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New app seeks to end iPhone-Android text color bubble divide
The ongoing divide between iPhone‘s blue text bubbles and Android‘s green ones has long been a source of frustration and humor among users.
In Silicon Valley, entrepreneur Eric Migicovsky co-founded “Beeper Mini” in a converted garage, aiming to bridge the technological and social gaps between iPhone and Android users. The app allows Android users to join iMessage group chats in blue, appearing the same as iPhone users.
“What we’re trying to do is give people the freedom of choice. You should be able to download any software you want and be able to talk to any of your friends or family that you’d like,” said Migicovsky.
It also promises encrypted messaging, a difference compared to the typical unencrypted texts exchanged between Androids and iPhones.
“An unencrypted message is basically like a postcard. It means that anyone can read it. With Beeper Mini, though, all of your messages are encrypted. That means that Beeper can’t read your messages, Apple can’t read your messages, no one can,” he said.
The creation of Beeper Mini wasn’t without its challenges. Deciphering Apple’s secretive code took years, finally cracked with the help of 16-year-old high schooler James Gill. The app’s launch saw over 100,000 Android users signing up within two days, eager to turn their green bubbles blue.
Apple disabled the app 72 hours post-launch, citing significant risks to user security and privacy. The tech giant took measures to block techniques that exploit fake credentials for iMessage access.
“So no one on earth had done what we’ve done and we’re not exactly sure why Apple hasn’t built an iMessage app for Android, because I think what we’ve shown is that it’s totally possible and you can do this but it’s definitely something that needed to exist.,” said Migicovsky.
Despite Apple’s intervention, Beeper Mini has been operational, albeit with intermittent issues attributed to Apple’s actions.
Apple responded in a statement, telling CBS News: “These techniques posed a significant risk to user security and privacy. We took steps to protect our users by blocking techniques that exploit fake credentials in order to gain access to iMessage.”
The situation escalated when a bipartisan group of lawmakers asked the Justice Department to investigate the matter. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Mike Lee, and Representatives Jerrold Nadler and Ken Buck are involved, but both Apple and the DOJ have yet to comment on the letter.
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Yellowstone hiker burned when she falls into scalding water near Old Faithful, park officials say
Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. — A New Hampshire woman suffered severe burns on her leg after hiking off-trail in Yellowstone National Park and falling into scalding water in a thermal area near the Old Faithful geyser, park officials said.
The 60-year-old woman from Windsor, New Hampshire, along with her husband and their leashed dog were walking off a designated trail near the Mallard Lake Trailhead on Monday afternoon when she broke through a thin crust over the water and suffered second- and third-degree burns to her lower leg, park officials said. Her husband and the dog weren’t injured.
The woman was flown to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, Idaho for treatment.
National Park Service / Jacob W. Frank
Park visitors are reminded to stay on boardwalks and trails in hydrothermal areas and exercise extreme caution. The ground in those areas is fragile and thin and there’s scalding water just below the surface, park officials said.
Pets are allowed in limited, developed areas of Yellowstone park but are prohibited on boardwalks, hiking trails, in the backcountry and in thermal areas.
The incident is under investigation. The woman’s name wasn’t made public.
This is the first known thermal injury in Yellowstone in 2024, park officials said in a statement. The park had recorded 3.5 million visitors through August this year.
Hot springs have injured and killed more people in Yellowstone National Park than any other natural feature, the National Park Service said. At least 22 people have died from hot spring-related injuries in and around the 3,471-square-mile national park since 1890, park officials have said.
TRENTON, N.J. — Democratic Newark City Council President LaMonica McIver has defeated Republican small businessman Carmen Bucco in a contest in New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District that opened up because of the death of Rep. Donald Payne Jr. in April.
McIver will serve out the remainder of Payne’s term, which ends in January. She and Bucco will face a rematch on the November ballot for the full term.
McIver said in a statement Wednesday that she stands on the “shoulders of giants,” naming Payne as chief among them.
She cast ahead to the November election, saying the right to make reproductive health choices was on the ballot as well as whether the economy should benefit the wealthy or “hard working Americans.”
“I will fight because the purpose of politics and the purpose of our vote is to give the people of our communities and our nation a bold voice,” she said.
Bucco congratulated McIver on the victory in a statement but said he’s looking forward to the rematch in November.
“I am not going anywhere,” he said in an email. “We still have a second chance to make district 10 great again!”
Who are LaMonica McIver and Carmen Bucco?
McIver emerged as the Democratic candidate in a crowded field in the July special election. A member of the city council of New Jersey’s biggest city since 2018, she also worked for Montclair Public Schools as a personnel director and plans to focus on affordability, infrastructure, abortion rights and “protecting our democracy,” she told The Associated Press earlier this summer.
Bucco describes himself on his campaign website as a small-business owner influenced by his upbringing in the foster system. He lists support for law enforcement and ending corruption as top issues.
The 10th District lies in a heavily Democratic and majority-Black region of northern New Jersey. Republicans are outnumbered by more than 6 to 1.
It’s been a volatile year for Democrats in New Jersey, where the party dominates state government and the congressional delegation.
Among the developments were the conviction on federal bribery charges of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, who has denied the charges, and the demise of the so-called county party line — a system in which local political leaders give their preferred candidates favorable position on the primary ballot.
Democratic Rep. Andy Kim, who’s running for Menendez’s seat, and other Democrats brought a federal lawsuit challenging the practice as part of his campaign to oust Menendez, who has resigned since his conviction.
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Yellowstone hiker burned when she falls into scalding water near Old Faithful, park officials say
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Yellowstone hiker burned when she falls into scalding water near Old Faithful, park officials say
Wagon rolls over at Wisconsin apple orchard injuring about 25 children and adults