ICYMI: March 04, 2016

Good Morning and welcome to the Friday edition of ICYMI! 

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The biggest story of yesterday and why you should care today: 

Can you believe it - encryption continues to get a lot of attention and this time for all the wrong reasons.

Today it is courtesy of Amazon who, in the midst of a massive court case between the FBI and Apple about breaking encryption on one of their iPhones, decided to quietly remove our ability to encrypt the data on any Fire tablets we have in our possession.

The Daily Dot reports that this change is new in version 5 of the Fire OS on its tablets which came out last fall.

So what did Amazon have to say?

“In the fall when we released Fire OS 5, we removed some enterprise features that we found customers weren’t using,” Handaly wrote in an email. “All Fire tablets’ communication with Amazon’s cloud meet our high standards for privacy and security including appropriate use of encryption.”

Well thank you for at least keeping our communications secure but why would you remove a feature intended to protect your customers data?

As they say on Twitter - SMH.

Also developing:

Apple Support has joined the Twitter Customer Service Revolution.

I am not sure if this launched because of the recent tools Twitter released to make customer service easier to implement on the social media service but you can now get the same Tips and tutorials from the same Apple Advisors you know and trust socially.

All you have to do is tweet at @AppleSupport.

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In other tech related news: ​

Emojis are everywhere and news about them is followed quite passionately. Now that enthusiasm for emojis can spread to developers and their coding with Emojicode.

According to the Emojicode website it is an open source, high-level, multi-paradigm, object orientated programming language consisting of emojis and allows you to build fast cross-platform applications while having a lot of fun.

OK then...

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In entertainment tech news:

No April Fools here - on 01 April you will be able to purchase the digital edition of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and then four days later the Blu-Ray combo pack or the DVD in all of their deleted scenes glory!

Among the bonus features will be a full length documentary called Secrets of The Force Awakens: A Cinematic Journey that will chronicle the story behind the film along with features about the special effects, music and of course deleted scenes.

Check out the new home release commercial to get a sneak peek at one of those before they come home.

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What we published yesterday: 

Amazon Joins the Microsoft Band 2 Discount Deal, Save $75 and Get Prime Shipping - Get the Microsoft Band 2 for $75 off along with Prime two-day shipping.

Microsoft Band FAQ: Can I Set Multiple Daily Alarms? - Microsoft Band is limited in the number of on-board alarms you can set, but you can use your smartphone to extend this capability.

Hydrate Reminder Feature Satisfied with a Microsoft Band App - To get hydration reminders on your Microsoft Band now, there's an app you can use.

What I Use to Do What I Do: The Information Security Architect with a Packed Life - Welcome to another installment of "What I Use to Do What I Do," the series in which people talk about how they use hardware and software in all parts of their life -- and what tech they love and hate. Today, we've got an information security architect with a dazzling array of devices.

Top Three Reasons to Stop Using POP3 Based Email Accounts - I go over why having your email hosted in the cloud can provide a lot of benefits when it comes to accessibility and flexibility for this critical communications link.

Email Issues Between Outlook 2016 and POP3 Accounts - If you are using a combination of Outlook 2016 and a POP3 email account you may be seeing emails removed from the server side before you expect them to be. This could result in some emails not being downloaded to other devices.

Why is my sleeping PC belching hot air? - We'll be featuring an abridged Q&A from Fred Langa's LANGALIST, a feature available exclusively to paid subscribers of the Windows Secrets newsletter. Today's Q&A: Why is my sleeping computer running hot? Is it because Windows 10 is secretly sending information back to Redmond?.

Refreshed Microsoft Band SDK Puts More Smartphone Control on Your Wrist - A refreshed SDK turns the Microsoft Band into a remote control for your Windows 10 smartphone.