YMUG Newsletter – 2016/02/13
YMUG MEETING?
Pete Bell suggested Sprotborough as it’s a bit of a YMUG tradition. Is it okay with everyone if I check into that and look to set something up for . . . some weekend during the Easter break? I haven’t done any planning this week, I’ve been kind of busy. But I’ll start looking at dates. If anyone has a major conflict let me know! I’ve already ruled out April 2nd.
OS X AND MAC STUFF
If you’ve got one of the newer 12-inch Retina Macbooks (I’ll try not to envy you) with the USB-C charging cable you might want to take advantage of an exchange program Apple has introduced owning to some of the cables developing faults if you’ve got one of those cables. Check out the pictures in the article. There’s no rush though, you have ’til June 2018.
http://www.macrumors.com/2016/02/12/macbook-usb-c-cable-replacement-program/
Oh and don’t update Adobe CC if you’re using it. You might loose some of your root level data. Bad Adobe, BAD!!
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2016/02/warning-bug-in-adobe-creative-cloud-deletes-mac-user-data-without-warning/
Some Mac apps (including VLC) are susceptible to highjacking owing to a vulnerability in a third-party utility called Sparkle which helps the apps update. If you’re using VLC update it now as that app has been fixed. Again, this is a proof of concept problem, stick to the App Store if you can and don’t panic. Anyone who panics will be shot.
http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/02/huge-number-of-mac-apps-vulnerable-to-hijacking-and-a-fix-is-elusive/
Hopefully you will never have to reinstall OS X, but, if you do . . .
http://osxdaily.com/2016/02/09/howto-reinstall-os-x-mac-recovery/
An app called Print Selection can help you NOT print out entire web pages when you just want that recipe.
http://www.appleworld.today/blog/2016/2/10/print-selection-for-os-x-can-save-you-ink-paper-time-and-money
iSTUFF
Here’s some suggestions for getting better photos with your iPhone.
13 tips for getting the best results from your iPhone camera
A free app that gives you free access to many tutorial videos produced by Screencasts Online including OS X, Office, 1Password.
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/screencastsonline-showcase/id1062719677
Last week I told you about how some iDevices with TouchID have been ‘bricked’ after their home buttons have been repaired by someone other than an authorised Apple dealer. Guess what . . . wait for it . . . Apple is being sued!! Of course they are. They designed the devices that way so that it would be harder to link an unauthorised home button which could give access to the data. Sigh.
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2016/02/class-action-suit-over-iphone-bricking-error-53-filed-in-california/
How to create an ‘unread’ folder in iOS Mail.
http://www.macrumors.com/how-to/create-an-unread-folder-in-mail-for-ios/
What all that stuff on the ‘About’ page under ‘Settings’ on your iDevice is . . . about.
Not only is the iOS Facebook app a battery hog but it grabs a lot of storage space as well. Not that my son cares.
http://appleinsider.com/articles/16/02/08/facebook-app-still-an-iphone-battery-hog-testing-shows
A rather sad tale of one person’s horrible experience with iCloud Photo library.
Photos no longer updating: How iCloud Photo Library took hostage of my iPhone photos
Not that you were going to anyway but IF you take your 64-bit iDevice and manually set the date to January 1, 1970 you will convert your piece of kit into a very expensive paper weight. So don’t even think about it.
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2016/02/64-bit-iphones-and-ipads-get-stuck-in-a-loop-when-set-to-january-1-1970/
WWW = WEIRD, WONDERFUL AND WHY
A very nice guide to kerning, adjusting the spacing between letters. Thanks Brendan!
Apple, which famously tries to keep sex and violence out of the App Store, is going to produce a scripted ‘tv’ programme featuring their employee Dr Dre which will have ‘no shortage of sex and violence’. Something else I don’t have to worry about watching.
http://www.macrumors.com/2016/02/12/dr-dre-apple-original-tv-series/
Meanwhile Apple employees are being offered lots of money to give hackers AppleID information.
http://www.cultofmac.com/411380/hackers-try-to-bribe-apple-employees-for-login-info/
Those wild and crazy guys at Microsoft have produced an app that will help you identify breeds that might be part of a mongrel’s background. It will also match pictures of humans with dog breeds. Someone got paid for that. And yes, I am going to try it. On my dog and my family.
http://www.engadget.com/2016/02/12/microsofts-wacky-ai-app-matches-you-with-a-dog-breed/
Google is shutting down support for Picasa . . . didn’t they do that years and years ago? Around the last time I bought a copy of The Independent?
