Alf Watt attended MacWorld New York in 1999 and saw Steve Jobs launch AirPort in the first iBook and base stations. A geek at heart, he immediately wanted to understand this new technology, and iStumbler for Mac OS 9 was the result.  Later, he headed a team at Apple working  on Wi-Fi technologies. Basically, Mr. Watt has spent ten years making an invisible technology, indistinguishable from magic, very visible. The story of how that turned out includes fascinating technical tidbits about how Wi-Fi works.

Mavericks testers have reported problems installing the Mavericks Developer Preview in a Parallels virtual machine on Mountain Lion. Parallels has provided some knowledge base articles to assist, including the installation of Parallels Desktop 8 in Mavericks itself.  

Life at Bjango for Marc Edwards started with OS X widgets, but widgets aren't really a big thing anymore on the Mac. Even so, 30 million downloads provided a sense that something good was going on. Later came iStat Menus and an evolving family of products. But after he viewed the WWDC Keynote, his reaction was "what just happened?"  

Kevin Hoctor was looking for a great money management tool for the Mac.  After experiencing the dreary life of being a Windows developer, he decided to learn Cocoa and Objective-C and discovered the joys of writing for the Mac.  His first major release was MoneyWell, and it went fabulously.  Now he's working on the iPad version. Mr. Hoctor has never looked back.

Dave Peck, Peter Sagerson and Nick Robinson were all doing freelance work in Seattle. They would gather at one of the many coffee shops there, getting caffeinated and doing their work. Then one day, Dave Peck realized they were using all these open wireless networks, completely non-secure, and doing sensitive client work. Then they realized they needed one of those VPN clients. Except, they were all so bad.  The rest is history.

In many endeavors these days, outsiders have a louder voice than the people doing the hard work. It's so bad that scientists have to take classes on public speaking.  The same goes for Apple. The employeees inside of Apple, designing and selling great products that are snapped up immediately, are under a barrage of criticism by outsiders who boast loudly. John Martellaro explains some of the reactions to WWDC's Keynote.

Bruno Virlet started his first iOS app while in college at the University of Illinois. One idea led to another, and now his app, Genius Scan, is a big seller on iOS, Android, and Windows Phone. Mr. Virlet tells how it all started and how he's feeling about geting his app ready for iOS 7.  

Brent Simmons started writing BASIC code on an Apple II+, and later started writing apps, profesionally for the Macintosh. He's famous for a lot of Mac apps that we've all used, and hs latest project, in partnership with John Gruber and Dave Wiskus is Vesper from Q Branch.  Mr. Simmons talked about his perspectives as a developer in this interview during WWDC.

Joe Pezzillo has had a varied career, developed several startups, worked for Apple, and even tried his hand at being a Bohemian poet.  At WWDC this week, Mr. Pezzillo told TMO's Dave Hamilton the most important thing he learned about being a successful entrepreneur as he built Push.io.

Peter Kelly is a professor in Adelaide, Australia and teaches classes on computer operating systems. After writing his Ph.D. thesis with Lyx and LaTex, he thought it would be interesting to develop similar software for Android. That didn't work out so well.  UX Write for the iPad was the result. Dave Hamilton interviewed Dr. Kelly at WWDC this week and got the story.

You have lots to do each day, and that's what lists and To Do apps are for.  But when you get that brilliant bolt from the blue, or two, it needs a special place to hibernate while you fill in the details.  Vesper does that with grace, focus, and simplicity.

There was a vague feeling John Martellaro had when he first saw Apple's new Mac Pro. Deep in his subconscious, there was a memory of something familiar.  He tells the story.

At WWDC, Apple's Craig Federighi walked us down a new, invigorated path for OS X. Instead of a adding gadgets and questionable features to the OS, fundamental improvements have been made that will make us more productive. Crazy things we complained about have been fixed. It's a great feeling.

Apple's professional and advanced technical users have been, with a half broken heart, pining for Apple to introduce a flagship product, a new Mac Pro that would stun and stagger us.  The company has not disappointed. Plus, it was oh, so smart to give us a sneak peek at WWDC, so that developers would see what would soon be in the hands of customers. The drool factor starts NOW.

