Check out Air Vinyl Design‘s self titled product, Air Vinyl. They’re simple vinyl decorations for your plain white AirPods case. Sure, a lot of people would never sully their pristine Apple design, but a lot of people love to decorate their Apple devices. Since the AirPods case is something you need to use all the time, I can definitely see folks wanting to personalize them. Especially if you want a way to quickly identify your case from everyone else’s. Air Vinyls are made of vinyl, and they’re designed to be removable. There are currently eight designs, as shown, but the designer told me he has ones coming for San Francisco, New York City, and Chicago, and when I suggested Cupertino, he thought it a splendid idea. They’re being sold in sets: Los Angeles, CA; Music Mixer; and Rorschach Drops, as grouped below. Each set is $5.99.
Bryan Chaffin
Bryan Chaffin is the cofounder of The Mac Observer and currently serves as Afternoon Editor. He has contributed to MacAddict and MacFormat magazines, and co-authored the last two updates of iPad and iPad Pro for Dummies with Bob “Dr. Mac” LeVitus and Ed Baig. You can find out more about Bryan at his personal site, GeekTells, or find his Twitter link below.
Articles by Bryan Chaffin
Ten Year Illustrated History of iOS
German software company fournova has put together a delightful illustrated history of iOS to mark its ten hear history. It starts with the Steve Jobs introducing a device that runs on special version of what was then called OS X. Each iteration of iOS through iOS 10 then gets its own panel highlighting what was new and some of the people involved with presenting it. It’s a fun look through the years, and I saw a couple of things I hadn’t thought about in a long time. Check it out!
The Swift 3 Master Coder Bundle
Check out the The Swift 3 Master Coder Bundle, a collection of four training courses for iOS developers. This includes: Hacking With Swift 3 – Beginner to Pro: Build 17 Apps, Swift 3: Exploiting the Latest iOS 10 Features, iOS 10 and Xcode 8: Complete Swift 3 & Objective-C Guide, and Learn iOS 10 Development with Swift 3 & Xcode 8: Build 14 Apps. That’s more than 94 hours of video training content for $36.
Toughlink MFi-Certified Metal Braided Lightning Cable 2-Pack: $29.99
We have a deal for you today on a 2-pack of Toughlink MFi-Certified Metal Braided Lightning Cables. They’re metal braided, and they’re available in Space Gray, Silver, or Gold. The 2-pack is $29.99.
A Brief Salute to Retiring Walt Mossberg
Walt Mossberg announced Friday that he will retire in June. Mr. Mossberg came to fame in the 1990s as tech columnist for The Wall Street Journal. He consistently dinged Apple until shortly after the return of Steve Jobs. His career rose sharply as tech exploded and became an ever-more important part of modern society. He was one of the few journalists blessed by Steve Jobs, and was often given advanced access to Apple’s leadership and products. He and journalist partner Kara Swisher also got Steve Jobs, Tim Cook, and other Apple execs on stage for the AllThingsD conference, as shown in the image below, and later at Re/code’s Code conference. I didn’t always agree with Mr. Mossberg, but he contributed greatly to our understanding of what the tech world was up to. Accordingly, salute, Mr. Mossberg, and enjoy your well-earned retirement!
Swift Programming from Scratch - Interactive Learning Platform: $10
We have a deal for you today on a training course to help you learn Swift. It’s called We ❤️ Swift, an ebook and interactive platform designed to teach you Swift from scratch. It includes more than a hundred exercises and custom made playgrounds. You can get it for $10 through our deal.
Twitter, Instagram, and Others Agree to Pay $5.3 Million for Privacy Obnoxiousness
Several social media companies have agreed to a US$5.3 million settlement for being obnoxious about user privacy. The suit stems from 2012, when Twitter, Instagram, Yelp, Foursquare, Kik, Path, Gowalla, and Foodspotting all took advantage of the way iOS worked at the time. More specifically, these companies sucked up our Contacts without telling us. iOS later required user permission to access our Contacts. The settlement was reported by Law360, who said the $5.3 million would be used to pay out damages to people who downloaded the above-mentioned apps between 2009 and 2012. What that means is the attorneys in the case get a phat paycheck, the companies get a slap on the wrist, and the millions of users who downloaded those apps will get pennies. Yay!
'The Cube' Bluetooth Speaker: $25.99
Check out “The Cube,” a Bluetooth speaker with a unique design. Internal LED lights shine through the cracks of the outer shell. There are three colors, which you can choose below the price. It’s $25.99 through us.
The Mystery of New Mac Pros, Apple and Politics, and Robot Welfare - ACM 405
Apple kind of announced a new Mac Pro and professional display, but Bryan and Jeff want to know how we got here. They also take another look at how politics increasingly intersect with a tech giant like Apple, and discuss our robot welfare future.
Nifty MiniDrive MicroSD Card Adapter for MacBook Air: $29.99
We have a deal for you today on Nifty MiniDrive, a MicroSD card adapter that seamlessly plugs into your 13″ MacBook Air. Using your MicroSD card, you add up to 256GB of storage without having a USB drive sticking out the side. You can get the Nifty MiniDrive for MacBook Air $32.99, and our deal includes versions for other MacBook models, too.
