Microsoft forced to issue emergency Flash fix after delaying Windows patches
In a surprise out-of-band release last night, Microsoft issued a critical security fix to rectify an issue with Adobe’s Flash Player on Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows RT 8.1, Windows 10, and Windows Server 2016. –The Verge
Political apps are all the rage in Trump era
More than 60 mobile apps on politics — from Presidential Actions to Quartz News — have surfaced since Trump’s election three months ago, spanning the ideological spectrum. –USA Today
High-End VR Platforms Struggling for Market Share
Low-end Google Cardboard viewers that work with smartphones continue to dominate the virtual reality headset market while higher-end VR products, like the Oculus Rift, are struggling to gain ground in the early going, a new report from Strategy Analytics found. –B&C
FCC Lets Class A Low Powers Kick Tires on ATSC 3.0
The FCC is allowing a test of the new ATSC 3.0 transmission standard in the Portland, Ore., area. –B&C
FTC investigates auto lender’s GPS-tracking ‘kill switches’
Federal Trade Commission is investigating an auto lender that requires borrowers of subprime loans to attach GPS starter-interrupter devices, also known as kill switches, on purchased vehicles. –iapp
Tax Refund Season: Consumers To Save More, Spend Less
Looks like retailers won’t see as much of America’s tax-refund dollars as they’d like. –Media Post
Google Patent On Location Labels Uses Unique Data To Pinpoint Position
If you thought location-based ad targeting would only become more sophisticated, you are correct. Google engineers have developed a labeling technique that enables the technology to pinpoint a location or geographic position based on a variety of data stored in the phone. –Media Post
How the Daytona 500 will play out on social media
NASCAR’s most glamorous race of the year has a number of tie-ins with social media networks planned, in hopes of encouraging people to tune in. –Media Life Magazine
Facebook Is in Talks to Stream Major League Baseball Games
Facebook Inc. is in talks to stream Major League Baseball games, according to a person familiar with the matter, the latest sign professional sports leagues are embracing social media as a way to reach viewers. –Bloomberg
Apple to Open Steve Jobs-Inspired Ring-Shaped Campus in April
Apple announced Wednesday that it will begin moving employees into the 2.9 million-square-foot facility in April. –Bloomberg
Malware Lets a Drone Steal Data by Watching a Computer’s Blinking LED
A FEW HOURS after dark one evening earlier this month, a small quadcopter drone lifted off from the parking lot of Ben-Gurion University in Beersheba, Israel. It soon trained its built-in camera on its target, a desktop computer’s tiny blinking light inside a third-floor office nearby. —Wired
UPS Is Testing Drone Deliveries, And It’s Just As Cool As You’d Hope
The drones are coming, and they’re bearing good things. UPS released video this week of its first completed test delivery by drone. The company said it hopes this will be a major liftoff in changing its day-to-day operations. –Huffington Post
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The Digital Daily Dozen is distributed weekdays (usually) by Dom Caristi or Heather Vaughn as a service of the BSU Digital Policy Institute. The articles are culled from various e-newsletters. The content is not original – only their compilation in this mailing is. ________________________________________________________________