TMO Daily Observations 2016-08-04: Stolen iPhone Phishing Scam, Watch the Olympics Online

As if having your iPhone stolen isn’t enough, now the bad guys are trying to get you to give up your iCloud login, too. John Martellaro joins Jeff Gamet look at this latest phishing scam, and to share tips on how to avoid falling victim to these schemes. They also share some tips on how to watch the Rio summer Olympics without a cable TV subscription.

TMO Daily Observations 2016-08-02: FBI Director Comey's New Encryption Debate

FBI Director James Comey says it’s time to restart the debate over whether or not government agencies should have back doors into our encrypted data. John Martellaro and Bryan Chaffin join Jeff Gamet to look at encryption and what should be kept private and out of the government’s hands. They also dive into how technology may be making people more machine like.

TMO Background Mode: Interview with SCC Director of Mobile App Development Tim DeBenedictis

Tim DeBenedictis is the co-developer of the astronomy sky charting app SkySafari. He’s now the Director of Mobile Application Development at Simulation Curriculum Corp. Tim was first inspired by the sky as a youth going on camping trips and being able to see the stars at night, something city dwellers seldom see. His dad was an avid bird watcher and always had a birding scope on the trips. One night, they pointed the scope at Jupiter and its moons. Tim described it as captivating and launched his interest in amateur astronomy. Later, that led to being a planetary science major at M.I.T. where he developed an extensive C++ code base for celestial mechanics. Years later, with that expertise, he co-developed SkySafari for the Mac, iOS and Android. Come take a grand celestial tour with us.

TMO Daily Observations 2016-07-27: AAPL Earnings Report, Banning Olympics Tweets

Apple’s 2016 third quarter earnings report is out, and the results both pleased and disappointed analysts. Kelly Guimont and John Martellaro join Jeff Gamet to share their thoughts on Apple’s numbers, and offer their take on what they mean for the iPad market. They also have plenty to say about the U.S. Olympic Committee trying to control who gets to Tweet about the games.

TMO Background Mode: Interview With Ken Ray, Host and Producer of ‘Mac OS Ken'

Ken Ray is the host and producer of several notable podcasts, including the Mac OS Ken shows. It’s not surprising that Ken started out in radio broadcasting. Early on, he was a behind the scenes person at a small radio station in Boston. There, he became operations director and learned a lot about radio tech without the on-air disc jockey pressure. He learned the station’s digital editing suite, and that led to producing some commercials and radio shows. Later, at ZDTV radio, he had the opportunity to interview some high-profile people: Jesse Jackson and Ray Kurzweil. It’s not hard to see how, after he fell into the world of Apple, he brought all his skills to bear into a whole suite of modern-day podcasts, including work with Rod Roddenberry, Gene’s son.

TMO Daily Observations 2016-07-22: Unlocking iPhones with 3D Printed Fingers, Uber-waterproof iPhone 7

Scientists are working with the FBI to 3D print fingers so they can unlock smartphones. Dave Hamilton and Bryan Chaffin join Jeff Gamet to talk about the potential privacy and security issues related to 3D printing copies of our fingers. They share their thoughts on a report claiming the iPhone 7 will sport pro-grade waterproofing.

ACM 369: BlackBerry Doofus, Black Box Regulation, Twitter Harrassment

BlackBerry CEO John Chen had some seemingly irrational things to say about Apple’s stance on encryption, and Bryan and Jeff break it down. They also take a deeper look into black boxes and self-driving cars with a focus on regulating these devices and surveillance worries. Just to keep things light, they dive into Twitter harassment and social media censorship.

TMO Background Mode: Interview with Rogue Amoeba Software Co-founder Paul Kafasis

Paul Kafasis is the co-founder and CEO of Rogue Amoeba Software. His company specializes in stellar audio products for the Mac such as Audio Hijack, Loopback, Piezo and more. His early work with colleagues (2001) was with MacAmp, an MP3 player. That led to the founding of Rogue Amoeba in 2002 and Audio Hijack 1.0. Paul and his co-founders realized that audio was emerging as an important niche where his team had special talent. Paul starts off with the story about how they chose such a memorable name for the company and then explains the evolution of Audio Hijack, then the pro version, and now Audio Hijack 3. We chat about challenges for the Mac developer and why an app like this, and its siblings, are not found in the Mac App Store.

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