Sometimes things go wrong with your devices, and sometimes the path you think will solve it winds up running you in circles. The same things can happen to your two favorite geeks, and this week’s show talks about some of that while also answering your questions and solving your problems. Press play and enjoy!
Halide Explains Why iPhone XS Is a Whole New Camera
Apple is doing something entirely new with the camera in iPhone XS, and Sebastiaan de With, designer of the Halide app published a killer explanation of what those new things are. He also explains how they work and why those things are good—and where they are not good. He also explains the so-called smoothing effect that has been noted on selfies. The end of the piece is a pitch for Halide 1.0, Mr. de With’s camera app, that includes something he calls Smart RAW, but the technical analysis and explanation of what’s happening with the iPhone XS camera is a terrific read. It’s long, too, but well worth the read. Here’s a snippet:
An iPhone XS will over- and underexpose the shot, get fast shots to freeze motion and retain sharpness across the frame and grab every best part of all these frames to create one image. That’s what you get out of the iPhone XS camera, and that’s what makes it so powerful at taking photos in situations where you usually lose details because of mixed light or strong contrast.
Dark Sky gets Apple Watch Series 4 Complications
Dark Sky, my favorite local weather app on the iPhone, was updated on Thursday with new complications for Apple Watch Series 4. That means fans of the Infograph watch face get a slick complication that matches the new look Apple is pushing. It looks like the update also fixed a problem where the app defaulted to New York City for forecasts, which kind of defeated the purpose of hyper-local data. Dark Sky costs US$3.99 and is available on Apple’s App Store. The update is free for current users.
Managing Your Kid's Online Activity - TMO Daily Observations 2018-10-05
Adam Christianson from the Maccast and Dave Hamilton join Jeff Gamet to share their experiences and advice on managing kid’s online activity, plus they look at what they like—and don’t like—about Parental Control and Screen Time.
Soon Instagram Could Share Your Location With Facebook
Now that the Instagram founders are out of the way, Facebook is free to ruin the platform. Instagram was found prototyping a new feature that could share your location with Facebook.
That means your exact GPS coordinates collected by Instagram, even when you’re not using the app, would help Facebook to target you with ads and recommend you relevant content. Worryingly, the Location History sharing setting was defaulted to On in the prototype. The geo-tagged data would appear to users in their Facebook Profile’s Activity Log, which include creepy daily maps of the places you been.
If this happens I will seriously delete my Instagram account. F*ck Facebook, I’ll migrate fully to VSCO.
The Complete Arduino Starter Kit and Course Bundle
We have a deal on the Complete Arduino Starter Kit and Course Bundle. As the name suggests, this bundle starts with the Complete Arduino Starter Kit, which includes the Uno R3 board, wires, LEDs, sensors, and more. It also includes six different Arduino training courses, with hundreds of lectures and 26.5 hours of video training. This bundle is $89.99 through us.
Aspyr Brings Civilization VI to iPhone
Civilization VI on an iPhone? Really, it boggles my mind that Civ VI can played on an iPad, but Aspyr announced Thursday that it’s now available for iPhone, too. What these «phones» we carry with us everywhere can do is really something else. In any event, Civ VI for iPhone is free download—the free version lets you play 60 turns, enough to see if you’re going to like it. You can unlock the full game for $23.99 as an in-app purchase. It’s a hybrid app, too, so if you already bought it for iPad, you can download it on iPhone.
Check Out This 85,000 Piece Apple Park LEGO Set
A master LEGO craftsman has completed a massive 85,000 piece Apple LEGO set. Shared on Flickr, Spencer_R said after seeing early drone footage of the Apple Park construction site, he felt he had found the right project to build what he calls a horizontal skyscraper.
In 2014 I came across some drone footage of an enormous circular excavation being dug into the California earth. When I discovered this was the start of the foundation for a new low-rise Apple “spaceship” campus, I knew I had found an interesting and suitable candidate.
The set has a scale of 1:650 and it took him over two years to build. The Apple LEGO set weighs 77.5 pounds and has an area of 19 square feet.
Happy 2018 Birthday Siri! Apple's Virtual Assistant is 7
Happy 2018 Birthday Siri! Apple’s virtual assistant made her debut on October 4, 2011 which makes her seven years old today. Siri is now more powerful than ever, and with the release of iOS 12 users can work to customize the assistant a bit with the Shortcuts app. Siri can make calls or send texts for you whether you are driving, have your hands full, or are simply on the go. It also offers proactive suggestions, like texting someone that you’re running late for a meeting, so you can stay in touch effortlessly. Set alarms, timers, and reminders. Get directions. Preview your calendar. Siri can do it all without your ever having to pick up a device. Based on your routine, Siri can even anticipate what you might need to help you breeze through your day. Machine learning is constantly making Siri smarter. And you can personalize Siri to make it even more useful. Choose to have Siri speak one of 21 different languages. Teach Siri who your family members are. And spell out unusual words so Siri can recognize them in the future.
Sid Meier's Civilization VI Now on iPhone and It's on Sale
Sid Meier’s Civilization VI is a popular turn-based game and part of the Civilization game series. The company behind the game—Aspyr Media—recently reengineered the game to make it available for the iPad. And now it’s available for the iPhone as well. To celebrate the game is 60% off at US$23.99, when it’s normally US$59.99. Download now and play your first 60 turns for free. Purchase the full game to build an empire that stands the test of time. Civilization VI requires iOS 11 and an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus, iPhone 8 or 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPad Air 2, iPad 2017, or any iPad Pro. The game offers new ways to interact with your world, expand your empire across the map, advance your culture, and compete against history’s greatest leaders to build a civilization that will stand the test of time. Play as one of 20 historical leaders including Roosevelt (America) and Victoria (England).
