Jason Snell, at Six Colors:

Without making it personal, it feels like turnover in that group is a good thing. As much as I admire what Ive and his team accomplished in the first decade of the century, the last 15 years have been a lot rougher. Maybe everyone is better off if some new people step up and a new team is given the opportunity to build their own reputations?

Narrator: It did get personal.

I agree with this entire article: I'm glad Dye—and others on the design team at Apple—are moving on, and hope that this allows a new generation to step up.

In a major coup for someone, Alan Dye leaves Apple

I learned a long time ago not to make it personal when it comes to criticizing Apple. As someone on the outside looking in, I can (and do) judge what Apple does, but it’s hard to ever know th...

sixcolors.com

Jess Weatherbed, reporting at The Verge:

Netflix has removed the ability to cast shows and movies from phones to TVs, unless subscribers are using older casting devices. An updated help page on Netflix’s website, first reported by Android Authority, says that the streaming service “no longer supports casting shows from a mobile device to most TVs and TV-streaming devices,” and instead directs users to navigate Netflix using the remote that came with their TV hardware.

Netflix continues to make its service worse for users, while raising prices.

Netflix kills casting from phones

Cast isn’t gone, but it might not work.

www.theverge.com

Santul Nerkar, Annie Correal, and Colin Moynihan, reporting for The New York Times:

He once boasted that he would “stuff the drugs up the gringos’ noses.” He accepted a $1 million bribe from El Chapo to allow cocaine shipments to pass through Honduras. A man was killed in prison to protect him.

At the federal trial of Juan Orlando Hernández in New York, testimony and evidence showed how the former president maintained Honduras as a bastion of the global drug trade. He orchestrated a vast trafficking conspiracy that prosecutors said raked in millions for cartels while keeping Honduras one of Central America’s poorest, most violent and most corrupt countries.

Last year, Mr. Hernández was convicted on drug trafficking and weapons charges and sentenced to 45 years in prison. It was one of the most sweeping drug-trafficking cases to come before a U.S. court since the trial of the Panamanian strongman Gen. Manuel Noriega three decades before.

But on Friday, President Trump announced that he would pardon Mr. Hernandez, 57, who he said was a victim of political persecution, though Mr. Trump offered no evidence to support that claim. It would be a head-spinning resolution to a case that for prosecutors was a pinnacle, striking at the heart of a narcostate.

Absolutely disgusting, even for Trump.

The Ex-President Whom Trump Plans to Pardon Flooded America With Cocaine

Juan Orlando Hernández, whom Mr. Trump called a victim of persecution, helped orchestrate a decades-long trafficking conspiracy. It ravaged his Central American country.

www.nytimes.com

Joe Rosensteel, writing at Six Colors:

The thing that made the rentals tolerable was knowing I could rely on Apple CarPlay.

CarPlay is one of the best pieces of software Apple has ever made. It’s a little magic trick where a car’s infotainment system gets a projection of a virtual display generated by your iPhone with all of your audio and navigation apps filled with your data. You don’t download music files to the car or sync location data; it’s just instantly available to you.

I'm literally sitting in a rental with CarPlay right now, and we’ve been using it nonstop this week while traveling for the holiday. CarPlay is great for daily life, but it’s a lifesaver when traveling.

Pick a car, any car: Adventures with CarPlay

A lot of car stuff happened this month, where we needed to go from a one-car household to two. We bought a new car, but it wasn’t going to be delivered in time, so I’d need to rent a co...

sixcolors.com

Deadline:

Plot details are being kept under wraps for now, but sources say Goldstein and Daley’s film is a completely new take on the Star Trek universe and not connected to any previous or current television series, movie or prior movie development projects. That pitch falls in line with Skydance founder David Ellison’s recent comments on an earnings call where he said the next Star Trek film would not be a sequel in the Chris Pine-led series but something different with new actors.

Oh, man, yet another reboot? That seems like a bad idea. I'd rather see a Strange New Worlds movie.

New ‘Star Trek’ Movie In Works At Paramount From Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley

Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley plan to write, direct and produce a new 'Star Trek' movie.

deadline.com

Karissa Bell, at Engadget:

The update adds voice and video calling, file sharing and the ability to edit and delete previously sent messages, as well as privacy-focused features like end-to-end encryption and screenshot notifications.

…

X also states that "we do not offer protections against man-in-the-middle attacks," which could compromise an encrypted chat. "As a result, if someone—a malicious insider or X itself as a result of a compulsory legal process—were to compromise an encrypted conversation, neither the sender or receiver would know," the company explains. X says it's working on features that will help users verify the authenticity of encrypted conversations.

Those statements are contradictory: end-to-end encryption means that only the sender and recipient can view the plaintext messages. If a man-in-the-middle—including X itself—can read it, it’s not E2EE.

X is finally rolling out Chat, its DM replacement with encryption and video calling

X has finally revealed its long-promised chat platform, which replaces the service's basic DM functionality with features more like the messaging capabilities on other mainstream apps.

www.engadget.com

Ars Technica:

But Tesla is no longer riding high—its sales are crashing, and its market share is shrinking around the world as car buyers tire of a stale and outdated lineup of essentially two models at a time when competition has never been higher from legacy and startup automakers.

According to Bloomberg, which cites “people with knowledge of the matter,” the feature could be added within months if it isn’t cancelled internally.

I don't trust this report—and wouldn't buy a Tesla in any case—but this would be quite the reversal. Maybe it would signal to others going down this path that they're making a mistake.

After years of saying no, Tesla reportedly adding Apple CarPlay to its cars

Almost half of US car buyers won't consider a car without Apple CarPlay.

arstechnica.com

Man, Epstein's emails are written in a style like he's that Nigerian prince that spams everyone. Seriously, who writes like this?

Here’s Jeffrey Epstein complaining about SEO.

In the trove of documents released this week, Epstein at times seems preoccupied with Google results related to him. In an email dated December 10th, 2010, Epstein complains that “the google page is not good,” and references what appears to be payments made to clean up search results. In other emails, associates give Epstein step by step instructions on searching in Incognito on Chrome. [Image:…

www.theverge.com

Ars Technica:

However, Canada isn’t the only country facing an uphill battle against measles—the most infectious virus known to humankind. Outbreaks and sustained spread are also active in the US and Mexico. To date, the US has documented at least 1,618 measles cases since the start of the year, while Mexico has tallied at least 5,185. Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Belize also have ongoing outbreaks, PAHO reported.

It's crazy that people are willing to let these diseases back into our societies.

Canada fought measles and measles won; virus now endemic after 1998 elimination

Canada's loss also represents a loss of regional elimination for the Americas.

arstechnica.com