I do think the explore tab is a step in the right direction, though what’s missing is the ability to customize it or, tipping the cap to AI, for Twitter to learn the areas that interest you.
As is, there’s a top 20 “Trending Now” list and a seemingly structureless “Today’s Moments” list. To me, these could easily be blended together into a single interface, perhaps with the ability to favorite things you like, and reorder the list by hottest trending topics, chronologically, or by preference.
I love Twitter, both for communicating with the folks I follow and who follow me, and for keeping up to date on the larger Twitterverse. So much potential. And such a valuable resource, if we can get it right.
If you haven’t been immersed in iOS interface design, you might look at Apple’s icons and think that they’re just a rounded square or a ‘roundrect’. If you’ve been designing icons, you know that they’re something different and may have heard the word squircle used (mathematical intermediate of a square and a circle). And if you’re an Industrial Designer, you recognize this as a core signature of their hardware products.
Ever since iOS 7, app icons went from being rounded squares to something more complex and refined. While everyone gets that Apple pays attention to the most minute details, not everyone sees the obvious logic behind this seemingly small change.
This is a really interesting article. It would be even more interesting if I was smart enough to understand half of it.
Unless you spend your days in Photoshop or Premiere, or you absolutely need some kind of esoteric accounting software, you don’t need all the computer you have. You’d be happier with something simpler, friendlier, and more attune to how you work.
Ditching your laptop for a tablet brings big benefits.
I could never make the iPad my only computer but this article has some good advice for those of you who can.
Factoring in time for parking can make or break a night out, let alone making it to that big meeting on time. So in 25 metro areas throughout the U.S., we’ve introduced a new parking difficulty icon in Google Maps for Android that’ll give you a heads up on what kind of parking crunch to prepare for when you’re on the go.
Upwork, the world’s largest freelancing website, today released its latest quarterly index of the hottest skills in the U.S. freelance job market. The Upwork Skills Index ranks the marketplace’s 20 fastest-growing skills being hired for among freelancers — now 35 percent of the U.S. workforce.
The 20 fastest-growing freelance skills in Q4 2016 all experienced more than 100 percent year-over-year growth with the top 10 experiencing more than 200 percent year-over-year growth.
Got into a nice Twitter discussion this morning about screen shot technique. Make your way through the responses for some solid tips.
The linked Tidbits article (from 2015 but still fresh) covers two important points: How to disable drop shadows for all screen shots as well as a really nice technique to add a border to a screenshot. Good stuff, worth a look.
UPDATE: This Useful Mac post is a great article that offers a bit more detail on screen shooting. Includes this super helpful hint when using ⌘⇧4 to take your screenshot. Press the spacebar to take a screenshot of a specific window, then hold option before clicking a window to eliminate the drop-shadow. [H/T Mark Boszko]
Did you know you can download a Windows 10 disc image free from Microsoft? This is seemingly little known, but yes you can download a complete legitimate Windows 10 ISO without registering or even having a product key, and you can install and run the entirety of Windows 10 using the image too.
I have not done this, but good to know, especially if you want to do a Boot Camp install to run a single application or test. Bookmark and pass along.
Social media users are invited to apply for credentials to attend the launch of the Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon cargo spacecraft with to the International Space Station. The launch from Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida is currently targeted for no earlier than February 2017. The exact launch date and time still are under review. This will be the first cargo mission launched from Kennedy’s historic Launch Complex 39A, where numerous Apollo and space shuttle missions lifted off.
If your passion is to communicate and engage the world via social media, then this is the event for you! Seize the opportunity to be on the front line to blog, tweet or Instagram everything about SpaceX’s tenth commercial resupply mission to the space station. The rocket will deliver several tons of supplies, including new science experiments and technology research.
A maximum of 50 social media users will be selected to attend this two-day event.
Dan Aykroyd, writing about his romantic relationship with Carrie Fisher:
While in Chicago we obtained blood tests for compatibility from an East Indian female doctor. Contemplating marriage, I gave Carrie a sapphire ring and subsequently in the romance she gave me a Donald Roller Wilson oil painting of a monkey in a blue dress next to a tiny floating pencil, which I kept for years until it began to frighten my children.
The writeup is a bit bizarre, but really captures something of Carrie’s spirit.
In support of the mission to benefit people and society, the Partnership on AI intends to conduct research, organize discussions, share insights, provide thought leadership, consult with relevant third parties, respond to questions from the public and media, and create educational material that advance the understanding of AI technologies including machine perception, learning, and automated reasoning.
As much as we’ve learned about artificial intelligence, we’re still on the steepest part of the learning curve. We’re still working out the mechanics, just barely touching on the important philosophical issues.
A new app for the iPad just launched that allows anyone to easily create and share interactive presentations, portfolios, real estate listings, product catalogs and more, without needing a designer or developer. It was built by digital publishing pioneer Scrollmotion to help anyone create a stronger connection with customers by using content that really stands out.
