Along with iOS 12 developer beta 11 and macOS Mojave developer beta 9, Apple released tvOS 12 Developer Beta 8 on Monday.
Bryan Chaffin
Bryan Chaffin is the cofounder of The Mac Observer and currently serves as Afternoon Editor. He has contributed to MacAddict and MacFormat magazines, and co-authored the last two updates of iPad and iPad Pro for Dummies with Bob “Dr. Mac” LeVitus and Ed Baig. You can find out more about Bryan at his personal site, GeekTells, or find his Twitter link below.
Articles by Bryan Chaffin
Sid Meier's Civilization VI on Sale for $23.99
We have a deal today on one of my favorite games: Sid Meier’s Civilization VI! This is a turn-based strategy/sim game where you guide your civilization from a city-state to the dominant power on Earth. The deal is for Civ VI on Mac or Linux on the Steam platform. It’s $23.99 through us. Check out the trailer.
Apple Seeds watchOS 5 Developer Beta 9
Apple seeded watchOS 5 Developer Beta 9 for Apple Watch to developers on Friday, making this a two-developer beta release week.
GOOSE VPN 1-Year Subscription: $14.99
We have a deal on a one year subscription to GOOSE VPN. The service includes 59 servers around the world, plus simultaneous use on an unlimited number of devices. Platforms supported include Mac, iOS, Windows, and Android. It’s $14.99 through us, and there are also three year and five year subscriptions.
Apple Suggested Facebook Remove Onavo Protect from App Store - Here's Why
After multiple meetings, Apple suggested to Facebook that it “voluntarily” remove its Onavo Protect app from the App Store; here’s why.
Verizon's $2, Apple's Newest Football, Netflix's Rebellion - ACM 476
Verizon recently throttled a fire department’s command and control vehicle in a pursuit of $2, and Bryan Chaffin and Jeff Gamet have some thoughts about the propriety of such an action. They also wonder whether rumors of a new iMac mean we can start trusting Apple to update its Macs again, or if Lucy will just yank the ball away instead. They cap the show with a look at Netflix’s baby steps towards rebellion against Apple’s App Store cut for subscriptions.
The Very Clever Pictar Smartphone Camera Grip (Plus): $92.99
Check out the Pictar Smartphone Camera Grip (Plus), a device I would have linked to in a Cool Stuff Found article if we didn’t have a deal for it. It’s a camera grip that fits most iPhones, and it does that in a very clever way. Rather than matching physical buttons or even using a wireless connection for camera controls, this device emits high frequency sounds you can’t hear, but that the free companion app can. That allows you to control all manner of camera settings on your iPhone while using very little power. And you can 15% on the Pictar Smartphone Camera Grip (Plus) through us and get it for $92.99.
Tim Cook Donates More than 23,000 of His Apple Shares to Charity
Apple CEO Tim Cook has donated some 23,215 shares of Apple stock to an unnamed charity, according to an SEC filing uncovered by BusinessInsider. Shares of $AAPL closed at 215.04 on Tuesday, making the value of this donation worth some $4.99 million dollars today. Of course, that value will change over time, and the dividend for those shares will earn the charity $16,947 every quarter. That’s a gift of $67,788 per year that keeps on giving, and it could grow if Apple continues to increase that dividend. In other words, it’s a princely gift from a man who has already promised to give away all his wealth (after providing for the education of his young nephew).
Soundfreaq Double Spot Bluetooth Speaker: $79.99
We have a deal for you today on the Soundfreaq Double Spot Bluetooth Speaker. This portable Bluetooth speaker lasts up to 6 hours on one charge, and it also has a USB port for charging your mobile devices. It has on-board controls and three tone presets, flat, warm, and bright. You can get this device through our deal for $79.99.
PanicSafe Emergency Locator & Car Charger
We have a deal on a cool little gadget called the PanicSafe Emergency Locator and Car Charger. It plugs into your auxiliary port (i.e. cigarette lighter) and works as a normal car charger for your devices (including QuickCharge support). But it also can communicate with your iPhone or Android device and send messages to pre-arranged contacts in the case of an accident or if you trigger the panic button. It’s $59.99 through our deal, and there’s no additional subscription fee.
Sinji WiFi Doorbell Camera: $49.99
We have a deal for you on the Sinji WiFi Doorbell Camera. This doorbell sticks do your doorframe and takes a photograph when someone rings that bell. It’s a Wi-Fi device that transmits its data to an indoor receiver, which then communicates with your iPhone or Android app. It’s $49.99 through us
Twitter Absurdity, iPhone Pencils, Cyborg Vision - ACM 475
Twitter killed some key APIs third party apps used to make their apps useful because Twitter hates influencers and power users. Bryan Chaffin and Jeff Gamet drop a few f-bombs. They also talk about the latest rumor that Apple will bring support for Apple Pencil to some new iPhone models. The cap the show by dipping into our cyborg future of enhanced vision.
Charge 7 Devices at Once with this Universal Charging Station: $39.99
Check out the Okra 7-Port USB Desktop Universal Charging Station. It’s aimed at people, families, and work settings where you need to charge many devices at once. It has 7 USB charging ports and clots for holding those devices while they charge. It’s $39.99 through us.
Apple Seeds iOS 12 Developer Beta 8 after Pulling DB7
The company pulled the earlier version due to performance issues, and the new release gets the iOS 12 developer beta program back on track.
WALTR 2: $19
We have a deal on WALTR 2, an app that lets you manage the content on your iOS device from your Mac or Windows device. It will handle some file conversions, too. Check out the promo video below. You can get WALTR 2 for $19 through us. There’s a deal on the Windows version on the page, too.
Smartphone Photography Basics Bundle: $29
We have a deal on the Smartphone Photography Basics Bundle, a collection of four training course to learn how to take better photographs with your iPhone. There’s more than 7 hours of training videos in this bundle, and it’s $29 through our deal.
Compare Original Version of Bilbo Getting Ring from Gollum to the Revised Version We Know Today
Check out this great side-by-side comparison of the original version of a key scene in The Hobbit to the version we know today. It’s the scene where Bilbo meets Gollum and steals the One Ring in the bowels of the Misty Mountains. Each paragraph of both versions is laid out side by side, with changes highlighted in blue. I’m such a huge Tolkien nerd, and this is intensely cool. Here’s a passage from the introduction:
The following is a side-by-side comparison of the two versions, presented in order to provide insight as to how the smallest of details can affect the overall themes of Tolkien’s work. Of particular interest is the characterization of Gollum, who in the revised version is much more malevolent and treacherous, and yet also more pitiful, echoing the later role that he will play in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
So, It Might Not Have Been an Asteroid that Killed the Dinosaurs
Most of have heard about the big asteroid (6 miles long) that smacked the Earth 66 million years ago and created a nuclear winter that killed the dinosaurs. It’s pretty accepted, though it remains a theory. Well…maybe not. Professor Gerta Keller is leading the charge gathering mounting evidence that the timeline doesn’t match up. According to her, the Chicxulub asteroid hit 200,000 years before the extinction event that killed the dinosaurs. And what she thinks did it is the same thing blamed for other extinction events, massive volcano eruptions that lasted—in this case—60,000 years. There in a part of India called the Deccan Traps today, though we don’t know what the dinosaurs called them. Those eruptions do line up with the extinction event nicely. Apparently, all this evidence is causing quite the hubbub in academia, and The Atlantic has a very long and detailed story about the whole thing. It’s fascinating. The image included is from the Deccan Traps.
Extra-Long MFi-Certified 2-in-1 iOS/Android Charging Cable 2-Pack: $19.99
We have a deal on a pair of extra-long MFi-Certified 2-in-1 iOS/Android charging cables. It’s a USB charging cable with a micro USB end for Android devices, but with an attached adapter for quick conversion to a Lightning cable for iOS devices. The 2-pack is $19.99 through us, and it ships to more than 40 countries.
The Flames Bump to the Music with Fireside Audiobox Bluetooth Speaker: $399
Check out today’s deal, the Fireside Audiobox Bluetooth Speaker. It’s a Bluetooth speaker with fire. Real fire. It holds a little propane tank with a grill for bringing some flames to your indoor or outdoor listening experience. The fiery bits come with a heat-resistant, tempered glass shield, and the device has an anti-tip-over safety device and leak detection sensor will shut the flow of gas off when necessary. The speaker features a full range, hi-fi driver, and the flames react to the music being played. Check it out in the video.
Apple Orders Comedy from 'It's Always Sunny' Stars Rob McElhenney and Charlie Day
Apple has ordered a scripted comedy from Rob McElhenney and Charlie Day, co-stars and co-executive producers of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Finding Clippy
I have two little nuggets for you. The first is that Microsoft has an undersea data center its experimenting with called Project Natick. The second is that they now have a webcam—two webcams, actually—for you to get a gander at the operation, as well as all the oceanic wildlife also checking it out. How they don’t call those cams Finding Clippy is beyond me, so I just took care of it for them. UR WELCOME. In any event, this whole thing is a giant experiment to see if Microsoft can save money by using the chilly ocean waters off the coast of Scotland to cool a data center. And yeah, my kneejerk reaction is that this will help heat the oceans, and don’t we want to avoid that? Plus, you know, the law of unintended consequences, but whatevs. They didn’t ask me, and they do have proper scientists working on this, so maybe it’s just an awesome idea. It’s certainly outside the box thinking. I found this, BTW, from a piece on The Verge that is full of cheezeball puns that had me snorting out loud in my office.
Turns out Blue Light Can Accelerate Blindness
I’ve got some good news and some bad news for you. Let’s start with the bad news: blue light (such as light from our devices) can accelerate macular degeneration in our eyes, something that can cause blindness over time. The good news, or at least better news, is that a group of scientists have discovered how that process works. They told The Guardian UK, “Our experiments explain how this happens, and we hope this leads to therapies that slow macular degeneration, such as a new kind of eye drop.” To me, this emphasizes the importance of shifting our displays red at night. I use the f.lux app on my Mac, and Apple has a similar feature baked into iOS. In addition to theoretically helping me sleep, seems it could be good for my eyes, too. There are more details about the scientists’ experiments in the full article, and it’s an interesting read.
PanicSafe Emergency Locator and Car Charger: $49.99
We have a deal on a cool little gadget called the PanicSafe Emergency Locator and Car Charger. It plugs into your auxiliary port (i.e. cigarette lighter) and works as a normal car charger for your devices (including QuickCharge support). But it also can communicate with your iPhone or Android device and send messages to pre-arranged contacts in the case of an accident or if you trigger the panic button. It’s $49.99 through our deal, and there’s no additional subscription fee.