Episode #169 Apple introduced iOS 9.3 a couple of weeks ago and I’ve been obsessed with Night Shift ever since. Night Shift, in case you missed it, is a new iOS feature that uses your device’s clock and geolocation services to determine sunrise and sunset at your location, then uses this information to gradually adjust…

A pilot is lost in the skies over the Pacific. He radios for help repeatedly until he hears a faint response. “Help! We are lost. Can you tell me where we are?” The voice replies, “You're in an airplane over the Pacific ocean.” The pilot then tells his copilot, “Hang a left and you should…

Episode #166   There’s no shortage of controversy in the debate over whether sitting or standing at your desk is healthier. There’s research to support that standing while you work is healthier, but there’s also research that seems to indicate standing still isn’t any healthier than sitting. I have chronic back pain (big surprise), so…

Episode #164   It’s no secret that the printer and ink business is similar to the razor and razor blade business: Both of them sell hardware—the printer or razor—as cheaply as possible, making most of their profits on the consumables— the ink or razor blades. It’s not a bad strategy for a business, but it's…

Episode #163   It’s been a couple of years since I talked about universal remote control devices and apps. For me, an awesome universal remote control is the holy grail of home automation; having a single device that can mimic every function of all five individual remote controls for my home theatre system is priceless.…

Episode #154   My friend Lesa Snider is a talented photographer and author, which is why I keep copies of Photoshop: The Missing Manual and Photos for Mac and iOS: The Missing Manual within reach whenever I’m using Photoshop or Photos. Lesa’s concise step-by-step instructions and crystalline prose makes them my go-to books when it…

Episode #141   The theme for Apple’s event in San Francisco last week was, “The only thing that has changed is everything.” It sounds like marketing hype, but by the end of the event most of the audience (including me) seemed to agree. You’ve surely heard about the announcements: a collection of Apple Watches from…

Episode #140 Most companies, including Apple, do their best to attract media attention when announcing a new product. But Apple isn’t like most companies when it comes to product announcements. Instead of using press releases, trade shows, press conferences, and other traditional forms of media outreach, Apple typically introduces its new products at extravagantly-produced invitation-only…

Episode #131   A long time ago I bought a small mesh bag and packed it with all things I like to have when I travel. After a few years I had filled it completely so I bought a second mesh bag, which is now almost full as well. Last week I tried to pare…

Episode 130 I was really starting to like Apple Music. I had none of the metadata scrambling I’ve heard about and was just starting to fall in love with the new, human-curated playlists that seem to read my mind. Then I encountered my first (and so far, only) problem… I ask Siri to play music by…

Episode #127 As you may recall, Apple kicked off its annual Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco last week with one of the longest keynotes in recent memory — nearly two and a half hours — offering up a roadmap for the next generations of its three major operating systems, namely OS X, iOS, and…