posts

Federico Viticci:

In many cultures, the number “10” evokes a sense of growth and accomplishment, a complete circle that starts anew, both similar and different from what came before. In Apple’s case, the company has a sweet spot for the 10 numerology: Mac OS was reborn under the X banner, and it gained a second life once another 10 was in sight.

What happens before a dramatic change is particularly interesting to observe. With the major milestone of iOS 10 on track for next year, what does iOS 9 say about Apple’s relationship with its mobile OS today?

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iOS 9 is due out today, bringing a vastly improved experience to the iPad, but not all models will get all the new features it brings. That’s nothing new, of course:

iOS 5 is a free software update offering new features for all iPad models.

Features and capabilities vary between models, with some features available only with certain models.

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I find this whole thing rather charming.

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With Myke still in Portland after XOXO, Federico and I sat down this morning to talk abuot the iPad Pro and Club MacStories.

My thanks to this week’s sponsors:

• Harry’s: An exceptional shave at a fraction of the price. Use code CONNECTED for $5 off your first purchase
• lynda.com: An easy and affordable way to help individuals and organizations learn. Free 10-day trial.
• Blink: Better affiliate links

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My good friend Federico Viticci has just announced something pretty great:

Since 2009, MacStories has delivered quality articles for the Apple community with a focus on depth, accuracy, and personal stories. We’ve written thousands of detailed app reviews. We’ve covered news with facts and opinions. We’ve shared stories on how technology is changing our lives.

Now, we’re ready for the next step. Today, I’m thrilled to introduce Club MacStories.

Club MacStories isn’t a paywall; it is a way to support Ticci and his team and gain access to extra content. I know they’ve been working on this for a long time, and I think they’ve nailed what a membership model should look like. I signed up instantly.

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Halfway through the month, and we’ve already smashed through my original goal of raising $5,000 for St. Jude during the month of September. Thank you to everyone who has linked to this page, talked about it on their podcasts and shared it on Twitter.

The budgeted daily operating cost of St. Jude is $2 million. Approximately 75% of the budgeted costs of St. Jude are covered by public contributions. It’s staggering, and humbling to be a part of something so big and important to so many families besides mine. If you haven’t donated yet, go check out my fundraising page.

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Live from Portland, Oregon and XOXO, Jason and I have a new episode of Liftoff in which we catch up on some of the latest space news, including classic NASA design specs, the new Boeing Starliner, a year-long mission to the International Space Station, and new pictures from Pluto.

My thanks to our amazing sponsor this week:

• Luminos: A fantastic astronomy app, 10 years in the making! Now with an Apple Watch app for skygazing!

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There’s a lot to like about Stephen Colbert’s new show, but this interview this Vice President Joe Biden takes the cake so far.

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With the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus pre-orders set to open later tonight, Apple’s site went down some time ago. While usually the company pulls down its store, the whole site is currently down. The whois info for Apple.com isn’t returning the regular values, as shown below. Update: As several people have pointed out, whois data can return messy results, it’s at least a fun coincidence. Generally, though, I’ve only seen clean whois replies from Apple.

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Swapnil Bhartiya:

I reached out to Plex via email and Scott Olechowski, the co-founder of Plex replied, saying, “We are very excited to have a crack at bringing our users Apple TV. It’s been a long requested platform and we’re excited to work on it. We want it, our users want it…and we’re anxiously awaiting the tvOS developer beta info, so we can finally dig in.”

I further inquired if Olechowski believed that tvOS will allow Plex developers to offer the app to the platform or if there could still be any hurdles. He replied, “There is no question we will be able to offer Plex on the platform. There are multiple ways to go about it, based on the tvOS SDK we now have access to. We are now evaluating the best path for Plex and will begin work in earnest once we have evaluated the options. The ability to access great and proven iOS frameworks on the device is great for developers like us – we know the stuff is solid and will perform really well. Our goal is to enable people to enjoy Plex on the hardware platforms of their choice, and there is no doubt this will be a top platform for us.”

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Yesterday was a big day in the Apple world. Changes to Apple Watch, a new Apple TV, the iPad Pro and a set of new iPhones were all announced in a two hour keynote in San Francisco.

While long, I agree with John Gruber that it felt like a much tighter presentation than WWDC. That aside, there’s no getting around it: Apple has a lot going on, and it shows in these events.

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Remember that Kickstarter the other day to reprint 1975’s NASA Graphics Standards Manual? It’s been funded, but if you want to get your hands on the content now, NASA has released the book as a PDF.

If you’re looking for more NASA logo history, the agency has also published Emblems of Exploration:

This publication concentrates on the rich and interesting history of the conception and implementation of the world-famous NACA and NASA seals and insignias that have been displayed for decades on aeronautics and space research vehicles and facilities, as well as those proudly worn by flight research pilots, astronauts, and the dedicated employees of these two world-class organizations.

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