Kanye West Carries Streaming Music Across Another Milestone
Kanye West has carried the streaming music industry past another milestone. His most recent album, The Life of Pablo, was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). What’s new and different is that it did so through streams only. Pablo wasn’t made available as a digital download on iTunes or other online music stores. It was instead offered as a streaming product through first Tidal, and then Apple Music, Google Play, Spotify, and other services. Pitchfork reported that Pablo has been streamed a staggering 3 billion times, with 1.5 billion of those streams in the U.S. It’s the U.S. figures that earned it Platinum status, and that certification did not include the copies of Pablo sold direct by Kanye. Streaming music—including Apple Music—are clearly the near-term future of the music industry. Earning Platinum certification through streaming only is symbolic of that tidal shift. It’s also further validation for Apple’s investment in Apple Music.
iOS 10.3 May Have Reenabled Some iCloud Settings - Here's How to Check
iOS 10.3 may reset some iCloud settings for users. MacRumors reported that Apple sent out emails to some customers alerting them about the problem. Specifically, the update might “inadvertently reenable” some iCloud services that were disabled. Bryan Chaffin shows you how to check.
G-BOOM Wireless Bluetooth Boombox: $84.99
Check out the G-BOOM Wireless Bluetooth Boombox. As the name implies, it’s a bluetooth boombox. It has a battery life of up to 6 hours of playback time using two full-range speakers and one tweeter. It also has on-device controls, or you can control it from your smartphone app. It’s $84.99 through our deal.
Apple Releases iOS 10.3.1, a Bug Fix Release
Apple released iOS 10.3.1 Monday. The patch notes are sparse, saying only, “iOS 10.3.1 includes bug fixes and improves the security of your iPhone or iPad.” The company has not yet published the security release notes, but this update is most likely addresses issues that cropped up since the release of iOS 10.3 last week.
Disk Drill PRO 3 for Mac: $34.99
We have a deal on Disk Drill PRO 3 for Mac, a data recovery tool that works with OS X 10.8.5 or later, including macOS 10.12.x Sierra. This is a lifetime license, and I’m delighted to note our friends at Stack Commerce added a detailed description of exactly what that means. The short version is you get, “a lifetime of major updates, and inevitably a world of new features that are beyond our current imagination. Many of our Lifetime License options are exclusive offers, at the web’s best prices.” It’s $34.99 through us.
Make Your Old iPhone Red with SlickWraps
Apple’s (PRODUCT)RED iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus has been received a warm welcome. Your mileage may vary, but I’ve personally had even Android zealots express an interest in the RED iPhone to me. And I love the (PRODUCT)RED charity, but not everyone can get a new iPhone at any given moment, which is why a SlickWraps promotional email grabbed my attention. That company has red wraps for iPhones for those who want a red iPhone, but can’t get a RED iPhone. To be fair, they have a wide variety of colors, but red is the color du jour, and it’s $22.95.
MacX Media Management Bundle: $19.95
We have a deal for you on the MacX Media Management Bundle, a collection of Mac apps designed to help you encode and decode videos and move them to your iOS devices. It consists of MacX DVD Ripper Pro, MacX Video Converter Pro, and MacX MediaTrans, for $19.95
Kove Commuter Wireless Speaker:
We have a deal for you on the Kove Commuter Wireless Speaker. It’s a Bluetooth 4.1 portable speaker with a large 4,000mAh battery capacity giving you 8-plus hours of playback time. It’s $89.99 through us.
Spotify Goes after Apple Music's 'Carpool Karaoke' with 'Traffic Jams'
Spotify must think Apple Music has the right idea with this original video thing because it’s doing the same thing. Variety reported Wednesday that Spotify has purchased a show called Traffic Jams. Clearly borrowing from Apple Music’s Carpool Karaoke, Traffic Jams puts hip-hop producers and artists in a car and asks them to make a song in the back seat. We Apple fans may be inclined to dismiss this show because it’s a blatant ripoff. Ignore that instinct, though—that’s the way the TV industry works. Folks copy ideas, and sometimes they build on them. Instead, Spotify—which is beating Apple on users—is effectively validating Apple Music’s approach of using original video content to boost its steaming music business. That’s very interesting to me.
Silicon Valley Season 4 Trailer, where Erlich Bachman Mansplains Mansplaining
Oh Silicon Valley, how we have missed thee! Season 4 is nigh, judging by the new trailer, and it looks delightful. My favorite moment has to be Erlich Bachman mansplaining the concept of mansplaining to Monica and Laurie Bream, ???
The ISP Coup, an Apple VPN, and Samsung's Bixby Gambit - ACM 404
ISPs performed a coup against consumers, and they did so in collusion with one of America’s major political parties. Bryan and Jeff are two tense geeks about it. Their solution would be for Apple to launch a VPN integrated into Apple’s products. And then there’s Samsung’s Galaxy S8 and that company’s delusions of software relevance. Oh, and Bixby, which could eventually succeed in making Samsung relevant.
Private Internet Access VPN 2-Year Subscription: $59.95
Well, isn’t this timely? On the heels of the House voting to allow ISPs to sell our browser history, we have a deal on a 2-year subscription to Private Internet Access VPN. We haven’t tested their privacy claims yet, but for those interested in a VPN, this might be a good deal for you. The deal is for $59.95, but you can also get an additional 15% off with coupon code DIGIWEEK15.
You Can Opt Out of Sharing iCloud Analytics in macOS Sierra 10.12.4
Apple quietly added a new privacy control tool in macOS Sierra 10.12.4 that allows you to opt out of sharing iCloud Analytics data. Bryan Chaffin shows you how to control what you send so you can decide.
ExoMount CD Car Mount for Smartphones: $19.99
Check out the ExoMount, a car mount for your iPhone that fits in your car’s CD drive. The grip rotates a full 360 degrees. You can get it through us for $19.99, a third off retail.
