Last night I came across a website called Appademic, which shares academic shortcuts that can help students and researchers. One example is a shortcut that gives you better BibTeX citation keys for Pandoc.
This is the long awaited iOS Shortcut for Zotero to extract Better BibTeX citation keys for Pandoc. I know a fair few people have been waiting on this, apologies it has taken so long to post. If you need more detail, read on, otherwise the shortcut can be downloaded below.
Scriptable is an automation tool that enables you to write scripts that integrates with native features of iOS such as files, calendars, reminders, documents and much more. An extensive support for Siri Shortcuts enables you to present images, tables and more in Siri as well as making Siri read out loud a text when you run a script from a Siri Shortcut. Your scripts can be run from the Scriptable app, from a Siri Shortcut or from other apps using the share sheet extensive or Scriptable’s URL schemes. Features include writing and running JavaScript; auto complete of variable names, functions, keywords and properties as you type; access lots of native iOS features from your JavaScript code, including managing files, calendars, reminders, contacts, photos, location, pasteboard, web views and more. App Store: Free (Offers In-App Purchases)
After banning porn, Tumblr’s users have fled the platform. Now Verizon Media Group is looking to sell it off.
It’s tough to say which media company might be in the market for Tumblr at this point. The once white-hot platform doesn’t hold the same sort of cache it did when it was purchased half a decade ago. Notably, Tumblr also lost its CTO to SeatGeek earlier this week.
I love serendipitous moments in life. For example, last night I read that Verizon wants to sell Tumblr. I immediately thought to myself, “PornHub should definitely buy it.” An hour later, BuzzFeed News wrote that, indeed, PornHub is interested.
The headline is from Gizmodo: «A New Storage Breakthrough Could Squeeze a Library’s Worth of Data Into a Teaspoon of Protein.»
By 2020, researchers estimate that the world’s digital archive will weigh in at around 44 trillion gigabytes. That’s an astounding amount of data that isn’t necessarily being stored in the safest of places. Most storage mediums naturally degrade over time (if they’re not hacked or accidentally destroyed) and even the cloud isn’t as reliable as companies want us to believe. So researchers at Harvard University have turned to some unique chemistry they believe could safely archive the world’s data for millions of years—without requiring any power.
We have a deal on the FuelBox LightSpeed Charging Cable, a cable that can charge Lightning, MicroUSB, and USB-C devices. It does so with attached-adapters that let you use the type of connector you need at that moment. It also features a nylon-braided cord with aluminum charging cord tips. You can get this cable for $15.99 through our deal.
John Martellaro and Charlotte Henry join host Kelly Guimont to discuss managing or disposing of cables, and the state of streaming content.
Lots of apps have camera functionality. It normally takes a couple of steps to use it though. M.G. Siegler is fed up with it and wants a solution.
What I really want in a mobile OS is the ability to fire up the camera, take a picture, and launch apps and/or services from there based on that picture. A good example: I’ve been using an app called Vivino to track the wine we’re drinking and/or buying. Why on Earth do I need to load Vivino, then hit the camera button inside the Vivino app to take the photo? This is slow. Beyond swiping and pecking for the app itself, it takes a few seconds to load.
The next version of macOS will include more UIKit (iOS) apps. Rumored to be among them is Apple’s Shortcuts app. So what happens to Automator, AppleScript, and AppleEvents?
So what happens when iOS apps comes to the Mac this fall? It seems impossible that Apple will allow them to be controlled by AppleScript and Automator…Will “classic” Mac apps get the ability to be controlled via Shortcuts, too? Or will there be a schism between the two different classes of apps?
But whatever happens, it’s clear that iOS and macOS are going to face the future of user automation together, not separately.
The Great Firewall of China is well established, but Russia is set to take an equally censorious approach. A new law that will come into force on November 1 gives the country a «sovereign internet.» It could isolate Russia from the rest of the web, the Financial Times reported.
The bill, which goes into force on November 1, requires internet service providers to filter all traffic through special nodes under the control of Roscomnadzor, the Kremlin’s internet censor. The Kremlin will compel ISPs and other communications services to test the system at an unspecified time later this year. Though it remains largely unclear how — or even whether — the disconnect would work in practice, the move would theoretically make it easier for Roscomnadzor to enforce its highly inefficient blocks of banned websites, messaging app Telegram, and non-compliant VPN services.
Tech firms are increasingly focussed on being eco-friendly and reducing their contribution to climate change. Tim Cook has made it a key value of Apple’s. Wired looked at the progress that Apple and other tech firms are making in the fight against climate change, particularly in their data centers.
Apple breaks down the energy mix of its US data centers in its sustainability report, and that shows where real progress is being made. Its Newark, California data center pulls from the grid, but via that state’s Direct Access system Apple can buy directly from suppliers. There, it claims its energy is «mostly wind», and takes that to mean there were no emissions. On the other hand, its Reno, Nevada data centre is 99 per cent powered by Apple’s own solar panels, with less than one per cent from purchase agreements — there’s no question where the power is coming from.
