John Martellaro and Kelly Guimont join Jeff Gamet to talk about expectations for hardware announcements at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference, plus they debate if it’s time for Apple Music to come to more platforms.
The Mac Observer's WWDC 2018 coverage sponsored by:
Sal Saghoian Launches CMD-D Down-Home Scripting Boot Camp
Sal Saghoian—the man who’s name is synonymous with AppleScript on the Mac—just announced CMD-D Down-Home Scripting Boot Camp. The three day event is geared for people who are new to scripting and includes hands-on exercises with Sal and Ray Robertson. CMD-D Down-Home Scripting Boot Camp runs from October 15th through 17th in Atlanta and is priced at US$999 through June 18th, and $1,299 for early bird pricing after that. You can register at the CMD-D website.
Intels Warns of Spectre Variant 4 Chip Vulnerability
Intel has a new report out describing what the chip maker is calling a Spectre-like vulnerability dubbed Variant 4 that exploits the CPU’s speculative execution mechanism so hackers can potentially get at sensitive information on your computer.
Marked 2 Beefs Up Markdown Support for MarsEdit, Scrivener, More
Brett Terpstra’s Marked 2.5.11 app is out, and it’s loaded with new features. The Markdown editing app improved supporty for IA Writer, MarsEdit 4, and Scrivener 4, lets you embed CSV files and convert them to Markdown tables, includes a new Custom Style via links, and more. Marked 2 costs US$13.99 and it’s available at Apple’s Mac App Store, in SetApp, and at the Marked 2 website.
Unboxing Photos of a Pristine Original 1984 Macintosh
Oh, wow. This is so cool! I’m talking about photographs of an original Macintosh unboxing event. It wasn’t a “new in box” Mac, or anything, but it was an immaculately cared for device, including the 34 year old box! The owner recently sold the Mac to Imgur user edifyyo, who then documented his initial unboxing. How cool, right? He posted the pics in two batches, the first focusing on the box and unpacking the device. Part 2 included closeups of the Mac itself. As I mentioned up top, it was immaculately cared for, and even includes the original “ELECTRICALLY SAFETY CHECKED” sticker, which I can’t recall having seen before. Check it out! Thanks to Jim Tanous for the heads up.
The Developers Union Forms to Give Indie Developers a Voice to Apple
The group says it will start by asking Apple for developer-friendly changes to the App Store. Its goal is 20,000 members by early June (i.e. WWDC), and has 182 members so far (16 of whom joined while I was working on this article).
Getting Ready for WWDC iOS and macOS Betas, App Camp for Girls Fundraiser Concert - TMO Daily Observations 2018-05-17
Dave Hamilton and Kelly Guimont join Jeff Gamet to talk about WWDC’s upcoming iOS and macOS developer betas and how you can prepare for them, plus Kelly tells us about the James Dempsey and the Breakpoints fundraiser concert for App Camp for Girls.
StopTheMadness Safari Extension Keeps Websites from Blocking Mac Services
Do you have it when a website’s form blocks Safari’s autocomplete or autofill? Or sites that block control-click access to ordinary Mac services? Or—and why for the love of anything remotely holy or sane—copy/paste? Why on earth do you think it’s OK to stop me from copy/pasting? Like, when you use 1Password to make a 24 character password, but the site won’t let you paste it in for the confirmation field? I saw that one yesterday and about blew a gasket! ::pounds desk in righteous fury:: OK, I’m taking a deep breath, because developer Jeff Johnson has solved this with a Safari Extension called StopTheMadness [via Daring Fireball]. It re-enables all the normal Mac services in Safari, and you control which services you want on a site-by-site-basis if you wish. It’s $5 on the Mac App Store. I bought it immediately.
Apple's Better Video for 2FA on Apple Devices
A couple of days ago I wrote about a video Apple posted to Twitter on using 2FA with Apple devices. Really, it was an excuse to write about security, because it’s important. And that’s cool, because Apple has a new and MUCH better video on the same subject, and I’m going to write about it for the same reason. So, watch the video, make sure you have 2FA enabled on your Apple devices if you haven’t already. Then share a link to the tweet, or this article, or Apple’s KnowledgeBase article with all the people in your life who don’t already have 2FA activated.
