The biggest (and if I’m honest) only complaint about the Apple News App has always been the inability to remove politics from the news. I hate politics and I do NOT want to see ANY politics in the news feed. I see various promises that claim that they only populate your news feed with the items you say you are interested in but sadly, that is just not true.
Well, this is the only part of the new software that has given me any issues. The iOS 12 installs on my iPhone X and iPad Pro went extremely well and the operating system seems pretty solid out of the gate.
I’ll admit that sometimes I get impatient on software installs and may not have waited until everything was finished before restarting the MacBook Pro. After booting into Mojave, I couldn’t do anything. My guess is that I just didn’t wait long enough on the install.
I rebooted in recovery mode and am currently re-installing Mojave.
I’ll keep you posted.
Update: iOS 12 Prediction has come true. Apple has “by default” limited the USB data port activity to one hour. If you do not use the data port in a one hour period, the port is turned OFF. Well played, Apple.
Update: I’ve had many problems trying to load Mojave onto my 2017 MacBook Pro. Several reboots/reloads/praying…etc. I am actually still waiting for the 3rd or 4th try.
Update: (06.06.2018) – I tried an update last evening after I finally restored my old system. This morning it was locked up so I tried a different approach. I wiped out the SSD and instead of trying a complete restore of my user data — I just restored the OS using the recovery tool. The good news is that I was successful. The bad news is that I have to manually restore some of my files. It will be well worth it. I like Mojave so far.
This is the biggest software conference that matters. Well, it matters to all of us Apple people anyway.
In light of the whole GrayBox thing, I am going to predict that either Apple will allow you to turn off your lightning data port for everything except charging or they will turn it off by default.
So far, that’s all I got.
I look forward to spending next week in Swift/XCode land.
I wrote about a device called GrayKey a while back that could unlock Apple phones. I was wondering how long it would take for Apple to come up with a way to defeat it. Looks like they have.
Go Apple!
Great article over at Apple Insider about replacing your Apple battery and why there are specific rules surrounding it.
We have a couple of these and they are fantastic. I’m sorry Apple is getting out of this game.
As an Apple iPhone user, I am grateful that Apple takes security and privacy seriously. So much so, that they’ve been to court many times over it.
A story from Engadget this morning sounds troubling. Apparantly, there is a hardware device on the market that can crack iPhone security. From the article…
Based on an earlier report by Malwarebytes, GrayKey is a small box that can unlock two iPhones at a time. (See the two connectors in the image of the device below?) It was developed by Atlanta company Grayshift, which is run by long-time US intelligence agency contractors and a former Apple security engineer, according to Forbes. To use GrayKey, all cops need to do is connect a phone to it for two minutes. They simply have to wait a bit after it’s unplugged to see a black screen pop up with the passcode — how long they’d have to wait depends on how complex the passcode/passphrase is.
Hopefully, Apple will release a patch that will negate this device.
Gruber at Daring Fireball has some good points about a poorly written/researched Wall Street Journal article about Apple Pay.
My take away is that Apple has been doing a poor job of marketing Apple Pay. I still have friends and co-workers who — when I mention Apple Pay — have a “deer in the headlights” look on their face.
There should have been enough commercials running everywhere by now that everyone knows what Apple Pay is and what it is used for. But, alas — there is not.
Update: 04.04.2018 – Apple released some new Apple Pay ads.
I am expecting a new laptop to arrive soon. The last time I bought a new Apple laptop was all the back in 2009.
I think the touch bar is what did it for me. The laptop I am using right now was given to me in exchange for a Mac mini. It is a good and solid laptop but I felt it was time for a new one.
I’ll post more about it when I actually have it.
Update: MacBook Pro arrived yesterday. I ran into a hiccup as a result of me using High Sierra to make my Time Machine backups. The new computer was using Sierra and thus, would not recognize the Time Machine backup for Migration Assistant. I upgraded the laptop to High Sierra and proceeded from there. The restore ran overnight and the only issue I have now is that I have two accounts under my name on this computer. Not bad overall. My old laptop is going to a good home. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. The Apple Developer website was down for a couple of hours so I had to wait for a while before I could install High Sierra.
I’ve decided to remove my rumors page for a very good reason.
He was talking to John Gruber of Daring Fireball out why product leaks are so disappointing to Apple and I couldn’t agree more.
I do not want to participate in making a bad experience for those folks who spend years on a project just to have some schmuck ruin it by posting “leaks” online. It may not seem like a big deal to you. To me, that is huge.
If Apple comes out with a new product and new technology, I want Apple to tell me about it and not some jackass production line worker who just wants to get paid for his information and could care less about the people it hurts.
My two cents anyway.
I’ve seen many pundits crying this weekend about Apple’s decision to remove the website that checks to see if an iOS device has been unlocked before you buy one from a 3rd party. I mean…crying. Like, “what do I do now?” and “How am I supposed to verify that Activation Lock has been turned off before I buy something online from a stranger?” Gee, let me think…
In one quick move, Apple has put a damper on 3rd party selling of Apple iOS devices. Quite brilliant when you think about it. This must have been an incredible tool for folks who steal iOS devices too. Pundits don’t seem to see the world beyond their keyboards unfortunately so most of the articles I’ve read this weekend where all about how this negatively impacts them.
My guess would be that a lot of the serial numbers that were used on the Activation Check site were actually reported stolen. I have to believe that Apple has a database of those serial numbers. Does Apple have a legal right to report the IP addresses of those lookups if they are linked to a stolen device? I have to believe they do. Lets assume for a second that as of this post, they do not.