http://www.engadget.com/2016/02/12/googles-shutting-down-picasa/
Twitter is still losing money and isn’t attracting enough new users. Now . . . do I care?
http://www.engadget.com/2016/02/10/twitter-isnt-attracting-enough-new-users/
The American TV network NBC will be introducing a fairly cheap reality show streaming service in the UK so you can keep up with the Kardashians if you really must. If you don’t know who the Kardashians are then there is still hope for civilisation as we know it.
http://www.engadget.com/2016/02/12/nbcuniversal-reality-tv-streaming-service-hayu/
A Spanish civil servant ‘failed’ to turn up to work for six years.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35557725
The supreme lead of North Korea is apparently a fellow Mac user.
http://apple.slashdot.org/story/16/02/11/2236234/kim-jong-un-found-to-be-mac-user
I ‘get’ most of these cute math and science Valentine’s Day cards. But you can send me any old Valentine’s Day cards and I’ll be happy. I don’t think I’ve got one for a few years now.
Download and Print: Math and Science Valentine’s Day Cards [Pics]
February 13th is the 44th day of the year and is World Radio Day so leave Radio 4 on all day, if you don’t already.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to: Thomas Malthus (b 1766, d 1834), Peter Dirichlet, a famous mathematician (b 1805, d 1859), Lord Randolph Churchill (b 1849, d 1895), Bess Truman, wife of Harry Truman (b 1885, d 1982), Tennessee Ernie Ford (b 1919, d 1991), Chuck Yeager who has the right stuff (b 1923), Kim Novak (b 1933), George Segal (b 1934), Oliver Reed (b 1938, d 1999), Carol Lynley (b 1942), Peter Tork of The Monkees (b 1942), Stockard Channing (b 1944), Jerry Springer (b 1944), Simon Schama (b 1945), Peter Gabriel (b 1950), Adam Clayton of U2 (b 1960), Hugh Dennis (b 1962), Robbie Williams (b 1974), Jamie Murray (b 1986).
Rest in peace these folks who died on February 13th: Catherine Howard (b 1523, d 1542 . . . she only lived to be 19 years old?), Richard Wagner (b 1813, d 1883), Josephine Tey (b 1896, d 1952), Christabel Pankhurst (b 1880, d 1958), David Janssen (b 1931, d 1980), the wonderful Martin Balsam (b 1919, d 1996), Waylon Jennings (b 1937, d 2002),
Some notable events that took place on February 13th: the central tower of Ely Cathedrals collapses (1322), Catherine Howard is executed for adultery in a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black (1542), Galileo arrives in Rome for his trial before the Inquisition (1633), William and Mary are declared co-rules of England (1689), Massacre at Glencoe (1692), Bruno Hauptmann is found guilty of the kidnap and killing of the Lindbergh baby (1935), Royal Air Force bombers are sent to Dresden (1945), Konstantin Chernenko succeeds Yuri Adropov as general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1984), the last original ‘Peanuts’ comic strip is published (2000).
FUNNIES, ETC
“You see these terrorists that are flying planes into buildings, right? You see our cities getting shot up in California. You see Paris getting shot up. And then somebody complains when a terrorist gets waterboarded, which quite frankly is no different than what happens on college campuses and frat houses every day.”
— Eric Trump
“Now, listen, in this country I’m the son of a billionaire. I can’t even have an opinion anymore. I could be Albert Einstein and they would discredit me as a horrible scientist.”
— Donald Trump, Jr.
“We’re going to knock the hell out of ISIS, and we’re going to do it the right way.”
— Donald Trump
“With Congress you have to get everybody in a room. You have to get them to agree with what you want. You have to get people in, grab ’em, hug ’em, kiss ’em, and get the deal done. But it’s got to be that deal that you want.”
— Donald Trump
“It’s a very strange story, it’s just something that you wouldn’t think would happen,” says Chris Nelson of Troy, Vt. His daughter was home alone when a man walked into the house and told her, “I am here to feed my cat Mason — feed my friend’s cat Mason.” The family doesn’t have a cat named Mason, but they do have a cat, and the home’s security camera system showed the man carrying it away. “When he left he took my cat, Boots,” Nelson says. Police took a report, but said there was little they could do. The next day, the man was back — inside the locked house. “He was sitting here on the couch smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee and watching TV,” Nelson says. This time the police took the case more seriously, and thanks to the family getting the man’s license plate number, they arrested their prime suspect: Mark Frady, 54, and Boots was returned. (RC/WCAX Burlington)
Warning sign on a house: BEWARE OF THE DOG, and the cat is not trustworthy either.
