OS X AND MAC STUFF
I know some of you are still suffering from wi-fi connection problems. Several blogs have pointed to an OS X system process called ‘discoveryd’ as a potential culprit. Well, it looks like Apple is going to replace discoveryd with an older, more stable process in the next iteration of Yosemite. Let’s hope that really does fix some things!!
http://9to5mac.com/2015/05/26/apple-drops-discoveryd-in-latest-os-x-beta-following-months-of-complaints-about-network-issues-with-yosemite/
Finally fixing the wi-fi problem goes along with the rumour that Apple will spend some time getting OS X (and iOS) stable, secure and performing better. I think this is a good idea. I like some of the changes in the last few years but mostly I just want things to work properly and quickly.
http://9to5mac.com/2015/05/22/ios-9-os-x-10-11-to-bring-quality-focus-smaller-apps-rootless-security-legacy-iphoneipad-support/
Tip of the week: how to batch rename files in Finder.
http://osxdaily.com/2015/05/28/batch-rename-files-mac-os-x-finder/
I decided I really could use some help and some incentives to use the new Photos app so I was pleased to note that Photos for Mac: a Take Control Crash Course was available. I followed the link below and had the .pdf in my download folder in minutes. Yeah!! The link gives you a 30% discount.
http://tid.bl.it/photos-crash-course-mug-discount
I never really thought about how to list all the apps installed on my Mac. This article discusses three ways to do it.
http://osxdaily.com/2015/05/25/list-all-applications-mac-os-x/
iSTUFF
This last week saw the debut of a text message that can cause Apple devices to crash. Really. Apple is working on a fix but here’s a good article discussing the problem and some ways to avoid the problem.
http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/05/beware-of-the-text-message-that-crashes-iphones/
And Apple has suggested a work-around.
http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/05/28/apple-details-workaround-for-ios-messages-bug
An excellent tip: how to ‘straighten’ photos on your iPhone and iPad.
http://osxdaily.com/2015/05/28/how-to-straighten-photos-on-iphone-ipad/
Google has introduced an ‘unlimited’ free photo syncing service for iOS and Android with a desktop client to follow. I am going to check this out.
http://9to5mac.com/2015/05/28/google-photos/
As mentioned above, the rumours are that Apple will be focusing on making iOS 9 stable instead of blinding us with new features. Let’s hope that is true! Especially the part about optimising it for older devices.
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2015/05/report-ios-9-will-be-optimized-for-older-devices-including-iphone-4s/
It looks like iPhones really can save your life by blocking shotgun blasts. And it was only a 5c!!
http://9to5mac.com/2015/05/22/iphone-saved-life-gunshot-victim/
Do I really care that Microsoft will be bringing its version of Siri to my iPhone? Not really. But it got widely reported on the blogs so some people are . . . impressed?
http://www.engadget.com/2015/05/26/microsoft-cortana-android-iphone/
WWW = WEIRD, WONDERFUL AND WHY
This IS good, a device that monitors the air quality in your home and will, hopefully, be able to do something about it.
http://www.engadget.com/2015/05/27/the-awair-helps-you-breathe-easier-by-tracking-air-quality/
Apple is looking to use the same typeface across all its devices. In fact, they invented a new one just for that. It’s called San Francisco and if it really does improve readability then I’ll be pleased.
http://9to5mac.com/2015/05/25/apple-typeface-san-francisco/
Some Apple Watch owners are selling the box the watch came in on ebay for more than the amounts some other smart watches are selling. Crazy.
http://9to5mac.com/2015/05/26/apple-watch-box-market/
A man in Canada was fined, apparently, for changing songs with his Apple Watch while driving. Why can’t people just listen to the radio?
http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/05/28/apple-watch-owner-fined-120-for-changing-songs-while-driving
Are erasers in schools ‘instruments of the devil’? On cognitive scientist thinks so.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-32884330
Please don’t tell my son that a Canadian man has invented a hoverboard that he rode a distance of almost 1000 feet over a lake. My son falls off his skateboard too often as it is.
http://www.engadget.com/2015/05/22/guy-hoverboards-across-a-canadian-lake-and-into-history/
I suppose it was inevitable that we would have ‘smart’ plush toys someday. I’m glad my son is too old for such things. The boxes of Lego were expensive enough.
http://www.engadget.com/2015/05/25/google-patent-smart-toys/
Why would you want an owl to deliver the wedding rings during the actual wedding service? I’m never going to watch a Harry Potter film again.
http://www.geeksaresexy.net/2015/05/25/owl-delivers-wedding-rings-to-groom-harry-potter-style-video/
To be honest, I don’t understand the need for VR (virtual reality) headsets. But they are all the rage, especially amongst gamers. Google made a special app and a cardboard holder so if you really want to look silly looking at your phone in a box you can do so cheaply.
