YMUG Newsletter – 2016/09/10
Acting Secretaries:
Tony Crockford: support@ymug.org
Chris Brady: ymug@csjbrady.org.uk
with help from: Anzir Boodoo and Tim Pinder. Thanks also to Ian Thomas, Martin Pickering and Brendan Rowland who send me items of interest.
Items for the newsletter . . . reviews, rants, raves, revelations and reflections to: Jerad Zimmermann, your participatory social mores editor: news@ymug.org
Join mactalk – YMUG’s official email list discussion group.
You’ll get approximately 5 or 6 emails a day and can have ‘instant’ discussions on Mac related issues. And other stuff, we’re flexible. We had a chat about vari-focal lenses this week.
To subscribe (FREE) to the group, send a blank email to: mactalk-join@ymug.org and then confirm membership when you receive an automated reply from the group,
If you have any difficulty, please contact Tony Crockford, he’s very nice. – support@ymug.org
NEXT YMUG MEETING:
Well, the meeting on the 13th went pretty well. Bob has given me a lot of material to go along with his talk and I’ve put it up ‘in the cloud’ (in this case on Google’s servers, linked to a Google mail account I set up for YMUG) including his presentation outline, iMovie, tutorial materials for iDVD and Audacity and lots of other stuff. Chris Brady typed up some notes during the meeting and I’ve included those as well. Have a look:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B1hSzOdPgpzYNWtmRnQ4V1dUdmc?usp=sharing
Let me know if you have any trouble with the link or the material.
Here’s a list of some topics that Steve or I can talk about for our next meeting:
iTunes (its uses and abuses),
Cloud based sync and backup services,
using text expansion (in-built and specialist apps),
Automator.(what it is and isn’t how to build an automation workflow/service/app),
a look at Preview and what you can do with it,
general productivity apps and approaches – to do lists, note taking, etc,
security basics (passwords & password management, touch ID, encryption incl. File Vault, ZIP passwords, document passwords, etc., being safe online, phishing, etc).
Let me know (news@ymug.org) if any of the topics are of particular interest. Or if there’s something else you’d like to learn about.
I figure the next meeting should be ‘up North’ so . . . Bedale okay with everyone? Sometime in December or January? I want to wait until the newest version of OS X/macOS and iOS 10 arrive.
THE BIG APPLE EVENT ON THE 7TH.
To the surprise of no one Apple announced the imminent release of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus both sans the usual headphone jack. But they are including an adaptor which will only cost £9 if you buy it separately.
http://www.apple.com/uk/pr/library/2016/09/07Apple-Introduces-iPhone-7-iPhone-7-Plus-The-Best-Most-Advanced-iPhone-Ever.html
Here’s a technical comparison of the iPhone 7 with the other available models.
Comparison: Here’s how the iPhone 7 compares to the rest of the iPhone lineup
And here’s a comparison of various UK mobile phone contracts for the iPhone 7.
https://www.engadget.com/2016/09/09/iphone-7-plus-pre-order-guide-uk/
If you get an iPhone 7 then you might also want to consider an Apple Lightning Dock, recommended by Phil Schiller who does work for Apple.
http://www.macrumors.com/2016/09/08/lightning-dock-iphone-7-charging-with-music/
And Belkin is offering a ‘splitter’ which will let you listen to music (via non-Bluetooth ear buds) and charge your iPhone 7 at the same time.
http://www.macrumors.com/2016/09/08/belkin-lightning-audio-adapter-iphone-7/
Turns out the audio jack ‘had’ to go not only to give more room but to improve the iPhone 7s water resistance.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/johnpaczkowski/inside-iphone-7-why-apple-killed-the-headphone-jack
What I would like to try but really shouldn’t are the new £159 AirPods. It is my birthday in a couple of weeks . . .
http://www.apple.com/uk/pr/library/2016/09/07Apple-Reinvents-the-Wireless-Headphone-with-AirPods.html
Also there will be a ungraded Apple Watch out soon which you can wear while you’re swimming.
http://www.apple.com/uk/pr/library/2016/09/07Apple-Introduces-Apple-Watch-Series-2-The-Ultimate-Device-For-A-Healthy-Life.html
Sadly, there will be no more solid gold Apple Watches. I guess I’ll have to spend £13,000 on something else now.
http://arstechnica.co.uk/apple/2016/09/apple-golden-watch-is-no-more-ceramic-watch-edition/
But soon you WILL be able to play Pokemon Go Plus on an Apple Watch. And there was much rejoicing.
http://arstechnica.co.uk/gaming/2016/09/pokemon-go-plus-apple-watch/
If you’d like a quick video recap of all the new and wonderful Apple things . . .
http://www.macrumors.com/2016/09/07/apple-iphone-7-event-recap-video/
OS X AND MAC STUFF
macOS Sierra will be available on September 20th. Here’s a brief list of supported hardware. I’ll post links to reviews after it’s available.
http://arstechnica.co.uk/apple/2016/09/macos-sierra-release-date-features/
I’ve never been a big fan of Google Chrome, it tends to spawn lots of sub-processes and takes a lot of power and CPU resources. Google is working on that and the latest version is much more economical.
