YMUG Newsletter – 2017/01/08
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Best Supporting 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.
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Items for the newsletter . . . reviews, rants, raves, revelations and reflections to: Jerad Zimmermann, your participatory social mores editor: news@ymug.org
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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.
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, smart too. – support@ymug.org
And another thing . . . Jo Morris-Turner has taken it upon herself to write up some mactalk posting guidelines. They sound pretty good to me and they make a lot of sense. If you’d like to read them I’ve put them into my Dropbox public folder: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1799495/MACTALK%20POSTINGS%20ETIQUETTE.doc
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SOME CES HIGHLIGHTS AND LOWLIGHTS.
The Consumer Electronics Show took place this last week and the blogs were full of new products.
I didn’t know there were docking stations for Macbooks. I bet not for my model though. Not that I need one of course.
http://www.macrumors.com/2017/01/05/ces-2017-henge-docking-stations-macbook-pro/
A ‘kiddy lock’ iPhone 7 case that stops your offspring from having access to the home button. Why? So they can’t accidentally see those pictures you took for your boy friend?
http://www.macrumors.com/2017/01/05/ces-2017-incipio-kiddy-lock-case/
A 256 GB memory stick. It costs a lot though, I’d just get a portable hard drive.
http://www.macrumors.com/2017/01/04/ces-2017-sandisk-flash-drive/
Oh wait! Here’s a 2 TB memory stick. Guess the price.
http://www.macrumors.com/2017/01/03/kingston-2tb-usb-flash-drive/
One I’m kind of excited for: the NVIDIA folks are going to introduce a cloud-based, streaming service which essentially lets you ‘rent’ a high powered graphics card in the sky. This is very interesting for gamers.
http://arstechnica.co.uk/gaming/2017/01/nvidia-geforce-now-streaming-pc-mac-price-release-date/
Some lovely covers for your Apple devices including some fab clear ones from Speck who made the Macbook cover I’ve been using for a couple of years.
http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/01/05/otterbox-universe-case-expands-to-ipad-air-2-speck-presidio-clear-case-line-debuts
This could be useful: an Apple Watch band that contains a blood alcohol content monitor.
http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/01/05/bactrack-unveils-apple-watch-band-with-built-in-blood-alcohol-monitor
A triple monitor laptop. That’s gotta be hard on the battery.
http://arstechnica.co.uk/gadgets/2017/01/razer-valerie-triple-monitor-laptop/
Another useful item: an iPhone 7 case that adds a headphone jack.
http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/01/04/incipio-ox-case-for-iphone-7-includes-built-in-headphone-jack-lightning-port
Rats, Christmas is over so it’s too late for me to get a smart toaster or coffee maker.
http://www.macrumors.com/2017/01/04/ces-2017-griffin-home-collection/
Jealous of all your friends and their ‘smart’ kitchen appliances? Well, you’re in luck: you can now make your dumb refrigerator smart.
http://arstechnica.co.uk/gadgets/2017/01/smarter-fridgecam-make-dumb-fridge-smart/
One remote to rule them all! A universal smart device controller.
http://arstechnica.co.uk/gadgets/2017/01/sevenhugs-smart-remote-price-details-uk/
A smart hair brush. Sigh. That’s enough new products.
http://www.macrumors.com/2017/01/03/ces-2017-withings-smart-hairbrush/
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OS X AND MAC STUFF
Oops, Apple mucked up Preview’s ability to safely edit PDFs in macOS Sierra. Not good. Hopefully they’ll get that fixed soon.
http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/01/03/apples-changes-to-macos-pdf-handling-stymie-third-party-developers-cause-data-loss
An article I’m going to read carefully as soon as I finish the newsletter: a guide to Keychain. (Thanks Brendan, that’s a really good ‘un.)
http://www.techrepublic.com/article/apples-icloud-keychain-the-smart-persons-guide/
How to use macOS Sierra’s Storage Management system to find what apps (and other things) are taking up space on your Mac.
http://osxdaily.com/2017/01/04/delete-mac-apps-storage-management/
Reminders of how to do SMC and NVRAM resets. It can help with some hardware issues like your Mac not wanting to shut down.
http://appletoolbox.com/2016/12/mac-will-not-shut-fix/
Some BT customers had trouble getting online last Tuesday. Your humble narrator was not affected. My son would have had a hissy fit so I would have heard about it.
http://arstechnica.co.uk/business/2017/01/bt-broadband-outage-router-dns-error/
The mighty Internet Explorer was replaced with . . . uh . . . I can’t remember . . . for Windows 10 and is dropping market share rapidly. So, what other browsers are taking up the slack?
http://arstechnica.co.uk/information-technology/2017/01/2016-on-the-web-firefox-fights-back-as-microsofts-share-slumps/
We love our Macbooks but one man involved in the recent shootings in Fort Lauderdale has a reason for loving his a lot even though he’s going to have to get a new one.
http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/01/06/apple-macbook-pro-saves-man-from-bullet-in-florida-airport-shooting
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iSTUFF
Three-quarters of iOS devices that can run iOS 10 are running iOS 10. I should reword that.