http://9to5mac.com/2015/05/28/google-cardboard-iphone/
But then I am getting older and grumpier by the day. I do think that it’s a good thing that the British Museum will be offering live tours over a video streaming service. It means that people who can’t get to the museum can still ‘see’ objects in the collection. AND when I go to the museum there will be fewer people getting in my way. That’s a win.
http://www.engadget.com/2015/05/28/british-museum-periscope-tour/
May 29th is the 149th day of the year and Oak Apple Day in England. But . . . oaks don’t have apples . . . . I’m confused.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to: Charles II (b 1630, d 1685), Patrick Henry . . . a famous American, sorry (b 1736, d 1799), GK Chesterton (b 1874, d 1936), Bob Hope, another famous American (b 1903, d 2003), TH White (b 1906, d 1964), Tenzing Norgay (b 1914, d 1986), JFK (b 1917, d 1963), Al Unser . . . okay, another famous American (b 1939), Danny Elfman (b 1953), John Hinckley Jr, attempted assassin of President Ronald Reagan (b 1955), La Toya Jackson (b 1956), Ted Levine, he’s an actor, he’s good (b 1957), Annette Bening (b 1958), Melissa Etheridge, one of my favourites (b 1961), Noel Gallagher (b 1967), Mel B, okay . . . maybe the Spice Girls were rubbish . . . but you do know who she is (b 1975), Sarah Millican (b 1975).
Rest in peace these folks who died on February 6th: Winfield Scott . . . it’s an American Civil War connection for me, sorry (b 1786, d 1866), Mary Pickford (b 1892, d 1979), John Cipollina, guitarist for Quicksilver Messenger Service (b 1943, d 1989), Erich Honecker (b 1912, d 1994), Barry Goldwater, he was an icon of my youth (b 1909, d 1998), Archibald Cox, as a Watergate kid I cannot forget this man (b 1912, d 2004), Harvey Korman, one of my childhood favourites (b 1927, d 2008), Dennis Hopper (b 1936, d 2010).
Gosh, lots of Americans on both of those lists. Sorry.
Some notable events that took place on May 29th: The fall of Constantinople (1453), Charles II is restored to the throne (1660), Peter II becomes Czar of Russia (1727), Wisconsin is admitted as the 30th state of the USA (1848), The Rite of Spring debuts in Paris, provoking a riot (1913), RMS Empress of Ireland sinks . . . I’m a shipwreck geek, sorry (1914), the song White Christmas is recorded (1942), Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reach the peak of Mount Everest (1953). Pope John Paul II visits Canterbury Cathedral (1982), Boris Yelsin is elected President of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic . . . what is that? (1990).
Okay, I have to make a comment about Wisconsin becoming a state on this date in 1848. I’m from Wisconsin of Germanic descent. I don’t say German anymore since there was no country of Germany at the time. And most of my ancestors left Europe because of the wars which swept Europe in 1848 and 1849. So, at the time my relatives were leaving their homeland their new home was just being incorporated. Just a bit of serendipity for me.
FUNNIES, ETC
“The climate is changing. I don’t think the science is clear on what percentage is man-made and what percentage is natural. It’s convoluted. And for the people to say the science is decided on this is just really arrogant, to be honest with you. It’s this intellectual arrogance that now you can’t have a conversation about it even.” — Jeb Bush
“Just generally I think as conservatives we should embrace innovation, embrace technology, embrace science. Sometimes I sense that we pull back from the embrace of these things. We shouldn’t.” — Jeb Bush
“I’m trying to preserve an endangered culture — the American culture — and it is being overwhelmed by 30 million illegal and legal immigrants being dumped on this country from peasant cultures… If you don’t want to be killed by ISIS, don’t go to Syria. If you don’t want to be killed by a Mexican, there’s nothing I can tell you.” — Ann Coulter
“There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year-old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.” — John Rogers
“It’s harder to write fiction than nonfiction. Fiction has to make sense.” — Tom Clancy
“God I want you right now,” John Diehl texted. “I wish you could have me right now,” Katie Graham said in reply. Diehl said he “will have my way with you” and “leave you quivering.” On the other hand, Diehl tells her later, “You have always been disappointed” when she asks him to “take care of me.” Diehl, 49, was the Republican speaker of the Missouri state House of Representatives, and Graham, 19, is a college freshman — and was working as an intern at the state capitol. In screen shots of the texts, it can be seen that Graham changed the congressman’s name in her phone from “John” to “Frank Underwood” — the name of a fictional Congressman on the TV show House of Cards who has an affair with a younger woman. When the Kansas City Star published the messages, Diehl, a “pro-family values” Republican who is married and has three children, resigned; Missouri Southern State University had already pulled all of its interns out of the capitol. (RC/Kansas City Star, KCTV Kansas City)
George Flint, 81, is the oldest lobbyist in the state of Nevada. He planned to keep at it, but a heart attack prompted him to retire. In response, state legislators declared “George Flint Day” to recognize his “outstanding and valuable contributions as Nevada’s longest-standing senior lobbyist.” Flint (most lawmakers call him “Georgie”) also has a day job: he’s an ordained Pentecostal minister who runs a wedding chapel in Reno. He started lobbying on behalf of wedding chapels 52 years ago, but spent the last 30 years lobbying on behalf of a different industry: Nevada’s legal brothels. One goal he didn’t accomplish, even after all that time: getting prostitution legalized statewide: it’s not legal in four of the state’s 16 counties, including “Sin City” itself — Las Vegas’s Clark County — which brings an undesirable crime culture to the city, Flint says. One goal he did accomplish, early on: visiting a brothel as a client. “I’ve never hidden the fact I’ve tasted that merchandise,” he said. He says that one of Jesus’ most loyal followers, Mary Magdalene, was a hooker, and if a prostitute was good enough for Christ, they’re good enough for anyone. (RC/Los Angeles Times)
A guy received a text from his next-door neighbor:
“Bob, I’m sorry. I’ve been riddled with guilt and I have to confess: I have been helping myself to your wife when you’re not around, probably more than you. I know it’s no excuse but I don’t get it at home. I can’t live with the guilt any longer. I hope you’ll accept my sincerest apology. It won’t happen again.”
