Surfeit of stories, thy name is Tuesday! We’ve collected a few of the most interesting pieces from around the Web for your perusal.
Code/red: Apple Looks Outside for New Comms VP
Re/code says that Apple’s on the lookout for a new head of PR to replace the recently departed Katie Cotton. Speculation is high that this could help set a friendlier, more open tack for the company, especially in light of the loosened NDA strictures around last week’s Worldwide Developers Conference. (Also worth reading: John Gruber’s analysis.)
New iPhone Lock screen bypass discovered—here’s how to protect against it!
Yet another iPhone lock-screen bypass is making the rounds. Over at iMore, Rene Ritchie has some good tips on how to avoid falling prey to it. As long as we’re talking about the company turning over a new leaf, a quick patch for this issue would certainly go a long way to engendering goodwill from users.
Hackers suspected of holding Apple devices to ransom detained in Russia
While we’re talking security, Russia’s Interior Ministry has picked up two men who may be the ones responsible for the “Oleg Pliss” hack that locked folks in Australia and elsewhere out of their iPhones last month. The devices were held for ransom using the Find My iPhone service, though Apple later said that the hack didn’t exploit vulnerabilities in iCloud.
If you didn’t watch last week’s keynote, you might have missed Apple’s video about the new aesthetics of OS X Yosemite. But if you’d like to watch it without skimming the entire two-hour presentation, the company’s now posted the video to YouTube. Squint just right and you can pretend you’re at WWDC again (or for the first time!).
For Apple, Marketing Is a Whole New Game
AdAge has an in-depth look at Apple’s move to transition much of its marketing in house. Reports say the internal team—many of whom Apple is poaching from ad agencies—may eventually be composed of more than 1000 folks, and that the company is having that team face off against TBWA’s Media Arts Lab, as well as supposedly inviting other ad agencies to pitch. Anyone else getting goosebumps picturing Sterling Draper Cooper Pryce’s presentation?
One Apple site submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for details about a meeting between the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Apple in December 2013. The two apparently met to discuss how the FDA would regulate sensor-based electronics products, such as a device incorporating a glucometer. While you’re not necessarily going to suss out details about what Apple has up its sleeve (see what I did there?), it still makes for interesting reading.
What Kind of Buddhist was Steve Jobs, Really?
Was Jobs just a trendy Buddhist? Steve Silberman takes a deep dive into information from Walter Isaacson’s biography, as well as other sources, to conclude that the late Apple co-founder was actually quite engaged in the teachings of Zen Buddhism—a passion that could arguably be seen as reflected in Apple’s own products.
Author: Dan Moren, Contributor
Dan has been writing about all things Apple since 2006, when he first started contributing to the MacUser blog. He's a prolific podcaster and the author of the Galactic Cold War series, including his latest, The Nova Incident.