Redditor u/alanpegoli created a Shortcut that creates a playlist of your Top 100 songs in Apple Music. It’s a neat shortcut and a feature that Apple should build into Apple Music. Get the shortcut here: My Top Songs of the Year Playlist. My playlist has some great songs from artists like Kreator, Death Angel, Parkway Drive, Marilyn Manson, and a bunch more.
Egypt Gives Deadline for Apple to Resolve High iPhone Prices
Egypt has given Apple 60 days to end “unfair restrictions” on local product distributors. Government officials are angry over high iPhone prices.
Blackberry CEO Says He Values Customer Privacy
On stage at the Toronto Global Forum, Blackberry CEO John Chen says he values customer privacy.
Chen spoke about BlackBerry’s emphasis on privacy and security-focused software services, as it has moved away from competing with the likes of Google and Apple in the smartphone realm. The event took place the same morning that BlackBerry announced a new Security Credential Management System (SCMS) for cities and car companies, aimed at securing smart cities systems and autonomous vehicles.
You can’t steal customer data if you don’t have any customers. Also, there’s no such thing as privacy in a smart city, and it sounds like Blackberry is moving into that area.
Super Micro Audit Finds No Evidence of Spy Chips
Software and design files for the motherboards were also examined, and no unauthorized components or signals were found.
AI Will Lead to Self-Designing Machines
At ars tecnnica: “Manufacturing is in the early stages of a state of disruption brought on by technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and 3D printing.” This fascinating discussion lays out a future in which humans and AIs partner to design machines which, in turn, redesign themselves on the job. Amongst all the other possibilities, this would come in very handy for remote space probes and landers.
For example, a robot on Mars might detect very loose sand and determine it cannot move about efficiently to complete its mission,” explains Ben Schrauwen, co-founder and CTO of Oqton, an autonomous manufacturing platform.”The robot could learn to suggest different modalities on how to move in that environment, and, with 3D printing technology and some local robotics, it’s very conceivable that the robot could reconfigure itself at a distance to continue its mission unimpeded.”
Could Siri, someday, rewrite parts of iOS on the fly?
iOS Mysteries, Choosing Your Server, & Cool Stuff Found – Mac Geek Gab 739
iOS is wonderful… and mysterious, especially when it asks you to login, or shows you duplicates of your data. Listen to John F. Braun and Dave Hamilton solve these problems and more for you. Then, should you get a separate Mac as a server, or can you run in the background? And, of course, more Cool Stuff Found just for you. Press play, listen, learn, and enjoy!
Apple Fighting China iPhone Ban
Apple filed an appeal in China on Monday to try and overturn injunctions that prohibited the sale of a number of models of iPhones.
Chrome 72 to support Dark Mode in macOS Mojave
Reddit users noted last week a developer had submitted support for the feature in Chromium – the open source browser that Chrome is built on.
Carpool Karaoke Dominated UK YouTube in 2018
Carpool Karaoke ruled the UK in 2018, but users were less impressed with the video platform’s Rewind 2018 video.
TMO Background Mode Special Edition #5 With Former Apple Executive Michael Gartenberg
Michael Gartenberg spent three years as Apple’s Senior Director of Product Marketing, reporting directly to Senior VP Phil Schiller. In his fifth encore appearance on Background Mode, Michael and I chat about Apple’s 2018 fall lineup of products. We talked about the Apple AirPower, still MIA. We examined the new 2018 MacBook Air and how the 2015 McBook was supposed to be the MBA successor—and failed. We looked at the new iPad Pros and how they may have broken through a computational barrier that will allow new capabilities. Finally, we looked at Apple’s 2018 iPhone product strategy as well as the corporate decision to suppress unit sales numbers. Michael is well versed in Apple marketing strategies and is always a delight to have on the show.