TMO Daily Observations 2016-09-15: The iPhone 7 Launch Famine, watchOS 3 Standout Features

Good luck walking into a store tomorrow and buying a new iPhone 7 or 7 Plus because they’re already pretty much completely sold out. John Martellaro joins Jeff Gamet to talk about Apple product launch strategies and controlling inventory to drive up hype. They also share some watchOS 3 standout features—both good and annoying.

TMO Background Mode: Interview with Kanopi Studios WordPress Developer Julie Kuehl

Julie Kuehl is an expert WordPress developer for Kanopi Studios. But there’s much more. She built her first website in 1994. She’s studied economics, statistics and web design. She’s written for publications like MyMac, Tech Lounge and The Mac Observer. She’s a popular speaker at conferences. She hosts the SciFi Tech Talk podcast. She’s into cars (Mustang), motorcycles (Harley-Davidson) and holds several black belts in Karate, primarily Soto Kan. She’s taught Martial Arts to police officers in Japan and learned Japanese in the process. Join me and Julie as we geek out and trade stories on our Martial Arts experiences, our first exposure to Unix and web servers in the 1990s, our car loves (more stories: Corvettes, Route 66), SciFi, and her own SciFi podcast. I was wowed. You will be too.

TMO Background Mode: Interview with Thriller Novelist & Entrepreneur Joanna Penn

Joanna Penn is a best-selling thriller novelist. She’s published over 20 books and sold over 450,000 copies in 74 countries and five languages. She’s most famous for her ARKANE series described by readers as ‘Dan Brown meets Lara Croft.’ Joanna is also an entrepreneur who teaches writers how to hone their craft. I interviewed Joanna about her past which includes a Master’s degree in Theology from Oxford. Joanna spent years working on computer code before she realized that she wanted to write fiction. And she’s a self-admitted techie, using a Mac and Scrivener. Today, Joanna leverages her background in theology and psychology plus extensive travel to write her thrillers. We talked about the craft of writing fiction and finished up with whether AI agents will ever put us both out of work.

MGG 621: Tips, Tricks and Troubleshooting Outside The Box

Tips, and lots of them, start today’s show. Audiobooks, Finder tweaks, securing your Mac and more! Then it’s time to talk about how your accounts can disappear and reappear, why your printer driver might want to listen to the network, how to view 35mm slides on your Mac and how your iPad keypad might change names! All this and much more on today’s Mac Geek Gab.

TMO Daily Observations 2016-08-31: Monster v Beats Lawsuit Implodes, Dropbox Data Breach

Monster’s Noel Lee is having a pretty bad day because his lawsuit against Beats fell apart. Kelly Guimont joins Jeff Gamet to look at Mr. Lee’s claims he was duped to cut him out of the deal where Apple bought Beats. They also talk about the why Dropbox’s 2012 data breach is news again, and get a little excited about Stranger Things season 2.

TMO Background Mode: Interview with Omni Group Software Engineer Liz Marley

Liz Marley is a software engineer for the Omni Group. Early in life, there never was a time when Liz didn’t have computers. At age four, she started with her dad’s Apple IIGS, and she was encouraged to use it freely. Later, she majored in Computer Science at Harvey Mudd college and soon thereafter landed a job as a software tester. Over the years, her career has taken a series of interesting twists. From software coding to testing to being a product manager and then back to coding. In fact, her work with App Camp For Girls led her to a remarkable career decision and turn of events at the Omni Group. This is must listening for everyone interested in computer programming as a career.

TMO Daily Observations 2016-08-29: Apple Watch 2 Battery, Microsoft's Smart Surface Pro 4 Ad

New photos show what looks like the battery for the Apple Watch 2, and it seems to support John Martellaro’s premise that the next model won’t be any thinner. Today John and Bryan Chaffin join Jeff Gamet for a little gloating at Bryan’s expense because he’s been championing a thinner Apple Watch 2. They also look at Microsoft’s latest Surface Pro 4 ad and dive into why slamming the MacBook Air was a smart move.