Podcast

Managing Your Drives, Big Sur Tips, Ransomware, and More — Mac Geek Gab 840

John F. Braun & Dave Hamilton · · Add Comment

These days most of us are using external drives at some level. Even if we’re not, our internal drives are always in need of some attention, pruning, or some other operation. Listen as your two favorite geeks answer all your drive-related questions. That’s not all, of course, we’ve got more Big Sur tips, ideas for mitigating ransomware, Cool Stuff Found, and much more! Press play and enjoy an hour-or-so with John and Dave!

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Missing iPhone 12 Charging Plug to Provide Sales Boost in Key Area

Charlotte Henry ·

Apple framed the decision to remove a wall adapter and headphones from the iPhone 12 box as an environmental decision. I noted that it was probably something they would do anyway to encourage customers to buy more accessories. Well, according to a note from Deutsche Bank seen by CNBC, that’s exactly the case.

Deutsche Bank analysts picked up on that potential growth in a research note earlier this week. “While [Apple] claims that they are not shipping earphones and a charging cube with the iPhone to save the environment (they are including a charging cord), the reality is that such a decision could drive a financial benefit for the company as well,” the Deutsche Bank analysts wrote. Looking beyond the near-term sales of the iPhone 12, Apple’s new magnetic charging system, MagSafe, is laying the groundwork for even more accessories for the iPhone. There have long been rumors that Apple’s ultimate goal is to remove the charging port in the iPhone, like it did for the standard headphone jack, which will in turn drive iPhone owners to buy even more extras for their devices.

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Google Removes Three Major Android Kids Apps Over Data Collection Violations

Charlotte Henry ·

Google has removed three popular apps that were aimed at children from its Android Play Store. It came after researchers found that Princess Salon​, Number Coloring and ​Cats & Cosplay violated data collection rules.

Researchers at the International Digital Accountability Council (IDAC), a nonprofit watchdog based out of Boston, found that a trio of popular and seemingly innocent-looking apps aimed at younger users were recently found to be violating Google’s data collection policies, potentially accessing users’ Android ID and AAID (Android Advertising ID) numbers, with the data leakage potentially connected to the apps being built using SDKs from Unity, Umeng and Appodeal. Collectively, the apps had more than 20 million downloads between them.

Charge Anything, Anywhere With the Omni Off-Grid
Cool Stuff Found

Charge Anything, Anywhere With the Omni Off-Grid

Andrew Orr ·

A new product on Indiegogo I was recently made aware of is the Omni Off Grid charger. It’s a portable power station great for camping and emergency situations. It features an LED display, four USB-C ports, 12V/12A cart port, dimmable light with an SOS alert, four USB-A ports, XT60 and Anderson 400W int put port, Aviation 300W input/output port, and four AC outlets at 1500W output with 3000W surge. You can power it with an optional solar panel (US$299). The Off Grid charger starts at US$1,649 and the team has already surpassed their financial goal.

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Amazon Apple Card Option is Disappearing

Andrew Orr ·

People are starting to notice that their Amazon Apple Card payment option has disappeared.

Another person was told that the ‌Apple Card‌ is “not allowed on your account,” which is curious as the ‌Apple Card‌ is a Mastercard that should be accepted where Mastercard is accepted. A third person was told that the issue was on Apple’s end, so it appears that Amazon’s support staff has no insight what’s going on at this time.

Update: In a statement to MacRumors, an Amazon spokesperson said the following: “We are aware of this technical issue and are actively working to resolve it as soon as possible.”

Edit HDR Videos in iMovie With the 2.3 Update
Cool Stuff Found

Edit HDR Videos in iMovie With the 2.3 Update

Andrew Orr ·

With the version 2.3 update it’s now possible to edit HDR videos in iMovie, just in time for iPhone 12 models that support shooting video in Dolby Vision. Other new changes include: Customize any title by selecting from dozens of built-in fonts; Adjust the color of any title by selecting from a grid or spectrum of presets, adjusting numerical sliders, or using the eyedropper in the viewer; Quickly change a title’s default style, capitalization and duration; Pinch and drag to adjust the size and location of any title; Choose from three new animated titles: Slide, Split and dual-color Chromatic; Add solid, gradient, and patterned backgrounds to your movie; Use the color picker to customize the colors of any background; Drag the slider to change the intensity of any filter applied to your photos and videos; Import and share 4K videos at 60 frames per second; View, edit, and share High Dynamic Range (HDR) videos from your Photos library.

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Recreation Time From NextDNS Mimics Apple’s Screen Time

Andrew Orr ·

I’ve written about NextDNS before; it’s my personal DNS service of choice. The company recently added a feature called Recreation Time.

Introducing Recreation Time — only allow some websites, apps and games during a specific time period each day of the week.

E.g., only allow Facebook, YouTube, Twitch and Fortnite on Wednesdays and Fridays between 6:30pm and 8pm, and on Saturdays and Sundays between 1pm and 8pm.