The 2013 Mac Pro and its AMD FirePro D300 GPU have had their share of glitches and woes over the years. John thinks Mojave is the best macOS so far for that combo.
The Non-Designer's Design Tool for Mac to Design Beautiful Vector-Graphics: $9.99
We have a deal on Biff 2 for Mac, an app designed to let people who aren’t necessarily designers make vector art. It has a built-in library, support for scenes, and it can create Swift code for your drawings for easy integration into your apps. You can get this app for $9.99 through our deal.
Huawei Chairman Hits Back During Davos Address
Huawei’s Chairman used a speech at Davos to hit out at restrictions from Western countries and call for a resolution to the arrest of its CFO.
iOS 12.1.3 is Out With Bug Fixes
Apple has released iOS 12.1.3 today with fixes for bugs. Other OS updates should also be available as well.
iPhoneographers: New Shot on iPhone Challenge
Apple is holding a new Shot on iPhone challenge that will run from January 22 to February 7. A panel of judges will review worldwide submissions and select 10 winning photos.
Post your best photo taken on iPhone to Instagram or Twitter with the #ShotOniPhone hashtag to participate in the the Shot on iPhone Challenge. Weibo users can participate as well using #ShotOniPhone#. In the image caption, note which model was used. Alternatively, you can also submit the photo in its highest resolution to shotoniphone@apple.com with the file format ‘firstname_lastname_iphonemodel.’
Return of the iPhone SE, Apple Pay Marches On – TMO Daily Observations 2019-01-22
Host Kelly Guimont chats with John Martellaro and Charlotte Henry about the return of the iPhone SE and Apple Pay’s continued deployment.
Homomorphic Encryption Gaining Traction
With homomorphic encryption, data could be encrypted and still worked with, greatly increasing security.
Apple Made the iPhone SE Available Again
Apple made the popular iPhone SE available on its clearance website in the U.S. over the weekend for around $250.
iPhone XS Max DxOMark Score Ranks it Fourth
The iPhone XS Max DxOMark score causes the iPhone to rank fourth in the list. With a score of 82 it barely edges out the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus.
Achieving a DxOMark front camera score of 82, the Apple iPhone XS Max puts in a solid performance for both still and moving images during our tests, and is a nice improvement over its predecessor, the iPhone X. For still photos, the device boasts some great strengths for selfie shooters, including excellent HDR, bokeh shots, and detail at close range, which are among the best results we’ve observed for front cameras.
Raised issues include noise, white balance, and skin rendering.
At&T Return to Advertising on YouTube After 2 Years Away
At&T, one of the biggest marketers in the U.S., is back advertising on YouTube after a nearly 2-year hiatus. The company removed all its adverts from the video platform in 2017. It said Friday that it was satisfied that YouTube had worked to stop its adverts appearing next to disturbing or extremist content. At&T’s Chief Brand Officer, Fiona Carter, spoke with New York Times and emphasized that her firm demanded “a near-zero chance of our advertising appearing next to objectionable content.” That standard now appears to have been met.
The decision reflects the progress that Google-owned YouTube has made with advertisers in the 22 months since a number of them discovered that some of their ads were appearing during, or before, videos promoting hate speech, terrorism and other disturbing content. AT&T was among the first companies that stopped paying to advertise on YouTube, telling it that they wouldn’t return until it made improvements.
Give the Web Back to the Users
We all know of the web’s many ills, but what are the solutions? Richard Whitt, head of the GLIA Foundation, thinks he has the answer – give the internet back to the users. Writing for Fast Company, Mr. Whitt says that change could be brought about by using existing technologies and business practices to advocate on behalf of the user.
On this better, more user-driven web, each of us would be in control of our digital lives. For example, we could have our personal information (browsing history, past purchases, content preferences) curated and stored, in a localized repository we control. We users then could choose to share or withhold our personal profile, including some or all of that data, as we see fit, in exchange for specific services from internet companies. Moreover, on this new web, users also could dispatch a personal AI avatar to act as a virtual envoy, both online and offline.
