No matter how private a communication service may claim to be, it’s only as private as its weakest link, as two recent stories illustrate.

What better day than Friday the 13th to check that your backups are actually working by restoring some critical files?

If you’re cynical about the role of digital advertising on today’s Internet, a Wired article that reviews Tim Hwang’s new book, “Subprime Attention Crisis,” is worth a read. 

In an acknowledged departure from TidBITS’s usual focus on Apple and technology topics, publisher Adam Engst explains his personal and professional reasons for voting for Democratic candidate Joe Biden in the upcoming US presidential election.

Oddly, Apple has two seemingly independent dictation capabilities available for both iOS devices and Macs. The standard dictation feature is, unfortunately, pretty weak in comparison with the dictation feature that you get when you enable Voice Control. Adam Engst looks at the differences and suggests features that Apple could move over from Voice Control.

Apple has updated its style guide, both on the Web and in Apple Books, which triggers TidBITS publisher Adam Engst to discuss how TidBITS makes stylistic decisions in writing and editing. He also examines a few of the changes to the style guide that Apple has made recently.

If you’re entering into a book layout project and considering QuarkXPress, don’t. Author Charles Maurer shares just a few of the horror stories from his experience using QuarkXPress to lay out his most recent book.

In a welcome change from pundits pontificating, Apple executives Craig Federighi and Greg Joswiak appeared on John Gruber’s The Talk Show podcast to discuss the company’s announcements at WWDC 2020.

Essayist Craig Mod points out that the fit and finish of software isn’t on par with what today’s tech companies are doing in hardware. He suggests that developers need to refocus on their craft.

In response to and in support of the protests surrounding the killing of George Floyd, Apple dedicated the Apple Music user interface to a statement in solidarity with Black communities, curated a collection of movies addressing racism in Apple TV, and published an open letter from Tim Cook.

Confused by President Trump’s executive order aimed at rolling back liability protections given to online forums? The Verge’s Adi Robertson gives the order a line-by-line read to provide context, background, and a reality check.

The tech giants have all donated money and supplies, and worked to disseminate useful information about the COVID-19 pandemic. But could our top tech minds come up with innovative new approaches to dealing with these unprecedented problems?

The media company O’Reilly has announced that it is not just canceling its in-person conferences, it’s also exiting the entire in-person conference business. The world has been forced by the SARS-CoV-2 virus to change, and it may never return to its previous state. But that may not be an entirely bad thing.

Numerous brick-and-mortar stores are closed, and you’re likely stuck at home, perhaps without some gear you need to do your job. Josh Centers offers some advice about package precautions, why you may need to look beyond Amazon, and how Best Buy is adapting to the coronavirus pandemic.

We’re having trouble paying attention to anything outside the COVID-19 news, so here’s what we think we can contribute at the moment. Let us know what else you might like to hear from TidBITS on this topic.