The Guardian:

Thousands of radio DJs are employed around the globe to play Anglophone pop and rock. If there’s such a thing as “world music” to them, it’s REM and Queen.

But there are many more radio stations around the world that play music from their own cultures, past and present, mainstream and marginal. When it comes to virtual travel, music is arguably the easiest and most enjoyable way to transport your brain out of Covidland to places you’ve visited – or plan to – in person.

The net is pretty chaotic, with dozens of aggregators and formats. But here are 10 soundscapes to explore. Turn up the volume to Mexican cantina level.

As always, a subjective list but there’s some great World Music on these stations.

Came across this tweet from Matt Cassinelli this morning:

Apple should enable iOS devices as webcams for Macs.

People could immediately have high-quality multicam setups with great audio using just their phone, an iPad, and AirPods.

Ultrawide studio setups in your home with a few long cables & a USB hub. Scene switching on Apple Watch

— Matthew Cassinelli (@mattcassinelli) April 19, 2020

Being able to use your iPhone as a webcam, especially in coronavirus time, is a great idea. It’d be a wonderful add for folks with older Macs, lower quality cameras. And for folks who do live streaming (reporters, or late night talk show hosts), they could do camera to camera cuts, perhaps with different over the shoulder shot images.

There is a way to use your smartphone as a webcam, using a third party app.

There are some downsides to this approach, however (not the least is that the app featured in the Verge story breaks with the latest Zoom release). It’d be so much nicer if Apple opened up an API to make this capability available at the system level.

Jeremy Horwitz, VentureBeat, delivers a real-world review, warts and all. A few highlights, just to give you a sense of the whole thing:

The Magic Keyboard has a vinyl body rather than metal (or Apple’s other iPad accessory material option, leather), so it’s highly likely to show signs of wear after a year or so of typical use. My unit’s exterior showed smudges within seconds of sitting on my dining room table.

And:

Both the top and bottom of the case appear to be reinforced internally with sturdy metal plates, However, the parts of the Magic Keyboard that are exposed to air will likely wear like plastic, including the entirely plastic palmrest area, which will probably become shiny over time as it rubs against your hands.

And:

Hidden in the new hinge: an additional USB-C port. Initial testing suggests that this port delivers power (at a reduced speed) to both the iPad Pro and keyboard, but Apple makes no guarantees about its data performance. In other words, the iPad Pro’s own USB-C port is now free for any type of accessory you might want to connect, while the keyboard port can be reliably used for charging.

And:

The iPad Pro’s Magic Keyboard is not as impressive as either the Mac’s Magic Trackpad 2 or Magic Trackpad. It’s much smaller — almost identical to the size of a business card, just a little wider — and it’s fully mechanical rather than haptic, so you actually press it down rather than just feeling click vibrations. Apple’s only remaining “magic” here is its thinness, which is aided by this Magic Keyboard’s lack of any internal battery.

Great work, Jeremy. Lots more to this review, well worth reading.

New York Times:

In a flatlining economy, the $399 iPhone that Apple introduced last week might sound attractive. But there’s a better gadget deal in the pandemic: the iPad.

And:

It’s time for us to reconsider the iPad. Last week, I wrote about how the coronavirus had revealed our most essential tech and weeded out the excess. The tech we have turned to over and over boils down to a computing device, communication tools, entertainment and an internet connection. The iPad delivers on all of those needs even better than a smartphone.

And:

So why the iPad and not another tablet computer? After all, many of the same tasks can be done on cheaper tablets, like Amazon’s $50 Fire HD 8.

Yet those other devices are generally much slower and have inferior screens. The iPad is ultimately the best tablet on the market.

Brian X. Chen, hard to disagree with any of this.

Hollywood Reporter:

Apple TV+ has picked up a shortform series from The Jim Henson Co. featuring the beloved stars of the 1980s favorite in a new adventure, called Fraggle Rock: Rock On. The show, which is now available for free on the streamer, features episodes that are between three and five minutes apiece. New episodes will debut Tuesdays on Apple TV+.

The teaser, embedded below, plays off the strength of that theme song, ear-wormed into a generation of kids (and adults).

For folks new to the Jim Henson series, here’s the original Fraggle Rock open.

From the HBO Max press release:

The slate includes the scripted comedy Love Life, starring Anna Kendrick; Sundance 2020 Official Selection feature documentary On the Record; underground ballroom dance competition series Legendary; Craftopia, hosted by YouTube sensation LaurDIY; the all-new Looney Tunes Cartoons, from Warner Bros. Animation; and Sesame Workshop’sThe Not Too Late Show with Elmo (full program details available below.)

