2013
My Ex-iPad
I have a lot of Apple stuff. Like, an unhealthy amount. I’ve owned every iPad. I’ve had two generations of iPod, an iPod mini, three generations of the Nano, a couple Shuffles, a first generation iPod Touch, and every iPhone from 2007 up to my shiny new 5S. I’ve had three iMacs (the lampshade one and two aluminums), three MacBook Pro’s, a Mac mini, and my current main machine, a 2011 MacBook Air. In my house now, between my lady and I, we have 2 iPhone 5S’s, our old iPhones (a 4 and a 4S, both unlocked), an original iPad in the kitchen, an iPad 3 that stays on the couch, and we each carry an iPad mini around. I love my mini. It’s the perfect size and weight.
Then I listened to many nerd podcasts, as I always do. All the pundits have an iPad Air to review. It’s so much thinner and lighter. It’s super fast. It’s comfortable to hold. “I can barely tell the difference between the Air and my iPad mini”, they say. “This is what the iPad should be”, they say. So, I bought the iPad Air on launch day. I was excited to move back into the world of big screens and more importantly, Retina screens.
Every time I buy a new toy, my first day is so exciting. It’s fast, pretty, and very thin. I was so happy to return to the world of big screens. I dutifully loaded all my apps and documents, then I took it on the subway on my way to work yesterday.
That day, I returned it.
Yep, me. The guy who keeps old iPads around to use as extra remote controls. The guy who has 2 iMacs, a Mac mini, and 3 MacBook Pros in storage. The guy with a dozen or so iOS devices in his “Find My iPhone” list.
There is no room for a 10" tablet on the train. It is shoulder to shoulder crowded, and there is very little room between human flesh to hold a tablet.
I gave my iPad mini to my lady when I upgraded. She had a cracked screen. I’m now using her janky broken-ass iPad mini until “Later In November” when the Retina Mini comes out. It’s thinner-er and lighter-er than the Air, and the physical size means all the world to a New York City commuter who tries to read on the crowded subway.
Is Mavericks Screwing Up Your PDFs?
OSX Mavericks is here. It has been for a few weeks. And it’s still broken in places.
When you click on a PDF in Safari, you used to get a preview in the browser of the thing you clicked on. Now, many are getting a page full of what looks like gibberish. It’s not, it’s the code that makes the PDF, but users should never see that.
There’s a quick way to fix it.
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Open Terminal (it’s in your utilities folder in the Applications folder)
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Type this: (Copy and paste, if you like)
defaults write com.apple.Safari WebKitOmitPDFSupport -bool NO
- Restart Safari. All is well.
This is such a simple fix, I don’t know why the bug is still here after three weeks, but until they fix it, this will allow you to read all those ill-gotten comic books.
Daylight Saving and Security
I know, I know. I hate Daylight Savingtime, too. It’s outdated and stupid. There is no reason to move our clocks around twice a year anymore. We have lights, and we know how to use them.
But, Daylight Saving Day is a good reminder to do some housekeeping. Everyone knows you should change the batteries in your smoke detectors when you move your clock. You should also change some passwords.
A lot of us keep most of our lives online. Banking, social, music, contacts, email, calendars… They are all very personal and very vulnerable.
Use an app like OnePassword (my favorite) or Last Pass to remember passwords for you so you can use real, secure, unguessable passwords. I used to be TERRIBLE about passwords. I’d use my dog’s name or my street. Those days are gone. OnePassword (and all password managers) will give you a randomly generated password, then save it. Here’s one:
zy7hiwh9phoz
I asked OnePassword for a random password and got that. No one will ever guess it, and it would take a computer months to brute-force it. And all these passwords I use online are saved offline in the OnePassword file, and all I have to remember is the one password to open OnePassword. They make plug-ins for Safari, Chrome, and Internet Explorer. There are smartphone and tablet apps, as well. They all sync and keep your passwords with you.
Take a half an hour and change the most important passwords. Then, take the next few weeks letting a password manager run in your browser collecting passwords for you. After, say, January 1, go through the app and see how similar all your passwords really are. For most people, if someone gets one of your passwords, they can guess all of them. Worse, if they get your email password, they can reset all your other passwords.
Security isn’t fun, but it can be easy.
Happy Birthday, America.
I believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival, It ought to be celebrated by pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other.
Word. Go blow stuff up and be safe out there.
I think it's weird when people say Happy Memorial Day...
I think it’s weird when people say “Happy Memorial Day”.
They’re kind of missing the point.
That's A Lot of Plusses!
Paul Thorrott, on his Supersite for Windows:
I’ve often described Windows 8 as Windows 7++, because — and contrary to a peculiarly widespread belief — it’s really just a combination of everything that’s great about Windows 7 plus a ton of new desktop improvements, all tied to a new mobile OS I still call Metro. On that note, Blue is Windows 8++: It’s Windows 8 plus a ton of improvements
So, if we’re doing the math correctly, Windows Blue is just Windows 7++++. Or is it Windows 7+16? I don’t know if we add or multiply made up modifiers.
And you wonder why...
Mike Woodward, President of HTC North America, speaking about the Samsung Galaxy S4:
We’re pleased to see no innovation in the design itself
This would explain why HTC has been losing money and market share hand over fist the last few years. Innovation is not changing the way a device looks. It’s changing the way people use it.
iPhones have looked basically the same since 2007, but every year Apple changes the way people can use them. Samsung is doing the same with the Galaxy line, and I think it’s a good move.