Double-digit speed & battery improvements to Google Chrome 53 see Mac use 33% less power
How to use (the amazing) Preview to resize photos.
http://osxdaily.com/2016/09/05/how-to-resize-photo-mac/
A bit technical but it does show you how to change the default location for screenshots.
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-9081
iSTUFF
iOS 10 will be released to the public on September 13th. This article contains a list of which iOS devices will support it. It’s going to be a big update so I would recommend you update your devices via iTunes and a lot of cups of tea. I’ll be updating right away and will let you know how it goes.
http://arstechnica.co.uk/apple/2016/09/ios-10-details-release-date/
WatchOS 3 will also be released on September 13th.
http://arstechnica.co.uk/apple/2016/09/watchos-3-release-date-features/
Oh dear, the new Chinese add campaigns for the iPhone 7 may be a bit naughty.
http://www.cultofmac.com/444941/apples-iphone-7-slogan-china-penis/
WWW = WEIRD, WONDERFUL AND WHY
A lengthy article about the UK’s rural broadband voucher system (£350 for installing a satellite system) and some alternatives. If you get less than 2 megabits per second download speeds then you should read this.
http://arstechnica.co.uk/business/2016/09/uk-rural-broadband-satellite-vouchers/
I thought roaming charges were going to be removed for all of Europe. Turns out they will be for a maximum of 90 days a years. Still, that’s better than it was and enough for a good holiday or two.
http://arstechnica.co.uk/tech-policy/2016/09/eu-mobile-roaming-cap-90-days-a-year/
If you’re in Northern Quebec and your Apple product goes kaput call Jamie Fendo-Cumbo. He fixes stuff. A lot of stuff.
Who needs science fiction? Apple might be helping to bring iOS support for augmented reality contact lenses.
http://appleinsider.com/articles/16/09/08/apple-to-meet-with-augmented-reality-contact-lens-firm-epgl-discuss-possible-ios-support
Remember the exploding Galaxy Note 7 phones? They’ve been recalled but some people are holding onto theirs. The Federal Aviation Administration is telling folks to turn them off while on flights.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/09/09/493241698/tray-tables-stowed-seat-backs-upright-and-galaxy-note-7s-off-please
Ars Technica tells you how to distinguish potentially explosive Note 7s from safe ones.
http://arstechnica.co.uk/gadgets/2016/09/exploding-galaxy-note-7-buyers-guide/
IF you insist on playing Pokemon GO then you’d best avoid playing in Russian churches. My advice: don’t play at all.
http://arstechnica.co.uk/tech-policy/2016/09/pokemon-go-church-russian-blogger-sokolovsky-faces-jail-term/
This is odd: “Warner Bros ordered Google to remove several of its own webpages from search results on the grounds they infringed the media giant’s copyright.”
http://arstechnica.co.uk/tech-policy/2016/09/warner-bros-flags-own-site-for-piracy-dmca-google/
The general consensus is that we can detect only five different tastes: sweet, sour, etc. But, could it be that starchiness is a sixth flavour?
Very clever scientists are working on a fabric that might keep you cooler.
http://arstechnica.co.uk/science/2016/09/nanoporous-polyethylene-fabric-reverse-greenhouse/
Remember how in the original Star Trek (which debuted 50 years ago this last week) the guys in the red shirts always got killed first? Well, you can now buy one of those red shirts which looked like they’ve been blasted.
OR you can get a Star Trek themed dress.
Anovos and Gold Bubble Create New Geektastic Line of Star Trek Fashion Dresses
Not only yoga with goats but pictures of yoga with goats.
http://www.laineymorse.com/#!/page/71628/yoga-on-the-farm
September 10th is the 254th day of this leap year and is also National TV Dinner Day in the, where else, USA.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to: Louis IV of France (b 920, d 954), Henry Purcell (b 1659, d 1695), Franz Werfel (b 1890, d 1945), film director Robert Wise (b 1914, d 2005), Beryl Cook (b 1926, d 2008), golfer Arnold Palmer (b 1929), actor Philip Baker Hall (b 1931), baseball player Roger Maris (b 1934, d 1985), author Jared Diamond (b 1937), biologist extraordinaire Stephen Jay Gould (b 1941, d 2002), conductor Christopher Hogwood (b 1941, d 2014), Jose Feliciano (b 1945), guitarist for Aerosmith Joe Perry (b 1950), actress Amy Irving (b 1953), actor Colin Firth (b 1960), director Guy Ritchie (b 1968).
