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Employees Describe an Environment of Paranoia and Fear Inside Automattic Published on October 18, 2024 at 04:20AM 404 Media journalist and Slashdot contributor samleecole shares a report: After an exodus of employees at Automattic who disagreed with CEO Matt Mullenweg's recently divisive legal battle with WP Engine, he's upped the ante with another buyout offer -- and a threat that employees speaking to the press should "exit gracefully, or be fired tomorrow with no severance." Earlier this month, Mullenweg posed an "Alignment Offer" to all of his employees: Stand with him through a messy legal drama that's still unfolding, or leave. "It became clear a good chunk of my Automattic colleagues disagreed with me and our actions," he wrote on his personal blog on Oct. 3, referring to the ongoing dispute between himself and website hosting platform WP Engine, which Mullenweg called a "cancer to WordPress" and accusing WP Engine of "s

Hacker Arrested For the Fake SEC Tweet That Caused a Bitcoin Price Spike Published on October 18, 2024 at 03:40AM The FBI has arrested an Alabama man who is accused of hacking the Securities and Exchange Commission's X account in January. From a report: The indictment alleges that 25-year-old Eric Council Jr. worked with co-conspirators to take control of the account and post a fake message from SEC Chair Gary Gensler about Bitcoin ETFs that caused the price of Bitcoin to jump by more than $1,000 momentarily. To carry out this scheme, Council is accused of creating a fake ID using the information belonging to the person in control of the SEC's X account. He then allegedly tricked AT&T into providing a SIM card with the victim's phone number and install it into a new iPhone he purchased. Finally, Council was able to gain control of the SEC's account using recovery authentication codes sent to the number, and later return the iPhone to the Apple Store where he'd

Developers Now Required To Share Phone Number and Address On EU App Store Published on October 18, 2024 at 03:00AM An anonymous reader quotes a report from MacRumors: Apple today reminded developers that the EU trader requirement in the European Union is now being enforced. Developers who distribute apps in the EU will now need to share information that includes address, phone number, and email address on the EU App Store. Submitting updates for apps on the App Store in the European Union now requires trader information that's added via App Store Connect, with those details shared on each developer's App Store page. App updates can no longer be submitted without trader information, and starting on February 17, 2025, apps that do not have a trader status set will be removed from the App Store in the EU until trader status is provided and verified. The Digital Services Act (DSA) in the European Union requires Apple to verify and display trader contact information for all "

All Mobile Phones Must Be Hearing Aid Compatible Under New FCC Rules Published on October 18, 2024 at 02:20AM In a press release today, the FCC said it is requiring all mobile phones sold in the U.S. to be compatible with hearing aids. TechCrunch reports: The FCC has not yet issued a specific timeline for compliance, only noting that the rules will be fully in effect "after a transition period." The rules discourage handset makers from instituting proprietary Bluetooth coupling, which could limit device compatibility with over-the-counter hearing aids. Under the new rules, companies will be required to note on their website if a given handset is compatible with hearing aids. Two years ago the FDA announced that hearing aids would no longer require a prescription and earlier this year the FDA approved Apple AirPods as hearing aids. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Apple Headset Stalls, Struggles To Attract Killer Apps in First Year Published on October 17, 2024 at 02:50AM Apple's $3,499 Vision Pro is struggling to attract major software-makers to develop apps for the device, a challenge that threatens to slow the progress of the company's biggest new product in a decade. WSJ: New apps released on the Vision Pro every month have slowed since its launch in January. Some of the most successful virtual-reality software developers have so far opted not to build apps for the headset. Without enough killer apps, certain users have found the device less useful and are opting to sell it. "It's a chicken-or-egg problem," said Bertrand Nepveu, who previously worked on the Vision Pro at Apple and is now an investor in this area at Triptyq Capital. Nepveu and app developers think Apple should fund app makers to give them an incentive to port over their existing apps from other headsets or to develop fresh content. This practice has be

Credit Cards Don't Require Signatures. So Why Do We Still Sign? Published on October 17, 2024 at 02:11AM An anonymous reader shares a report: The big financial moments in life used to be marked with a flourish of a pen. Buying a house. A car. Breakfast. Not anymore. Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express dropped the requirement to sign for charges like restaurant checks in 2018. They don't look at our scribbles to verify identity or stop fraud. Taps, clicks and electronic signatures took over the heavy lifting for many everyday purchases -- and many contracts, loan applications and even Social Security forms. The John Hancock was written off as a relic useful mainly to inflate the value of sports memorabilia. But signatures didn't die. We continue to be asked to sign with ink on paper or using fingers on touch screens at many restaurants, bars and other businesses. And people keep signing card receipts out of habit -- even when there is no blank space for it -- b

TV Ads To Target Households on Individual Streets in UK Published on October 17, 2024 at 01:31AM An anonymous reader shares a report: Households on individual streets will be targeted with personalised adverts under plans being rolled out by Channel 4. The channel is to use new technology which will allow brands to tailor who sees their advert by enabling them to select a demographic within a specific location down to street level. For example, someone watching Made in Chelsea on Channel 4's streaming service could be served an ad for a fashion brand in a local outlet to them if a particular fashion trend is being discussed. Advertisers can further optimise their campaign by selecting from 26 programme genres, as well as time of day and device the show is being watched on. It forms part of a wider update to Channel 4's streaming platform that the broadcaster hopes could boost revenues by as much as $13m. The company will launch a new private marketplace enabling brands to buy