CNET | This year's launch event unveiled the pricey new iPhones, and the new Apple Watch Series 4 takes on some serious health monitoring.

The Verge | "Apple’s iPhone launch event yesterday was so full of good news that the company apparently couldn’t find the time to disclose a couple of less happy developments in its product range. Firstly, the three-year-old iPhone 6S and two-year-old iPhone SE models are being discontinued, which is significant because they were the last remaining iPhones with headphone jacks that Apple was selling. Secondly and relatedly, the Lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter that Apple used to ship in the box with its iPhones is now gone," writes Vlad Savov.

ZDNet | Senators demand answers after a government report finds that only 11 percent of the Department of State's devices use multi-factor authentication.

InformationWeek | There seems to be good news on the budget front, according to a new survey by infrastructure tools provider Spiceworks. There is real budget growth in the works. In fact, 89% of more than 700 IT buyers in the US and Europe reported that they expect their budgets to grow or remain stable in 2019. More significant is the data showing that 56% of large companies (5,000 employees or more) are projecting IT budget growth. Only 6% of all companies — mostly smaller organizations — are predicting reduced budgets.

Mashable | "With Gmail's recent massive overhaul, Google snuck in little nagging orange reminders to some emails, asking if you want to reply to an email that you may have received a few days prior. Maybe you love the Nudges, in which case, we're not here to judge. But if you're part of the #NeverNudge community, here's how to turn them off," writes Jake Krol.

How-To Geek | Have you ever paused a presentation to talk to your audience, but found them distracted by what was still on screen? You can black out (or white out) a presentation anytime you want with a simple keystroke.

InformationWeek | As companies embrace digital transformation, they are finding that they need employees who understand emerging technologies like blockchain, the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced data analytics. In addition, digital transformation is driving employers to seek out staff members who can see the big picture and recommend large-scale changes to the way IT operates that could make the company more profitable.

Wired | A team of researchers at the KU Leuven university in Belgium has discovered a technique for defeating the encryption used in the wireless key fobs of Tesla's Model S luxury sedans. With about $600 in radio and computing equipment, they can wirelessly read signals from a nearby Tesla owner's fob. Less than two seconds of computation yields the fob's cryptographic key, allowing them to steal the associated car without a trace.

G Suite Updates | Google has heard from customers that they want to use the same Gmail app whether they’re online or off. This new offline feature makes that possible, allowing you to search, write, delete, and archive up to 90 days of messages, even when you don’t have an internet connection. This native capability is easier to use and performs better than the Gmail Offline Chrome app, so Google is removing it from the Chrome Web Store after December 3rd, 2018.

G Suite Updates | Many companies have important meetings that require delivering a message to large groups of people, like a company-wide all-hands or onboarding training. Now, G Suite Enterprise users can live stream Meet meetings to support these needs.

G Suite Updates | In October 2018, Google will make several changes to membership roles in Team Drives. Most importantly, they’ll add a new “Content manager” role, which will make it easier to manage files in Team Drives. When it takes effect, Content manager will become the default role for new members of a Team Drive.

G Suite Updates | Google is planning to focus solely on Gmail and end support for Inbox by Gmail at the end of March 2019.

Okta Blog | Okta is teaming up with Yubico, offering a free YubiKey Starter Pack to every one of their existing and new customers using Okta MFA and Okta Adaptive MFA.