And:

Max Originals will continue to premiere on the streamer at a regular cadence through summer and fall including The Flight Attendant, starring and executive produced by Kaley Cuoco, from Berlanti Productions and based on the novel by New York Times bestselling author Chris Bohjalian; the highly anticipated Friends unscripted cast reunion special; all-new original episodes of the critically acclaimed DC fan favorite Doom Patrol; the return of the critically beloved mystery comedy Search Party with a brand new season; the three-part documentary series Expecting Amy, an unfiltered and intimate view into comedian Amy Schumer’s life on tour creating a stand-up special during her difficult pregnancy; sci-fi series Raised by Wolves from director and executive producer Ridley Scott, the award-winning creator behind The Martian, Gladiator, and Blade Runner; the adult animated comedy Close Enough, from J.G. Quintel (creator of Cartoon Network’s Emmy-winning Regular Show), a hilarious look at the surreal life of a millennial family living with roommates; and Adventure Time: Distant Lands- BMO, the first of four breakout specials resurrecting Cartoon Network’s Emmy and Peabody award-winning franchise Adventure Time.

So far, no tentpole content. Interesting that they are leading the press release with all unknown material. Imagine if Disney Plus led their announcement with no Marvel, no Pixar, no big Disney titles, purely leaning on direct-to-video Disney movies.

Buried down below:

The new offering will be bundled with the HBO service including all of HBO’s premium originals such as Westworld, Big Little Lies, Game of Thrones, Sex and the City, Veep, The Wire, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Insecure, Succession,Watchmen, Barry, Euphoria, The Jinx, The Sopranos and more.

And:

Streaming for the first time ever in the U.S., 20 films from Japan’s legendary Studio Ghibli animation house will be available on HBO Max at launch, including Academy Award® winner Spirited Away and Academy Award nominees Howl’s Moving Castle and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, as well as fan favorites My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Ponyo, and Kiki’s Delivery Service. Fans of all ages will be able to enjoy these wonder-filled films any time they want.

And:

Available films will include Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, The Matrix, The Goonies, When Harry Met Sally, The Lord of the Rings, Citizen Kane, Gremlins, and the Lego movies, along with every DC film from the last decade, including Wonder Woman, Justice League, and every Batman and Superman movie from the last 40 years.

Way to bury the lede.

In the market for an Apple Watch Series 5? Here’s what you get with a refurbished Apple Watch from Apple:

All refurbished Apple Watch models are backed by a one-year warranty, free delivery and returns, and also include:

• Full functional testing and a thorough cleaning
• The original Operating System or a more recent version1
• All refurbished devices are repackaged in a brand new box with all accessories and cables

If I could get a Series 5 on sale cheaper elsewhere, of course I’d go for that. But if not, this is worth a look.

Side note: This was the footnote at the bottom of the refurbish page:

We approximate your location from your internet IP address by matching it to a geographic region or from the location entered during your previous visit to Apple.

Interesting.

Bare Bones Software, makers of BBEdit, is one of my favorite software companies — in fact, I’ve been using BBEdit for more than 20 years. BBEdit has been updated to version 13, and is available in the Mac App Store as a subscription! Same great features. Same user experience. You can subscribe in the Mac App Store or purchase perpetual licenses directly from Bare Bones Software. Also, you can still get great merch, including Classic and Rebus T-shirts, enamel pins, and more in their merch store!

Ryan Pickren:

This post is a technical walkthrough of how I discovered several zero-day bugs in Safari during my hunt to hack the iOS/MacOS camera. This project resulted in me gaining unauthorized access to Front & Rear Cameras, the Microphone, Plaintext Passwords, and more.

Before I jump in, I want to start with a quote from an old colleague of mine – “Bug hunting is all about finding assumptions in software and violating those assumptions to see what happens.” That is precisely what we are going to do today. We are going to dive into the murky depths of Safari and hammer the browser with obscure corner cases until we uncover weird behavior quirks. Once we collect enough quirks, we can tie them together into a full kill chain.

The question all iOS/macOS users must ask themselves… how much do you trust Safari?

I don’t have the programming chops to know whether or not this actually possible but it’s an interesting description of how bug hunters and hackers discover information.