Foxconn Execs Heading to India, Potentially Moving iPhone Manufacturing There
Further reports emerged that Foxconn will begin assembling iPhones in India, in light of the ongoing U.S. – China trade war.
For 12 Years Apple Most Admired Company
Fortune has ranked Apple as the most admired company in the world. Apple has held this position for 12 years.
Apple and Valencell Settled their Patent Dispute
Biometric firm Valencell and Apple have settled a long-running patent dispute. MacRumors confirmed that that the lawsuit was settled in September 2018. Valencell provides the optical heart rate monitoring and biometric sensors in a number of devices. It claimed Apple solicited information about its technology on the pretense of a potential licensing agreement in the run-up to launching the Apple Watch.
The biometric company also accused Apple of deciding it was more financially beneficial to risk infringing on Valencell’s patents than to license them, claiming that the practice was “consistent with the statement by Apple CEO Steve Jobs that Apple has ‘always been shameless about stealing great ideas.'” Valencell had requested a preliminary and permanent injunction preventing future acts of infringement, as well as damages and an ongoing royalty rate for licensing purposes should a permanent injunction not be granted.
Google Hopes No One Notices it's a Digital Oil Baron
A day after the company got fined over privacy and consent practices, Google CFO Ruth Porat says data is more like sunlight than oil.
Most people know the phrase “data is the new oil,” a theory about how the world’s most valuable resource is information rather than petroleum. Speaking at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday morning, Google chief financial officer Ruth Porat said: “Data is more like sunlight than oil … It is like sunshine, we keep using it and it keeps regenerating.”
Google wants to ride the coattails of alternative energy instead of being associated with those nasty old oil barons in the hope that no one will notice similarities. Also the phrase “We keep using it and it keeps regenerating” underscores the belief that data can be collected from people and used for free.
Use Apple Pay to Buy Nacho Fries at Taco Bell
Now that Taco Bell is bringing back nacho fries, you can use your iPhone or Apple Watch to pay for them.
Book Sale: Fossils, Finches, and Fuegians for $1.99
Fossils, Finches, and Fuegians is a narrative account of Charles Darwin’s four year voyage on the Beagle to South America, Australia and the Pacific in the 1830s that combines the adventure and excitement of Alan Moorehead’s famous (and now out of print) account with an expert assessment of the scientific discoveries of that journey. The author is Charles Darwin’s great-grandson. No biography of Darwin has yet done justice to what the scientific research actually was that occupied Darwin during the voyage. Keynes shows exactly how Darwin’s geological researches and his observations on natural history sowed the seeds of his revolutionary theory of evolution, and led to the writing of his great works on The Origin of Species and The Descent of Man. Apple Books: US$1.99
Mystery "System" Disk Usage, APFS, Cookies, and More – Mac Geek Gab 745
Mysteries are meant to be solved, and when it comes to the mystery that is your “System” disk usage as displayed by macOS, well, that mystery’s not even supposed to exist in the first place. Dave and John dig in to solve this plus a bunch of other questions sent in by you, dear listeners. Press play, listen, learn, and enjoy!
TMO Background Mode Interview with the CIO of CoSN Susan Bearden
Susan is the Chief Innovation Officer for the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) in Washington D.C. From 2016 to 2017 she was a Senior Education Pioneers Fellow for the U.S. Department of Education. She also participates in the EdTechChat Radio podcast for the BAM Radio Network.
After a discussion about Susan’s fascinating career progression from musician to IT specialist to Education Technology specialist, we launched into a discussion of “digital citizenship,” also the title of her book. It basically encompasses how to be a smart, informed, ethical user of the internet. The book is aimed a both teachers and parents. Things like cyberbullying and internet safety are covered. Later we got into a discussion of tools for education, including AI. We finish with Susan’s amazing perspective on whether robots will ever replace teachers in the classroom.
Japan Wants Foreign Tech Companies to Follow its Privacy Laws
The country wants to impose “secrecy of communications” rules on foreign tech companies like Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon.
