My brother’s non-profit Operation Broken Silence has worked in Sudan and South Sudan for many years. They just spent two weeks in Yida, a refugee camp that has swelled to hold 70,000 who have fled the genocidal acts of Sudanese dictator Omar al-Bashir. The purpose of the trip was to film a documentary about life in the camp, in the shadow of the unspeakable crime of genocide at the hands of the Sudanese government.
posts
Ungeniused #2 Dancing Mania⇢
On the second episode of my new podcast about weird Wikipedia articles, Myke and I talk about dancing mania:
In mainland Europe between the 14th and 17th centuries, large groups of people would dance in the streets. Were they sick? Was it just a form of escape? Did someone curse them?
If you didn’t hear our inaugural episode, be sure to subscribe:
NASA launches Apple TV app⇢
The agency released on Tuesday its popular NASA app for a new platform, the fourth-generation Apple TV. This version joins the app’s other versions available for iOS in iPhone and iPad versions, Android and Fire OS. The NASA app has been downloaded more than 17 million times across all platforms.
“The NASA app has been a fantastic way for the public to experience the excitement of space exploration from their mobile devices,” said David Weaver, NASA associate administrator for Communications. “Now, users with the latest Apple TV can explore and enjoy our remarkable images, videos, mission information, NASA Television and more on the big screen with the whole family.”
Early 2001: The iMac G3 Goes Psychedelic
At Macworld Tokyo 2001, Steve “Business Suit” Jobs showed off what would be the last two new iMac G3 designs: Blue Dalmatian and Flower Power.
Like Sage and Ruby before them, Blue Dalmatian and Flower Power were used for just one generation of iMac: the Early 2001 models.
According to Jobs, the new cases took 18 months to develop. They weren’t “colors,” but rather patterns molded “right into the plastic.” While some companies may have just used a decal, Apple wanted something special with these machines.
BusyCal 3⇢
BusyCal has been on my Mac’s Dock for a long, long time. Version 3 is a great upgrade if you’re looking for a powerful calendaring program.
Snell, on macOS Sierra⇢
The X is dead—long live macOS. With this fall’s release of macOS Sierra, Apple is bringing some familiar iOS features to the Mac, along with interesting interactions with iOS hardware, a dramatic expansion of iCloud, a major update to Photos, and a lot more. I’ve spent the past few days using an early beta, and here are some first thoughts about where Apple is taking the Mac in 2016.
Kbase Article of the Week: AppleCD SC: High Sierra CDs Are Accessed Like Any Other Volume⇢
I searched the kbase for “Sierra” for this week’s post and found a goodie:
Accessing the information on a CD-ROM volume isn’t much different than accessing the information on most magnetic disks, whether the CD-ROM discs use HFS (Hierarchical File System) for Macintosh files, ProDOS (Professional Disk Operating System) for Apple II files, or the High Sierra format for either system. Generally, if you know how to work with files and folders (subdirectories) on a hard disk, 3.5-inch disk, or 5.25-inch disk, you know how to work with the files on a CD-ROM under these formats.
Liftoff #23: Inside a Bendy Straw⇢
This fortnight: China talks to the United Nations, Blue Origin plays with parachutes and a quick trip to Mercury.
My thanks to our sponsors this week:
- Luminos: A fantastic astronomy app, 10 years in the making! Now with an Apple Watch app for skygazing!
- CuriosityStream: The world’s first, ad-free non fiction streaming service. Use the code RELAYFM to get two months free.
Connected #96: Simplified the Paradigm⇢
With post-WWDC flu raging throughout Europe, most of the Connected crew talks about the winners and losers of WWDC including watchOS, macOS Sierra and the iPad.
My thanks to our sponsors this week:
- PDFpen, from Smile: The ultimate tool for editing PDFs.
- Ministry of Supply: Dress smarter. Work smarter. Use ‘connected’ for 15% off your first purchase.
- Willing.com: The best free way to make a will. Get 50% off additional services with the code ‘CONNECTED’.
‘Can you take our picture?’
During WWDC last week, I took a drive down to Apple’s campus with CGP Grey, Federico Viticci and Myke Hurley. Ticci needed to pick up an iPad for his iOS 10 review and everyone wanted to get a photo in front of 1 Infinite Loop before Campus 2 opens.
Once we were in front of the sign, we asked two Chinese men who were there as well to take the photo you see above. They didn’t speak much English, but they were willing to help us out, taking several photos of our field trip.
Sierra’s new system requirements
Since Mountain Lion, Apple hasn’t changed the system requirements for its desktop operating system. Since 2012, these Macs could run the current OS:
- iMac (Mid 2007 or newer)
- MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer)
- MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer)
- Xserve (Early 2009)
- MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer)
- Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer)
- Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer)
With macOS Sierra, that list has changed:
Iconfactory turns 20⇢
This page marks a milestone in the life of our hobby turned business. We’ve been pushing pixels professionally for twenty years!
What an amazing run.