Bryan Chaffin explains how Bitcoin faucets work and which faucets you can trust to pay. [Update: Added a paying faucet and tested all faucets. – Bryan]
Mac Hardware at WWDC, AppKit vs. UIKit, Next-Gen Wi-Fi, with John Kheit - ACM 513
Bryan Chaffin and guest John Kheit start this week’s show off with an immediate siderail about The Curse of Oak Island and Cooper’s Treasure, because that’s what they do. The real topics, however, include what Apple’s MacBook Pro announcement might mean for Mac hardware at WWDC. They also look at the brewing fight between UIKit and AppKit, and what’s coming in the world of Wi-Fi.
The Commercial Robot Business Forges Ahead Without Apple
Apple is not in the commercial robot business. Yet. Should it be? John sorts out the issues.
SCOUT Wireless 5,000mAh Portable Charger: $34 with Coupon Code
We have a deal on the SCOUT Wireless 5,000mAh Portable Charger, a Qi charger that also has three different built-in charging cables, all in a compact form factor. Those cables include USB-C, USB-A (regular USB), and a Lightning cable. That means you can use it on your new iPad Pro and your iPhone X/S/R/Max, too. It’s $39.99 through our deal, but coupon code WEEKEND15 brings it down to $34 at checkout. Here’s a promo video with a closer look:
Apple Setup Calls, Cricut Escapades – TMO Daily Observations 2019-05-24
Lisa Hamilton and Bob “Dr Mac” LeVitus join host Kelly Guimont to talk about Apple Setup Calls for new products, and Bob’s Cricut adventures.
Cricut Smart Cutting Machines Are COOL!
Although Dr. Mac was initially attracted to Cricut Maker for its ability to cut wood, he didn’t fall in love with it until he’d used it to create dozens of interesting, fun, and useful projects.
iOS 12.3.1 Out to Fix VoLTE and iMessage Bugs
Apple dropped iOS 12.3.1 today with bug fixes for VoLTE and the Messages app.
GameClub: A Direct Challenger to Apple Arcade on iOS
Game subscription service GameClub is set to launch at a similar time to Apple Arcade, putting the two in direct competition. GameClub is though going to focus on bundling old games, reported FastCompany.
GameClub, a startup with $2.5 million in seed funding, plans to launch its own subscription service around the same time. But instead of funding new games, like Apple is doing, GameClub is bundling up old games from the dawn of the App Store, many of which have become unplayable on newer iPhones and iPads. GameClub is also working on an Android version of its service, which presumably won’t face competition from Apple. The goal, CEO Dan Sherman says, is to bring back the kinds of mobile games that have become less viable in a market dominated by ads and in-app purchases.
News+: Personalize Siri and Search
In the June issue of MacFormat magazine we find out how to personalize Siri and Search by changing certain settings. It’s on page 52 (it’s a PDF).
Siri takes repetition, the time of day and your location into account for its suggestions. As well as the Lock screen, suggestions can appear in iOS’s search results and in iOS’s Look Up feature. You may want to stop info from some apps leaking out onto the Lock screen in particular, so we’ll show you how.
This is part of Andrew’s News+ series, where he shares a magazine every Friday to help people discover good content in Apple News+.
Orange Is The New Black Final Season Trailer
The trailer for season seven of Orange Is The New Black is up on YouTube. Breaking down the fourth wall, it features all the inmates backstage, preparing to shoot, singing the now-famous theme song. Season seven will be the final season of the show. It will be available on Netflix from July 26.
Google Duo Introduces Group Calling For up to 8 People
Video calling app Google Duo has been updated to have group calling for up to eight people and a video messaging feature.
2019 MacBook Pro Teardown From iFixit Examines Tweaked Keyboard
iFixit has completed its 2019 MacBook Pro teardown, revealing tweaks to the butterfly keyboard. Ultimately it received a low score.
You Could Add Music to Snapchat in the Future
Snap is seeking rights to the music catalogs of Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and more to let users add music to Snapchat.
Artpaper Puts 5K Art Wallpapers On Your Mac
Artpaper is a neat Mac app that gives you high quality art wallpapers. You’ll get a new wallpaper every day, or you can change the interval yourself, like getting a new wallpaper every day, week, 2 weeks, or month. It supports multiple displays so you can have a different wallpaper on each screen. All of the wallpapers are scanned paintings from the best museums & galleries across the world, and copyright-free. You’ll get seven packs of photos to choose from, with over 1,000 wallpapers total in the Artpaper collection. The developers wrote their story behind the app: “We hand-picked amazing artworks (copyright-free, of course) from galleries and museums all around the world. Art is something that people have been doing for ages, yet it remains quite inaccessible for most of us. We only see it in museums and galleries. So, we made a simple Mac app which would set a random work from the gallery as wallpaper, on interval. Thus, you‘d always not only see something fresh on your desktop but also be able to catch up on your art education in a very subtle way.” Mac App Store: US$9.99
Senate Passes Anti-Robocall Bill Called TRACED Act
Yesterday the Senate voted 97-1 in favor of the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act.
Several Years Ago Snapchat Employees Accessed User Data
Several Snapchat employees accessed user data, anonymous sources say. Phone numbers, saved Snaps, and more were up for grabs.
…internal tools that allowed Snap employees at the time to access user data, including in some cases location information, their own saved Snaps and personal information such as phone numbers and email addresses. Snaps are photos or videos that, if not saved, typically disappear after being received (or after 24 hours if posted to a user’s Story).
Because of course they f*cking did.
Get $1 Tacos From Taco Bell With Apple Pay
Yesterday Apple shared a new promo for Apple Pay. You can get US$1 tacos from Taco Bell with Apple Pay through May 29.
Second Taipei Apple Store Being Built
The second Apple Store in Taiwan is on its way – Apple branded barriers appeared at the Xinyi 13 mall in Taipei this week.
GitHub Sponsors Lets You Pay Your Favorite Open Source Contributors
GitHub Sponsors is a way to support the developers who build open source software. It’s currently in beta.
As a thank you for these valuable contributions, GitHub Sponsors charges zero platform fees when you support the work of other developers. We’ll also cover payment processing fees for the first 12 months of the program to celebrate the launch. 100% percent of your sponsorship goes to the developer.
I love this idea. GitHub is one of the only open source “app stores” we have that isn’t tied to Android or Linux.
SpaceX Launches 60 Internet Satellites
It’s been an exciting week for Elon Musk. First, a leaked email showed Tesla was on course to beat its Q4 2018 record in Q2 2019. On Friday, BBC News reported, his SpaceX company launched 60 internet satellites. It is the start of the firm’s rollout of its orbiting broadband program.
A Falcon-9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida late on Thursday, packed with 60 satellites capable of giving users on the ground high-speed connections to the internet. Entrepreneur Elon Musk’s firm aims eventually to loft nearly 12,000 spacecraft for its “Starlink” network. SpaceX is one of several commercial outfits with permission to fly an internet mega-constellation. Others include the UK-based start-up OneWeb, which began its roll-out in February with six operational spacecraft.