Perhaps, they took the site down to add functionality that does just that.
In any event, Apple is always striving to expand the customer experience so if you think they are doing something to purposely adversely affect you, the user, then you are probably only fooling yourself.
I’m betting they are working on something that will make the experience better and help catch a few thieves along the way.
(image from macrumors.com)
Update: It seems that there was a pretty good reason for taking this down. Damn, I’m good.
The link is up above but I’ve started collecting rumors about the next iPhone. Why?
Because, it is so damn fun.
I have a friend who calls this type of thing “throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks.”
She has a way with words. Perhaps, she should write for this site?
I may not catch all of the iPhone 8 rumors but I’ll try to get most of them.
In the end, the next phone may not even be called iPhone 8. If I were Apple, and wow! I am sure not. I wouldn’t call it iPhone 8 but something completely different like iPhone Sugar Biscuit.
Sure, when I say it you laugh.
If Apple actually called it that, it would be the most awesome name ever!
I know how this works.
P.S. Don’t think the 30 pin connector on the likeness above is lost on me. That makes this rendering particularly funny.
Macintosh OS 9
The Mac operating system has changed over the years but not in very dramatic ways. In fact, anyone who has used OS 9 will know exactly how to use OS X. If you have used Tiger (10.4) then you can use Mountain Lion (10.8) without much todo or fanfare.
Steve Jobs knew that tablets were the future of computing and built the entire Mac eco-system around that idea. The features you find in iOS are readily becoming available in Mac OS X. This is deliberate.
What Microsoft is doing with Windows 8 is try to bridge a gap that has been building over a period of years. They are trying to jump ahead to a point that they were not preparing for. While Windows dabbled in touch screen interfaces, they saw something that was really “cool” but didn't really know how to apply it and use it to their advantage. I remember seeing Vista for the first time and listening to Microsoft tell me how awesome it was and was going to become. I also remember yawning and noting that all of those “cool new features” had been in Mac OS X for months or even years.
I am willing to bet (without having read the entire Steve Jobs biography) that Steve saw an episode of Star Trek The Next Generation's use of the PADD and snapped his fingers. I don't doubt that for a second because after watching the show, I myself wanted such a device. Man, the things you could do with a tablet computer! Steve Jobs did the same thing with the Xerox interface. While Xerox may not have fully understood what they had, Steve Jobs did. That is vision.
That is what Microsoft doesn't have.
This version of Windows is such a big jump from Windows 7 and so confusing to such a large base of users that this whole thing simply “smells” bad. Big jumps in OS are usually bad for consumers. I haven't even mentioned IT folks that may end up abandoning Windows in the workplace all together. They will have to weigh training hours, troubleshooting time, and costs against other alternatives that are much cheaper and offer less of a shock to their users. Let's face it. Windows in the workplace is expensive.
Windows 8 is such a big jump that it would be like paying someone to shoot you in the face if you are an IT guy.
Just. Sayin'
I recently downloaded a batch of pictures from the internet. The iMac refused to read those files as JPG so I did a little digging (actually Command-I on one of the files) and found that these particular files were saved with Photoshop CS5.1 for Windows. The following graphic shows what the files look like on OS X 10.8
Incorrect JPG Files on OS X 10.8
The next question you're probably asking is “how to I fix this?” The solution is rather simple but will require a 3rd party program unless you like renaming multiple files by hand. Great, if you only have a couple of pictures to fix but if you have a whole bunch then I recommend Name Mangler. I'll explain why.
Simply changing the name of the file to say “waterfall.jpg” won't fix the problem or at least, it didn't for me. What we need to do is change the extension as well. So, instead of JPG we need it to be JPEG. Name Mangler will allow you to make that change. Once, you rename the files with an extension of JPEG..boom! You have your files in a completely readable format by OS X 10.8.
Note - Append file extension is unchecked
How about Adobe Bridge CS6? I've tried converting with Adobe Bridge and it just wouldn't cooperate. Sure, you could actually view the photos and see how they were saved originally but that's it. If anyone knows of a method that works in Adobe Bridge, please let me know (me at smpmike dot com)
Someday, I’ll get back to regular posting. After this holiday season me thinks.
Here are a few stories that I’ve saved for no particular reason at all other than “they caught my eye.”
How to make the perfect hamburger using liquid nitrogen.
Clay Shirky on the future of news and news media.
A quick “Twitter-Style” drive by post to let everyone know what I’m up to. I’m waiting for Apple to release Lion so I can find out how much of my recording equipment will be affected and won’t work.
That’s all. 🙂
Update: (07-16-11)…still waiting…
Most folks who are “geeky” enough (like me) tend to buy the latest iPod when Apple releases them.
I remember when I bought my first iPod. Apple has come a long way since then. The designs have gotten better, the storage capacity has grown, they’ve added cameras, and even a radio.
Until the last Nano. They made this one small, square, and have given it a touch screen. Ok, that’s cool.
However, it doesn’t play video and it doesn’t have a camera. Oh yeah, it doesn’t have an external speaker (all features of the previous version).
But, you can wear it like a watch.
Ok, cool.
I’ve gotten the 16 gig version of the last design and the latest design. I can’t help feeling that I’ve paid the same amount of money for less of a product.
Like the 3.5″ floppy drive in the old iMacs, perhaps this is Apple’s way of saying that we don’t need those things in a Nano.
Wow.
via SignOnSanDiego…
CHULA VISTA — A gun battle between a security guard and burglars at a Chula Vista Apple Store ended when one of the suspects died in a getaway car and two others were found hiding on the patio of a nearby home Monday morning.
