We have a couple of these and they are fantastic. I’m sorry Apple is getting out of this game.
apple
Misunderstanding Apple Pay
Gruber at Daring Fireball has some good points about a poorly written/researched Wall Street Journal article about Apple Pay.
My take away is that Apple has been doing a poor job of marketing Apple Pay. I still have friends and co-workers who — when I mention Apple Pay — have a “deer in the headlights” look on their face.
There should have been enough commercials running everywhere by now that everyone knows what Apple Pay is and what it is used for. But, alas — there is not.
Update: 04.04.2018 – Apple released some new Apple Pay ads.
New MacBook Pro
I am expecting a new laptop to arrive soon. The last time I bought a new Apple laptop was all the back in 2009.
I think the touch bar is what did it for me. The laptop I am using right now was given to me in exchange for a Mac mini. It is a good and solid laptop but I felt it was time for a new one.
I’ll post more about it when I actually have it.
Update: MacBook Pro arrived yesterday. I ran into a hiccup as a result of me using High Sierra to make my Time Machine backups. The new computer was using Sierra and thus, would not recognize the Time Machine backup for Migration Assistant. I upgraded the laptop to High Sierra and proceeded from there. The restore ran overnight and the only issue I have now is that I have two accounts under my name on this computer. Not bad overall. My old laptop is going to a good home. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. The Apple Developer website was down for a couple of hours so I had to wait for a while before I could install High Sierra.
MacOS Sierra – Initial Impressions
I look forward to every June when Apple releases the next version of their various operating systems for developers to go through and test. It is a treat for geeks like me. I usually grab a new hard drive and make a backup copy of my current system. I install the new OS and my expectations are that something will break.
This year I'm happy to report that, for the most part, that did not happen. It is extremely unusual for a new OS to NOT break things. A whole lot of things. For me, my work access almost always fails. It usually has something to do with VPN, Java, etc.
That is not to say that bugs don't exist. I've spotted a few. I think Siri is buggy. Logging on to the forums will show you that beta testing causes it's fair share of grief across various configurations, however, my iMac 27″ 2011 is doing just fine. I am using an external cradle to run MacOS Sierra on an external 4TB hard drive. The cradle is connected using Thunderbolt 1.
I have encountered a weird window issue where pressing the minimize button doesn't really minimize. The window acts like it's getting ready to get smaller but it snaps right back in place and then cannot be closed until you quit the application. I'm not sure what is causing this particular issue. I've changed the preference from “scale” to “genie effect” for minimizing windows and so far, I haven't had a problem. It could be just the scale effect itself. Not sure.
So far, I think this beta version is more solid than those I've tested in the past.
Good job, Apple!
One Line Wisdom #2
Why would you want to watch a movie based on someone’s interpretation of Steve Jobs and his life when you can just watch Steve Jobs himself on YouTube?
The Problems With Lion
Yes. I have upgraded to Mac OS X Lion.I’m a geek. Don’t be silly.
Here is a small list of things that broke when I upgraded.
My timer for recording podcasts. (got a new one)
My seriously old version of Photoshop. (I have a newer version that I’ve been waiting to install)
My recording software as a whole. (I have a backup that I just NOW got to work)
Is it enough to make me regret the upgrade?
Not in your life.
I expected things to break so no surprise there. The operating system is working great for everything else. I love “Mission Control” and think they finally got “Spaces” right.
iPad App Review: Blogsy
This review is written in Blogsy. How appropriate?
Blogsy is from Fomola and available in the App store for $2.99 As you may surmise from the name, it is software for writing your blog posts on the iPad.
So far, I’ve found the interface to be a bit cumbersome compared to the WordPress app. The major problem I had with the WordPress app was links and using pictures inside of your posts.
Blogsy makes this process a bit easier although I’m still not very happy with the way you create links in your posts. I think this process could be done much easier.
Overall, it’s not a bad app for the price and worth a look if you have an iPad.
Java Update for OS X 10.5
There is also an HP Driver update that shows up after you do the Java update.
I’m just sayin’
The “N” Key Story
I have (and love) my MacBook Pro laptop and use it for everything from podcasting to video production to…
…writing.
Right after I got the laptop on the very same day, in fact, the “N” key popped off. One of the plastic pieces that are used to keep it in place broke leaving me with an “N” key that is hanging on to the rest of the keyboard for dear life. After a few keystrokes, it would come loose and I’d have to push it back in place again.
Well, during the week the key popped off and this time, it refused to semi-click back into place. In essence, it is now no longer even semi-secured to the keyboard.
During this whole thing, my father offered to call Apple and see if they could send me a replacement “N” key to simply snap back into place. Apple’s response was…
…”ahh, no.” We’ll replace your entire keyboard but the “N” key by itself is simply out of the question. This exchange between Apple and my father went on for about a week. My father lost the battle. Apple will not send out an “N” key by itself. If anything happens to your keyboard at all, Apple will replace the whole thing.
I just didn’t want to be without my laptop for any length of time. The compromise will be waiting while a local technician makes the repairs and changes out the keyboard with me watching him/her.
I haven’t made the reservations or called the technicians yet. In the meantime, I bought a HP USB 2.0 keyboard at Wal-Mart to hold me over. Of all of the keys on your keyboard, the “N” key is one of the most pressed.
At least, when you don’t have it you think it’s the most pressed!
I’ll let everyone know how the repair goes. It should happen sometime this week.
