So you’re getting a new iPhone soon. And maybe a new Apple Watch as well. Getting your devices properly set up can be confusing, so John has put together a new iPhone and new Apple Watch set up guide to make sure everything goes smoothly.
John Martellaro
John Martellaro was born at an early age and began writing about computers soon after that. With degrees in astrophysics (B.S.) and physics (M.S.), he has worked for NASA, White Sands Missile Range, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Apple. At Apple he worked as a Senior Marketing Manager, a Federal Account Executive and a High Performance Computing manager. His interests include chess, science fiction and astronomy. John is the host of the TMO podcast Background Mode.
Articles by John Martellaro
What the Surge in Apple Watch Popularity Says About Our Culture
The Apple Watch Series 4 appears to have tapped into an emerging cultural theme. And it will accelerate. John explains the significance.
TMO Background Mode Interview with Early Apple Podcaster Victor Cajiao
Victor Cajiao was born in Havana, Cuba, grew up in the U.S. and became well known in the Apple world for several different podcasts. He’s an Apple tech geek as well as a musician (saxophone) and hobby photographer. Victor told me the story about how he came to the U.S. via a special initiative started by President Kennedy. The fascinating story continues as he eventually worked his way into a job with AT&T rising to the level of IT Technical Director. He also told me the story about how he fell in love with the Mac and then launched his podcast, The Typical Mac User. Victor recently retired from AT&T after 26 years and now travels the U.S. in his Airstream trailer. Recently, he’s been sighted at Macstock, doing terrific demos of Mac technologies.
How the Newest Safari Browser Blocks Ad Tracking
Security Week/AP writes: “New privacy features in Apple’s Safari browser seek to make it tougher for companies such as Facebook to track you.” This is a short, very readable summary of how Apple’s Safari is evolving to better protect your privacy. “The changes come Tuesday as part of the iOS 12 update for iPhones and iPads and a week later in the Mojave update for Mac computers.”
The Coolest Space Images of the Week
Here are Digg’s coolest space images for the week of September 8. Notable: “Astronomers have used NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory to discover a ring of black holes or neutron stars in a galaxy 300 million light years from Earth. This ring, while not wielding power over Middle Earth, may help scientists better understand what happens when galaxies smash into one another in catastrophic impacts.”
Compare All Three New iPhones: XS, XS Max, XR
I love comparison charts. Here’s the Apple comparison chart for all three of Apple’s new iPhones: iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR.
How to Pick Just the Right Apple Watch Series 4
The new Apple Watch Series 4 has lots of color, connectivity, and case material options. John shows you how to navigate Apple’s website to select just the Apple Watch you want.
SETI is a Bust So Far. We May Be Alone in the Universe
It’s an easy assumption to make. Our galaxy is teeming with planets, so life must be abundant. Except, after 58 years of looking, we’ve found nothing. SETI is a bust. (But we’ll keep looking.) This cogent article explains why being alone in the galaxy, indeed the universe, may be a good thing. We passed the Great Filter. (Image credit: NASA.)
Star Gazers Can Now Sleep Comfortably Under the Stars
Have you ever wanted to sleep, comfortably, under the stars? From Digital Trends: “…’head in the stars’ may sound like a Coldplay lyric but it’s a pretty good description for this tiny house in France being manufactured by a company called SCOP Optinid.” Plus it’s transportable. It’s a star gazer’s dream trailer, with all the amenities, for just US$54,000. Binoculars not included.
TMO Background Mode Interview with Academic Director of IT Bradley Chambers
Bradley Chambers has been managing Apple devices in an education environment since 2009. Currently he’s the IT director at a school in Chattanooga, and he’s also a contributor to 9to5Mac via his weekly column: “Making the Grade.” Bradley told me about his work as an IT administrator, how iPads and Macs are deployed, configured and repaired. There are some good tools for doing that, but they’re also supplemented with Google docs and JAMF tools. His kids are taught programming at an early age with Swift Playgrounds, and it turns out that the iPad offers just what his students need for a K-5 curriculum. We finished with a discussion of a few of his recent columns, including why digital textbooks generally failed in the market as well as thoughts about the state of Apple’s iBooks Author app.
The Search for Extraterrestrial Life May Ramp Up Soon
Gizmodo has a nice summary of the current SETI work. “A new congressionally mandated report says NASA should refine its strategy and improve its tools to foster the study of exoplanetary systems and expedite the search for alien life…. The new consensus study report, authored by the National Academies of Sciences … highlights several strategic priorities that, if implemented, will go a long way in ensuring that scientists have the resources they need to study exoplanets (planets in orbit around other stars).”
Apple TV 8K May Never Ship. 8K TV Might Actually Fail in the Market
John collects the news debris of the week that didn’t make the TMO headlines.
