Apple didn’t sign the amicus brief opposing the second travel ban executive order, but that doesn’t mean the company supports it. John Martellaro and Dave Hamilton join Jeff Gamet to talk about Apple’s political versus business positions, plus they look at the features that keep them using their Apple Watch.
Here's an iOS 11 Lock Screen Concept We Can Get Behind
Matt Birchler mocked up a great concept for iOS 11’s lock screen and we’re hoping Apple is taking notes. His ideas are plausible because he builds on what Apple already gave us in iOS 10 with enhancements like a current weather badge, grouped and organized notifications, “smart notifications” triggered by activity or location, and more. Matt also took the time to explain his ideas, and now we’re seriously wondering why there hasn’t ever been a weather complication on our iPhone screens. You can check out Matt’s iOS 11 lock screen concept at the Birchtree website.
Private Internet Access VPN 2-Year Subscription: $59.95
We have a deal for VPN fans, a two-year subscription to Private Internet Access. With this plan, you get unlimited bandwidth on up to 5 devices, including Mac, iOS, Android, Windows, and Linux PCs. There are more than 3,300 servers in 25 countries to choose from, and the subscription comes with a variety of services. Check out the details on the deal listing. The price through our deal is $59.95, some 63% off retail.
macOS: Basic Tricks for Fast Text Selection
For this Quick Tip, Melissa Holt’s got some tricks for us on how to do text selection within a document, email, or webpage. So if you’re unfamiliar with ways to select text without clicking and dragging, come read this one! It’ll save you tons of time.
LEGO Tape? Sign Me Up!
LEGO and tape are two words I hadn’t thought to put together until I saw Nimuno Loops, which is exactly that: LEGO-compatible tape, and it’s exactly what it sounds like. It’s tape with the right size studs so you can stick LEGO bricks to it. Right now it’s an Indigogo campaign that’s gone over its funding goal by 9,320%, which is both awesome and insane. The tape is two studs wide and whatever length you want. You can bend it, cut it, and move it around thanks to its adhesive backing. Pricing starts at US$11 for two 6.5-foot rolls and you can choose from several colors. After something like five different people told me about Nimuno Loops LEGO-compatible tape, I knew I just had to share.
These MIDI Scores Also Tell a Visual Story
Check out this awesome video by Mari Lesterberg (via Laughing Squid). It’s a MIDI Drawing where she draws a story—about Mario, in this case—with MIDI notes. That makes it both a soundtrack and a story, which is intensely clever. She has many more, including a still dedication to Frank Zappa, stories about cars and trains, and childrens’ fairy tales. Ms. Lesterberg is a performing musician, which is always awesome, but these MIDI projects are just too cool.
Which Is Better to Secure Email, Apple Mail or GPG Suite?
Secure email is a pretty big deal. While knowing how to encrypt your email is great, you first have to decide which security method to use. You can go with Apple Mail’s built-in S/MIME support or OpenPGP. Which is better? Let’s look at them side by side and try to find an answer to that question.
And Now for Some Old Fashioned 'Digital' Numeral Displays
I’ve been on a big anachronism kick lately, so it really resonated when John Kheit turned me on to this video of analog numeral displays. This is the sort of thing we had to look digital before we had digital. Or something like that. As noted by Boing Boing, this technology is called “edge lit digital display,” and it’s part analog and part mechanical. In the video, you can hear the mechanical relays clicking and buzzing away as they control which digit is being displayed. The video comes from Steve Johnson, who runs a website deliciously Steve’s Antique Technology. Steve, you had me at “Antique Technology.” He’s got a lot of info on these old systems.
How Can I Share My Location From iOS Maps?
It’s easy to use “Share My Location” in Messages, but there are plenty of times when you might want to send a saved marker straight from Maps. Maybe you’re planning a family vacation and have found a cool point of interest to visit, or perhaps you want to scout out new coffee shops to visit with your friends. Jeff Butts walks you through saving a map location and then sharing it, step by step.
Android Insecurity, Messaging Anachronisms, and Legacy Apple Auctions - ACM 402
Bryan and Jeff try and wrap their heads around a world where malware is being installed on Android devices in the supply chain, before customers even get the devices. They also take a trip into the anachronistic world of sealing wax and sealing wax stamps, as well as the fascinating world where 40 year-old Apple I computers are auctioned for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
