TMO Background Mode Interview With Mac Observer's Editor-in-Chief Bryan Chaffin

Bryan Chaffin is the Editor-in-Chief of The Mac Observer. He was born and raised in Texas, and it was in Austin where he met Dave Hamilton. In 1997, Bryan was writing for a website named Webintosh. Later, Bryan bought a half-intest in the publication. Soon he realized he needed someone to run the business side of the website, so he sold his half to Dave Hamilton and they rebranded it as The Mac Observer, launching on December 28, 1998. We reminisced about how an invitation from Bryan led to my first article at the Mac Observer in October, 1999. In the second segment, we chatted about two of Bryan’s notable, recent articles, iPhone encryption and Apple’s tax situation. We finished with a discussion of Bryan’s books, both technical and science fiction. Great stuff.

Encryption Debate, Apple's Paradise Papers, iPhone X - ACM 436

The false dichotomy that we must choose between privacy and safety when it comes to encryption has once again reared its ugly head, and Bryan and Jeff discuss why that’s so dangerous. They also look at how Apple was affected by the so-called Paradise Papers, and discuss Jeff’s initial impressions of the iPhone X. For added fun, Jeff mocks Bryan for not having his iPhone X yet.

Fighting The Machine & Saying the S-Word – Mac Geek Gab 682

iOS 11 brought battery life issues for many – but not all – users, and Dave and John have a few solutions for those affected. But that’s not all you get, of course. Many tips, questions answered, and Cool Stuff Found round out the episode, including cable modem picks, iPhone X discussion, wireless charging devices, and an interesting backup analysis from a listener. Download, press play, and enjoy!

TMO Background Mode Interview with Tidbits Managing Editor Josh Centers

Josh Centers is the Managing Editor of Tidbits.com. He was born and raised in Tennessee except for college years in Kentucky. He always thought he’d leave Tennessee someday and move to California, but it turned out that the people he ended up working with had come from California, so he stayed. Josh grew up loving Macworld, MacWeek and Macaddict, but his favorite was TheNet. Early on, he developed a sense that he’d someday write about tech for a living. In the second segment, we talked about some of the popular Apple topics, ordering an iPhone X at 0200 in the morning, the Mac mini, ARM processors for Macs, the coming Mac Pro, MacBook Pro keyboards, the Apple TV struggles, the Amazon Firestick and Kodi. We had a heck of a good time.

What Have Brown Outs Done For You? Get a UPS – Mac Geek Gab 681

When the power flickers, are your electronics protected? That’s the first order of business. Then it’s on to some Cool Stuff Found before digging in to prepping for iPhone X, including what to do about AppleCare … and AppleCare+. VPNs, Battery life, and Certificates round out the episode for you. Press play, enjoy, and learn at least four new things!

TMO Background Mode Interview with GraphicConverter Creator Thorsten Lemke

Thorsten Lemke is the founder of Lemke Software and the creator of the Mac app called GraphicConverter. This app is now used by over 1.5 million customers worldwide. I asked Thorsten about his early years when he was learning Pascal and BASIC on his Commodore C64 and later Atari ST. Thorsten wasn’t sure what he wanted to pursue in high school, but he knew it would be technical. Then, around 1992, with his new Mac, he had a need to convert photos and clipart between file formats. After a lot of file format research, the simple GraphicConverter app on Mac OS 7 was born as shareware. Little did Thorsten know at the time how this Mac app would grow into a major application today. Thorsten tells the amazing story of his career as an Apple developer.