Bryan Chaffin

We have a deal on Disk Drill PRO for Mac or Windows. This software is designed to make it easy to recover documents, music, photos, videos, or even whole partitions that have gone missing from your computer. You can get Disk Drill Pro through our deal for $39.

We have a deal on Tap Forms 5, a database creation tool for macOS. It features built-in design tools to help you create forms to efficiently track, manage and maintain your data. It also includes a Bento library importer, relational capabilities, 5 different views of your data including list, multi-column, map, calendar, and photo grid. This database tool for the Mac is $24.99 through our deal.

We have a deal on the Rabbit charger, an interesting wall-mounted charging station for your mobile devices. It features a built-in, retractable cable, and that cable has two charging plugs you can use at the same time. Plus, the charging tips are swappable, and it comes with two USB-C tips and two Lightning tips, all of which fit over micro USB tips built-in to the cable. Lastly, it also has a built-in AC outlet so that it still leaves you with a standard plug. This device is $45.95 through our deal.

Foursquare CEO Jeff Glueck called on Congress to regulate the use of consumer location data in an op-ed published by The New York Times. He further said such regulation should include three principles: 1.) Location data requests in apps be tied to an actual service; 2.) Transparency for users, 3.) That companies getting location data agree to “do no harm.” It’s an interesting read, especially from one of the big players in location data use. Here’s a snippet:

There are no formal rules for what is ethical — or even legal — in the location data business. We could all take a Hippocratic oath for data science (as in medicine: “First do no harm”), and hope that living by such an oath would curb abuses. But even in the best of circumstances, that oath is voluntary. It’s time for Congress to regulate the industry.

We have a deal on Luminar 3, photo editing software for Mac and Windows. It features Accent AI 2.0, which lets you make dozens of adjustments using one slider; “human-aware” technology that recognizes people and applies adjustments selectively for more realistic results; you can enhance the skies in your photos with AI Sky Enhancer; and, more than 70 instant looks hand-crafted by pro photographers. Luminar 3 is $29 through our deal.

Savannah Reising of Astropad posted a killer blog post (via Dave Mark at The Loop) offering six tips for how to handle being sherlocked by Apple. Getting sherlocked means that Apple just announced the product, software, or feature that you built your business on, and it’s a known risk for Apple ecosystem veterans. It happened to Astropad when Apple announced Sidecar at WWDC this past June. Her lessons include Know your true competition; Don’t wait to diversify; Build a culture of experimentation; Go where your customers go; Seize the narrative; and, When Apple goes wide — dive deep. It’s a very good read, and I strongly recommend it.

But now that the Sidecar dust has settled, I want to share our experience with other players in the Apple ecosystem. My intent is two-fold: On a personal level, it’s therapeutic to reflect on how this has impacted our work. But more importantly, my hope is that by candidly sharing our story, I can pass along some of the painful insights we learned along the way — like how you can prevent getting sherlocked, and what to do if it happens to you.