After months of work aligning Unicode 10.0 code points with new features in Emoji 5.0, the 2017 emoji list is now final.
These include smileys, people, food, drink, flags, and for the first time: new fantasy characters such as a mermaid, genie, and vampire.
We are today releasing the final version of our sample images for this update. These have been designed in the “Apple style” to picture how these emojis may look when hitting phones later in the year.
Category: General Tech
US Senate to ISPs: It’s Okay to Share Customer Browsing Data⇢
Jacob Kastrenakes, with some upsetting news:
The US Senate has voted to overturn consumer-friendly internet privacy rules that would have prevented internet providers from sharing your web browsing history without permission.
The privacy rules, passed last year by the FCC, required internet providers like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T to get each customer’s permission before sharing personal information like which websites they visit. But internet providers want to be able to sell that data and use it to target ads, so they’ve been vocal about opposing the rules since around the time President Trump took office.
A Decade on Twitter
Ten years ago today, I sent my first tweet.
laying out the paper.
— Stephen Hackett (@ismh) March 20, 2007
I was in college, working as the News Editor at my college newspaper, The Daily Helmsman.
Figuring out how to use Twitter was a slow process. For those first couple of years, my tweets were sporadic and basically glorified AIM away messages. I shared my status in short bursts, but only really interacted with local friends as I would on Facebook.
Nest Rumored to be Working on New Products⇢
The company is working on a version of its “learning thermostat,” which adjusts the temperature based on usage patterns, that would sell for under $200, the person said. The current version sells for $249. The cheaper model would include less expensive components and at least one internal prototype lacks the flagship model’s metal edges, the person said.
A home-security alarm system, a digital doorbell and an updated indoor security camera are also in the works, representing potential good news for a company that has struggled to release many new products.
A History of Web Technologies⇢
What’s the most important thing to come out of Switzerland? Chocolate? Clocks? Neutrality? The largest, most expensive scientific experiment in history which may eventually unlock the very secrets of the universe and unify our understanding of the smallest particles with that of the largest of heavenly bodies? No, none of these things. The answer is, of course, is the Internet.
With that intro, Nutter goes on to write one of the best pieces on the history of Web tools that I’ve seen, complete with a look at its future.
The 2017 512 Pixels T-shirt: ‘The Back Looks Better Than the Front’
It’s almost spring, and that means it’s time for a new nerdy 512 Pixels t-shirt. This time around, the art is all about the iMac G3:
The original iMac brought Apple back from the brink with a lovable, colorful design.
The quote on the back of the shirt is from Steve Job’s introduction of the machine, and became a joke in Apple keynote for years to come.
The shirts will be on sale until March 16 over at TeeSpring. There are both men’s and women’s options, as well as an unisex long-sleeve because Myke asked for it.
The Caledonian Gambit⇢
Friend of the Show Dan Moren has his first novel coming out later this year. The cover has been revealed as part of an interview with him:
Well, I’ve wanted to write a science-fiction book basically since the first time I watched Star Wars. But the impetus for The Caledonian Gambit actually came from a different sci-fi series: Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan Saga. When I first read it in college, I was blown away by not only the world she created but the oh-so-human characters that populated it. I’ve also long had a love for Cold War spy stories, from John Le Carré to The Hunt for Red October; my personal favorite is a cult classic British spy series The Sandbaggers. I love the cat-and-mouse games, the tentative alliances, and the wheels within wheels of intrigue and plotting. A Cold War spy story in space seemed like chocolate cake with chocolate frosting (i.e. the best thing ever), so I decided to take a whack at it.
BlackBerry KeyOne⇢
Nokia 3310⇢
My Smart Home Setup
There’s something obvious I should state up front: no one needs this stuff. My exploration in this area has been under the guise of “I need a cool backdrop for YouTube videos,” but even that is probably not a great reason to spend a bunch of money on lights that change colors.
That aside, this stuff is fun to play with, and I like what I can do with it.
Rube Goldberg Museum Exhibit⇢
Rube Goldberg machines are one of my favorite things in the world.
Where My Data Lives
I spent some time this week going through the various subscriptions I pay for and seeing if there any adjustments I need to make heading into 2017.
As these things often do, that quickly turned into a full-scale evaluation of the primary services I use every day to store and access data.
Here’s where I currently have information stored: 
iCloud:
- iCloud Photo Library
- iOS backups
- Keychain (mostly for syncing Wi-Fi credentials)
- Family calendars
- Notes
- Safari bookmarks
Google: