Apple

I’ve been a Mac user since 1991, so it’s inevitable that I’d have this as a category.

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It seems it came out a few months ago, but I just found out that Affinity Designer, Serif’s alternative to Adobe InDesign, is now in free beta status. I’m already a fan of Affinity Photo and Designer (alternatives to Photoshop and Illlustrator), so this is a nice find.

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Unsolicited Mac app recommendation: I don’t have to use the command line very often, but when I do, I really enjoy using Cathode, a vintage terminal emulator.

Scan lines! Green/amber (or whatever) screens! Curved CRTs! Fading scroll artifacts! It’s ridiculous and a lot of fun.

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⌚️ day! New Series 4 Apple Watch (on the right), along with an original “Series 0” watch on the left. Wearing both was just for the photo, the older model is going to a new home.

Siri shortcut for “xyzzy”

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Old-school geeks will (well, maybe) be amused by this: a very simple, very stupid, tiny iOS 12 Siri shortcut. Tap it in Shortcuts and Siri will reply with, “Nothing happens.” Or if you set it up to respond to your voice, you can say “XYZZY” and she’ll say, “Shortcuts says: ‘Nothing happens.’ Done!”…which is less than ideal, but seems to be how it works. The joke is still there, at least.

(If you don’t get the joke, this might help.)

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Well, crud. I was worried this would happen, but hoped it wouldn’t: Apple has discontinued the iPhone SE. While it doesn’t affect me directly, it does make it probable that when it’s time to upgrade, my wife will move away from Apple in order to get a comfortably sized phone.

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In a perfect world, I’d have Apple’s iPhone X photo processing capabilities attached to a full-frame sensor in a Nikon f-mount compatible body.

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Listening to whatever’s playing on Apple’s livestream, with less than ten minutes before the event should start. Gotta see the new goodies (new iPhone X, Apple Watch) and then wait for the usual round of post-event dueling “Apple is the messiah/is clueless and doomed” roundups!