There are varying perspectives on what the next Mac Pro should be like.  But everyone seems to agree that it should look beautiful, be insanely fast, have stupendus graphics power, be customer upgradeable to ridiculous amounts of RAM, boot from an SSD and be cooled by liquid helium if necessary in order to run rings around any everyday iMac. A WWDC announcement would stun and stagger us.

What makes a product creepy? How do customers feel about Internet services versus things they can touch and hold?  John Martellaro explores the creepy factor.

You have one of the fabulous olloclip lens kits for the iPhone that provides add-on fisheye, wide angle and macro lenses. But you have to remove your current case to use the lenses. That's a real pain. olloclip has solved that problem by launching its own iPhone case with a top section that flips out of the way. And it still protects your iPhone nicely.

The promise of magazine heaven on the Apple iPad has not yet been fulfilled. As publishers with varying degrees of cash, technical expertise and perspective have entered the digital magazine market, the technology has splintered. John Martellaro shares his own experiences with an all digital magazine life.

If you’re attending WWDC for the first time this year, here’s a boatload of useful tips for newbies that will save time and grief.

Given the complexity of the high technology marketplace, changing demographics, new technologies, cutthroat competitors, and product design and positioning, it's a miracle that a CEO and his or her executive team can build and maintain a profitable, admired company. This week's Particle Debris looks at how difficult that really is.

A question has come up about Apple's ability to inspire our dreams. Apple doesn't seem to be sharing its vision for the future right now. Has Google usurped that role? That idea is all wrong. Apple shares its dream when the product ships.  John Martellaro explains.

Max Seelemann is an Apple developer and founder of The Soulmen, now famous for the Ulysses series of OS X apps for writers. In this interview, Mr. Seelemann explains how Apple's iCloud APIs, designed for simple use, often fail when developers have even modest file issues to deal with.

We hear a lot about about CEO charisma and seat-of-the pants navigation of the modern tech industry challenges. However, are the forces in the modern marketplace too complex for one CEO or even a small team of executives to analyze successfully? There is a tool that can come to their aid that we know works.  It helped the Allies win World War II.

Recently, we've seen some articles that claim Tim Cook doesn't really know what he's doing and he'll drag Apple down. It's all nonsense, driven by lack of understanding of the man. John Martellaro refutes the crazy notion based on his own experiences. Plus he presents a video for you to analyze.

You've heard about the phablets, notably the Samsung Galaxy Note II with a 5.5 inch display, running Android. Unfortunately, not all of the writing about the device, and phablets in general, has been phabulous.  Here is an in-depth, no holds barred, technical analysis and detailed review of the Galaxy Note II by John Martellaro. It may not be what you were expecting.  

Everyone who's into theatrical movies knows the drill: what do I want to see next?  What have I already seen? What's available now in theaters? iTunes? What's coming out soon? Let's view the trailer. And so on. ToDoMovies is an iPhone app that manages all that beautifully, and it's a must for movie fans.  

Apple and Google are engaged in a fight for our technological souls. With a temporary lull in activity from Apple, it looks as if Google is winning the war. But really? What will determine the winner in the long run not simply new product announcements. It's something else. John Martellaro takes the 30,000 ft view.

The science fiction writer Robert Heinlein, in his legendary novel, "Stranger in a Strange Land," introduced the concept of the "Fair Witness." A Fair Witness was an expert observer with a perfect memory whose testimony in court was unimpeachable. When you think about it, that's what Google Glass offers.

Absolute Software has introduced Computrace Mobile Theft Management (MTM) an iOS loss management and theft recovery solution. Currently, the service is limited to iPad and iPad mini in K-12 education. Computrace MTM goes beyond the built-in iOS features to initiate rapid response service and start the investigation process to obtain evidence for police, all leading to physical recovery.

Personal assessments of what technology to adopt and what to ignore is what we do these days. Developers develop, technical columnists experiment and report, and individuals decide yea or nay. However, basing those decisions on old-fashioned or emotional preconceptions in increasingly unproductive. John Martellaro roughs up the technical hobgoblins and sizes up iOS 7.

