512 Pixels

This week on The Prompt, we talk about phenomenon of Sherlocking. It’s a good one.

This week’s tip on The Sweet Setup is a good one.

Nitin Ganatra may not be a household name to most Apple nerds, but he was partially responsible for all sorts of projects like System 7.5, Mail.app and the company’s first-party iOS apps.

Over the last few weeks, Rene Ritchie and Guy English have been releasing a three-part interview with Ganatra on their podcast, Debug. Part three just landed today, but if it’s half as good as the first two episodes, it’ll be excellent. These are a must-listen:

• Debug 39: Nitin Ganatra episode I: System 7 to Carbon
• Debug 40: Nitin Ganatra episode II: OS X to iOS
• Debug 41: Nitin Ganatra episode III: iPhone to iPad

I have a huge place in my heart for old Sony hardware.

Allen Pike reflects on Tim Cook’s Apple.

It’s been a busy day for the software update teams in Cupertino. iOS 7.1.2 was released this morning with the following updates:

• Improves iBeacon connectivity and stability
• Fixes a bug with data transfer for some 3rd party accessories, including bar code scanners
• Corrects an issue with data protection class of Mail attachments

The update can be downloaded via iTunes or over the air directly on the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

On the Mac side, OS X Mavericks 10.9.4 is also out with the following tweaks:

• Fixes an issue that prevented some Macs from automatically connecting to known Wi-Fi networks
• Fixes issue causing the background or Apple logo to appear incorrectly on startup
• Improves the reliability of waking from sleep
• Includes Safari 7.0.5

I’ve seen Wi-Fi and sleep/wake issues on my MacBook Air, and am crossing my finger this release will take care of things.

As technology becomes easier to use by children, so increases the chance of them having access to indecent content online.

‘iOS 7 Safari, Siri and Website Restrictions’ teaches the reader how to use restrictions on Apple’s mobile devices to prevent access to offensive content when using Siri, Safari and other apps with access to the internet.

Written by Jim Christian, a technology consultant with over ten years working in education with students, parents and teachers, ‘iOS 7 Safari, Siri and Website Restrictions’ is available now on the iBooks Store.

Educators can now create and manage content from the iPad.

Apple’s newest iPhone ad shows parents using the device to help teach and care for their families in a variety of ways.

My wife and I don’t let our kids (ages 3 and 5) use their shared iPad mini unsupervised. They don’t have access to the Apple TV. We don’t hand them our iPhones in crowded restaurants to keep them quiet.

We do, however, use technology to teach them letters and colors. Their iPad mini is full of interactive books, and our Netflix account is overrun with educational programs.

There’s a place for technology in good parenting, and Apple’s newest ad drives that home. If the right balance is struck, things like the iPhone and iPad can become extremely useful tools for parents.

Melinda Gates, to Stanford’s 2014 graduates:

Optimism for me isn’t a passive expectation that things will get better; it’s a conviction that we can make things better – that whatever suffering we see, no matter how bad it is, we can help people if we don’t lose hope and we don’t look away.

Read the whole thing, then save it to read it again later. The world is a better place for having Bill and Melinda Gates in it.

Dieter Bohn:

“It is a sufficiently advanced form of paper as to be indistinguishable from magic.”

Matias Duarte, vice president of design at Google, is telling me about the central principle of Material Design. It’s the unifying metaphor behind Google’s new design direction, providing a unified set of physics and rules for how software should look and act. It’s also a little weird.

As interesting as this interview is, I find the whole “we have this amazing philosophy driving our entire design language” thing that software companies are doing more than a little tiring at this point.

Peter Cohen:

Apple’s shown over and over again that it’s willing to cause some short-term discomfort to users of existing products for long-term benefit. iMovie, Final Cut Pro, Pages, Keynote and Numbers — there are lots of examples where Apple has essentially scrapped the product and started over because a different path was chosen. And they’re doing it again with Aperture and iPhoto.

The difference this time, as Peter points out, is that Apple isn’t replacing its pro offering. My guess is that a lot of Mac-using professionals are going to be migrating to Lightroom.