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Me and My Apple Toys by Ron McElfresh

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Me and My Apple Toys by Ron McElfresh

Archives for May 2016

Power To The People

From the Anker portable charger for MacBook, iPhone, iPad.

The Mac And Thinner, Lighter, Faster

Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Word on the proverbial streets is that Apple is in upgrade mode and high on the list is the MacBook Pro line, obviously due for some thinner, lighter, faster love from Cupertino's engineers. Over a year ago Apple set the trail for ultra light notebooks with the 2-pound MacBook, the thinnest, lightest,... Read More »
Monday, May 30, 2016

The Craigslist Car

Jerry Garrett:Have you ever looked at a Craigslist car ad and thought, “I wonder if I should take a chance?”Never. But others have. I've even sold things on Craigslist using ads I would never respond to. Here's a Craigslist ad from 2011.SERIAL # X53L on documented 1953 pre-production... Read More »

Why Russians Don’t Smile

Some cultures are effusive and friendly, others not so much. Olga Khazan:The virile ruler, the vodka, the endless mounds of sour cream—they are pleasing to some. It’s just that grinning without cause is not a skill Russians possess or feel compelled to cultivate. There’s even a Russian... Read More »

The Siri Box And Device Fatigue

Thursday, May 26, 2016
Word on the proverbial streets says Apple is about to open up Siri and make it accessible to app developers. Given the state of competition-- Microsoft's Cortana, Google's whatever-name-it-is-today, and even Amazon's Echo-- Siri with API's (application programmer interface) is no surprise. What took... Read More »
Wednesday, May 25, 2016

iPhone 7 Leak

Take it with a grain of salt, of course, but the past few years the so-called 'leaks' of new iPhone models have been remarkably accurate. John Callaham:New images of what are reportedly parts of Apple's upcoming iPhone 7 seem to show a dual-lens camera, along with a 256GB storage option... Some of... Read More »

The Car Porsche Owners Fear

Black and menacing is the Chevy Corvette Z06. Wait. What? Isn't that from, like, 2007? Yes. From BoldRide:The ZR6X widebody package pushes the sports car’s body outward by 1.5 inches at all four corners. It may be harder to park as a result, but the raucous carbon fiber fenders, splitter, side... Read More »

Apple Pandering For Fun And Profit

Tuesday, May 24, 2016
They say money does things to people. The implication is that too much money changes a person in the wrong ways (unless they become really rich and give away a fortune just before dying; as if the death-bed philanthropy will make up for past misdeeds). I don't really know because I don't have much money.... Read More »
Saturday, May 21, 2016

Microsoft Trumped Apple (again)

Funny piece from Kate MacKenzie on how Microsoft crowned itself King of the Laplets.The setup:Microsoft got absolutely obliterated by Apple’s iPhone and iPad, and Google’s dominance in the smartphones with Android. The Windows and Office machine sat back and watched as Apple and Google did... Read More »
Friday, May 20, 2016

Touch ID To Unlock A Mac

This isn't really a surprise and it's something of old news. Juli Clover on Apple's upcoming method to unlock your Mac with iPhone's Touch ID and Apple Watch:Apple engineers are designing an auto unlock function that would allow an iPhone to unlock a Mac when in close proximity, alleviating the need... Read More »

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Be A Network Traffic Cop

Monitor Internet, Wi-Fi, and home or office network performance from the Mac's Menubar with PeakHour, this week's sponsor. Keep ISPs honest and track Internet usage in real time. PeakHour sets up fast, works with UPnP and SNMP routers.

How To Kill The Cookies That Track You Online

Thursday, May 19, 2016
HTTP cookies are something of a nuisance but mostly innocuous. Mostly. In Europe there's a Cookie Law whereby websites are required to notify site visitors that they use cookies.An HTTP cookie (also called web cookie, Internet cookie, browser cookie or simply cookie), is a small piece of data sent... Read More »
Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Any PR is Good PR

What brand of smartphone would Iron Man Tony Stark use? iPhone? Galaxy? Dave Gonzales:Tony Stark using a Vivo phone is another of Marvel Studios’ ongoing attempts to make more money in the Chinese box office, which — for better or worse — has become noticeable to the American and English audiences.Vivo... Read More »

The Next iPhone Killer Is An iPhone

Seeking Alpha (meaning, hold your nose and take what you read with a few grains of salt):A report published in Nikkei claimed that Apple's upcoming iPhone 7 will see tepid demand due to "an ongoing slump in demand for premium smartphones and a lack of groundbreaking features for the upcoming iPhone... Read More »

iTunes Changes

Jonny Evans: Apple yesterday released iTunes 12.4, an update that introduces a few user interface tweaks that should help you get around it a little better. Lipstick on a pig. Spoiler Alert for the Top 6!Heart This Sorry By Up Next Playback Controls Browse Song Controls ... Read More »

A Few Words On Color Pickers

Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Mac owners who work in graphic design or programmers know the value of good color tools, whether color pickers, color wheels, or any color utility that grabs a color from the screen and stores it on a palette. My history with Mac color tools dates back to the last century, back when Photoshop was an... Read More »
Friday, May 13, 2016

Living With Gboard

Dave Mark likes Google's new Gboard keyboard for iPhone.Though some folks have complained that the Roboto font looks out of place (it does look different, no doubt), I actually prefer it. It’s drawn with finer lines and I find it easier to read (and detect boldface in) the suggested text. I... Read More »