With two-factor authentication, evil-doers need more than just your password to sign in to your Apple ID.
Here’s how it works: https://t.co/T1EmqMpguX pic.twitter.com/EQwJpSyFmG
— Apple Support (@AppleSupport) May 16, 2018
Classic C1 iPhone X Case on Indiegogo Inspired by iMac G3
Check out the Classic C1, an iPhone X case inspired by the iMac G3. Why? Apparently getting an iMac G3 from his mom when he was a kid was this huge and awesome moment for the company’s founder. That’s great inspiration! The company—Spiegen—has already raised more than $112,000 on Indiegogo, blowing past their $5,000 goal with a month left to go. The $100,000 milestone was to add a model for iPhone 8, too. It has a two-layer design that looks like you’re peeking into the device, and I think it’s cool. Funding options that include a case start at $35, with shipping in June of 2018.
macOS: How to See Where a Download Came From
So you’ve downloaded files to your Mac. What’s an easy way to see where they came from if you forget? Or how can you tell where your dad got that pirated copy of Microsoft Office? In today’s Quick Tip, we’ll tell you how to see that info…and maybe help you call out your dad’s terrible computing habits.
Tweetbot 3 for the Mac Launches with Dark Mode, More
Tweetbot 3 for the Mac is out, and it’s loaded with a bunch of new features. The Twitter client has improved timeline management, autoplay (or not) for videos and GIFs, drag-and-drop column organizing, quicker access to DM chats, a dark mode, and more. Tweetbot 3 is priced at US$9.99 and is available at Apple’s Mac App Store.
Watch Susan Kare Talk about Working on Original Mac Icons and Typography
Check out this wonderful presentation from Susan Kare, a member of the original Mac team who designed the icons and typography for those early Macs. This movie has been around for years, but I just saw it in a piece at Tested about the Command Key icon. That story is part of the presentation and involves Steve Jobs. In fact, it includes all kinds of anecdotes and lore, and if you’re interested in Apple or Apple products, you will enjoy watching this presentation. And the reality is if you use a modern computing device, you owe Susan Kare a debt of gratitude. She’s done a lot of work for many other companies, too, and she touches on that in this preso. It’s great!
Three Ways to Fix Mac Hard Disk Failures
For as long as Dr. Mac can remember he’s relied upon the same three products when his hard (or solid state) disks go bad: Apple’s Disk Utility (free), Prosoft Engineering’s Drive Genius ($79), and Alsoft’s DiskWarrior ($119.99), but only one has succeeded three times in the past few months after the other two failed… Read Dr. Mac’s Rants & Raves Episode #276 to find out which one succeeded and which two failed!
How to Format an SD or Micro SD Card on Your Mac
If you have an SD or micro SD card you want to reformat with your Mac it’s a pretty easy process. Read on to learn how.
Adobe is Giving Away its App Interface Design Tools with Adobe XD Starter Plan
Adobe wants to be the go-to choice for app interface design, so the company just introduced Adobe XD Starter Plan—a free version of its Adobe XD user experience design tools.
Apple Seeds macOS 10.13.5 Developer Beta 5
The biggest feature for end-users is continued testing of Messages in iCloud.
Command & Conquer: Generals Deluxe Edition for Mac on Sale for $5
Hey Mac gamers, Aspyr Media has Command & Conquer: Generals Deluxe Edition for Mac on sale for $5, which is now downloading on own Mac even now. That’s right, I took the time to buy it before alerting you, because what if it turned out to be a mistake and the price went up!?! 😱 But for reals, who doesn’t love Command & Conquer? Unfortunately, it’s a single player game these days because Apple has mostly abandoned Game Center, but it’s a great (though old) single player game, so giddy up! This version includes Command & Conquer: Generals and the Zero Hour expansion.
Breaking News: Indy Mac Software Maker Thrives for 25 Years
This company has been making a product used throughout the Mac community, and has been able to stay in business while updating this software all this time, an amazingly rare success story
Debating the Mac mini's Fate, iMessage for Windows - TMO Daily Observations 2018-05-11
John Martellaro and Bryan Andrew Orr join Jeff Gamet to look at Apple’s Mac mini and debate whether it needs an update or to go end of life. They also discuss Microsoft’s push to bring iMessage to Windows.
