Apple is holding an event on September 7, so the Rickies have been called to order.
posts
Preorder the 2023 Apple History Calendar⇢
If you missed my recent Kickstarter and would like a copy of next year’s Apple History Calendar, I’ve got preorders open for it, stickers and more.
If you backed the Kickstarter, you should have a survey and link to the pre-orders in your Inbox today. From there, you’ll be able to add extra items to your purchase if you wish. Don’t miss today’s progress report, either!
Clippy Was Born on the Mac⇢
Benjamin Cassidy, in a really fun article looking at the life — and death — of Clippy:
Clippy was born on a Mac. When Kevan Atteberry was hired to design characters for Microsoft Bob and Office 97, he’d shuttle between the company’s leafy grounds and his Bellevue studio space, where a desktop made by a certain rival awaited. Animation required using Microsoft’s proprietary software, but before hustling files over to HQ, he could tinker in his second-floor walk-up with tons of light and a landlord who never raised the rent. It was here he picked up a Ticonderoga two-and-five-tenths pencil and started outlining an infamous paperclip. Digitizing it just meant closing the blinds and booting up the Macintosh he preferred to his employer’s PCs.
Twitter Had Plans to Build an... OnlyFans Competitor⇢
Zoe Schiffer and Casey Newton have published an in-depth piece at The Verge that dives into a plan Twitter was working on to become more profitable:
In the spring of 2022, Twitter considered making a radical change to the platform. After years of quietly allowing adult content on the service, the company would monetize it. The proposal: give adult content creators the ability to begin selling OnlyFans-style paid subscriptions, with Twitter keeping a share of the revenue.
Kbase Article of the Week: LaserWriter: Composition of the Drum Coating⇢
Apple Support:
The LaserWriter drum is an organic photo-conductive layer laid on the surface of an aluminum cylinder. The ingredients of the organic layer are:
wt% OSHA (PEL) ACGIH (TLV)
aluminum alloy 95.0-98.0 - -
titanium dioxide
(13463-67-7) 0.5-2.0 * 15mg/m3(TWA) 10mg/m3(TWA)(Dust)
(20mg/m3)(Stel)
Binder resin 0.5-2.0 - -
Organic semiconductor 0.3-0.8 - -
Carcinogens: no ingredient is listed on the latest NTP Annual Report on carcinogens, IARC Monograph, or OSHA listing.
I have no idea what any of this means.
Relay FM for St. Jude⇢
Today, we’re announcing Relay FM’s 4th annual fundraiser for St. Jude. Over the last three years, the Relay FM audience has raised $1.5 million for this incredibly important institution. $700,000 of that was raised in 2021 alone.
(Y’all are awesome!)
If you’re new to St. Jude, here’s a bit about what it does:
The mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. Consistent with the vision of our founder Danny Thomas, no child is denied treatment based on race, religion or a family’s ability to pay.
Sponsor: Magic Lasso Adblock⇢
Want to experience twice as fast load times in Safari on your iPhone, iPad and Mac?
Then download Magic Lasso Adblock – the ad blocker designed for you. It’s easy to setup, blocks all YouTube ads, and doubles the speed at which Safari loads.
Magic Lasso Adblock is an efficient and high performance ad blocker for your iPhone, iPad and Mac. It simply and easily blocks all intrusive ads, trackers and annoyances in Safari. Just enable to browse in bliss.
Mac Power Users #655: Streaming Check-in with Julia Alexander⇢
Julia Alexander drops by to discuss the world of streaming services, and how Apple stands apart from its competitors in the space. Also discussed: the sad lack of modern orange notebooks, the importance of the Apple Watch and some of Julia’s go-to apps.
Unite 4 for macOS⇢
My thanks to Unite 4 for macOS for sponsoring 512 Pixels this week. It allows you to turn any website into an app on your Mac. Using a lightweight, WebKit powered browser as a backend, you can easily create isolated, customizable apps from any site.
512 Pixels readers get 20% off this week when you purchase Unite 4 at bzgapps.com/unite512 or when you use the promo code ‘512Pixels’ at checkout.
You can also try Unite for 14 days absolutely free or use it as part of your subscription if you’re a Setapp subscriber!
The Good and Bad of the SLS⇢
If you’ve wondered why some of us have such complex feelings about NASA’s new rocket, Eric Berger has a great article on the very subject.
The Problem with a Piecemeal macOS Redesign
Going from the new System Settings to the ancient System Information — née System Profiler — is quite jarring on macOS Ventura:
Also, can we talk about why someone centered all the text and the button that ended the up in the footer of this new settings pane?
Also, also, when is the last time any Mac had anything appear in the “Parallel SCSI” section of System Information other than the default text:
Connected #412: It’s Strong! It’s Tough!⇢
Apple has announced an event for September 7th, while also confirming that iPadOS 16 will ship later in the fall. This week, Federico, Myke and Stephen talk through the news, cover the Mac’s inclusion in the Self Service Repair Program and explore a new Twitter client.
On Connected Pro, we each designed our own iPhones. Here’s mine.