Google announced Monday the rollout of new imagery for Google Earth, and by extension Google Maps. The company said it was incorporating a new cloud-free mosaic of Earth in Google Earth utilizing higher-resolution images from Landsat 8, a satellite deployed by the USGS and NASA in 2013.
Google Bloks Will Offer Kids Hands-On, Collaborative Programming Concepts
Google announced a new “research project” called Bloks, a wonderful concept that brings programming to very young kids with real-world block-like components. It’s an ongoing project that Google is opening up to the world, but the company is starting with electronic boards and programmable pucks. Brain Boards are built from Raspberry Pi Zero boards and can be used to power anything you could power from that device, like robots or switches for real-world devices. The pucks are essentially instructions, including on-off switches, directions, or volume controls. When used in sequence, they can send instructions to the Brain Boards. And it’s all hands-on for young kids. They can collaborate in ways they never could with any programming thing based on a screen and/or keyboard. I love it. It’s an entirely different approach from Apple’s Swift Playground, and I think they’re very complementary.
PRE-SALE: The Complete iOS 10 Developer Course at $29
Our friends at Stack Commerce have been putting their collective noggins to work with this deal. It’s a pre-sale on The Complete iOS 10 Developer Course with 80 hours of content on coding for Apple’s next generation iOS. It’s discounted to $29, and you’ll be notified when the course is ready to access—but in the meanwhile you also get The Complete iOS 9 Hacker Training immediately, included for the same price. Check out the details on the deal listing.
Game Foul: Ford Dealership Steals Firewatch Art
No matter how hard our kindergarten teachers tried, some people never really wrapped their heads around the idea that stealing is bad. Take, for instance, the Quirk Ford dealership in Massachusetts and the Firewatch artwork it stole for a promotional event.
iPhone 7 Sans Headphone Jack: The Debate Continues
Reliable sources are suggesting that Apple really will remove the 3.5 mm audio headphone jack from the iPhone 7 this fall. The community seems evenly split about the prospect, with some shrugging and one notable author declaring that this is a hostile and stupid idea. The notion that this isn’t really a worthwhile technical advance seems balanced with the prospect of better and enabling digital technology moving forward. Plus: a more waterproof iPhone. Particle Debris page 2 asks the question: has Apple gone too far?
TMO Daily Observations 2016-06-27: AAPL, Brexit, Google Blocks
Apple’s stock isn’t a high as it used to be and understanding why can be a little daunting. Bryan Chaffin joins Jeff Gamet to look at Wall Street’s dysfunctional relationship with Apple and the Brexit impact on the stock market. They also check out Google’s new Blocks programming platform for kids.
TMO Background Mode: Interview With Symply Co-founder and President Alex Grossman
Alex Grossman is the co-founder and president of Symply, Inc. His new company makes high-performance storage devices for content creators. I asked Alex about his start in storage technology, and it goes back to his EE degree in college and his first job with the Digital Equipment Corp (DEC). Early on, he developed a passion to build great hardware and understand how data got stored. Years later, Alex ended up at Apple focusing on the small and medium business needs for easy to manage mass storage. He tells a great story about Apple giving him the go ahead to change the world with Xserve RAID. Today, Alex carries his years of experience with elegant, easy to manage storage into his new company, Symply, Inc. Alex told me one amazing story after another.
Google Ready to Try Apple's Tactics with New Smartphone
Apple gets its Rainbow on for SF Pride Parade
Apple helped celebrate the LGBTQ community over the weekend by marching in San Fransisco’s annual Pride parade. Company CEO Tim Cook’s photo on Twitter shows what looks like hundreds of Apple employees marching and waving rainbow flags—and wearing the special limited edition Apple Watch rainbow watch bands the company gave to participants.
MGG 611: Troubleshoot & Resolve Your Mac & Apple Issues
How to share contacts with your team, read CDs on a new Mac, resolve your router being blocked by servers, fix your iPad Pro when it locks up and much more. All this today on Mac Geek Gab. Download and enjoy!
Apple Kills the Thunderbolt Display - Will the Mac Pro Be Next?
On June 23rd, Apple announced that the aging, obsolete, overpriced Thunderbolt Display is being discontinued. No replacement display was announced, and customers have been directed to 3rd party products. What does this mean for the Mac Pro?
6 Great Display Choices for Your MacBook Pro and Mac Pro
Apple is getting out of the stand-alone display market—at least for now—and says there are plenty of third-party alternatives to its now defunct Thunderbolt Display. Sorting out which display to buy can be a little intimidating, so The Mac Observer put together a list with some great 4K, 5K, and HD options to help make your shopping a little easier.
Apple Drops 2.81% in Broad Brexit Selloff
Shares of Apple Inc. shed 2.81% Friday in a broad market downturn sparked by Brits voting to leave the European Union, or Brexit for short. The selloff was part of a general panic among investors concerned about what Brexit will do to the global economy.
G Cloud Unlimited Backup for iPhone and Android: 5-Year Subscription for $29.99
We have a deal for you today on G Cloud, a 5-year unlimited backup plan for iPhone and Android devices for $29.99. G Cloud allows you to backup and restore your device from within their dedicated app, and you’re able to view that content online, as well. It’s being stored on AWS, Amazon’s cloud service, using military-grade 256-AES encryption. You can get this 5-year subscription through us for $29.99.
TMO Daily Observations 2016-06-24: Goodbye Thunderbolt Display, Spinning off the Mac
It’s official: Apple is killing off the Thunderbolt Display. Bryan Chaffin and Dave Hamilton join Jeff Gamet to share their thoughts on what this means for Apple in the display market, plus they have something to say about John C. Dvorak’s claim that it’s time for Apple to spin off the Mac into its own company.
Plex Media Server Turns 1.0!
What started in 2008 as a small media server project today has matured into version 1.0. The first public release of Plex Media Server happened two years later in 2010, and it has been growing ever since, now used by milliions of people. The changes rolled into the 1.0 release aren’t all that major – certainly nothing more than any other Plex Media Server release we’ve seen recently – it’s the version number change itself that is significant.
Version 1.0 shows Plex’s commitment to ship software that no longer has the assumption of being beta, communicating reliability and predictability for customers. I’m a long-time Plex user and now with both iOS and Apple TV client apps it really is a best-in-class product. Many of its features are available for free, though a paid PlexPass is well worth your money if you want to view your content offline or on your mobile devices. Congrats, Plex! Thanks for doing what you do!
OS X: Using Policy Banner for Custom Login Screens
You may know that you can set a custom message on your Mac’s lock screen, so if someone takes or finds your computer, he’ll have an easy way to contact you. However, if you’re an administrator who manages multiple machines, there’s also a built-in way to add a policy banner, which’ll make anyone who logs in click an “Accept” button to continue.
Apple Discontinues Thunderbolt Display, Directs Customers to Unspecified 3rd Party Displays
It is with a mix of sadness, contempt, and relief that I offer you the news that Apple acknowledged it has put a bullet in its 5-year old Thunderbolt Display. The company issued a statement to The Verge confirming the news, directing customers to third parties for their external display needs.
Apple Adds RAW Support for 15 DSLR Cameras from Canon, Olympus, Panasonic, Sony
Apple released Thursday Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 6.20, an update that adds support for 15 new DSLR cameras from Canon, Olympus, Panasonic, and Sony.
