As promised in his last column, Dr. Mac has more great gift ideas at reasonable prices for the geeks you love.
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Just in Case...
Bob “Dr. Mac” LeVitus offers up a few of the iPhone cases that he’s found to be impressive in 2021, which is saying something considering how many cases cross his desk.
Change Is a Foot – Mac Geek Gab 906
Did you know Siri can record your voice and send that to someone? Did you know you could stream directly from Plex to Sonos? How about running your vacuum when you’re not home? These are the Quick Tips John and Dave share in the very first segment of the show… and then it grows from there! Your two favorite geeks help a few listeners solve their mesh Wi-Fi problems, the M1’s mouse-related memory leak gets a little clearer, and Mac mini wake-from-sleep issues are resolved…some of them, at least! Press play and enjoy learning at least five new things!
Apple TV+ Now Available Via Sky Glass and Sky Q
The Apple TV app is now directly available to users of a Sky Q box or Sky Glass television in the UK and Ireland.
Charlotte and Kelly's International Gift Picks – TMO Daily Observations 2021-12-07
Charlotte Henry joins host Kelly Guimont to offer some gift ideas based on Apple gear they use and love, and share a bit of their own wish lists.
Air Quality Monitor 'Eve Room' Upgraded With Thread Support
On Tuesday Eve Systems announced that its Eve Room product has been updated with support for Thread. It’s compatible with HomeKit.
New Mercury Elite Pro Mini is a Bus-Powered Portable Drive
OWC’s newest product is the Mercury Elite Pro mini, a bus-powered portable drive with up to 4TB of storage and 542MB/s performance.
Trapped In The Terminal — Mac Geek Gab 901
This week John and Dave find themselves trapped in the Terminal. Will your two favorite geeks escape? Press play to find out as they dig through a few Terminal commands, new and old, invoke some Shortcuts, talk about self-service repairs, empty the Trash, solve a draining battery, and more! You’re guaranteed to learn five new things or your money back!
Roomba Delivers On Its Promise to End Pet Poo Disasters
We’ve seen the videos, those tragic tales of robot vacuum cleaners leaving a trail of puppy poop behind. For all of their AI technology, they simply don’t recognize one fact. Some messes just won’t vacuum up neatly. Your robotic cleaning device ends up doing more harm than good. Roomba maker iRobot says they’ve nipped the problem in the bud. A writer at Daily Paws put this to the test. In her testing, the latest Roomba j7+ really does have the digital smarts to avoid pet messes.
I came home late from work one night to see that my elderly Chihuahua had missed the wee pad by a good bit and left her own dollop of poop on my kitchen floor. I had scheduled the Roomba for a run that was set to begin in a few minutes, so instead of cleaning up the accident myself, I decided to see what the j7+ would do.
It expertly avoided my pup’s poop. I was absolutely in awe. Once again, after the clean, the iRobot app asked me if this was a temporary obstacle, and I confirmed.
PopSockets Announces New MagSafe Mounts
Fans of PopSockets will be glad to see the company’s latest MagSafe mounts. The new mounts are available for your car or home.
Real Wireless Charging Coming from CES 2022 Award Winner
If you’ve wondered when we’ll get real wireless charging for our technology, it might be coming sooner rather than later.
MasterClass Announces Support for iOS 15 SharePlay in First Look Event
At its First Look event this week, MasterClass announced new features and partnerships, including support for SharePlay in iOS 15.1.
Targus Announces Find My Backpack
Thanks to Apple opening up the tracking service to third-party accessories, Targus is bringing us the first Find My backpack in Spring 2022.
10 Arduino IoT Projects for Beginners
Got an itch to start tinkering with Arduino, but want it to be something useful? As I explained on Apple Context Machine, Arduino is a microcontroller that lets you do just about any task you can find parts and write code for. A great way to get started and have it mean something is with a project that helps your daily life. One way to achieve both is with an Internet of Things (IoT) project. There are hundreds of tutorials on building with Arduino. Some are useful, some are just cute and/or fun. This MakeUseOf article highlights 10 Arduino IoT projects perfect for beginners. From monitoring your plants’ health to reminding you when it’s time to take your medicine (and even dispensing a glass of water to wash the pills down), these Arduino IoT projects will get you on the right path. There’s even a tutorial on building your own automated pet feeder.
A Summit of Geeks – Mac Geek Gab 899
MacMost’s Gary Rosenzweig joins John and Dave today to share Quick Tips, Cool Stuff Found and, yes, to help answer all of your Apple-related tech questions. Topics include dealing with Monterey’s “Load Content Directly” issues in Mail, Network Utility Replacements, Monterey image tricks, portable Apple Watch chargers, and much more! Press play and learn at least five new things with your three favorite geeks!
iOS 15.1 Adds SharePlay, ProRes Video Capture, and Vaccination Cards in Wallet
Apple released iOS 15.1 today, a major update with features like SharePlay, support for vaccination cards in Apple Wallet, and more.
macOS Monterey Arrives to Customers on October 25
Apple announced on Monday that the new MacBook Pros will be available to download later in October with a bunch of new features.
iCloud+, OBD-II, and iOS 15 Tricks! – Mac Geek Gab 895
Settings get more granular in iOS 15, and your tips help us find a few new places to use that! Other tips include storing your music online for free, sorting out what your car is trying to tell you, and making sense of iCloud+. That’s not all, though, your two favorite geeks answer your questions about taming Reminders, sharing Contacts, and making Numbers and Excel tell time. Press play and join John and Dave in learning at least five new things!
Embracing the 15s — Mac Geek Gab 892
Safari 15, iOS 15, your 15th birthday, all of these are things we must embrace, right? Listen as your two favorite geeks walk you through their thoughts on it all (the first two, anyway!). That’s not all, though, as this episode has some of the best Quick Tips we’ve ever shared, plus some new chargers to look out for with your new iPhones and iPads. Press play and join John and Dave in learning at least five new things this week!
How to Maximize Focus Mode on iOS 15
The new Focus Mode options in iOS 15 offer a lot of customization to the retired Do Not Disturb feature. Let’s walk through setting them up.
5 Brands to Consider for iPhone 13 Accessories
Yesterday we published a list of 13 brands to consider when you’re buying iPhone 13 cases. Today we have five brands to list for your iPhone 13 accessories.
Regurgitate, Reiterate, and Recurse — Mac Geek Gab 889
Starting with some of the best Quick Tips we’ve ever shared, your two favorite geeks roar through topics including measuring current, USB-C Flash Drives, solving Mail issues on iPhone, dissecting local storage usage, and much more. Press play and learn five new things with Dave and John.
Review: iRobot's Braava Jet M6 is a Thorough Creature
A few weeks ago Andrew bought iRobot’s Braava jet m6 robotic mopper. This is the company’s top-of-the-line model available for US$449.99.
Miami Man Pleads Guilty to Stealing 1,500 iPhones
A man from Florida is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to stealing 1,500 iPhones. Over two years, he made quite an illicit living.