Kbase Article of the Week: Common Criteria Tools v1.0

Apple, on a webpage I’ve never seen before, about a standard I didn’t know was a thing until today:

An internationally approved set of security standards which provides a clear and reliable evaluation of the security capabilities of Information Technology products. By providing an independent assessment of products and the ability to meet security standards, Common Criteria gives customers more confidence in the security of Information Technology products and leads to more informed decisions.

Security-conscious customers, such as the U.S. Federal Government, are requiring Common Criteria certification as a determining factor in purchasing decisions. Since the requirements for certification are clearly established, vendors can target very specific security needs while providing broad product offerings.

The Adorable

Casey Liss has a new laptop:

The MacBook Adorable is not without its faults concessions compromises. However, especially as a secondary machine, I have absolutely fallen in love with it.

If I didn’t have to edit podcasts when I travel, I think I would have opted for the MacBook over the 13-inch MacBook Pro.

Panobook

The Studio Neat guys have launched a Kickstarter for a lovely new notebook:

It all started with an insight about how we use notebooks. Even though we spend 8 hours a day doing digital work on a computer, notebooks are an essential analogue tool. We noticed, while sitting at a computer, it would be great to have a notebook directly in front of us. But that would require a different type of notebook, one with more of a panoramic ratio. So that’s what we made.

Panobook works great on a desk, either in front of, behind, or to the side of your keyboard. We wanted to create a notebook that was always open and always within arm’s reach.

I’ve been using a prototype version to take edit notes while I’m recording podcasts, and it’s been great. If you often write at your computer, the $20 is an easy spend.

iPhone Turns Ten

This week marks a full decade since the original iPhone launched. I wrote about it back in January, on the anniversary of Steve Jobs’ incredible keynote.

There’s already a bunch of great stuff on the web about the anniversary. Throughout the week, I’m going to round up some of it here.

Fox’s Coverage of the Senate Health Care Bill

This piece by Jeff Guo on how the new bill was covered on Fox shouldn’t surprise anyone:

Juan Williams, the token liberal, was the only person who brought up substantive details about the new Republican bill. “This is going to drive the premiums and costs for working people who come to the hospital,” he said. “What about the elderly, Jesse? The people we all have sympathy for?”

“They are all going to die, according to the liberals,” Gutfeld mocked.

“You forgot the children dying of cancer,” deadpanned Kimberly Guilfoyle, who was at one point rumored to be a possible replacement for Sean Spicer as the president’s press secretary.

Fuck you, Fox.

The ‘Better Care Reconciliation Act’

Senate Republicans have unveiled their version of the House bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act. As usual, Vox’s Sarah Kilff has broken things down very nicely:

The bill asks low- and middle-income Americans to spend significantly more for less coverage.

The bill would roll back the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of the Medicaid program, which currently covers millions of low-income Americans, and include additional cuts to Medicaid. It would rework the individual market so that enrollees get less financial help to purchase less generous health insurance with higher deductibles.

Here are some “highlights” of this bill:

  • It defunds Planned Parenthood for one year.
  • The most wealthy Americans will see a large tax cut.
  • Medicaid expansion ends in 2021, keeping millions of low-income Americans from receiving funds.
  • If you purchase a health insurance plan with high deductible, your tax credit will be smaller under the new law.
  • States will be able opt out of Obamacare’s marketplaces entirely.
  • The individual mandate is gone, which will lead to an increase in prices and healthy people who don’t want insurance will exit the market.

Here’s Kliff again:

The replacement plan would make several changes to what health insurers can charge enrollees who purchase insurance on the individual market, as well as changing what benefits their plans must cover. In aggregate, these changes could be advantageous to younger and healthier enrollees who want skimpier (and cheaper) benefit packages. But they could be costly for older and sicker Obamacare enrollees who rely on the law’s current requirements, and would be asked to pay more for less generous coverage.

The Senate’s version makes little changes in terms preexisting coverage. The House’s bill gutted those protections, putting the future of families like mine in serious jeopardy.

However, it’s not all good news there. The Senate versions removes lifetime caps, meaning a cancer patient could be cut-off by their insurance company in the middle of their chemotherapy, or the day before an important MRI.

Back to Vox:

The Senate bill still requires insurance companies to accept all patients, regardless of how sick they might be or what preexisting conditions they have. Building a health insurance system without an individual mandate or any replacement policy runs a significant risk of falling into a death spiral, where only the sickest people buy coverage and premiums keep ticking upward.

Both the House and Senate versions of this new healthcare bill — penned entirely by Republicans with no input from Democrats — will cause harm to the sick and poor of our nation while lining the pockets of the wealthiest Americans. Those in Congress responsible should be ashamed of themselves.

Kbase Article of the Week: iPod: Doesn’t Display a Podcasts Menu or Has Two Podcasts Menus

This isn’t confusing at all:

The latest versions of iPod software and iTunes add Podcast features to iPod. iPod Updater 2005-6-26 and later adds a Podcast menu to any iPod with a Click Wheel. For iPods without a Click Wheel, iTunes 4.9 and later creates a Podcasts playlist on the iPod (it will do the same on Click Wheel models that haven’t been updated with iPod Updater 2005-6-26 or later).