Remote Reflections from CES — Mac Geek Gab 853

Your two favorite geeks “went” to CES last week, and have some stories to share. Cool Stuff Found abounds, as well as some thoughts on this year’s trends. Of course, they didn’t leave home, so they still had time to answer your questions, find some Quick Tips, and make a show out of it all. Press play and listen as John and Dave help us all to learn at least five new things!

All The Gear, But No Idea(r) — Mac Geek Gab 852

Your questions drive the bus this week, as John and Dave provide answers about AirDrop, Spotlight, Screen Protectors, 10G Ethernet, Time Machine, and more. That’s not all, though, your two favorite geeks have Cool Stuff Found and Quick Tips to share, too. Join in the fun: press play and enjoy learning at least five new things!

Signal Signups Surge After WhatsApp Controversy And Elon Musk Tweets

Encrypted messaging app Signal is seeing a surge in signups, The Verge reported. It seems to come on the back of supportive tweets from Tesla chief Elon Musk and controversy around WhatsApp mandating users to share data with its parent company, Facebook.

But what’s happening now appears to be a bit of context collapse on social media, as WhatsApp users think they’re now being forced to share data with Facebook even though that’s been happening all along if they didn’t opt out back in 2016. None of this is helped by Facebook and WhatsApp’s recent attacks on Apple for the iPhone maker’s decision to mandate new self-reported labels on iOS apps and its future plans to force app makers to request permission to track Apple device owners. The new privacy policy notice doesn’t help Facebook’s cause, either, considering it tells users displeased with the changes — which, again, are about how businesses manage their chats on WhatsApp using Facebook’s backend — to “delete their account,” with no other remedies provided.

Long Term Storage, Photos, & Cool Stuff Found — Mac Geek Gab 851

This week, John and Dave come together to answer your questions about long-term storage, Photos Libraries, Migrating to a new Mac and much, much more. Listen as your two favorite geeks drop the knowledge — and your Quick Tips and Cool Stuff Found — so that everyone can listen and learn at least five new things together! Join us and start the new year right!

Time Capsule Replacements, Quick Tips, & Cool Stuff Found — Mac Geek Gab 850

Apple’s Time Machine lets you backup to a network drive… but which network drive should you use now that Apple no longer sells a Time Capsule? John and Dave are here to answer this question and many, many more! Listen as your two favorite geeks answer all the questions YOU sent in this week, plus sharing Quick Tips and Cool Stuff Found to give you lots to think about… and to get! Press play and enjoy learning at least five new things about your Mac, iPhone, and other tech.

Explore Your Personality With New ‘Dimensional’ App

So here’s a new app that was recently launched on the App Store. It’s called “Dimensional” and claims to help you understand your personality. One of the creators introduced it on Reddit and is answering questions about the app: “It seemed what existed out there was pseudo-science tests like MBTI that are fun but not that useful in practical terms or really scientific stuff that is hard for lay people to understand. So this is our attempt at making quality personality science useful to people.” I consider myself a skeptical person but I think this sounds interesting at the very least. Specifically, I see no mention of astrology or similar ways to introduce yourself to people as a “PB&J born under the Caprisun sign”. I plan to download it and see what it’s all about.

Battery Management, Nuking, Paving, and More — Mac Geek Gab 849

Sometimes you Nuke, sometimes you Pave. Sometimes all you need to do is make a tweak. You’d think we were talking about building (and destroying) roads, but no… your two favorite geeks are talking tech! Apple tech, mostly. Listen as John and Dave answer your questions, share your tips and Cool Stuff Found, and generally help all of us learn at least five new things every week!

Swiper, NOT Swiping — Mac Geek Gab 848

These days we do lots of swiping on our devices, and sometimes the results are expected, other times not so much! Listen as John and Dave share tips and answer questions about swiping. That’s not all, of course, the topics expand from there, including a great dive into USB speeds on Apple’s new iPads. Listen as your two favorite geeks walk through all of this for you this week!

Migrating Your Mac and Its Data — Mac Geek Gab 847

It seems to be the season… Migration Season, that is! So many new Macs, so many migrations, so much data, and so many questions! Thankfully your two favorite geeks have answers, as does the MGG Family. Press play and listen as John and Dave take you through all these and more. Of course, there’s more: Quick Tips are aplenty and there might even be some Cool Stuff Found! Whatever it is, you’ll enjoy learning at least five new things this episode!

Apple's M1 MacBook Air: One Week In, It's the Little Things

I was fortunate enough to receive my built-to-order M1 MacBook Air (16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 8-core GPU) last Tuesday, and I’ve had a week to truly experience it. We’ve all read the early reviews (Snell, Gruber, and Bohn are the highlights), and they’ve focused on the specs and the highlights, so I won’t rehash (much of) that here. What I want to focus on are the little things.

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