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The Blink-of-an-Eye Edition Saturday, April 8, 2023

iOS 16.4.1, iPadOS 16.4.1, And macOS 13.3.1 Address Serious Security Vulnerabilities, Fix Bugs, by Adam Engst, TidBITS

Why the quick release? The security notes say that the updates block two vulnerabilities Apple says are actively being exploited in the wild. One vulnerability would allow an app to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges; the other could allow maliciously crafted Web content to execute arbitrary code.

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iOS 16.4.1 and iPadOS 16.4.1 also address a problem that caused Siri to fail to respond in some cases, and macOS 13.3.1 resolves an issue that could prevent you from using Auto Unlock with your Apple Watch.

The Sudden Death And Rebirth Of Tweetbot, by Rob Dubbin, The Verge

Haddad’s three-person company, Tapbots, handled all of this as gracefully as one could expect anyone to handle a straightforward attack on their livelihood. Ten or so days after the app had its plug pulled, the team issued a stout elegy for their creation, without flinching from saying that they’d “invested over 10 years building Tweetbot for Twitter and it was shut down in a blink of an eye.” Tapbots’ tribute joined sentiments from its heartbroken superusers, who’d happily paid a few bucks per year for access to its artisanal iconography and expertly rounded corners. (“One of the very best apps I’ve ever used,” eulogized Apple ultra-blogger John Gruber.) Like many other Twitter members disappointed by the company’s mercurial policymaking and ego-driven roadmap, Tapbots surveyed the wreckage and chose to migrate. With a grim but dignified paragraph break, Tapbots announced a new focus for the company: Ivory, a fledgling Mastodon client built on all it had learned from creating Tweetbot as well as much of its code.

Notes

This Is What It Looks Like To Be Colorblind, by Andy Baio, The Verge

For some people, colorblindness is a serious liability that closes doors on career dreams. It’s hard to become a pilot, train conductor, or pathologist if you can’t differentiate colors in critical instruments, signals, or tissue samples. For others, it seriously impacts their day-to-day ability to do their jobs, like surveyors spotting flags, doctors looking at skin conditions, or electricians looking for colored wires.

But for me, it’s just a lifelong series of unnecessarily confusing interactions, demonstrating that the world wasn’t designed for people like me.

Six Simple Technologies That Quietly Make Life Better, by Shira Ovide, Washington Post

It’s corny but true: The simple things matter most — in life and in your tech.

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Most of these technologies are not new or fancy. They’re not promising flying cars. And that’s what makes them marvelous.

How Teachers Choose Apps For Their Classrooms, by Lauraine Langreo, EducationWeek

Educators consider some benchmarks much more important than others, the study found. They value apps that feature a development team that includes child-development experts, educational consultants, and subject-specific experts. They also value apps that provide scaffolding by reinforcing skills or concepts taught in class and align with curriculum standards rather than those based on a learning theory (for example, an app that says it’s based on discovery and experimentation) or those that provide feedback that guides students toward the right answers.

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I appreciate I can pack so many books (e- and audio-) into a little pocket.

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Thanks for reading.