Woman: Do you drink beer? Man: Yes Woman: How many beers a day? Man: Usually about 3 Woman: How much do you pay per beer? Man: £3 Woman: And how long have you been drinking? Man: About 30 years, I suppose Woman: So a beer costs £3 and you have 3 beers a day which puts your spending each month at £270. In one year, it would be approximately £3,240 correct? Man: Correct Woman: If in 1 year you spend £3,240 not accounting for inflation, the past 30 years puts your spending at £97,200 correct? Man: Correct Woman: Do you know that if you didn’t drink so much beer, that money could have been put in a step-up interest savings account and after accounting for compound interest for the past 30 years, you could have now bought a Ferrari? Man: Do you drink beer? Woman: No Man: Where’s your Ferrari then?
David Cameron has announced that he intends to make it more difficult to claim benefits. From next week all the forms will be printed in English.
Husband says to wife ‘My Olympic condoms have arrived – I think I’ll wear gold tonight’.
Wife says ‘why don’t you wear silver and come second for a change’.
(Sorry, sorry, sorry but it was one I hadn’t heard before)
I was driving this morning when I saw an AA van parked up.The driver was sobbing uncontrollably and looked very miserable.I thought to myself ‘that guy’s heading for a breakdown’.
On holiday recently in Spain I saw a sign that said ‘English speaking Doctor’. I thought what a good idea, why don’t we have them in our country
Do you know why God withheld the sense of humour from women? That we may love you, instead of laughing at you.
– Mrs Patrick Campbell, 1865 – 1940
When I see a man’s wife listening to his campaign speech I always admire the self-control that keeps her from laughing.
– Philander Johnson, 1866 – 1939
I have a job to do while I am on this planet in this incarnation: To attempt to break every social norm, turn it back on itself and see that it is laughed at.
– Roseanne Barr
I always thought the laughing philosopher a much wiser man than the sniveling one.
– Abigail Adams, 1744 – 1818
Everyone, everywhere, and all the time, used to laugh at me when I was growing up. So, when I was around 18, I thought, ‘I’ll become a comedian, and then if everyone laughs at me, I’ll be famous’. So I went on stage one night and, for the first time in my life, everyone stopped laughing at me.
– Emo Philips
The difference between the maniac and the schizophrenic laugh is — mania and the world laughs with you, schizophrenia and you smile alone.
– Richard Asher, 1912 – 1969
We have to laugh. Because laughter, we already know, is the first evidence of freedom.
– Rosario Castellanos, 1925 – 1974
Family Tree of Vincent Van Gogh:
His dizzy aunt ———————————————– Verti Gogh
The brother who ate prunes——————————- Gotta Gogh
The brother who worked at a convenience store —— Stop N Gogh
The grandfather from Yugoslavia —————————– U Gogh
His magician uncle ——————————– Where-diddy Gogh
His Mexican cousin —————————————- A Mee Gogh (took me a minute)
The Mexican cousin’s American half-brother ———— Gring Gogh
The nephew who drove a stage coach ————— Wells-far Gogh
The constipated uncle ————————————- Can’t Gogh
The ballroom dancing aunt ——————————– Tang Gogh
The bird lover uncle ————————————– Flamin Gogh
The fruit-loving cousin ————————————– Man Gogh
An aunt who taught positive thinking —————— Way-to-Gogh
The little bouncy nephew ———————————– Poe Gogh
A sister who loved disco ————————————– Go Gogh
And his niece who travels the country in an RV — Winnie Bay Gogh
A Scouser was sitting in a pub having a quiet drink as usual when a short well dressed and obviously gay man walked in and sat beside him.
After three or four beers, the gay man leaned over towards the Scouser and whispered, “Do you want a blow job?”
The Scouser leapt up with fire in his eyes knocked him off his stool and smacked the bejeesus out of him. He dragged him out of the bar and left him bruised and battered in the car park and returned to his seat at the bar.
Not entirely amazed at what just happened the barman quickly brought over another beer to the Scouser and said,
“I’ve never seen you react as badly as that before. What did he say to you?”
“I don’t know,” the Scouser replied. “Something about a job.”
Tonight I’ve got to take my son and one of his buddies to a concert in Leeds. Last time I went to the venue I got lost, on the way and the way back. Wish me luck!!
