Weekly Round Up 8/3/18

But no warnings for Presidents colluding with Foreign Powers to steal our democracy? That seems fair.
Senate warns tech companies on foreign interference: ‘Time is running out’

You know Jeff Bezos is so pissed right now….
$1 trillion market cap Apple says a big swing in a behind-the-scenes tech pricing will boost future earnings

Unless they’re planning on hacking his Twitter account, it’s a moot point.
The ACLU is building a tech dream team. Your move, Trump

The most liberal city in the country is going to force workers eat fast food?! WTF?!
San Francisco Officials to Tech Workers: Buy Your Lunch

They need to hurry up because I’m going to need a pair very soon.
The future is ear: Why “hearables” are finally tech’s next big thing

Anyone who’s bought their produce in Walmart can tell you this is total bullish*t…
$2B suit claims Walmart stole tech that helps keep produce fresh

Yeah, where was all that research money when the Kardashians came on the scene, you f*ckers?!
Tech’s impact on kids: Lawmakers push for research

I’m down for anything that will help get those Bridezilla shows cancelled.
The Benefits (and Limits) of Using Tech to Plan a Wedding

August 3, 2018 0

Tips & Tricks: 20 Rocking Apple Music Streaming Tips

Apple’s streaming music service is growing by leaps and bounds—here are a few tips to get the most out of it.

By Eric Griffith and Jeffery L Wilson of PC Mag.com

Few streaming music services explode onto the market and into the public consciousness like Apple Music. Backed by Cupertino’s marketing juggernaut and millions of existing iTunes users, Apple Music is now growing faster than its top rival, Spotify.

This isn’t too surprising. It’s a default app on iOS devices, and there’s even an Android version for people who don’t own an iPhone or iPad. That’s potentially millions upon millions of customers who may give the app a try for their streaming music needs.
Plus, Apple Music is a fine music service. You get lots of tunes, music-related television and film content, and the Connect social network that keeps you on top of music happenings. And Apple Music offers a family plan ($14.99 per month for six people who share over iCloud) and a discount for college students ($4.99 per month).

Apple Music isn’t flawless. It doesn’t have a free, ad-supported option like Spotify, but it does let iOS users listen free to Beats 1 radio and other stations. That’s the big picture Apple Music, but the music service has lots of goodies beneath the hood. We’ve got a list of 20 tips and tricks here that will help you get the most out of Apple Music, or at least prevent it from getting the better of you.

1. Get Your Connect Name

When you post comments or playlists in Apple Music, it’ll show your name. You can claim a special nickname for Apple’s somewhat-revamped Connect social network, if you’re quick about it. (No one wants to be told they should be egriffith646985.) In the Music app, enter a handle and add a photo.

2. Skip Connecting

By default, any artist you add to your library is going to be one you follow using Connect. In fact, any artist you’ve ever bought music from in iTunes is auto-followed, even that one hit wonder from years ago. To change that, tap Account > Following. There, you can not only unfollow individual artists—who might, in fact, use the service to try and stay in touch with you about new releases—you can also tell Connect to stop auto-following artists you’ve added to your music library. Any artist you don’t follow on Connect won’t appear in the Connect Section of Apple Music, naturally.

3. Kill Connect Entirely

Want to do away with Connect? On iOS, go into Settings > General > Restrictions. Turn them on if they’re off. Scroll down to Apple Music Connect and turn on the restriction. After that, go back to the Music app—you’ll see the Connect tab has been replaced with “Playlists.”

4. Turn off the Auto-Renew
After your three-month trial of Apple Music, Apple is just going to assume you love it and want to subscribe. Prevent that charge from automatically appearing on your credit card. While in the Music app, tap the head icon in the upper left > View Apple ID > log in > Manage (under Subscriptions at the bottom). Turn off Automatic Renewal. A pop-up will tell you how long you have left in your trial. Remember, after your trial ends, any music you’ve added via Apple Music to playlists and the like will go buh-bye.

5. Tap to Like, Double-Tap to Love.
Services such as Spotify and Apple Music live by mining what you like musically, so it can recommend more. In Apple Music, you’re asked from the get-go for suggestions of favorite artists and styles when you tap “For You.” To make changes later, tap the head icon > Choose Artists for You. Pink bubbles with musical genres and then specific artists will appear. Tap to tell Apple you like it. But if you double-tap, it indicates a deep, abiding love and that singer or band or genre is going to weigh heavily into future suggestions. If there’s a genre in a bubble you don’t like at all, tap and hold it to get rid of it.

