______________________ The story started a few weeks ago (May 22nd) when I wrote my Friday column, Particle Debris, that referenced some frightening security lapses. Not long after I refefrenced Logjam (and an infamous predecessor, Heartbleed), I ran across an article in the May, 2015 issue of Aerospace and Defense, page 40, that had a short article…
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
The One Thing We Need in OS X El Capitan (And Didn't Get)
_______________________ We have reached an impasse. Everything with Apple must be easy and comfortable. Yet the very idea of backing up hundreds of gigabytes (or terabytes) of data is out of sync with the capabilities of HFS+ and the software technologies provided. As a result, it's easier to brush this issue under the rug than…
Apple's Swift 2 is Poised to Rock the Software World
______________________ Apple's Swift programming language is designed to be fast, less syntactically complex, less ambiguous and thereby more secure. However, to date, it has been restricted to iOS and OS X development. Of course, that's not a bad thing, and Swift has walked the fiery coals of any language used for mass mobile app deployment.…
It's Finally Time to Buy a New iPad
_____________________ Those who are jaded will claim that Apple limited some new features of iOS 9 to the more recent iPads or the iPad Air 2 in a callous attempt to force customers to upgrade. But is that really true? I don't think so. Here's why. I think Apple lost its way a little with…
How to Inspect an OS X Package File (PKG) Without Installing
_____________________ Application Packages First, I need to backtrack for a minute. As OS X users, we're familiar with the fact that applications are actually complex folders in disguise—packages in developer lingo. OS X recognizes application packages and knows how to give them their unique icon. There is a contextual menu item, “Show Package Contents” that…
6 Coolest Features of Cocoatech's Path Finder OS X App
_____________________ The Finder in OS X is a good app, and it keeps getting better. However, over the years, I found that Cocoatech's Path Finder, a fully capable Finder replacement, has more power, is more convenient and more fun to use. It's a powerhouse app that I'm grateful for and couldn't live without. This isn't…
Here's How Apple Adapted Retina Technology for the New MacBook
Apple's new MacBook is a light, beautiful and capable notebook for general purpose work. However, compared to the other Apple MacBooks, its Retina display does have one quirk that you may notice right out of the box. ______________________ To explain the wrinkle, I need to backtrack a bit and review Retina technology. Retina Doubling There…
HiRise Apple Watch Stand is Beautiful, Well Engineered
The HiRise Apple Watch stand from Twelve South, available now, elevates the Apple Watch beautifully, integrates the inductive charger, and showcases the smartwatch for charging overnight. It works with any model Apple Watch and bands and is a step above the ordinary in design. ______________________ When I saw that the HiRise, made of metal, comes…
Why We Need a New iPhone Every Year, Not so Much With iPad
____________________ I started thinking about this effect in a new light after reading this article at Business Insider “One of the most accurate Apple analysts just spilled a ton of new details about the iPhone 6s.” Some of those predictions by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo sound reasonable and others not so much, according to…
olloCase for iPhone 6 and olloclip Lenses is Slim, Simple
For those customers who have an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus and a corresponding olloclip lens kit, it can be annoying to remove the iPhone's case and attach the lenses. olloclip has solved that problem by introducing a very nice iPhone 6/6 Plus case that needn't be removed. Plus, it's a very nice case in…
OS X Yosemite: How to Find Non-Apple Extensions Lingering in Your Mac
_______________________ Don't worry, I don't know enough yet to make this how-to very complex. I'll be showing a very simple UNIX command, and then we're done. First, you may be wondering: “What is a kernel extension?” This is code that extends the capability of the base kernel of an operating system. The kernel typically manages…
Scratching the Surface: Sapphire vs Glass Apple Watch
It's a real guess at this point how quickly the Apple Watch will become obsolete in its first version. From the articles that have been published so far, the Apple Watch has an enormous amount of functionality. That considerable functionality isn't going to vanish, but the looks of the Apple Watch Sport could. Some rigorous…
How My New MacBook Speaks to Me
Design language is … overarching scheme or style that guides the design of a complement of products … which can describe choices for design aspects such as materials, colour schemes, shapes, patterns, textures, or layouts. Mine is Space Gray. Image credit: Apple In the case of the new MacBook from Apple, the design language is…
Experian Credit Tracker for iOS: Handsome, Intuitive, Secure
For those wishing to keep close tabs on their credit score, credit reports, and credit monitoring alerts, Experian has released (in March) a Universal iOS app that's beautifully designed, very easy to use, full of features, and looks great. _____________________ This app is designed for current Experian customers. An account must already have been established…
Tim Cook on Poor iPad Sales: 'It is what it is'
iPad Air 2. Image credit: Apple Typically, when Apple reports its financial results each quarter, either Tim Cook or CFO Luca Maestri talks about a terrific year-over-year growth of some number, such as revenue or iPhone sales. But that was noticeably lacking in the case of the iPad sales last quarter of only 12.6 million,…
Just Mobile's New USB Battery Charger Goes a Step Beyond
Some USB battery chargers are just ho-hum with nothing special about them. But the Just Mobile TopGum 6000 mAh charger takes everything a step further. It has a magnetic charger stand with two input modes, dual outputs, a hideaway Lighting connector and even a gold color option in addition to silver and black. ____________________…
How to Remove an Unwanted Process in OS X
____________________ First up, a gentle warning. One should not, in general, willy-nilly remove an OS X process (a software program) just because you don't recognize it or don't know what it does. OS X is complicated and has many essential processes that shouldn't be tampered with. However, let's say that you just installed an OS…
Announcing TMO's New Product Scoring System
Rather than pitching our reviews as numbers, we want to give our readers a call to action. We've always written the kind of reviews we want to read, and we wanted our ratings to match. Accordingly, there are no numbers associated with our new system, and instead we are offering a call to action based…
How I Changed My Mind About Apple's MacBook
My first reaction to the new Apple MacBook was that it's too small and underpowered. But if I did get one, I'd surely get a gold one. Now that I've handled a MacBook at my local Apple Store, everything I thought before has changed. Here's what I discovered. ______________________ Everything changed when I actually handled…
8 Steps to Prepare for Your Apple Watch Purchase Online
Image credit: Apple There are several things you can do to prepare for your Apple Watch purchase online to ensure a better chance of success. That's especially true if you're competing with everyone else at 12:01 a.m. PDT on April 10th. I'll walk you through some recommended technical preparations to help make sure you get…
No, the Apple MacBook is NOT a '4-year Step Backward'
The new Apple MacBook is designed for extreme portability and low weight. Its low power Core M processor provides support for thinner designs and eliminates the need for a fan. To achieve that, it makes a concession to speed. So while the benchmarks are similar to a four year old MacBook Air, this MacBook is…
How to 'Heart' Your Favorite Apple Watch in the Store App
In Apple's iOS Apple Store app, it says, “Pick your favorite models before pre-order…. Choose your favorites by clicking the heart icon next to those models.” That way, you can compare them and be ready for the pre-order process. Here's how to do it. _____________________ This is another bit of genius from Apple. By selecting…
What to Expect from the Core M Processor in the New MacBook [Updated]
Apple's new MacBook, to be released on April 10, is compact, low in weight, and full of new features. But will that low power Core M processor have enough computing punch for most users? I want to take a first, high-level look at the Core M processor and how it compares to other Apple notebooks,…
A New Apple TV with 4K Would NOT Break the Internet
4G Apple TV concept – Image credit: Martin Hajek Albert Einstein once said, “The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once.” Time is, in fact, the principle concern of every person in the technical industry. Often, there isn't time to respond to a competitor's initiative (or a manager's demand), but…