New Yorkers - 2/18/16 - SKIMM News

Skimm for February 18th

Skimm’d over pizza

QUOTE OF THE DAY “Vampire Breast Lift” - A procedure that is actually inside one of this year’s Oscar swag bags. The Academy is suing the marketing firm that came up with the idea. Robert Pattinson does not approve this message. SKIMM THIS

HOW 'BOUT THEM APPLE?

THE STORY Yesterday, Apple and the FBI got into a fight. And now they’re not on good iMessage terms. EXPLAIN PLEASE. This has to do with last year’s terror attack in San Bernardino, CA that killed 14 people. During its investigation, the FBI found the iPhone of one of the shooters. The FBI says they want to get as much info about the shooter as they can. But the phone has a password. And it’s not 1234. As part of Apple’s security features, the company has no way to unlock its own phones. Crying at the Genius Bar won’t help.  So the FBI asked Apple to create an update to its operating system that would unlock this phone. Apple has been dragging its feet. Then, earlier this week, a judge ordered Apple to help unlock the phone. And yesterday, Apple said ‘iDon’t think so.’ WHAT’S THE FIGHT ABOUT? Privacy. For a while, big tech companies and the Carrie Mathisons have been fighting about when it’s OK to compromise people’s privacy in the name of national security. The FBI says the technology would only be used on this phone. But Apple’s CEO says creating this kind of “backdoor” could jeopardize the company’s privacy promise (as most backdoor options tend to do) to all users. Translation: if the technology gets into the wrong hands, it could be used to unlock any iPhone. theSKIMM This fight sets up a major legal showdown that could affect how much control tech companies have over their own customer privacy. And it’s part of a national conversation - started by one Edward Snowden - about how much creepin’ the gov should be allowed to do. SKIMM THIS

REPEAT AFTER ME...

WHAT PEOPLE ARE WATCHING... Turkey. Yesterday, a car bomb in the capital killed at least 28 people and injured dozens of others. The attack, which happened during PM rush hour, was apparently targeting a Turkish military convoy. This is one in a string of terrorist attacks that Turkey’s had to deal with in recent months. Nobody has claimed responsibility yet. Turkey’s government says the Kurds are to blame, but the Kurds say ‘not so.’ The Kurds: a semi-autonomous ethnic group mainly in parts of Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. For decades, the Turkish Kurds have been fighting to be more independent from the country. The two sides hugged it out with a cease-fire in 2013. That worked fine...until recently. Now, they’re back to fighting. And it doesn’t help that Turkey has been targeting Kurdish fighters in Syria. Who, reminder, have been US’s strongest allies in the fight against ISIS so far. Turkey says yesterday’s bombings mean it’s time for the US to cut ties with the group once and for all. The White House has not texted back.

WHAT TO SAY TO YOUR FRIEND WHO SAYS ‘THIS ISN’T PC, BUT’... Save it. Yesterday, Nike dropped its big money endorsement contract with Filipino boxer champ Manny Pacquiao. Psst...you know him for losing to Floyd Mayweather in last year’s “fight of the century.” Now, Manny’s running for Senate in the Philippines. While campaigning earlier this week, he said gay people are “worse than animals.” And then apologized while wearing his Nike gear. Nike no likey. Yesterday, the Swoosh said it found Manny’s comments “abhorrent” and terminated his contract. KO. SKIMM THIS

WHAT TO SAY WHEN YOUR CO-WORKER ORDERS A CLUB SODA AT HAPPY HOUR... Pregnant? That’s what your employer wants to know. This week, the WSJ put a spotlight on how companies are hiring outside firms to figure out things like which employees are pregnant, or thinking about it. Yup. At least one of these firms does this by collecting info on a woman’s age, her search history, whether she’s stoppedfilling her birth control prescriptions, etc. Resist urge to throw phone out window. These outside firms say companies “generally” aren’t allowed to know who’s who. All of this is in part to give employers an idea of how much they can expect to spend on healthcare. Just don’t be shocked if you get an unsolicited email about prenatal vitamins. SKIMM THIS

WHAT TO SAY TO YOUR FRIEND WHO CALLS HERSELF A JERSEY GIRL… I’m sorry about Big Ang.

WHAT TO SAY TO YOUR FRIEND WHO’S BEEN STANDING BY KANYE… And now…?

THING TO KNOW Water sommelier: Someone who is paid to taste water. Because tap is not Dasani…is not Fiji.  SKIMM THIS

SKIMM SHARE It’s here! It’s here! It’s finally here! National Drink Wine Day. Skimm HQ is celebrating all day. So should you. Here’s how this works… One Skimm’r will get this fancy new wine cooler Ten others get to go bottoms up with these Skimm sippy cups. The more you share, the better chance you have to win. Questions? Answers.

SKIMM BIRTHDAYS *indicates Skimm’bassador. Cake cake cake cake.  *Shreya Sood (New Delhi, India); *Bonnie Golub (Chappaqua, NY); *Ilana Parmer(San Francisco CA); *Cassidy Rowe (San Diego, CA); *Dru Jensen-Jones (Singapore); *Erin Morgan (San Diego, CA); *Maura Kranzel (Harrisburg, PA); *Ashley Vogeli (Calgary, Canada); *Brie Mignano (New York, NY); *Christina Capobianco (Orlando, FL); *Ishani Mehta (Mountain Lakes, NJ); *Lisa O’Hara (Boise, ID); *Susan Geidner  (Antioch, IL); *Chelsea Edwards (Florissant, MO); *Gillian Murphy (Chatham, NJ); *Karina Keough (Dubai, UAE); Freda Rochford (Torrance, CA); Victoria Riess (New York, NY); Nina Ahuja (New York, NY); Juliet Litman (Los Angeles, CA); Robyn Silverman (New York, NY); Annie Pei (New York, NY); Anoush Gulian (Cliffside Park, NJ); Ben Truby (Louisville, KY); Adela Ricotta (New York, NY);  Carly Savory (Chicago, IL); Lisa Peterson (Minneapolis, MN); Devin Brown (Charlotte, NC); Jessica Palay (New York, NY); Blaise Staab (Tulsa, OK); Sumeet Shah (Warren, NJ); Eileen Southard (New York, NY); *Elah Horwitz (Lancaster, PA); Emma Ciccotti (New York, NY); Evie Jennes (Netherlands); Garrett Tibbets (Kansas City, KS); Isaac Curry (Lansing, MI); Janet Zook (Glastonbury, CT); Denise Petersen (Huntington, MA);  Janice Zorn (Tustin, CA); Jessie Ham (New Orleans, LA); Joan Sadler (Pasadena, CA); Judy Rush (Waterbury, CT); Madison Shelton (San Francisco, CA); Mallory Workman (Columbus, OH); Victoria Turek (Houston, TX); Emily Jameson (Oxford, MS); Sarah Noggle (Cincinnati OH); Ann Sharf (Orinda, CA); Edie Powers (Houston, TX)