6. Like from Lock
Listening to Apple Music with your phone locked is a god-send. If you hear a new song stream you like, but don’t want to go back into the app to indicate you like it, just click the heart outline on the iOS lock screen. It’ll turn solid red, to indicate your devotion. (This does NOT add the music to your phone or playlists. It just lets Apple know you like it/them, so future recommendations can reflect your refined tastes. You’ll find those recommendations on the For You tab.)

7). Siri into Apple Music
The ties between Apple’s audio AI and Apple Music are pretty good. You can use Siri to search for music (“Find ‘White Christmas’ by Bing Crosby on Apple Music” brought it right up), but also to do things like shuffle songs (hold down the home button while in a playlist and say “Shuffle Songs.”) Remember Siri also has built-in Shazam, so ask Siri to ID a song playing around you, and when she does, you can then immediately click the arrow button to start playback.

8. Hide Apple Music Suggestions
Hate that For You tab because you already know what you like, and hell, you already have all the music you want? You can stay subscribed to Apple Music while hiding it from view. On the iPhone, go to Settings > Music and turn off Show Apple Music. Next time you open the Music App, the For You and New tabs will be gone, and it will show My Music, Playlists, Radio, and Connect (assuming you didn’t kill it in restrictions).

9. See Recent Searches
If you can’t remember the last thing you looked for, or just don’t want to type it again, look for the clock icon in the search bar on iOS. It’ll show you a full list of the most recent searches.

10. Download for Offline Listening
You’re an Apple Music paying customer, or soon will be… so enjoy the fruits of that by making music you wouldn’t necessarily buy otherwise available to listen to, anytime, anywhere, even when you’re offline. All you do is click the three-dot menu next to a song (or an entire album) and on the menu that pops up, click Make Available Offline. (To buy it, click Show in iTunes Store.) This also works from within Beats 1 Radio.

11. Download Over Cellular
The default setting is that you only get to download music to the phone using Wi-Fi. You can change that by going into Settings > iTunes & App Store. Turn on the Use Cellular Data option. It’s up to you to make sure you don’t hit your data cap, if you have one.

12. Call in Your Requests
Want to make a request of Beats 1 radio? You can, by calling the number for your geographic location, listed here (and shown above). To be clear, in the US, call 1-310-299-8756 or toll free to 1-877-720-6293.

13. View Downloaded Only
Let’s say you’ve got a huge library of music showing in your My Music tab—but most of it’s streaming. If you want to know what’s available when you’re offline (namely, the tracks you’ve downloaded), tap on the My Music tab, and at the top of the tracks, tap Songs or Albums or whatever shows just below the album covers. It brings up the menu where you change how to sort music. At the bottom of that menu, toggle Show Music Available Offline to only see what’s stored on the phone. (This doesn’t quite work for iTunes Match users; on my phone, I still saw all my Match titles, even though they’re not locally stored. Seems like more of a bug than a feature, Apple.)

14. Publish to Apple Music
Looks like Spotify isn’t the only place you can push your tunes! On iOS, music crafted with GarageBand can be shared direct to Apple Music Connect. (This doesn’t yet work on the Mac desktop.) Naturally, an Apple Music account is required, and chances are if you ever leave the service behind, the service will kick your music to the curb. And it’s not exactly going to replace SoundCloud for original music sharing anytime soon. But it’s an interesting start.

15. Wake to Apple Music
Any song in the Apple Music library of 30 million tracks can now be what you wake to in the morning. Save a favorite song to your library (click that ellipsis three-dot menu as a song plays and select Add to My Music)—after that, go into the iOS Clock app, create or edit an alarm, and under Sound, click Pick a Song. From there, find it in the lists by album, artist, song, or just search for the individual track. (If you let the subscription lapse, you won’t have that song to wake to, of course.)

16. Access Apple Music on the Desktop
You’ll need to make sure you’ve got the latest version of iTunes, 12.7.3, but when you do the software that has always held your Apple-based music collection (and is the focal point of Apple-based music sales, not to mention backup up your iPhone, etc.) becomes your streaming center. Along with the usual tabs for My Music and Playlists, you’ll see Apple Music-specific tabs at the top including For You (seen here on both mobile and desktop), Radio, and Connect. If you’re all thumbs, this is the best way to do some of the detail work, like adding things to playlists, creating Smart Playlists, etc.

17. Enjoy Music-Related TV and Films
Apple Music has more than just audio content. By visiting Browse > TV & Movies you can dive into video, too. The annoyingly popular Carpool Karaoke, Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A Bad Boy Story, and Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives are just some of the music-focused television and film content available for streaming.

18. Apply Content Restrictions
Did you know that Apple Music lets you filter out naughty language and adult themes? By visiting Settings > Content Restrictions, you can toggle the Allow Explicit Content option on or off. This doesn’t only apply to music; you can also apply filters to music-related television and movie content.

In addition, you can create a restriction password to prevent someone else from adjusting the restriction parameters (a much welcomed feature for those who have children).

19. Automatically add Songs to Your Library
You like playlists, I like playlists, we all like playlists. Themed music collections are the way to go for those times when you need extra energy for a gym session or soft vibes for falling asleep. Music in your playlists are likely to be tunes you dig, so a handy Apple Music feature lets you automatically add playlist tracks to your Library. You can get it up and running by opening Settings and toggling on Add Playlist Songs.

20. Tweak EQ Settings
You don’t need to use Apple Music’s default audio settings. The app includes an equalizer that lets you boost various frequencies, as well as up the bass and adjust the surround sound.

What are your favorite Features of Apple Music? Tell us about it in the comments below.

February 24, 2018 0

Weekly Round Up 1/12/18

Again?! Steve Jobs may have been a tyrant when it came to the details but, this sh*t rarely happened on his watch.

Yet another macOS High Sierra bug: Unlock App Store system preferences with any password.

With all the Technology surrounding these guys, you’d think they’d pay better attention to the world around them. I mean, I know they live in a bubble, but c’mon!Data Sheet—Darkness Hits CES Amid the Tech Backlash.

And my hometown made the list! Charlotte NC for the win!
Tech’s New Hotbeds: Cities With Fastest Growth In STEM Jobs Are Far From Silicon Valley.

Wait, does this mean no more Jitterbug?!
Tech for the elderly is a growing area, but founders should think more about whether their gadget will be used.

I think Steve would be more worried about the lack of leadership in his company right now, actually.
The ‘father of the iPod’ says tech addiction would worry Steve Jobs if he were alive today.

What, bribes don’t work on Congress anymore? Since when?!
Tech executives join more than 100 business leaders calling on Congress to move quickly on DACA.

You know, when I was a kid, I remember my parents writing to Captain Kangaroo and asking him to cut his programming in half so I’d watch less. SMH
Kids and Smartphones: Should Tech Companies or Parents Set the Limits?

January 12, 2018 0

App Of The Week: Path Guide

Microsoft’s new app guides you through indoor spaces without GPS

By Abhimanyu Ghoshal of The Next Web

GPS is great for finding your way around, except for when you’re indoors, where walls and ceilings make it difficult for satellite signals to accurately pinpoint your location. Thankfully, Microsoft has been thinking about a better way to help you navigate large malls, hospitals, office buildings and parking lots effectively.

Over the past two years, a group of specialists at Microsoft Research Asia have developed Path Guide, an indoor navigation app that doesn’t rely on GPS or Wi-Fi and radio signals to help you get around. Instead, it works by having a human ‘leader’ record paths through the indoor space to various destinations simply by walking with their phones in hand, and allowing other users to follow those paths with on-screen directions.

To achieve this, the app uses the sensors in your phone to trace your paths accurate down to the number of steps needed to get someplace. Path creators can also add text, audio and image annotations for things like getting past locks and entering room key codes. Once you’ve traced a path, you can share it publicly and make it available to others, who can look it up using Path Guide’s search tool. It’s a clever idea that works well enough for the most part, though the path tracing process could be simplified a bit.

The same goes for discovering paths around you; it’d be nice to see the app pop up a notification if you’re nearing a large building that has paths already charted out.

And in order to gain traction, Microsoft would have to work hard to drum up interest among users across the world to adopt Path Guide and use it. It’s not impossible, and it’s been done before: plenty of the data on businesses and public spaces on Google Maps is crowdsourced and fairly accurate. Naturally, the company will want to wait and see if this is something that people actually find useful on a global scale before embarking on such a mission.

Path Guide is currently available only for Android; you can give it a try by grabbing it from Google Play.

July 18, 2017 0

How to: switch between list view and honeycomb app grid on Apple Watch with watchOS 4

By Benjamin Mayo of 9to5 Mac

With watchOS 4, Apple is offering an alternative to the honeycomb screen used to display your Apple Watch apps. The honeycomb view lays out the circular watch app icons in a hexagonal grid with a focus on the middle of the display, and a miniature clock in the center.

The honeycomb design is not universally beloved but it has been the only option for Apple Watch users to date. With watchOS 4, Apple is adding list mode which sorts apps into an alphabetical scrolling view. Here’s how to enable it …
watchOS 4 has many improvements to core functionality including new Siri, Kaleidoscope and Toy Story watch face options, motivational Activity progress alerts, redesigned Workout and Music app, integration with gym equipment and more.

There are also minor enhancements across watchOS 4. List mode app screen is one such change for people that can’t stand the fluid honeycomb layout and prefer something a bit more ordered.

From your watch face, press the home button once to open the app screen. Then, press firmly on the display to open the new contextual Force Touch overlay.

This view offers a toggle between the two modes for app screen, grid view or list view. ‘Grid view’ is what Apple calls the honeycomb arrangement.

Press the List View icon to switch to the new mode. The app screen transforms into a plain list of all your Apple Watch apps in alphabetical order. Each row shows the app icon and its name, something that is generally not visible when in the Watch interface.

You can use the digital crown to scroll up and down the list; rows at the top and bottom of the screen scale down to prioritize apps in the center. Tap on a row to launch the respective app. It is not possible to rearrange apps in the list — they always go from A-Z.

When you return to the app screen, list view is preserved. If you want to change back to the (far prettier) honeycomb layout, Force Touch on the list and select Grid View.

Although it’s always nice to have the option, I personally will not be using the List View that much. It’s limiting that the apps cannot be re-arranged into a preferred ordering as my most used apps are not those that start with A, B, C. Moreover, the honeycomb shows more apps at once on the screen and it simply looks better aesthetically.

Do you prefer the List View and are grateful Apple added it to watchOS 4? Let us know in the comments below!

June 19, 2017 0

Weekly Round Up 5/26

Um…Trump University isn’t on this list.
25 Colleges that pay for themselves if you want to work in tech

Except that it didn’t work…
How Silicon Valley is trying to topple Trump — beginning with a special election in Montana

Honestly, who didn’t see this coming?
Tesla’s solar roof tiles are already sold out ‘well into 2018’

I’d just be happy if their was one to make my cat less of an a**hole.
Wearable tech latest must-have for China’s proud pet owners

Because they need all 14 or so women working in the tech field to keep working.
At tech companies, egg freezing benefits are all the rage

Why is everyone looking at Zuckerberg?
Tech companies need to stand up to the jerks in their midst

I’d be really disappointed if it didn’t.
Tech Ups The Ante In Orlando’s New Theme Park Experiences

Here’s to the crazy ones…
Walt Mossberg signs ‘out’

Kinda like watching the Hall of Presidents but with cooler tech.
Apple will live stream WWDC 2017 keynote on June 5 at 10AM PT

May 26, 2017 0

App of the Week – Lose it!

by Tanya Menoni of Lifewire

The Good

Free
Huge food database
Includes restaurant items

The Bad

Time consuming to use regularly

Counting calories can be an effective way to shed pounds, but keeping track of every last bite is a chore. The Lose It! app (Free, with in-app purchases) is an excellent tool for recording your food intake and exercise. The best part? Unlike the Weight Watchers app, Lose It! is not associated with any particular diet, so it’s useful no matter what approach to eating you prefer.

An Extensive Food Database

Numerous studies have shown that dieters who keep a daily food log lose more weight than those who don’t. According to Kristin Kirkpatrick, a registered dietitian with the Cleveland Clinic, most people underestimate how much they eat on a daily basis. A food log, in which you track everything you eat throughout the day, helps keep you accountable. That’s the idea behind the Lose It! app, which is one of the most popular weight loss apps in the App Store.

When you first log in to the app, you’ll be asked to enter your personal details, including starting weight, goal weight, gender, and height. You can also specify how much weight you’d like to lose each week, which will affect the calorie totals suggested by the app. You also create an account using an email address. The setup process takes a few seconds, and then the Lose It! app will display your daily calorie budget. The home screen includes a bar graph showing how many calories you have left to eat throughout the day, minus any exercise you record.

Adding foods to your log is super easy. Searching by keyword is the easiest way to get started. I was impressed with just how comprehensive the food database is.

A search for “bacon,” for example, brings up regular bacon, turkey bacon, vegetarian bacon, bacon fat, bacon drippings, and a whole lot more. The app included every food I could think of, but if it’s lacking something you can add the food manually (and it will be saved so you can choose it again later). I also love that it includes so many restaurant foods, which is helpful for checking calorie counts even when you’re dining out.

Don’t Forget to Exercise!

It’s also easy to add in your exercise totals for the day. The Lose It! app includes everything from curling to canoeing, so your calorie burn will be calculated automatically for a variety of exercises. Once you add an exercise, the app combines your calorie burn and exercise totals so you know exactly where you stand for the day.

The app also includes some other nifty features. With your free LoseIt.com account, you can add friends, back up your data online, and view weight-loss reports. There’s also a spot where you can record your daily weight so you can see your progress on a graph.

The Bottom Line

Lose It! is one of the best calorie-tracking apps I’ve tried. It is rather time consuming to log your food every day, but it gets faster once you add some foods to your favorites and get the hang of the interface.

Speaking of the interface, it is very well done. The app is intuitive, and the daily calorie budget helps you quickly make decisions on the food you eat. If weight loss is your New Year’s resolution, the Lose It! app should be one of your first downloads.

Overall rating: 5 stars out of 5.

What You’ll Need

The Lose It app works with both iOS and Android devices.

Download for iOS
Download for Android

What is your favorite Weight Loss App? Leave it in the comments below!

May 23, 2017 0

How to: send voice messages from Apple Watch

By Zac Hall of 9to5Mac

Apple Watch lets you easily message other people using dictation for voice-to-text input, but sometimes it’s just easier to send a voice recording to quickly express yourself over iMessage. Here’s how to send voice messages from Apple Watch.
Prior to watchOS 3, the default behavior in the Apple Watch’s Messages app when using voice input was to ask you if you wanted to send a text transcript or a voice recording.

Apple changed the default with watchOS 3, likely with the goal of making the interaction faster (and more people probably used voice-to-text), but you can easily change it back to restore the option or always send as a voice recording.
Start by launching the Watch app on the iPhone. From the My Watch tab (the first tab), swipe down to the Messages section.

Tap to reveal options for Messages on Apple Watch including a section called Dictated Messages. Tap this option to change the default ‘Transcript’ option to ‘Audio’ or ‘Transcript or Audio’ depending on your preference.

Here’s how Apple describes the default option on watchOS 3:

“By default, when you’re done dictating a message, Apple Watch sends a written transcript of what you said. You can change this setting to send an audio clip instead, or to choose which option you want every time you dictate a message.”

Personally, I prefer the option to send either the transcript or audio. I sometimes dictate a message using voice-to-text on my Apple Watch, but I also enjoy using my Apple Watch as a sort of walkie-talkie to send quick voice recordings to friends and family.

(Also, my dictation voice is much more formal than my voice recording voice.)

If you never send voice-to-text dictated messages, however, you can use this section to only send voice messages every time and save yourself the step of selecting the audio option every time.

May 15, 2017 0

Weekly Round Up 3/3

Oops!
Amazon S3 goes down

Double Oops!
Typo caused Amazon Outage

Oh, Snap!
Here’s how Snap’s IPO just Proved We’re in a Tech Bubble

Bang! Bang!
Incredible tech detects gunfire across America

Nintendo Switches it up
How to get your hands on a Nintendo Switch today

Um…. I’m all for innovation but, really?!
High Tech Condom Ring

March 3, 2017 0

App of the Week: 11 Travel Apps to Make Spring Break Stress Free

Ladies,

There are a few new Apps that I have downloaded and started playing with but none that I’m comfortable enough with to write about. So, I read this article the other day and really enjoyed it. I thought I’d share the wealth of knowledge… Enjoy.

By Ashley Macey of BritandCo

With spring break fast approaching, it’s time to stop wasting time looking up pretty destinations on Instagram and start finalizing your travel plans STAT. Whether you’ve decided to finally take the plunge and do Europe on a shoestring budget or are planning a short getaway a little closer to home, we’re totally on board for anything that’ll make travel planning a tad easier. That’s why we’re obsessed with these 11 spring break travel apps that handle everything from flights to pet care.

1). LoungeBuddy: Let’s be honest — spending countless hours in an overcrowded airport during spring break probably isn’t the best way to start a vacation. Luckily, this handy app makes it ridiculously easy to book a swanky lounge for you and your travel companions straight from your smartphone. Go ahead, you deserve it.