Feeling outrage and betrayed, Bob grabbed his gun, went into the bedroom, and without a word, shot his wife.
Moments later he received a second text: “I really should have checked it over! That should have read “wifi”.
(A bit naughty but . . . )
A large woman, wearing a sleeveless sun dress, walked into a bar in Dublin.
She raised her right arm, revealing a huge, hairy armpit and, as she pointed to all the people sitting at the bar she asked, “What man here will buy a lady a drink?”
The bar went silent as patrons tried to ignore her. But down at the end of the bar, an owly-eyed drunk slammed his hand down on the counter and bellowed, “Give the ballerina a drink!” The bartender poured the drink and the woman chugged it down.
She turned to the patrons and again pointed around at all of them, revealing the same hairy armpit, and asked, “What man here will buy a lady a drink?”
Once again, the same little drunk slapped his money down on the bar and said, “Give the ballerina another drink!”
The bartender approached the little drunk and said, “Tell me, Paddy, it’s your business if you want to buy the lady a drink, but why do you keep calling her the ballerina?”
The drunk replied, “Any woman who can lift her leg that high has got to be a ballerina!”
A macho man married a good-looking lady, and after the wedding, he laid down the following rules:
‘I’ll be home when I want, if I want and at what time I want — and I don’t expect any hassle from you. I expect a great dinner to be on the table unless I tell you that I won’t be home for dinner. I’ll go hunting, fishing, boozing, and card-playing when I want to with my old buddies, and don’t you give me a hard time about it. Those are my rules. Any comments?’
His new bride said:
‘No, that’s fine with me. Just understand that there will be sex here at seven o’clock every night…whether you’re here or not.’
Husband and wife had a bitter quarrel on the day of their 40th wedding anniversary.
The husband yells, ‘When you die, I’m getting you a headstone that reads, ‘Here Lies My Wife — Cold As Ever’!’
‘Yeah?’ she replies. ‘When you die, I’m getting you a headstone that reads, ‘Here Lies My Husband — Stiff At Last’!’
A husband (a doctor) and his wife are having a fight at the breakfast table.The husband gets up in a rage and says, ‘And you are no good in bed either,’ and storms out of the house.
After some time he realises he was nasty and decides to make amends and rings her up.
She comes to the phone after many rings, and the irritated husband says, ‘What took you so long to answer to the phone?’
She says, ‘I was in bed.’
‘In bed this early, doing what?’
‘Getting a second opinion!’
A man has six children and is very proud of his achievement. He is so proud of himself, that he starts calling his wife,’ Mother of Six’ in spite of her objections.
One night, they go to a party. The man decides that it IS time to go home and wants to find out if his wife is ready to leave as well. He shouts at the top of his voice, ‘Shall we go home Mother of Six?’
His wife, irritated by her husband’s lack of discretion, shouts right back, ‘Any time you’re ready, Father of Four.’
A man and his wife were having some problems at home and were giving each other the silent treatment.
Suddenly the man realized that the next day he would need his wife to wake him at 5:00 AM for an early morning business flight.
Not wanting to be the first to break the silence (and LOSE), he wrote on a piece of paper, ‘Please wake me at 5:00 AM.’ He left it where he knew she would find it.
The next morning the man woke up, only to discover it was 9:00 AM and he had missed his flight.
Furious, he was about to go to see why his wife hadn’t wakened him when he noticed a piece of paper by the bed. The paper said, ‘It is 5:00 AM. Wake up.’