Simply drag and drop photos and videos into Ingage’s interactive page templates to bring your content to life. It’s really that easy to create a touchable video called a “scrollmotion,” or use two pictures to create an awesome before-and-after effect with a slider.
When you want to share your presentation with the world, you can do so via text message, email or social media. Ingage automatically creates a responsive HTML webpage of your interactive presentation that can be viewed by anyone, on any device. And when you need to update your presentation, it automatically pushes everywhere it’s being shared. Your content is always up-to-date.
NV Energy and Apple announced today they have reached an agreement to build 200 megawatts of additional solar energy in Nevada by early 2019. The projects will support Apple’s renewable energy needs for its Reno data center.
We always talk about Apple products, but the company’s commitment to renewable resources is commendable.
The Charvel Custom Shop unveiled some magnificent beauties during the 2017 NAMM Show in Anaheim, Calif. Here’s a look at 7 by Master Builder “Red” Dave Nichols.
Charvel to me is one of the most classic metal guitars ever made. I would love to have the first one on the list.
Apple Inc filed a lawsuit against Qualcomm Inc in Beijing, alleging the chip supplier abused its clout in the chip industry and seeking 1 billion yuan ($145.32 million) in damages, Beijing’s Intellectual Property Court said in a statement on Wednesday.
Apple also filed a second lawsuit against Qualcomm which accused it of failing to live up to promises made to license “standard essential patents” broadly and inexpensively.
macOS ships with ⌘O (Open) and ⌘P (Print) as pre-assigned keyboard shortcuts in Finder. Select a bunch of files to open, reach for the O and miss by just a touch, and you’ve started a dozen print jobs. Whoops!
Years ago on macosxhints.com, there was one of those “duh!” tips with an easy solution to this (and other similar) issues: Reassign the stock keyboard shortcuts.
I was constantly hitting Command-Q instead of Command-W in Safari until I reassigned the shortcut.
MacPaw’s new app subscription service, Setapp, is finally out of beta and anyone can join. The company is calling it the “Unstore” alternative to the Mac App Store. I’m calling it the Netflix of Mac apps. It is bursting at the seams with more than 60 apps of all different categories. I’ve been beta testing it for a few months and I love it.
I’ve also been a beta tester of Setapp. I’ll reserve my opinion for my podcast but it’s an interesting idea. It kind of brings back memories of the “good old days” of Mac Shareware back in the day.
John Gruber’s take on the care of something easily losable. Some great anecdotes.
I absolutely agree with this take. I am much more careful about my iPhone, much more aware that I take it with me, treat it more gingerly and safely, than I do just about anything else I carry.
Apple has announced that iOS 10.3, just released as a first beta, will automatically migrate your data to Apple File System (APFS). APFS is already part of macOS Sierra, but in a limited form.
My two cents: Be sure you have a solid backup of your iOS installs before you move to a 10.3 beta. APFS is a major file system revision. Makes sense to have a backup before any beta install, but APFS makes the backup doubly important.
Here are some writeups on APFS, if you want to learn more:
Amsys blog: This is a nice starting place. It’s short, easy to process, covers the highlights.
Knowing how much a Mac has actually been used by its owner can be very useful if you’re buying pre-owned. A Mac three years old that’s been used very infrequently could be a better purchase than a two-year old Mac that’s been left running 24/7, for example.
While physical condition of the Mac gives a clue, you can garner some further clues by a little software probing. It’s not entirely accurate, and comes with substantial caveats, but could be worth a try.
Very interesting read. I definitely learned a few things about the myriad of data in the System Profile app. Useful if you are buying, also useful if you are selling.
Note that option-clicking on Apple > System Information… is a shortcut, bypassing the more traditional Apple > About This Mac menu item.
Ford Motor Co. has hired a former Apple marketing official to be vice president and chief brand officer, a new position created as the company focuses on new mobility services.
Musa Tariq, 34, will begin his role Jan. 30. As Ford’s brand officer, he’ll work with marketing, communications and company leaders across the globe to build the brand.
Some high profile poaching, first from Tesla, now from Ford. Sign of corporate stress, or normal pendulum swing?
Today Apple’s store design is so iconic that saying somewhere is “like an Apple store” is universal shorthand for somewhere with a minimalistic design, with materials like aluminium, glass and wood.
Eight Inc was the design studio Steve Jobs approached with the challenge to create a new concept of how we shop. Wilhelm Oehl led the team behind it.
While the interview is a bit fluffy, it’s always interesting to hear anyone talk about the design of the Apple Retail Stores.
Pixelmator for iOS is a full-featured image editor that gives you everything you need to create, edit, and enhance images on the go. It lets you work seamlessly between your Mac, iPad, and iPhone and even work effortlessly with people who use Adobe Photoshop.
I love Pixelmator and this is such a great deal, I tried buying it before I realized I already own it. No word on when this deal is up so grab it while you can.
