512 Pixels

This time on Flashback:

Microsoft was late to the smartphone party, and its first entrance, the Kin, was designed for teens and young adults who didn’t want or need an iPhone, Android phone or Blackberry. The only problem? That audience didn’t really exist.

Oh, Microsoft…

I am glad that Zac Hall has undertaken this project, and am utterly disappointed in how many states aren’t going to take part of this program — including my home state of Tennessee.

If we lived in a country that actually worked, maybe we could have a federally-built and support app to take advantage of the work that Apple and Google are doing, but … uhhh…

Monica Chin, at The Verge:

Nick Bryner, a high school senior in Los Angeles, had just completed his AP English Literature and Composition test last week. But when he snapped a photo of a written answer with his iPhone and attempted to upload it to the testing portal, it stopped responding.

The website got stuck on the loading screen until Bryner’s time ran out. Bryner failed the test. He’s retaking it in a few weeks.

Bryner is among the many high school students around the country who completed Advanced Placement tests online last week but were unable to submit them at the end. The culprit: image formats.

My kids — like millions of others — finished out their spring semester at home. Even though they are in elementary school, I’ve been shocked at how bad a lot of education-focused applications and websites are. If kids have to do more schoolwork at home in the future, these tools have to get better, and fast.

David is back with another new Field Guide, this time covering the world of Apple’s Photos app and its accompanying iCloud features. I’ve spent some time in the course, and as always, it is fantastic. The next episode of Mac Power Users will cover some of this as well, so look for that on Sunday.

Pat Dryburgh:

I wasn’t surprised to find that there is currently only one Emoji that includes a visible medical face mask. However, I was sad to see that the expression on the faces of every version of this Emoji looked rather gloomy.

No doubt when this emoji was first introduced, face masks in Western society were primarily worn by professionals or those under medical care. However, we have since joined our brothers and sisters in places where medical face masks are worn by everyone and as some people have pointed out, this makes communicating emotions through facial expressions really tough.

Given this, I think we need more expressive face-mask Emojis. I think a suite of Emojis expressing alternate emotions through a face mask would allow us a small opportunity to show solidarity with one another as we brave this new world.

I think this is a great idea.

This week on Connected:

Follow-up. Microsoft has reinvented OpenDoc. A conversation about watchOS 7. Follow-up. Microsoft has reinvented OpenDoc. A conversation about watchOS 7. Follow-up. OpenDoc. watchOS 7. Are you getting it? These are not three separate episodes … this is one episode, and we’re calling it “Another Italian Interjected.”

Also: Myke had an accident, I had to stop the show for a few minutes and Federico learned about a feature on the Apple Watch.

My thanks to our sponsors:

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Nick Statt at The Verge:

AT&T’s actual 5G network is rolling out to major parts of the US this year, but the company’s fake 5G network — which it calls “5G Evolution” and shortens to “5G E” when it appears in the corner of smartphones — has remained the subject of controversy for the last two years.

Now, the carrier has decided that it will continue the charade even after the National Advertising Review Board (NARB) recommended it cease using the misleading term as well as the phrase ”5G Evolution, The First Step to 5G,” according to telecom news site Light Reading. What’s AT&T’s argument? Well, according to the report, AT&T says it will comply with the recommendation as it applies to advertising, like marketing campaigns and branding, but that the logo doesn’t qualify as such and therefore can stay.

Why am I not surprised that AT&T doesn’t view the space on everyone’s phone as an ad?

This week on Liftoff:

The Artemis Accords have been unveiled, but will their adoption be hurt by their rollout? Could Starship be more useful as a refueling station than a lander? Jason and Stephen get into these questions and more this fortnight.

The first crewed launch from U.S. soil is set to take place next week. Busy times in space.

My thanks to our sponsor:

• Tuparev Technologies: Introducing StarBrush: Modern astronomical imaging tool for everyone.

iJustine has upgraded her Mac Pro with 1.5 TB of RAM, an OWC Accelsior 4M2 drive and a set of wheels. This is the first installation video I’ve seen of the wheels, and it looks a lot easier than I expected to put them on:

While I don’t have much of an interest in the wheels, I keep eyeballing my internal storage as it slowly fills up. That OWC drive is expensive, and while I really don’t want to put 3.5-inch hard drives in this machine for archival storage, I may have to sooner or later.

Apple Support:

Here are the steps for uninstalling QuickTime for Windows when using Windows 95.

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Apple Senior Vice President of Retail & People Deidre O’Brien, in an open letter on Apple.com:

Our commitment is to only move forward with a reopening once we’re confident we can safely return to serving customers from our stores. We look at every available piece of data — including local cases, near and long‑term trends, and guidance from national and local health officials. These are not decisions we rush into — and a store opening in no way means that we won’t take the preventative step of closing it again should local conditions warrant.

She goes on to talk about how this new retail experience will look:

In every store, we’re focused on limiting occupancy and giving everybody lots of room, and renewing our focus on one‑on‑one, personalized service at the Genius Bar and throughout the store.

We’re also taking some additional steps in most places. Face coverings will be required for all of our teams and customers, and we will provide them to customers who don’t bring their own. Temperature checks will be conducted at the door, and posted health questions will screen for those with symptoms — like cough or fever — or who have had recent exposure to someone infected with COVID‑19. Throughout the day, we’re conducting enhanced deep cleanings that place special emphasis on all surfaces, display products, and highly trafficked areas.

We’ve also taken this time to consider how we can serve our customers’ needs even more effectively, whether online or in our stores. For many stores, that will mean curb‑side pick‑up and drop off. If you choose to buy online, we can ship to your home or make your new items available for convenient pick‑up at our stores. And you can continue to find the same excellent standard of customer service and support online and over the phone to help you with any questions you might have.

This all seems reasonable to me, but I don’t think I’ll be rushing into my local store any time soon. To see if one in your area has re-opened, check out Apple’s “Find a Store” page.