz3jo?at_ptr_name=twitter&at_campaign=Social_Flow&at_campaign_type=owned&at_format=link&at_link_id=00CAA0BA-BC86-11EF-A7A5-805D0F232FA9&at_link_origin=BBCAfrica&at_medium=social&at_bbc_team=editorial&at_link_type=web_link

This is a key text by Siddhartha Kara

I have strong feelings about keyboard layouts but I think I could make some adjustments to have this be a daily driver. Somehow.

#blog #apple #classic #gonk #keyboard #macintosh

U.S. #Congress introduces bills to break up #UnitedHealth Group and other insurance monopolies. Independent report says Americans live the sickest lives and die the youngest. #news #brianthompson #luigimangione #warren #healthcare #assassination #google #apple @congress @unitedhealth @commonwealthfund
https://www.news-cafe.eu/?go=news&n=13434

MacinGlass:

Clearly a brand new retro Macintosh SE/30

#blog #macintosh #maker #modding #hacker #apple #video
https://lukedorny.com/updates/macinglass

"Since the Vision Pro went on sale in February, I’m told that the company has sold fewer than half a million units. And a large number of Vision Pro buyers (those who haven’t returned it) aren’t using the product as much as Apple anticipated, according to internal data gathered by the company. Of course, that second problem isn’t unique to Apple. Meta and other headset makers also have struggled to keep customers hooked on their products. But it makes it that much harder to get consumers to upgrade someday.

Vision Pro hardware specifications aside, there are two major issues that need to be solved if there will be any hope of the Vision Pro being a gaming machine: content and controllers.
On the content front, Apple faces a real challenge. Developers aren’t going to invest large sums of their own money to create titles for a device with an uncertain future and small user base. Like Meta and others, Apple will need to invest tens of millions of dollars — if not more — getting the world’s best console game makers on board."

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-12-08/apple-sony-talk-playstation-vr-ps-vr2-hand-controller-support-for-vision-pro

#Apple #VisionPro #AR #VR #AugmentedReality

Took me a while to get this post together. Blogging in the era of social media takes great focus!

Getting DIY with computer hardware

@linuxmint @ubuntu @frameworkcomputer

https://pmonk.bearblog.dev/diy-weekend/

#Blog #Linux #Apple #TellTaleHeart

"A new lawsuit filed by a current Apple employee accuses the company of spying on its workers via their personal iCloud accounts and non-work devices.

The suit, filed Sunday evening in California state court, alleges Apple employees are required to give up the right to personal privacy, and that the company says it can “engage in physical, video and electronic surveillance of them” even when they are at home and after they stop working for Apple.

Those requirements are part of a long list of Apple employment policies that the suit contends violate California law.

The plaintiff in the case, Amar Bhakta, has worked in advertising technology for Apple since 2020. According to the suit, Apple used its privacy policies to harm his employment prospects. For instance, it forbade Bhakta from participating in public speaking about digital advertising and forced him to remove information from his LinkedIn page about his job at Apple.

“For Apple employees, the Apple ecosystem is not a walled garden. It is a prison yard. A panopticon where employees, both on and off duty, are subject to Apple’s all-seeing eye,” the lawsuit says."

https://www.semafor.com/article/12/02/2024/employee-lawsuit-accuses-apple-of-spying-on-its-workers

#Apple #iCloud #WorkerSurveillance #Privacy #DataProtection

New post on AllThingsTech: Building a Productivity System That Works for You

https://blog.allthingstech.social/building-a-productivity-system-that-works-for-you/

#AllThingsTech #Apple #Apps #Blog #IndieWeb #Productivity #Technology #Windows

New post on AllThingsTech: Building a Productivity System That Works for You

https://blog.allthingstech.social/building-a-productivity-system-that-works-for-you/

#AllThingsTech #Apple #Apps #Blog #IndieWeb #Productivity #Technology #Windows

Apple fixes 2 Zero-Days exploited to breach MacOS Systems.

Apple has released emergency security updates for macOS Sequoia that fix two zero-day vulnerabilities that “may have been actively exploited on Intel-based Mac systems”. As per usual, Apple didn’t share details about the attacks in which patched vulnerabilities are exploited.

[CVE-2024-44309 & CVE-2024-44308]

https://support.apple.com/en-us/121753

#apple #macos #update #it #security #privacy #engineer #media #tech #news

New post on The Digital Renaissance: What’s In a [Product] Name?

“Apple’s kinda infamous for going a lot of their products stupid names and we’re going to get into exactly why they do”

https://blog.samclemente.me/whats-in-a-product-name/

#Apple #Technology #Blog #IndieWeb

#macOS is by no means perfect (although, y’know, close). One glaring design error is the menu bar, which doesn’t handle the – uhum ­– edge case where there are too many menu bar icons to display on screen (either because they bump up against the current app’s menu or, on the laptops, the notch… which, well, don’t get me started on the notch…)

Anyway, so a lovely little indie app called Ice fixes the problem the way #Apple should have.

https://icemenubar.app

More tips: https://codeberg.org/aral/gists/src/branch/main/mac-setup.md