Joanna Penn is a best-selling thriller novelist. She’s published over 20 books and sold over 450,000 copies in 74 countries and five languages. She’s most famous for her ARKANE series described by readers as ‘Dan Brown meets Lara Croft.’ Joanna is also an entrepreneur who teaches writers how to hone their craft. I interviewed Joanna about her past which includes a Master’s degree in Theology from Oxford. Joanna spent years working on computer code before she realized that she wanted to write fiction. And she’s a self-admitted techie, using a Mac and Scrivener. Today, Joanna leverages her background in theology and psychology plus extensive travel to write her thrillers. We talked about the craft of writing fiction and finished up with whether AI agents will ever put us both out of work.
TMO Daily Observations 2016-09-06: Apple and Age Discrimination, Apple Music's $99 Deal
The New York Times says Apple age discriminates against potential retail store employees. Dave Hamilton joins Jeff Gamet to discuss what they think may have really happened with the former Apple engineer who applied for a Genius Bar job, plus they look at Apple Music’s new discount annual price deal.
MGG 621: Tips, Tricks and Troubleshooting Outside The Box
Tips, and lots of them, start today’s show. Audiobooks, Finder tweaks, securing your Mac and more! Then it’s time to talk about how your accounts can disappear and reappear, why your printer driver might want to listen to the network, how to view 35mm slides on your Mac and how your iPad keypad might change names! All this and much more on today’s Mac Geek Gab.
TMO Daily Observations 2016-09-02: HP Exploits Slow Mac Refresh Cycle, App Store Cleanup
Apple’s slow Mac refresh cycle is HP’s opportunity. John Martellaro and Dave Hamilton join Jeff Gamet to talk about how HP is taking advantage of the ongoing lack of new Mac hardware, plus they share their thoughts on Apple’s plan to clean house at the App Store.
TMO Daily Observations 2016-09-01: FBI Still Wants its Encryption Back Door
FBI Director James Comey isn’t ready to give up the fight to punch a hole through our encryption and privacy. Dave Hamilton and John Martellaro join Jeff Gamet to discuss the FBI’s stance on mandated back doors into encryption and the Director Comey’s need to save face in this argument.
ACM 375: Google Want to be Your Ride, Tim Cook's Message Pivot
Google is entering the ride-sharing business, and Bryan and Jeff take an in-depth look at what that means. They also dive back into how and why Apple is opening itself up to journalists, and some of the things we’ve learned because of that.
TMO Daily Observations 2016-08-31: Monster v Beats Lawsuit Implodes, Dropbox Data Breach
Monster’s Noel Lee is having a pretty bad day because his lawsuit against Beats fell apart. Kelly Guimont joins Jeff Gamet to look at Mr. Lee’s claims he was duped to cut him out of the deal where Apple bought Beats. They also talk about the why Dropbox’s 2012 data breach is news again, and get a little excited about Stranger Things season 2.
TMO Daily Observations 2016-08-30: Apple's EU Tax Bill, September 7 Media Event
The European Union says Ireland’s tax laws aren’t legal, so Apple owes an extra €13 billion in back taxes. Bryan Chaffin joins Jeff Gamet to look at the ruling, how it impacts Apple, Ireland’s response, and more. They also offer up their quick predictions for Apple’s September 7th Media Event.
TMO Background Mode: Interview with Omni Group Software Engineer Liz Marley
Liz Marley is a software engineer for the Omni Group. Early in life, there never was a time when Liz didn’t have computers. At age four, she started with her dad’s Apple IIGS, and she was encouraged to use it freely. Later, she majored in Computer Science at Harvey Mudd college and soon thereafter landed a job as a software tester. Over the years, her career has taken a series of interesting twists. From software coding to testing to being a product manager and then back to coding. In fact, her work with App Camp For Girls led her to a remarkable career decision and turn of events at the Omni Group. This is must listening for everyone interested in computer programming as a career.
TMO Daily Observations 2016-08-29: Apple Watch 2 Battery, Microsoft's Smart Surface Pro 4 Ad
New photos show what looks like the battery for the Apple Watch 2, and it seems to support John Martellaro’s premise that the next model won’t be any thinner. Today John and Bryan Chaffin join Jeff Gamet for a little gloating at Bryan’s expense because he’s been championing a thinner Apple Watch 2. They also look at Microsoft’s latest Surface Pro 4 ad and dive into why slamming the MacBook Air was a smart move.
MGG 620: Backups Deep Dive
It’s time for a Deep Dive! This time, Backups. Local backups, online backups, remote backups, paid backups, free backups. Just promise us one thing: no matter what you choose after listening to this episode, please make sure you’re backing up your data!