Rest in peace these folks who died on September 10th: Mary Wollstonecraft (b 1759, d 1797), the infamous Huey Long (b 1893, d 1935), author Norah Lofts (b 1904, d 1983), musician Clarence ‘Gatemouth’ Brown (b 1924, d 2005), Anita Roddick (b 1942, d 2007), actress Jane Wyman (b 1917, d 2007), actor Richard Kiel (b 1939, d 2014).
Some notable events that took place on September 10th: The last battle between England and Scotland, the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh (1547), the US beats Britain at the Battle of Lake Erie (1813), Elias Howe is granted a patent for the sewing machine (1846), the submarine HMS Oxley is accidentally sunk by the HMS Triton (1939), German forces begin their occupation of Rome (1943), Gunsmoke premiers on CBS in the US (1955) and runs for 20 seasons, at the Summer Olympics Abebe Bikila becomes the first sub-Saharan African to win an Olympic gold medal winning the marathon in bare feet (1960), Gibraltar votes to remain a British dependency (1967), the US loses a controversial basketball game to the USSR at the summer Olympics (1972), Switzerland joins the United Nations (2002), the Large Hadron Collider is first powered up (2008).
FUNNIES, ETC
“What would you do, if you were elected, about Aleppo?”
— Mike Barnicle to Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson, on “Morning Joe”
“And what is Aleppo?”
— Johnson, in response
“I just don’t think she has a presidential look, and you need a presidential look. You have to get the job done.”
— Donald Trump on Hillary Clinton
“He has the attention span and the knowledge base of a nine year old with ADHD. And I’m not saying that to be funny.”
— “The Art of the Deal” ghostwriter Tony Schwartz on Donald Trump
“In Trump We Trust: E Pluribus Awesome!”
— title of Ann Coulter’s new book
When a police officer went to Richard Shepard of Hartselle, Ala., to tell him his wife had hired an undercover officer to kill him, Shepard agreed to help fake photos of his death to convince his wife, Sarah, 27, that the deed was done. Then, of course, Sarah was arrested and held on $500,000 bail. Richard petitioned for a protection order for himself and his young children, who he considered to be “in extreme danger” due to the charges and Sarah’s history of abuse. Even after her arrest, Sarah was even “more adamant” with friends that she wanted her husband killed. But months later, Richard worked with Sarah’s attorney to get her bail reduced so she could get out of jail. He told Morgan County Circuit Judge Glenn Thompson that there “isn’t any way” Sarah could have plotted to kill him because she can “hardly put together a weekly grocery list.” (RC/WAFF Huntsville, Decatur Daily)
An 80-year-old woman lived on the streets of Washington, D.C., for roughly 16 years. In her bags, she claimed, she had proof that the government owed her upwards of $100,000. She would call Social Security and write letters. She would ask people who work with the homeless to help her get her money, but they would instead refer her for mental health services, she said. In better times, Wanda Witter, 80, had refused to cash checks the agency had sent her for figures she didn’t believe were accurate; once she was homeless and tried to get even wrong checks, the agency had given up on trying to send money to a woman with neither an address nor a bank account. Eventually, however, a social worker took on her case, and helped her get a lawyer. Now she’s gotten her first check for the amount she’s supposed to get — $1,464 — and her lawyer says she should get $99,999 soon, and perhaps more later. (AC/Washington Post)
An unnamed passenger on a WestJet flight decided he didn’t really want to go from Toronto, Ont., to Edmonton, Alta., Canada, and demanded to be let off as he headed for the door. A flight attendant stopped him “a few feet” from the door, and asked other passengers to help restrain him: the aircraft was than three hours into its flight. “We zip-tied him, and they brought him to the back of the plane where they held him for about a half hour or so until we landed,” said Steven Kelly, one of the passengers. Kelly had noticed the man: he had spent the entire time before the incident praying and “calling us ‘non-believers’,” he said, “and if there were any believers on board, to kill him.” (RC/CTV)
The phone rings and the lady of the house answers,
“Hello.”
“Mrs. Sanders, please.”
“Speaking.”
“Mrs. Sanders, this is Doctor Jones at Saint Agnes Laboratory. When your husband’s doctor sent his biopsy to the lab last week, a biopsy from another Mr. Sanders arrived as well… We are now uncertain which one belongs to your husband. Frankly, either way the results are not too good.”
“What do you mean?” Mrs. Sanders asks nervously.
“Well, one of the specimens tested positive for Alzheimer’s and the other one tested positive for HIV. We can’t tell which is which.”
“That’s dreadful! Can you do the test again?” questioned Mrs.Sanders.
“Normally we can, but MEDICARE will only pay for these expensive tests once.”
“Well, what am I supposed to do now?”