Now that Google Glass is being widely tested and written about, reactions are all over the map -- as they should be. That's a good sign for a new technology: our inability to come to consensus on the technical and social aspects at first. But in the long term, the technology always settles out.

Satellite Safari is a realtime, visual guide to hundreds of satellites in orbit.  This universal iOS app will tell when they pass overhead and where they are right now.  You can follow along in orbit, with the satellite, see what it looks like, look at the ground track or watch it pass overhead from your location on the ground.  It's also the official app for the Kickstarter SkyCube mission.

Many Apple customers throughout the years profitably utilized the rack mounted Xserve product in their businesses. It was a quality product that cost less than the competition's by a significant amount. Yet, it was doomed to failure.  John Martellaro tells how it happened.

Over the weekend, Cult of Mac ran a story about how new technologies are threatening to leave the iPhone behind. The premise there is that there is no longer room for vision, that a technology race determines the ultimate winner. John Martellaro weighs in with a rebuttal.

Ulysses III is a complete rewrite of the legendary Ulysses II writing tool.  It uses a wide range of OS X technologies to create a focused, elegant writing environment. By using Markdown, it separates how the document looks from the content. Version 1.0.1 is missing a few minor features, but is a solid and impressive initial release.  John Martellaro liked it a lot.

There are times when the iPad or iPhone user needs a stylus. And because stylus technology has come a long way in terms of the design, craftsmanship and the nib material, they're even more fun to use. The LYNKtec TruGlide Pro, with a 5 mm microfiber tip, is the best pure stylus John Martellaro has ever used. Here's his review.

Often, it's good to be reminded of things that get lost in the Internet storms.  This week, we were reminded by some calm, cool heads about things we have forgotten to appreciate about Apple. John Martellaro recaps.

When Apple's developer event, the World Wide Developer Conference, sells out in less than three minutes, something is broken. Developers that TMO contacted weren't happy with the process and strongly urged Apple to make changes, both to the sign up process and to the event. Here's a vivid and articulate collection of developer responses that's full of insight and provides serious food for thought.

What if you could just swipe sideways to switch between apps on your iPad?  Well, you can!  John Martellaro shows you how to perform this most innocent of finger gestures.

Most every publication has expressed dismay over Apple's new product drought. A lack of innovation is often cited. In fact, something very big may be coming, and that takes time to prepare.  John Martellaro explains.

During Apple's Q2 2013 earnings report, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that despite a slight decline in Mac sales, the company is still very committed to innovation and investment in the Macintosh. There is no change in the Mac strategy.

There will be much ado about Apple earnings report on April 23. In order to better understand Apple's results, John Martellaro analyzes Apple's new approach to reporting its revenue guidance for the future quarter.  The analysis involves computer models and, gotta love it, Ferraris.

This week's news events remind us that there is a conflict between the need for organizations to attract people's attention and the work necessary to be authoritative. In the technology world, especially with Apple, that work means understanding and explaining how opposing forces interact.  

One would think that with more than 300,000 native iPad apps out there, everything that could be thought of has been thought of. Not quite. Status Board from Panic, Inc. creates a customizable display and platform in the form of a status board that's amazingly easy easy to use and will likely have all kinds of unanticipated uses. For now, out of the box, it's simple, fun, highly customizable and informative.

Recently, a Microsoft executive suggested that Apple's iOS is boring. Why would he say that?  John Martellaro knows exactly why. Thank goodness iOS is very boring indeed.  

When iOS 5 was released, Apple introduced geofences, the ability to detect proximity to a location. Today, in iOS6 with the Reminders app, users can set up a reminder so that when they enter or leave a geographic location, they'll get a notification on their iPhone. John Martellaro explains how to set up this really cool feature.

Some notable executives who have worked for Apple fail when they leave and go to work for another company.  Why does this happen?  It's the paradox of power for Apple VPs. John Martellaro explains what he learned for himself at Apple.

Over the decades, personal computers have made enormous gains in speeds. But in the short term, not much has happened. On the other hand, the maintenance burdens on customers just kept increasing. That's why customers have moved briskly to the tablet.  In a sense, the PC industry failed its original vision, and customers moved on. Now what?