http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/01/05/apples-ios-10-now-on-3-out-of-4-compatible-devices
Some ‘new’ board game conversions for iPad. I know, that sounds a bit weird. But the article also has links to other classic board game conversions so I thought you might be interested. (Sadly Scrabble is not available in the UK. I wonder why? And how do you play Scrabble on an iPad anyway?)
http://appleinsider.com/articles/16/12/26/five-of-the-best-board-game-conversions-for-your-new-ipad-or-iphone
Apple says customers paid over $240 million for apps on New Year’s Day alone. They’re going to have to keep making hardware just so they can make more money selling apps.
http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/01/05/apple-celebrates-monumental-2016-app-store-growth-240m-on-new-years-day-alone
Maybe you don’t need this article but I bet you know someone who does: how to export photos from an iPhone to Windows.
http://appletoolbox.com/2017/01/export-photos-iphone-windows-pc-date/
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WWW = WEIRD, WONDERFUL AND WHY
Need to relax more? Check out this video narrated by a Dalek. Don’t be so dismissive, have you tried it yet? Well, don’t you think you shouldn’t prejudge? What did you tell your kids when they decided they didn’t like some food without having tried it?
https://www.geeksaresexy.net/2017/01/03/dalek-relaxation-meditation-humans-remastered-video/
Someone has launched a kickstart campaign to create notepads using the classic Mac font. I’ll pass.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2108133360/cancel-save-notepad
Norway is going to shut down its national FM radio network and go completely digital.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/06/508501366/norway-will-be-first-country-to-shut-down-fm-network-go-all-digital
China gets Apple to pull the New York Times app from their regional app store. Maybe they should just drop their whole app store?
http://arstechnica.co.uk/tech-policy/2017/01/citing-non-specific-regulations-apple-removes-nyt-apps-from-chinese-app-store/
Gunshot wounds are contagious? Really? Well, you can make a mathematical model in which that’s a fair interpretation. Sort of.
http://arstechnica.co.uk/science/2017/01/gunshot-wounds-are-contagious-bullets-spread-like-the-flu-study-finds/
Very brief bits of just about every animated Disney film you’ll ever remember. It’s lovely really.
https://www.geeksaresexy.net/2017/01/05/evolution-disney-animations-1937-2016-video/
So far, only animated characters can be ‘official’ Disney Princesses. Sind the death of Carrie Fisher some of her fans want Disney to change their rules. Well, she will only be computer generated from now on.
http://arstechnica.co.uk/gaming/2017/01/fans-ask-disney-make-leia-your-next-official-princess/
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January 8th is the 8th day of the year and is International Typing Day which I am honouring by ‘doing it’.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to: General James Longstreet (ask Jo if you don’t know who he is, b 1821, d 1904), naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace (b 1823, d 1913), author Wilkie Collins (b 1824, d 1889), author Dennis Wheatley (b 1897, d 1977), actor Jose Ferrer (b 1912, d 1992), actor Ron Moody (b 1924, d 2015), the wonderful actor Roy Kinnear (b 1934, d 1988), some guy named Elvis Presley (b 1935, d 1977), Shirley Bassey (b 1937), Monty Python Graham Chapman (b 1941, d 1989), Stephen Hawking (b 1942), David Bowie (b 1947, d 2016), formerly of The Hollies Terry Sylvester (b 1947), film director John McTiernan (b 1951). Wow, them’s some talented folks eh?
Rest in peace these folks who died on January 8th: the stupendous Galileo Galilei (b 1564, d 1642), composer Arcangelo Corelli (b 1653, d 1713), inventor of the cotton gin (we had to memorise that when I was a papoose) Eli Whitney (b 1765, d 1825), Robert Baden-Powell (b 1857, d 1941), Terry-Thomas (b 1911, d 1990), Pierre Mitterrand (b 1916, d 1996 . . . Another person whose birth year and death year have the same last digit . . . Interesting), Lily in The Munsters Yvonne De Carlo (b 1922, d 2007, my first boyhood crush, sigh).
Some notable events that took place on January 8th: Alfred the Great opens up a can of whoop-ass on the Danelaw Vikings (871), the last execution for blasphemy in England (1697), Bonny Prince Charlie occupies Stirling, has a haggis, banishes some bag pipers (1746), George Washington delivers the first US State of the Union address (1790), future president Andrew Jackson gives ‘dem Brits a proper shellacking in the war of 1812 (1815), the US national debt is zero for the only time (1830), food rationing is adapted in Britain (1940), the Watergate trials begin (1973), British Midlands flight 92 crashes into (or onto?) the M1 (1989), the largest ocean liner ever built, the Queen Mary II is launched (2004).
FUNNIES, ETC
“It is time for us to come together as one united people.”
— Donald Trump, November 9th
“Happy New Year to all, including to my many enemies and those who have fought me and lost so badly they just don’t know what do do. Love!”