Attention Mark Watney Fans. Earn a Cool $1M From NASA
All you scientists and Mark Watney (The Martian) fans: need some pocket change? “Looking to turn carbon from the planet Mars into useful compounds such as sugar, NASA is offering up to a cool $1 million to anyone who can solve how to accomplish such a process.” Sure beats potatoes, grown the Watney way. What a sweet challenge.
How to Prevent Apple Store Thefts
Just the other day, the TMO staff was wondering about the recent spate of Apple Store thefts and how to stop them. It turns out that San Francisco Police Officers Association President Tony Montoya noted that two stores in S.F. have been immune so far. From Cult of Mac: “His theory about why they’ve escaped the Apple crime spree? Because both have uniformed officers stationed there.” Interesting details here.
The Evolution of the Social Impact of AI
The deployment of AI is done when it can make money. Because making money is generally good and there are few regulations on the deployment of AI, there is plenty of incentive for the technology to evolve. Particle Debris page 2 points to an Atlantic article that explores the social consequences of AI as it starts to dominate the sphere of human activities.
TMO Background Mode Interview with Backblaze Director of Product Marketing Skip Levens
Skip Levens is currently the Director of Product Marketing at Backblaze, the cloud storage and backup company. He’s very experienced in brand marketing and technology evangelism. Skip is a former U.S. Marine. After leaving the Marines, Skip went to work for Alain Pinel, a real estate company that embraced the NeXT computer, and that launched his successful crusade to work for Apple. We chatted about Skip’s work at Apple in early internet technologies, then Developer Relations that involved him with supercomputers. We explored the rise and fall of Apple’s Xserve and Xserve RAID as well as the evolution of his expertise in storage technology at Active Storage, Quantum, Symply Storage and now Backblaze. You can’t have more geek fun than this show.
Blackbird. No, Not SR-71. Uber-like Flight Sharing
You knew it had to happen. Think Uber, but with small, private aviation aircraft. Business Insider has a fairly extensive story. “You can book a seat on a plane, not a car, with flight sharing startup Blackbird.” Some seats are as low as US$50. (Image credit: Business Insider.)
Cocoatech's Path Finder 8 is a Great macOS Finder Replacement
Apple’s macOS Finder has evolved slowly over the years. It started simple, got faster and more refined, but never evolved dramatically. But Path Finder, now at version 8, has.
What's We're Likely to See in the 2018 iPad Pro
At ComputerWorld, Jonny Evans writes: “… there are lots of reasons to think about Apple’s [2018] pro tablets.” And he’s right. From Face ID to loss of the headphone jack (for the sake of consistency) to thinner bezels and better performance, these improvements may well get customers in a great buying mood. Check it out.
Visualizing a 4D Sphere in 3D Space
For those who are fascinated by (theoretical) four-space dimensional objects, this visual tutorial explains how a 4D sphere would appear as it travels into and out of our 3D space. For more background see the Wikipedia entry for Flatland. All kinds of SciFi fun has followed.
TMO Background Mode Interview with Sr. Mobile & Networking Developer Alf Watt
Alf Watt is an experienced software developer with expertise in macOS, iOS and wireless technology. He operates iStumbler Labs, most notably the Wi-Fi monitoring app iStumbler. He’s also a former Apple employee. As a youth, Alf’s first computer was a Commodore 64, and he leaned how to enter the code for computer games. Later, with a Mac plus, Alf learned HyperCard. Alf’s first serious language, however, was Perl. At Apple, Alf became deeply in involved with Wi-Fi and Apple’s AirPort technology, and that provided a foundation for his legendary iStumbler app. That app is now in Mac App Store. We finished with Alf’s description of his new tool called KitBridge which allows iOS developers to bring apps to macOS. Alf is an engaging personality in the Apple world, and you’ll enjoy his stories.
The Story of Apple's Aperture: Rise and Fall
Apple’s macOS photography app, Aperture, had a storied and difficult past. Over at MacStories, author Stephen Hackett, recounts the history of this troubled app, its rise and fall. We tend to think of Apple’s wealth as enabling guaranteed success, but, in the end, apps are built and nurtured by human beings in competition with other companies. This is a well-told story.
Amazon Would Like to Acquire Landmark Movie Theaters
At first blush, this looks like a weird idea. Maybe a dumb idea. But on further inspection, this move by Amazon has all kinds of advantages. A Bloomberg article explains all, including the previous U.S. law that has banned film studios from having ownership in the movie theater industry, the so-called “Paramount Decree.” Things in this market are very likely to change. Does Apple have to play this game too?
Parallels Desktop 14 Now Available for macOS With Major Enhancements
Parallels launched Parallels Desktop 14 for the Mac on August 21 with support for Apple’s macOS Mojave plus a host of new features and enhancements. John takes a look.