A nasty bug which lets you hear and see someone at the end of a FaceTime call — without them answering — has been pretty concerning.

While Apple has said it will be rolling out a fix to the issue later this week, you’ll want to disable the feature for the time being.

This means you’ll need to switch FaceTime off on each Apple device you own. Turning it off on one device (even though you may be logged in to these devices with the same Apple ID) doesn’t automatically do the same for other devices.

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Fyre Festival may have been two years ago, but the drama that led up to the entire mess is still unfolding. 

Since the release of two back-to-back documentaries about the disastrous music festival, Fyre founder Billy McFarland is back in the spotlight. McFarland was a professional grifter even before scamming festival attendees out of millions of dollars. With his company Magnises, he managed to swindle investors into backing his glorified fraternity. 

Although Magnises claimed to be a luxury credit card, it was essentially a membership for millennials who wanted to be rich, but couldn’t afford to be rich. Members would have their credit or debit card copied over to a magnetic strip mounted onto a metal card — instead of its own financial institution, Magnises promised its members social perks like last minute Beyoncé tickets and access to an exclusive townhouse with an open barMembership was “referral only” to add to its exclusivity.  Read more…

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Four deeply moving videos released by the #MeToo movement were screened at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday, with one voiced by actor Terry Crews.

Crews came forward with his own story as a survivor of sexual assault in 2017, in the wake of accusations against Harvey Weinstein and the surge of the #MeToo movement against sexual abuse.

“For me to remain silent, I would have felt like a fraud,” says Crews. “In the year that’s gone by, I’ve learned that silence is violence. They depend on you being quiet. 

“My advice to any survivor: I will not be shamed. I did nothing wrong.”

The other three videos are also voiced by survivors of sexual violence: Daniela Contreras, Emily Waters, and a 31-year-old who chose to remain anonymous. Read more…

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Well this is a serious problem.

A major bug has been discovered in iOS that lets a caller hear and see a person on the other end of a FaceTime call before the call has been answered. That’s right, this massive security screwup means you can take a digital peek into another person’s life — completely without their knowledge. 

As 9to5 Mac reports, the bug is simple to exploit. First, you call someone on FaceTime. Next, before they answer, swipe up and add yourself to the call. That’s it. You can hear through the person’s phone, all without them answering the call. 

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UPDATE: Jan. 29, 2019, 1:43 p.m. AEDT Instagram confirmed to Mashable that the issue has now been resolved. 

Instagram went down.

The social platform was inaccessible on Tuesday afternoon, the company confirmed. 

“We’re aware of an issue causing Instagram to be down for some users right now. We’re working quickly to fix this,” a spokesperson told Mashable. 

The confirmation came after numerous reports from users on Twitter, and from Mashable employees in several cities. 

The feed wasn’t refreshing, and neither the Explore or Stories function seemed to work. Users have reported they couldn’t post videos or photos.  Read more…

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J.K. Rowling just can’t let go of Harry Potter, and this meme calls her out for it.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the last book in the series, was released in 2008. The movie version of the finale was released in 2011. But in the last eight years, J.K. Rowling has been milking the franchise dry with “Pottermore” short stories and dropping random details about Hogwarts and its dwellers years after the books were published. (In fairness, if you write Harry Potter, you’re probably allowed to never live it down.) 

Retroactive additions to the story include trying to make the series more diverse, like claiming that Hogwarts had Jewish students (despite never mentioning them in the story), and some inexplicably nasty history, like stating that witches and wizards simply shit themselves before the castle had indoor plumbing. (Why?) Read more…

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No day but today.

Sunday night’s performance of Rent on Fox was forced to go with pre-taped footage for a majority of the show, following star Brennin Hunt (Roger) sustaining a broken foot toward the end of yesterday’s dress rehearsal.

About 10 minutes into the high-energy show, Fox aired a message from the cast, which includes Vanessa Hudgens and Brandon Victor Dixon, noting Hunt’s accident and explaining that they would be forced to use primarily taped footage from the dress rehearsal (which was recorded in front of its own studio audience). 

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Reading is one of the best solutions to a rainy day, cancelled plans, and maybe even the state of our world. Whether you’re an activist or just want to take a deep dive into an issue you’re passionate about — immigration, racial justice, gun control —a book is a great tool. 

The catalog of books coming out in 2019 is jam-packed with powerful writers and activists who are encouraging conversations in the hopes of creating a more inclusive, just society. Some, like Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai and Valerie Jarrett’s memoir, Finding My Voice, draw from direct experiences — at refugee camps, the White House, and other places around the world.  Read more…

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Your next Samsung phone could come in recycled and bio-based paper and plastic wrapping.

The company’s electronics division announced its new sustainability policy Sunday and it involves changing product packaging for its phones, tablets, and wearables.

Now, instead of plastic, pulp molds will form holder trays. Accessories will be wrapped in eco-friendly materials. Samsung phone chargers will even change from a glossy finish to matte so that the company doesn’t need to use a plastic protection film. The little things add up. Read more…

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Anthem looks like a promising step in a new direction for BioWare, the studio behind Dragon Age and Mass Effect. But it’s not there yet, clearly.

Publisher Electronic Arts picked the final weekend in January to serve as the timeframe for Anthem‘s “VIP Demo,” ahead of a Feb. 22 release. Unfortunately, it’s been a bit of a mess.

Anthem is an online-focused game with “live” features that shift and evolve according to a schedule, not unlike recent favorites such as Destiny 2 or The Division. What that means is there’s a bunch of different moving parts, many of which are difficult to test inside the studio prior to release. Read more…

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