CNBC’s disastrous password security fail is a huge lesson for us all
CNBC tried and disastrously failed to give regular Internet users a lesson about the importance of password security and password strength. While trying to explain how the FBI can brute-force an iPhone PIN by trying out all possible combinations, CNBC wanted to show you how fast your password could be cracked by using this relatively simple procedure (here’s an archived version of the article). To do it, you had to enter a password that you regularly use, and CNBC would tell you how safe it is. But here’s where the trouble started.
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Need a ride? Clever website compares Uber and Lyft prices in real-time
There’s no question that both Lyft and Uber completely changed the way we travel. Not only have both services made travel much cheaper, they’ve also made it much more efficient of a process.
Now on the surface, one might think that Lyft and Uber are practically the same, effectively the tech version of Coke and Pepsi. And while pricing between the two competing services is often similar, there are certainly times when one offers a much cheaper ride than the other. There may be instances, for example, when Uber is subject to surge pricing and Lyft is not, and vice versa.
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Top special operations snipers go head to head
Top sniper teams from the U.S. Army, Navy and Marines went head to head last week – but who proved they were the best?
Snipers from the world’s most elite special operations forces converged on Fort Bragg, North Carolina for the seventh annual Special Operations Command International Sniper Competition hosted by the U.S. Army Special Operations Command.
The annual competition is five grueling days designed to test the world’s best snipers to the limit. Some 25 teams took part in 21 incredibly difficult events during the competition, which ran from March 20 through March 25.
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Would AT&T really go this far to undermine Google’s control of Android?
When you think of Google’s major rivals, you typically think of Apple, Microsoft, Facebook and maybe even Amazon. But what about AT&T? A new report from The Information claims that AT&T is actually working developing a new smartphone with the help of Cyanogen, the company that last year vowed to “take Android away from Google.” It looks like AT&T and Cyanogen had been courting Chinese manufacturer ZTE to make the device, although recent trade sanctions leveled against the company put its future involvement in the project in doubt.
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The gadget that instantly transforms you into the world’s most accurate weather man
Weather apps for the iPhone and Android devices these days can be scary accurate at times, but they’re also still very inconsistent. Sometimes Dark Sky tells me I’m in store for a drizzle starting in 20 minutes, but meanwhile there’s a torrential downpour hammering my office. Weather apps can never and will never be perfect because they’re not monitoring the weather at your exact location. That’s where the AcuRite 75077 Weather Forecaster with Jumbo Display, Remote Sensor and Atomic Clock comes in.
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iPhone hacking case highlights FBI’s lack of tech expertise
Apple’s legal saga with the FBI may have finally come to an anti-climactic resolution, but the issues that the case brought to the forefront will undoubtedly rise again. In the future, there will inevitably be another strategically important smartphone, perhaps an iPhone, that the FBI won’t be able to access by itself.
One of the more interesting issues to arise out of Apple’s legal wrangling with the FBI is that the mighty FBI’s tech prowess is seemingly far less sophisticated than some may have initially assumed. In fact, the FBI’s inability to access the locked iPhone of one of the San Bernardino shooters was so surprising and incongruous that Apple in one of its legal briefs was even compelled to ask if the FBI really tried all that hard to hack into the device.
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People are already lining up in tents to pre-order the Tesla Model 3
Pre-orders for the Tesla Model 3 are slated to open up tomorrow, exclusively in Tesla stores. As a result, we’ve already seen a number of reports of prospective Model 3 buyers lining up outside of Tesla dealerships and camping out in tents, all in an effort to get their order in ASAP.
While we’ve always known that Tesla has a strong and passionate fanbase, who would have guessed that the company has fans as dedicated (or perhaps crazy is more apt, depending on your perspective) as Apple fans who, year after year, queue up outside of Apple retail stores in order to get their hands on a new iPhone on launch day.
While lining up for a new iPhone never appealed or made much sense to me, the lines associated with the Model 3 actually do. Not only is demand for the Model 3 expected to be immense, but Tesla has historically struggled to get new cars out to customers in a timely manner. Even Tesla CEO Elon Musk casually joked yesterday that the company might need to increase production after pointing to a CNBC poll where 76% of respondents indicated that they’d be willing to put down $1,000 in order to reserve a Tesla Model 3.
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3 key announcements from Microsoft’s Build conference
There weren’t any major fireworks at the opening keynote of Microsoft’s Build conference on Wednesday, but the company did make some important announcements that give us some clues about where the company is headed. Below we’ll recap the most important announcements that include everything from updates to Windows 10 to new frontiers in artificial intelligence.
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What an ultra-slim 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro might look like (spoiler: amazing)
Apple last year amazed the world with an incredibly thin new MacBook design. The all-metal 12-inch Retina MacBook comes with various technical advancements that allowed Apple to make a thinner laptop than ever before. Rumors now say that Apple will take the same design and apply it to bigger laptops this year. The company will reportedly soon launch 13-inch and 15-inch notebooks that will be included either in the MacBook, Air or Pro families.
While there aren’t any leaks to show us what a 15-inch ultra-slim MacBook might look like, graphic designer Martin Hajek’s got us covered.
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This iPhone battery case lasts way longer Apple’s (at half the price and without a hump)
Adding just 0.23 inches to the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6s’ thickness, the Anker Ultra Slim Extended Battery Case for iPhone 6/6s is one of the thinnest battery cases you can get for Apple’s latest generation of iPhones. And yet somehow, even without the unsightly hump that Apple designed on its own iPhone battery case, it packs a large 2,850 mAh capacity battery. How does that compare to Apple’s case? Well, it’s about 1,000 mAh larger.
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