Month: August 2024

Apple has long offered a plethora of ringtones for iPhone owners to choose from, but two classics have been revealed to be made by Flying Lotus.

If you’ve fallen in love with a couple of iPhone ringtones over the past few years, then don’t worry – there’s nothing wrong with your music taste. That’s because two of them were composed by a Grammy-winning musician.

While Marimba might have been the classic iPhone OG ringtone, and Reflections the current default in iOS 17, there are plenty of other pre-loaded ones to pick from, dozens upon dozens in the so-called “Tone Store,” and, of course, the ability to make your own. 

But two in particular stand out. As revealed in a recent episode of the Twenty Thousand Hertz podcast, Chalet and Daybreak were the work of none other than Flying Lotus.

The artist took to X (the social platform formerly known as Twitter) to confirm the news, writing, “Apple leaked it so I can say it.”

Flying Lotus – real name Steven Ellison – also explained that the two have been around since iOS 13, which dates all the way back to 2019.

Either ringtone can be set via Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Ringtones to be a default sound or for a specific contact, and each can also be used as an alarm clock.

I must admit both are pretty peaceful. Here’s a one-hour loop of Daybreak:

And here’s Chalet:

The podcast episode in which the revelation appears focuses on the Sound of Apple and covers everything from iPhone ringtones to alarm clock tones, and the audio interface chimes on AirPods Pro. For a company that always pays close attention to the details, it tracks quite well that it would go to the lengths of commissioning an artist with an impressive resume as a musician and producer. 

The Sound of Apple episode of the Twenty Thousand Hertz podcast is available on a variety of platforms, including Apple Podcasts here. You’ll also find it among our list of the best podcasts. 

The only thing I’m left wondering is whether Daybreak and Chalet were made in Logic Pro on a Mac…

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A fake report of an Ebola case was by UCSC sent to trick students

A California University has come under fire for sending out a phishing test which cautioned all its students about a (false) Ebola outbreak.

The University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) sent out an email titled ‘ Emergency Notification: Ebola Virus Case on Campus’ to all students, which understandably caused widespread concern.

The email, which has since been retracted, warned that a staff member had recently returned from South Africa, and had tested positive for the Ebola virus. Students were then encouraged to log into an information page for more details, which is where the phishing test was revealed.

Phishing test gone wrong

The email sent to UCSC students and faculty (Image credit: Via Reddit user Carbinkisgod )

The University has since apologized for the ‘inappropriate’ content of the email, which it said was not real and, “inappropriate as it caused unnecessary panic, potentially undermining trust in public health messaging.”

“We sincerely apologize for this oversight.”

Rushing a victim into action is a common tactic used in phishing scams, and comments made by UCSC students and staff reveal the message did just that.

“I was walking when I got the email and freaked out because it would have been a very serious health situation!! Like the last thing on my mind is my online security when I think my colleagues might have been exposed to EBOLA.” user SneakyTurtleGin said on the University’s Reddit community.

Others in the thread were not so moved, calling the test an ‘obvious scam’, noting the sender email address and the inclusion of a link in the email. Despite the signs, many agreed the topic of the test was inappropriate.

It’s important to note South Africa has not had an Ebola case since 1996, and there are currently zero reported cases of the disease in the US.

The University admitted that the nature of the simulation may have ‘inadvertently perpetuated harmful information about South Africa’ but insisted the test was part of attempts to strengthen security.

Via The Register

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Midjourney opens up AI image generator access to everyone.

Have you always wanted to try out Midjourney’s AI image creator but didn’t want to make a Discord account? Now you don’t have to, as Midjourney now lets you make up to 25 images for free, as announced by CEO David Holz on, naturally, Discord.

Until now, anyone wanting to use Midjourney’s AI model to create images, even without a subscription, had to go to its Discord server and submit a text prompt using a specific format unique to Midjoruney. While this approach undoubtedly attracted a dedicated following, it also presented barriers for those unfamiliar with Discord or the complex prompt system.

You can now go to Midjourney’s website (which only launched last year) and make your images there. The site was initially restricted to users who had already generated 10,000 images via Discord, effectively limiting its reach to a select group of power users. Of course, you still need to sign up to use Midjourney, but if you don’t want to use Discord, you can sign in with a Google account instead. 

Once you are logged in, users can explore a variety of images created by others through the ‘Explore’ tab, offering inspiration and ideas for their creations. In the ‘Create’ menu, users input text prompts to generate images. Midjourney’s AI then produces four images based on the prompt, each with the option to refine further. Users can adjust the images by selecting “Strong” or “Subtle” to tweak the tone and focus, offering a degree of customization likely to appeal to those who don’t like sticking to the first choice. Once you’ve used up your 25 images, however, you need a subscription (or possibly a new Google account).

Midjourney Races On

Midjourney’s becoming more accessible is likely a reflection of how AI image generators, as a whole, are easier to find and use. While Midjourney’s high-quality images made it stand out for a long time, its rivals are catching up or even outpacing it, depending on who you ask. As AI images become more common in advertising, marketing, design, and other industries, Midjourney likely doesn’t want to be left out simply because some don’t want to sign up for Discord. 

It’s similar to how OpenAI’s DALL-E is now easily accessible on ChatGPT to free users, and even the best model has limited free use. The same goes for X with the Grok AI chatbot and its use of the Flux model. Add in stand-alone services like Ideogram, and it’s no wonder Midjourney wants to be seen as easier to find and use, lest its business slow even before its titular midpoint.

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