HuffingtonPost:

While it’s jarring to witness, say, Hollywood’s Walk of Fame or Mecca’s Grand Mosque nearly empty, it’s also impressive; seeing these locations virtually deserted is proof that we’re all making an honest attempt to flatten the curve by staying home.

Some remarkable photos of formerly busy places devoid of people.

Love this opening salvo:

Greatly anticipating its arrival, I unboxed the iPad Pro Magic Keyboard as soon as it appeared at my door, and before I even attached my iPad Pro, I was put off. It felt too stiff to open. Then I did attach my iPad Pro (immediate thought: “Man, these magnets are strong”), closed and opened the iPad-as-laptop configuration a few times, and formed a crushingly disappointing first impression. I didn’t like it.

But read on. The rest of the review is a bit of a love letter to the Magic Keyboard. Chock full of fascinating detail, this is the Magic Keyboard review to read, Gruber at his best.

A few useful tips, along with links to details on keyboard shortcuts and trackpad use.

The Apple TV+ Beastie Boys documentary goes live this Friday. This review captures the spirit of the documentary pretty well. It’s got some spoilers, but if you are a fan, you probably know all this stuff anyway.

Definitely on my Up Next.

Apple:

Apple announced that starting today, even more customers around the world can enjoy many of Apple’s most popular Services. The App Store, Apple Arcade, Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, and iCloud are now available in 20 more countries, and Apple Music is available in 52 additional countries.

This is important news. Apple is turning a massive, slow moving ship, from dependence on iPhone sales to more and more dependence on services.

Bloomberg:

Carnival executives knew they had a virus problem, but kept the party going. More than 1,500 people on the company’s cruise ships have been diagnosed with Covid-19, and dozens have died.

At least seven more of the company’s ships at sea have become virus hot spots, resulting in more than 1,500 positive infections and at least 39 fatalities. Carnival notes that “other cruise companies have been impacted.”

Carnival’s ships have become a floating testament to the viciousness of the new coronavirus and raised questions about corporate negligence and fleet safety.

No offense to fans of cruises but this is an entire industry we’d be better off without.

ZoomerBackgrounds:

Video calling in style. Dazzle your co-workers and friends. Choose your favorite look from our community-uploaded collection.

With so many people using Zoom, it would be inevitable that someone would start offering Zoom backgrounds. Some of these are hilarious.

UC Davis:

Traffic accidents and crash-related injuries and deaths were reduced by half during the first three weeks of California’s shelter-in-place order, which began March 20. The reductions save the state an estimated $40 million per day — about $1 billion over the time period — according to an updated special report released this week from the Road Ecology Center at the University of California, Davis.

The report, “Impact of COVID-19 on California Traffic Crashes,” is published on the center’s website. Its maps, charts and findings compare hot spots for injuries and fatal crashes on state highways and major roads patrolled by the California Highway Patrol between Feb. 27 and April 11, 2020 — the days leading up to and following the order — and the same period in 2019.

Altogether, the reduction amounts to about 15,000 fewer collisions per month and 6,000 fewer injuries or fatal accidents per month that can be directly attributed to the shelter-in-place order.

I’m sure the results of this report would be replicated in every other area where shelter in place orders were implemented.

Unusual to see an article like this in Apple’s knowledge base. But these are unusual times.

Justin O’Beirne:

Would Apple continue working on its new map during the pandemic?

We seemingly got our answer when Apple started testing a new map expansion last month and then released it a few weeks later.

And:

But Apple hasn’t just been expanding—it’s also been updating the areas it has already mapped, such as here in Chicago.

Follow the link to Justin’s excellent site, scroll through to see what’s new. The Maps team has been busy!

Samuel Axon, Ars Technica, does a good job laying out both sides of this long-simmering argument. Why Apple should, why they likely won’t ever again release a 4″ iPhone.

Jim and I discussed this on last week’s Dalrymple Report. The new iPhone SE tells the tale, I think.

I think it boils down to this: I believe people who would prefer a smaller iPhone are still buying an iPhone. They are not moving to another platform. From a sales perspective, there’s no incentive for Apple to make a smaller phone. This ship has sailed.

Netflix:

For many years, Netflix has allowed teachers to screen documentaries in their classrooms.

However, this isn’t possible with schools closed. So at their request, we have made a selection of our documentary features and series available on our YouTube channel.

There are a lot of great documentaries listed here for those of you who don’t have Netflix. I highly recommend the “Our Planet” series.