Big Apple, not Big Brother is following you and your iPhone …

And the irony is that, in this case, Big Brother is Apple … not the Orwellian-feared government.

How so?

Some Apple apps can jack your address book, photos, and location coordinates.

In other words, all your private stuff.

More specifically, according to the NY Times …

The private information and photos on your phone may not be as private as you think.

There are reports that some apps are taking people’s address book information without their knowledge.

As it turns out, address books are not the only things up for grabs.

Photos are also vulnerable.

After a user allows an application on an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch to have access to location information, the app can copy the user’s entire photo library, without any further notification or warning, according to app developers.

When the devices save photo and video files, they typically include the coordinates of places where they were taken — creating another potential risk.

“Conceivably, an app with access to location data could put together a history of where the user has been based on photo location.”

“It’s very strange, because Apple is asking for location permission, but really what it is doing is accessing your entire photo library.”

I guess Apple was right … 1984 is here.

Thanks to MET for feeding the lead.

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How long does an average unemployed person stay unemployed?

Answer : In the old days, it used to be 10 weeks …  then a steady creep up to 20 weeks … then an explosion over the past couple of years to 44 weeks.

But, according to Team Obama, the long duration has nothing to do with the extension of unemployment benefits to 99 weeks.

Yeah, right.

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McBaguette, s’il vous plait …

Punch line: Is Mickey D. is going haute cuisine? No, not really.  The Mickster is just sticking a burger on baguette and charging the French a premium price.  Mon dieu.

* * * * *
Excerpted from the WSJ “To Tailor Burgers for France, McDonald’s Enlists Baguett”

In France the fast-food giant is gearing up to offer a burger served on baguette, part of a wider effort to add more locally inspired fare to its menu and attract more upscale diners.

McDonald’s restaurants across France will test the McBaguette — a burger topped with French-made Emmental cheese and mustard.

The promotion is in line with the  company’s successful global strategy of updating its restaurants to appeal to a broader clientele, while offering a more varied menu, up and down the price scale.

In France that involves tapping into a national obsession: bread.

• 98% of French people eat bread every day.
• The French each consume about 55 kilograms (a21 pounds)of bread a year.
• 65% of the two billion sandwiches sold each year in France are baguette-based.

The McBaguette will be sold for €4.50, more than a euro above the average price of a sandwich in France.

* * * * *
Ken’s Take: “Obsession with bread”?  I thought the French were obsessed with something else.  Live and learn …

Thanks to AGC

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