— Donald Trump, December 31st
“You know what? The fact of the matter is that when he tweets, he gets results…With all due respect, I think it freaks the mainstream media out that he has this following of over 45-plus million people that follow him on social media — that he can have a direct conversation. He doesn’t have to have it funnelled through the media…There’s a new sheriff in town.”
— incoming WH press secretary Sean Spicer, on Trump’s intention to keep using Twitter to make major announcements
“The so-called ‘A’ list celebrities are all wanting tix to the inauguration, but look what they did for Hillary; nothing. I want the people!”
— Donald Trump
“This is not Woodstock.”
— Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn, on the difficulty of booking high-profile performers for the event
“These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.”
— Trump team on CIA report that Russia intervened in election to help him, 9-19-16
“It could also be China; it could be someone sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds. You don’t know who broke into the DNC.”
— Trump during first debate, 9-26-16
“Ridiculous.”
— Trump on CIA conclusion that hacking was intended to help him, 12-11-16
“The ‘Intelligence’ briefing on so-called ‘Russioan hacking’…”
— Trump, 1-3-17
“The media likes to make it look like I am against ‘Intelligence,’ when in fact I am a big fan!”
— Trump, 1-5-17
(After which some clever commentator said: I don’t think the feeling is mutual.)
***
From a Quara thread about ridiculous reasons for being fired from a job.
“I was fired for wasting company time (about 90 minutes every Friday afternoon) making system backups on a department computer system! It was the last straw as far as they were concerned. So, out the door I went. Needless to say, I had seen the handwriting on the wall and had already applied for a job across town.
Some few weeks later, I got a panicked phone call, “You made backups, right?”
I replied, “Weekly.”
“Where did you put them?”
I responded, “I gave them to [my former manager] as I left the company.”
Silence on the other end.
***
I think we should train illegal immigrants to be guards at the British Museum. Most of that stuff is theirs anyway.
***
An Englishman, a Welshman and a Pakistani man were sat in the waiting room of the maternity ward at the local hospital.
A nurse comes out and says to the men “I’m sorry, but there’s a been a mix-up and we don’t know which baby belongs to which mother. Any chance one of you could come in and see if you can help?”
The Englishman stands up and says that he’ll help. He walks into the ward and, a couple of minutes later walks out with what is obviously a Pakistani baby.
The Pakistani man stands up and shouts “What do you think you’re doing?!”
And the Englishman said “Look, one of those babies in there is Welsh, and I’m not taking any chances.”
***
From another Quora thread about teaching kids to be disciplined.
A friend of mine had two kids: a son who was a freshman in high school and a younger daughter. Every morning she would make them both lunches for them to take to school. Day after day her son repeatedly forgot his lunch, left it on the kitchen counter and ran out to catch the bus in front of their house.
One morning after he ran out the door his mom spotted the lunch on the counter and decided to do something about it. As the bus pulled up to the front of their house, she came running out of the house in her pyjamas, bathrobe, fuzzy slippers and hair in curlers while waving his lunch in the air and shouting, “ERIC! ERIC!! HONEY, YOU FORGOT YOUR LUNCH! HERE IT IS!!”.
Needless to say, he was mortified but he never forgot his lunch again.
***
A man asked an American Indian what his wife’s name was.
He replied, “She is called Five Horses”.
The man said, “That’s an unusual name, what does it mean?”
The Old Indian answered, “It old Indian Name. It mean . . .NAG, NAG, NAG, NAG, NAG!”
***
(I think I’ve used this before but someone sent it to me and it made me smile.)
A blonde wanted to go ice fishing. She’d seen many books on the subject, and finally getting all the necessary tools together, she made for the ice. After positioning her comfy footstool, she started to make a circular cut in the ice.
From the sky, a voice boomed, “THERE ARE NO FISH UNDER THE ICE!”
Startled, the blonde moved further down the ice, poured a thermos of cappuccino, and began to cut yet another hole.
Again from the heavens the voice bellowed, “THERE ARE NO FISH UNDER THE ICE!”
The blonde, now worried, moved away, clear down to the opposite end of the ice. She set up her stool once more and tried again to cut achole.
The voice came once more, “THERE ARE NO FISH UNDER THE ICE!”
She stopped, looked skyward! and said, “IS THAT YOU LORD?”
The voice replied, “NO, THIS IS THE MANAGER OF THE HOCKEY RINK!”
***
A man returns home after a long day looking very haggard. His wife asks him how the conference in Glasgow went.
“It was fine,” he said, “I met up with George Axehandle who I used to work with. We caught the same train afterwards. But when the conductor came around I couldn’t find my ticket. I checked every pocket three times but in the end I had to pay for another ticket and that was hideously expensive. But I’ll claim it back from expenses.”
His wife said: “I’m glad you got through that! I’ve had a problem all day: do you know where our car is?”
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Getting over my second bad cold of the Holiday season. Must remember to get my flu shot soon. Oh, by the way, one of the funniest things I’ve seen on TV for a long time, Peter Pan Gone Wrong, is still available on iPlayer ’til this evening. Enjoy!
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