“The MEDICARE Helpdesk recommend that you drop your husband off somewhere in the middle of town. If he finds his way home, don’t sleep with him
A blonde lady motorist was about two hours from San Diego when she was flagged down by a man whose truck had broken down.
The man walked up to the car and asked, “Are you going to San Diego?”
“Sure,” answered the blonde, “do you need a lift?”
“Not for me. I’ll be spending the next three hours fixing my truck. My problem is I’ve got two chimpanzees in the back that have to be taken to the San Diego Zoo. They’re a bit stressed already so I don’t want to keep them on the road all day. Could you possibly take them to the zoo for me? I’ll give you $100 for your trouble”
“I’d be happy to,” said the blonde. So the two chimpanzees were ushered into the back seat of the blonde’s car and carefully strapped into their seat belts, and off they went.
Five hours later, the truck driver was driving through the heart of San Diego when suddenly he was horrified! There was the blonde walking down the street, holding hands with the two chimps, much to the amusement of a big crowd. With a screech of brakes he pulled off the road and ran over to the blonde.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded, “I gave you $100 to take these chimpanzees to the zoo!”
“Yes, I know you did,” said the blonde. “But we had money left over so now we’re going to Sea World”.
God first went to the Egyptians and asked them if they would like a commandment.
“What’s a commandment?” they asked.
“Well, it’s like, THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY,” replied God.
The Egyptians thought about it and then said, “No way, that would ruin our weekends.”
So then God went to the Assyrians and asked them if they would like a commandment.
They also asked, “What’s a commandment?”
“Well,” said God, “It’s like, THOU SHALT NOT STEAL.”
The Assyrians immediately replied, “No way. That would ruin our economy.”
So finally God went to the Jews and asked them if they wanted a commandment.
They asked, “How much?”
God said, “They’re free.”
The Jews said, “Great! We’ll take TEN!”
(I’m pretty sure I’ve use a variation of this joke before but it still makes me smile.)
Three women die together in an accident and go to heaven.
When they get there, St. Peter says, ‘We only have one rule here in heaven: Don’t step on the ducks!’
So they enter heaven, and sure enough, there are ducks all over the place. It is almost impossible not to step on a duck, and although they try their best to avoid them, the first woman accidentally steps on one.
Along comes St. Peter with the ugliest man she ever saw. St. Peter chains them together and says, ‘Your punishment for stepping on a duck is to spend eternity chained to this ugly man!’
The next day, the second woman steps accidentally on a duck and along comes St. Peter, who doesn’t miss a thing. With him is another extremely ugly man. He chains them together with the same admonishment as for the first woman.
The third woman has observed all this and, not wanting to be chained for all eternity to an ugly man, is very, VERY careful where she steps.
She manages to go months without stepping on any ducks,
But one day St.Peter comes up to her with the most handsome man she has ever laid eyes on ….. Very tall, long eyelashes, muscular. St. Peter chains them together without saying a word.
The happy woman says to the man, ‘I wonder what I did to deserve being chained to you for all of eternity?’
The guy says, ‘I don’t know about you, but I stepped on a duck.
Moses was sitting in the Egyptian ghetto. Things were terrible. Pharaoh wouldn’t even speak to him. The rest of the Israelites were mad at him and making the overseers even more irritable than usual, etc. He was about ready to give up.
Suddenly a booming, sonorous voice spoke from above: “You, Moses, heed me ! I have good news, and bad news.”
Moses was staggered.
The voice continued: “You, Moses, will lead the People of Israel from bondage. If Pharaoh refuses to release your bonds, I will smite Egypt with a rain of frogs. You, Moses, will lead the People of Israel to the Promised Land. If Pharaoh blocks your way, I will smite Egypt with a plague of Locust. You, Moses, will lead the People of Israel to freedom and safety. If Pharaoh’s army pursues you, I will part the waters of the Red Sea to open your path to the Promised Land.”
Moses was stunned. He stammered, “That’s…. that’s fantastic. I can’t believe it! — But what’s the bad news?”
“You, Moses, must write the Environmental Impact Statement.”
Two baseball pitchers promised each other. if one of them died first, he will come back as a ghost to tell the other if there was baseball in heaven.
So one of them dies and comes back as a ghost and says, ‘I have some good news and some bad news.’
Then the other person says, ‘Tell me.’
So he says, ‘The good news is there is baseball in heaven, but the bad news is that you are pitching tomorrow.’
Well school started up again so I’m going to be even more boring for a while. A bit of routine is good though. But I am going to miss the long sunny days. You will notice that most of the external news links are to Ars Technica or Mac Rumours. I find their reporting to be quite good and fairly ad free. I really hate directing you to sites that loaded with ads. Also, it helps speed up compiling the news letter if I monitor fewer sites.
