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.

MGG 615: John and Dave Trade Places

Quick Tips: All those little things you know that you don’t think about? Other people know and don’t think about them, too… so we think about them and share them, enhancing everyone’s knowledge! Then it’s on to some questions, with a surprising number about Ethernet. Go Figure!

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.

TMO Daily Observations 2016-07-15: Apple's Fall Launches, Apollo's Open Source Code

We know Apple is releasing macOS Sierra, iOS 10, watchOS 3, tvOS 10, and new iPhones this fall, but there could be more in store, too. John Martellaro joins Jeff Gamet to discuss what announcements Apple may be planning, and how the announcements will be managed. They also talk about NASA releasing the Apollo 11 source code and how important Margaret Hamilton was to the space program.

TMO Background Mode: Interview with TLA Systems Founder James Thomson

James Thomson is the founder of TLA Systems, famous for the apps Drag Thing and PCalc. He tells the story of growing up in the 1980s in Scotland when the personal computer was on the rise. The 1982 movie Tron captured his imagination and inspired him to buy a Commodore 64. At age 12, his school got its first PC, but no one knew what to do with it! James and just three other students became the “Guardians of the Computer.” Later, his first Mac was at the university in 1990, and he spent a year learning it inside out. The original PCalc, written in Pascal, launched his career as a Mac programmer. Later James worked for Apple in Cork, Ireland. James chats about his development as an indie Apple developer with a host of charming stories.

ACM 367: The Joy of iOS 10, Deleting Sideloaded Apps, and Fibonacci Fun

Jeff Gamet has been playing with iOS 10 on his iPad mini 4, and he can’t wait to get it on his iPhone. Why? It starts with the Lockscreen. Bryan and Jeff also talk about regulations in South Korea that might require smartphone makers to allow all preinstalled apps to be deleted by the user. They bookend the show having some fun with Fibonacci numbers.

TMO Background Mode: Former Apple Sr. Director of Product Marketing Michael Gartenberg

Michael Gartenberg is currently the analyst in residence for iMore.com. However, before that, he spent three years as Apple’s Senior Director of Product Marketing, reporting directly to SVP Phil Schiller. Michael tells the story about how he got his gig with Apple. After years of working at various tech industry research firms, he was always on the periphery of Apple and working with Apple executives, especially Greg “Joz” Joswiak and Phil Schiller. Then, one day in 2013, he got phone call from Joz, and it didn’t sound like it was going to be a schmooze session. Michael was alarmed. What could he have done wrong? But Joz wanted to invite Michael to Cupertino for an interview. Listen as Michael tells me how he got hired and what he did at Apple for three years.