News

Happy U.S. Independence Day

Dave Hamilton ·

We here at The Mac Observer are taking Thursday and Friday to spend with our friends and families while we celebrate Independence Day here in the USA.

Because I love the way perspective skews each of our individual realities, I’ll share this related anecdote: three years ago – to the day – Billy Beefeater wished me a “Happy Treason Day” while giving us a tour of the Tower Of London. I wanted to quote Game of Thrones and point out it would only be treason if we had lost, but I figured maybe that was better left unsaid… at the time.

In any event, happy Independence Day to everyone in the USA, and wishing a glorious weekend to everyone everywhere!

We’ll return on Monday, July 8th, resuming not only our news, tips, and Cool Stuff Found, but also publishing episodes of three of our podcasts: Background Mode, Daily Observations, and Mac Geek Gab. See you Monday!

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A Very Understandable Primer on Blockchains [with Video]

John Martellaro ·

BBC News has published a very readable/viewable explanation of biockchains. (Something you should know about.)

Enthusiasts say blockchain could become as disruptive as the internet, comparing the technology to the World Wide Web in the 1990s. At that time, many people were clear it would become important – but few really understood it, or foresaw its potential and limitations.

 

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Amazon Alexa Voice Recordings are Stored Indefinitely

Andrew Orr ·

In a letter to U.S. senators Amazon said it keeps your Alexa voice recordings indefinitely unless you manually delete them.

In the letter to Coons, Amazon noted that for Alexa requests that involve a transaction, like ordering a pizza or hailing a rideshare, Amazon and the skill’s developers can keep a record of that transaction. That means that there’s a record of nearly every purchase you make on Amazon’s Alexa, which can be considered personal information.

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Apple 2019 Revenue Up 15% at $39 Billion From App Store

Andrew Orr ·

Apple 2019 revenue for the first half of this year is up 15% from last year, topping US$39 billion from the App Store.

According to a new report from Sensor Tower, the iOS App Store and Google Play combined brought in $39.7 billion in worldwide app revenue in the first half of 2019 — that’s up 15.4% over the $34.4 billion seen during the first half of last year. However, at that time, the $34.4 billion was a 27.8% increase from 2017’s numbers, then a combined $26.9 billion across both stores.

Cool Stuff Found

Prepare for 64-Bit Mac Apps With Go64

Andrew Orr ·

Go64 is a free piece of software that checks your Mac for 32-bit apps, which won’t work after macOS Mojave. Although you can do this manually with System Report, Go64 goes further. It takes an inventory of the apps on your Mac and see which ones are still 32-bit. Then, it helps you visit the developer’s website or search the web for update/upgrade information. It then keeps track of upgrade costs so you can add 64-bit apps to your budget. It’s made by St. Clair Software, makers of other great Mac apps like App Tamer, Default Folder X, Jettison, and HistoryHound. Best of all, Go64 is completely free. Download: Go64