Cool Stuff Found

TMO's Charlotte Henry on MacVoices #21060 With Chuck Joiner

Charlotte Henry ·

Part two of the episode of MacVoices with Chuck Joiner featuring The MacObserver‘s UK Associate Editor and host of the Media+ podcast Charlotte Henry is now available to view. The discussion looks at how tech and politics affect each other. There is also a look at what Amazon securing Thursday Night Football means for sports and streaming. (Spoiler alert, Apple TV+ should still look at getting into sports.) Part one of the conversation, which focussed on the Media+ podcast, is also available to view.

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Visa Will Accept USD Coin Cryptocurrency to Settle Transactions

Andrew Orr ·

USD Coin (USDC) is a stablecoin tied to the U.S. dollar, meaning that one USDC is equal to one dollar. Visa announced that it will accept these coins to settle transactions on its network in partnership with Crypto.com.

Traditionally, if a customer chooses to use a Crypto.com Visa card to pay for a coffee, the digital currency needs to be converted into traditional money. The wallet will deposit fiat currency in a bank account, to be wired to Visa at the end of the day to settle any transactions, adding cost and complexity for businesses. Visa’s latest step strips out the need to convert digital coin into traditional money in order for the transaction to be settled.

Emulating Mac Plus, Mac II, and Mac 128K on iOS
Cool Stuff Found

Emulating Mac Plus, Mac II, and Mac 128K on iOS

Andrew Orr ·

Ex-Apple Technology Evangelist Matt Sephton tweeted a photo of painting on an iPad Pro in the style of Mac OS 7, otherwise known as System 7. He shared a way to do this via software emulation. A tool on GitHub called Mini vMac lets you emulate Mac Plus, Mac II, and Mac 128K on your iDevice. It requires iOS 9 or later, a ROM image from one of the three systems, and disk images with Mac software.

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iPhone 13 : Orange is Not The New Black

Charlotte Henry ·

Whether it’s clothing or iPhones, I generally stick to variations of black, grey, and white. (I got a Blue iPhone XR – a major step forward for me – before retreating back into my comfort zone with the darker )!) Forbes contributor David Phelan appears to be a big fan of brightly-colored devices though. He was disappointed that Max Weinbach and Filip Koroy from Everything Apple Pro have said an orange iPhone 13 is unlikely.

However, it almost always saves its brighter colors for the regular rather than the Pro. And Apple has come very close to an orange iPhone already in the shape of the iPhone XR in coral, which had a lobster-orange look to it. Anyway, if the thought of a matte-finish orange iPhone appeals to you as much as it does me—and, to be clear, it appeals to me a lot—then before we go any further I should tell you: it’s not coming. According to Weinbach, although it reached a certain stage in the production process, it’s unlikely to make it to launch. Well, I’m taking heart that that’s not a definite no, but it seems my hopes for an orange iPhone are currently doomed.

Podcast

Dissecting Your Backups — Mac Geek Gab 863

John F. Braun & Dave Hamilton · · 3 Comments

What better way to celebrate World Backup Day than to have your two favorite geeks pick apart their personal backup strategies? We can’t think of one, so that means you get to listen as John and Dave spend a little time sharing and analyzing their backup strategies, and sharing some of yours, as well. Of course, it’s Mac Geek Gab, so that means there will be some tips, Cool Stuff Found, and your questions answered! Press play and enjoy learning at least five new things.

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Stories and Audio Messages are Slack’s Next Goals

Andrew Orr ·

Slack wants audio messsages to be its next feature and it’s currently testing them in beta. It also wants to bring Snapchat-like stories to the platform.

Butterfield said that a feature for leaving audio messages, similar to a function available in messaging apps like Telegram, was available in a beta test. He also said that Slack would soon offer a feature akin to the audio-chat app Clubhouse, which allows users to drop into rooms for conversations without requiring scheduling a meeting or initiating a call.

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Google Moves to Create Android Version of Apple Digital CarKey

Andrew Orr ·

Apple introduced digital car keys with iOS 13.6, and it looks like Google wants to do the same for Android.

With this new SE standardization effort, Google wants to support “digital keys” for your car, home, and office; mobile driver’s licenses; national IDs; ePassports; and the usual tap-and-go payments. Google notes that this initiative isn’t just for phones and tablets; Wear OS, Android Automotive, and Android TV are also supported.

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Civilization VI Gets New ‘Zombie Defense’ Mode With Portugal Pack

Andrew Orr ·

Zombies are trudging their way into Civilization VI in the new Portugal Pack DLC. It comes with a new leader and civilization.

In the final Civilization 6 Frontier DLC, Portugal Pack, players will get access to the Portuguese civilization and leader Joao III. This isn’t anything surprising, as the game series has released new leaders like this in the past. What has come as the biggest surprise is the new zombie mode being released in this DLC. Usually found in the FPS genre, zombies have occasionally made an appearance in strategy games before.

I’ll leave you with this fine song.