The second half of 2020 - here are some things to know!
Welcome to the second half of 2020. Let's hope we see some improvements over the first half huh? 🙂 As cases ratchet up again in California, we've been busy behind the scenes helping and coaching people remotely. A big highlight this month was supporting our client Art & Creativity for Healing launch new live, WebEx based workshops. If you're looking for something creative to do this summer, check them out. Live workshops are half off through August with code LIVE50. 👍
On to the news - we've got interesting articles for you this month, hand curated with care as always. Take a browse - there's sure to be something to pique your interest. What's a social media BUMMER for starters?! Then on to security and privacy updates, some fascinating health technology, meeting technology updates, and more. Don't forget our tech history section and a newsletter recommendation for you.
Speaking of newsletters, if you like what you read, share it with your friends! There are handy links at the bottom. We'd love to see more subscribers. ♥
For now, have a safe and wonderful socially distanced 4th. Happy Birthday America!
The opening thought
A Simple Acronym Sums up What’s Wrong With Social Media — ow.ly
We really enjoyed this take on why social media makes you feel bad. Engineer, philosopher, and virtual reality pioneer Jaron Lanier thinks you should leave social media platforms because they are BUMMERs. So what's a BUMMER? Read on! You may change your social media consumption habits as a result.
Some notes on security and privacy
[ALERT] Be very careful with emails about your Google Photos being published — ow.ly
Did you receive an e-mail saying your Google photos have been "published"? Delete it! There's a phishing campaign at large. If you need to check your Google photos, go DIRECTLY to photos.google.com and click on "sharing" to see what you've shared.
How to Make Google Auto-Delete Your Web and Location History — ow.ly
Google's now deleting activity history (which includes A LOT) over 18 months old. The kicker - this feature's only on by default for new Google accounts. If you've had your Google account for a while - you may want to enable this feature. Here's how.
Health technology keeps getting smarter
Apple Watch will soon let doctors remotely monitor patients as they age — here's what experts think — ow.ly
This is an interesting take from Apple - that by using the data from your watch over time, doctors can see early signs of an oncoming condition. Also, those recovering from illness could be tracked for subtle changes in progress. What do you think? Better healthcare or creepy that someone can track and analyze these details?
Lenovo's Virtual Care service helps chronically ill patients track their health — ow.ly
Your next medical case manager may be artificial intelligence! Lenovo has a new service that uses an AI named "Rosie" to interact with patients, enabling better condition and progress tracking. The data being collected may benefit you, but it's still not a real person. Still, we can see how this could help a lot of people.
Remote meeting updates
Zoom now promises end-to-end encryption is coming for all — ow.ly
After initially saying they would only offer this to paid members, Zoom is now encrypted for everyone. Make sure you have the latest Zoom client installed, and you should see the lock at the top of your next meeting.
Google Meet arrives in Gmail for iOS and Android as a giant new tab — ow.ly
Google is really pushing Meet, it's remote meeting service, over the last couple of months. The latest move in this direction - now you can start a meeting right from Gmail in the browser, Android and iOS apps. The only kicker is the other person needs a Google account also. Zoom competition?
New to Netflix, coming to iPhone
Everything coming to Netflix in July 2020 — ow.ly
Looks like we'll still be isolating in the A/C for most of the summer. Time to crank up the 'Flix and pick a new show to binge. Here are some options to start with.
Here are all the big changes coming to your iPhone this fall — ow.ly
Apple held their worldwide developer conference in June (virtually of course). Among the updates, iOS 14 is getting a pretty big overhaul. Read this article to get ahead of the game, and see what will change on your home screen this fall.
In tech history
Sony pioneers the idea of social distancing!
The first Sony Walkman, the TPS-L2, goes on sale in Japan. It would go on sale in the US about a year later. By allowing owners to carry their personal music with them, the Walkman and their iconic headphones introduce a revolution in listening habits and popular culture at large.
The price - $150 (about $500 in today's dollars). Not bad if you compare to today's tablet and electronics prices. Bad if you consider what you get for $500 forty years on!
A closing recommendation - read both sides
We know you love this newsletter, with our curated articles that we handpick every month. 🙂🙂
Here's another newsletter to consider for a great bi-partisan look at one issue a day in 10 minutes. I've been a subscriber for 2 weeks and have found it highly informative. I rarely join yet another newsletter, but I'm hooked!
You've seen his work in TIME Magazine, Vox, Independent Journal Review, The New York Daily News, HuffPost. Now he's writing an independent, ad-free, non-partisan politics newsletter that offers both sides of the biggest news stories every day.