512 Pixels

25 years ago, Apple introduced software named Newton Press:

Using an easy drag-and-drop method, Newton Press users can create electronic reference documents or Newton books from files on a Mac OS-based personal computer. These books are created by simply dropping files onto the Newton Press icon on the Macintosh, which automatically formats the document so it can be viewed on a Newton Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) such as the MessagePad. Newton Press supports a variety of word processing, text, or graphics documents supported by the Claris XTND technology for the Mac OS.

“The availability of Newton Press is a significant milestone in our endeavor to continue the positive momentum generated by Newton 2.0,” said Sandy Benett, acting vice president of Apple’s Newton Systems Group. “The numerous positive reviews and comments we’re receiving are a testament to the genuine viability of the Newton platform and bring us another step closer to making Newton PDAs the ubiquitous device they were envisioned to be.”

With Newton Press, mobile professionals and corporate customers can take advantage of the combined power of personal computers, enterprise information, and Newton PDAs to easily publish and distribute electronic documents. Word processing files, email messages, graphics and text blocks from Mac OS-based personal computers now can be readily available to reference, annotate, fax or print from the Newton PDA. These electronic documents can even be distributed to other Newton users, making Newton Press a perfect solution for mobile professionals needing to exchange and distribute data.

If you want to take a trip through the User Manual for Newton Press, this link is for you.

Apple has launched a new podcast to coincide with season two of For All Mankind, which debuts on AppleTV+ on Friday.¹ It is hosted by Krys Marshall, who plays astronaut Danielle Poole on the show, and will offer a behind-the-scene look at the show. Oddly, the podcast is coming out every other week, even though the show will be weekly.

I’m really excited about this season of the show. Keep an eye on Liftoff, the space podcast I do with Jason Snell.. Later this week, we’ll be posting an interview with someone involved in the show.

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Get peace of mind knowing your files are backed up securely in the cloud. Start your free 15-day trial with Backblaze today by going to backblaze.com/512pixels.

This week on Mac Power Users, David and I spoke with John Siracusa about the 2019 Mac Pro and what Apple silicon may mean for pro users. Then, John spoke about his pair of Mac apps and what he wants out of the future of macOS.

For More Power Users, we discussed the Pro Display XDR and window management techniques for larger screens.

My thanks to John for joining us, and to our sponsors:

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• DEVONthink: Get Organized — Unleash Your Creativity. Use this link for 10% off.

I’ve come across images of this thing in the past, but Quinn went on a deep dive on one of the most unusual Macintosh accessories ever made:

Don’t worry, I’ve already called dibs on that Portrait Display.

My thanks to micro.blog for sponsoring 512 Pixels this week.

It offers blog hosting and a welcoming community built around independent microblogs that can be used for short- and long-form writing. Start a microblog with your own domain name so your posts remain under your control. Add photos, videos and even podcasts.

This week on the show:

Everyone’s a real Federico, but only Stephen could disrupt the show document in such a profoundly useless way. Myke takes on the form of those around him.

Topics include MacBook Pro batteries, Spotify and Siri getting cozy, the iPhone 12 mini and more.

On Connected Pro, I explained what an ice storm is.

My thanks to our sponsors for the episode:

• Hover: Make a name for yourself. Get 10% off any domain name.
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I’ve used DEVONthink for about a year to hold all of my research and gathered materials relating to tech history. As of this writing, I have 22,197 items in the application, across ten databases. Its search features make quick work of crawling all of these bits of information, letting me find anything I have on a certain topic across a range of PDFs, text documents, web archives and more.

DEVONthink on the Mac is solid, but the mobile app has felt left behind, with version 3 of DEVONthink To Go, that’s changed.

The new iOS and iPadOS app brings support for modern mobile features like dark mode, iPad cursor support and even multiple windows. Searching is much faster, and now OCR can done on-device, as opposed to having to wait until you get back to a Mac.

I sync my databases with Dropbox, but this new version also introduces CloudKit sync, if that’s your jam.

The app is a free download on the App Store and comes with a one month free trial. After that, pricing looks like this:

• Monthly subscription: US $1.99
• Yearly subscription: US $14.99
• One-time purchase: US $39.99

If you had DEVONthink to Go already installed, that one-time price is $19.99, but the new version will run for free until July.

I’m really happy to see DEVONthink to Go become a more modern and performant counterpart to the Mac version. While I tend to do this type of work while at my desk, doing so from my iPad or even iPhone just got a lot more enjoyable.

Apple Support:

In February 2006, Apple introduced the Intel-based Mac mini (Early 2006). This model and models of Mac mini through 2009 use a different power adapter than models of Mac mini released before 2006.

The two power adapters are not interchangeable, and should only be used with the model of Mac mini they shipped with. Read on to learn how to identify which power adapter to use with each Mac mini computer.

When Apple redesigned the Mac mini in 2010, the machines went to internal power supplies.

The update addresses an issue that may prevent the battery from charging in some 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro models. It also patches a nasty root access bug. Update: It seems that the battery issue is part of a bigger deal.

This week on Ungeniused:

During World War I and II, the U.S. and Royal Navies turned to camouflage as a way to protect their ships and planes. One such method was a little more … exciting than the others.

My thanks to our sponsor:

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Today on Twitch, I took a look at five of the Mac minis in my collection, and took apart two of them. It was a lot of fun, and is up for rewatching now.