TMO Daily Observations 2016-08-26: Interview with Fling's Dave Hamilton
This week TMO’s Daily Observations turns to the musical side of the Apple community. Today Dave Hamilton from Fling and Mac Geek Gab joins Jeff Gamet to talk about his musical life outside of the podcasting world, recording and producing Fling’s Bovine Abduction, the tools he uses for recording and mixing, and more.
TMO Daily Observations 2016-08-25: Interview with Ruby Calling's Jean MacDonald
This week TMO’s Daily Observations turns to the musical side of the Apple community. Today Jean MacDonald from Ruby Calling and App Camp for Girls joins Jeff Gamet to share how she became a musician, how music inspired App Camp for Girls, and more.
ACM 374: The Apple Narrative, Music Industry Directives, and Samsung's Spoiled Milk
Adam Christianson joins Bryan Chaffin in this week’s ACM to discuss Apple’s recent efforts to more directly control its narrative. They also chat about Universal Music Group’s directive to stop doing exclusive streaming deals, and the deserved demise of Samsung’s Milk.
TMO Daily Observations 2016-08-24: Interview with Andrew Tokuda, aka Digital Droo
This week TMO’s Daily Observations turns to the musical side of the Apple community. Today Andrew Tokuda, also known as Digital Droo joins Jeff Gamet to talk about creating his own music, working with MacAddict, and his own musical past, and his most popular song.
TMO Daily Observations 2016-08-23: Interview with Victor Cajiao
This week TMO’s Daily Observations turns to the musical side of the Apple community. Today jazz musician and podcaster Victor Cajiao joins Jeff Gamet to talk about his new album with Joe Christina, Surrender, his experience producing and mastering the album, working with musical legends, and more.
TMO Background Mode: Interview with Electronic Frontier Foundation Executive Director Cindy Cohn
Cindy Cohn is the Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Founded in 1990, the EFF is a nonprofit organization defending civil liberties in the digital world. The EFF champions user privacy, free expression, and innovation through litigation, policy analysis, grassroots activism and technology development. It has won some important court cases that preserve our rights online, including the use of encryption. (Which wasn’t always a given.) Cindy and I talked at length about her career, notable cases she fought and the work of the EFF, especially in the Apple vs. FBI conflict last spring. Cindy starts with notion that “privacy is fundamental to human dignity and… we can’t have a free society unless people have a private space.” Even if that means law enforcement has to work a little harder. Cindy explains it all.
TMO Daily Observations 2016-08-22: Interview with Airplane Mode's Dave Wiskus
This week TMO’s Daily Observations turns to the musical side of the Apple community. Today Airplane Mode’s Dave Wiskus joins Jeff Gamet to talk about the band, his musical journey, and finding success as an indie band.
MGG 619: Security Breach!
Listener Jason had a security breach on his home network. Learn what he did that allowed this to happen, and what you can do to prevent it. Lots of other tips in this episode, too, like removing phantom app storage, enabling iCloud for iBooks after the fact, starting up in Safe Mode with a wireless keyboard, and much more.
TMO Daily Observations 2016-08-19: FCC's Anti-robocall Plans, Moving from Evernote to OneNote
The FCC wants to stop spam robocalls, and now it has a strike force to help make that happen. Dave Hamilton and John Martellaro join Jeff Gamet to examine the FCC’s plan and share their thoughts on trying to stop unsolicited marketing calls. They also take a first look at Microsoft’s new Evernote to OneNote importer for the Mac.
TMO Daily Observations 2016-08-18: Apple's Ethical Tax Dilemma, Target's Apple Sales Decline
Apple has a lot of money outside the United States, and not everyone is pleased with that. Bryan Chaffin joins Jeff Gamet to talk about Apple’s tax minimization strategy, and whether or not that has ethical implications. They also have some thoughts on Target’s claim that declining Apple product sales negatively impacted its revenue.
ACM 373: Apple's Engineering Demands, Fake iPhones, Intel's ARM Move
Apple is relentless with its design ideas regardless of what the hardware engineers say. Bryan and Jeff explain why that’s a good thing for consumers, plus they show you how to spot fake iPhone 7 photos, and look at Intel’s decision to start making ARM processors.
TMO Daily Observations 2016-08-17: Behind the Scenes with Background Mode's John Martellaro
John Martellaro has been hosting some great interviews on TMO’s Background Mode podcast, so today Jeff Gamet turns the tables and interviews John. They go behind the scenes to learn learn how John makes his interviews happen, and to look at some of the high points from the show so far.
TMO Daily Observations 2016-08-16: Apple's China R&D Center, Microsoft's iPad Pro Dig
Apple plans to open a research and development center in China before the end of the year. Bryan Chaffin and John Martellaro join Jeff Gamet to explore why Apple is opening the center and how that fits into the company’s plans in the country. They also look at Microsoft’s clever iPad Pro slam.