Among the coronavirus’s many effects is a boom in people like me: office workers, shooed away from the office, trying to acclimate to a work-from-home lifestyle.
I’ve been researching the pros and cons of remote work for my upcoming book about human survival in the age of artificial intelligence and automation. And I’ve now come to a very different conclusion: Most people should work in an office, or near other people, and avoid solitary work-from-home arrangements whenever possible.
As usual, the New York Times makes pronouncements and assumptions not applicable to “most people.” I’ve worked from home for 26+ years. No, it’s not for everyone but many, many people can and should make it work.
Photoshop has been the king of the hill in this space for many years, having had decades to establish its dominance. While it remains the most powerful option — and a great choice for anyone who’s interested in exploring it — we believe that Affinity Photo is an easier, quicker solution for most users.
Affinity Photo offers most of the same capabilities for less money, and is equally at home on macOS and iPadOS — a claim that Photoshop still can’t make, despite its recent re-release on iPadOS.
We’ll take a look at why Affinity Photo was selected, what the competition looks like, where it falls short, and what sorts of users are best served by each choice.
Saying the best pixel editor on the Mac isn’t Photoshop is a bold statement.
You hardy souls out there who aren’t daunted by the spread of the virus (and who, let’s be clear, aren’t planning to travel anytime soon to the hotspots like Italy, China, and so on) should know that right now might be one of if not the best time to book a flight this year. Prices are way down in a desperate bid to woo fliers, and they’re probably going to shoot way back up fast once the virus dies down so the airlines can make up for the current losses.
Instead of specific deals from specific airlines to tell you about in this post, here’s a way you can find them for yourself.
More good news/bad news. Airfare out of Vancouver is often ridiculously expensive but right now, flights to NYC are under $230. Very tempting.
More than ever, the iPad is poised to take over tasks photographers normally reserved for a laptop or desktop computer. So is it ready to be your sole editing machine? I left my MacBook at home and packed only the iPad Pro on a 4-day international photography trip to find out.
But the real reason photographers are now considering the iPad for full-time photo editing is Photoshop, which only recently made the jump to the tablet. While the eventual goal is to have the same toolset as on desktop, Photoshop for iPad has a long way to go before becoming the powerhouse editor that the desktop program is.
Could the iPad replace a laptop for photo editing?
As always, it depends on your needs. Personally, I could certainly do 50% of my editing on an iPad Pro in the field but I’d still have/want to come back to a 27″ iMac to finish. YMMV
Stocks of Apple’s iPad are running low in China as families snap up the tablets to help with e-learning at home in response to coronavirus-related school closures.
The extra demand has come as suppliers across the country are struggling to meet production demands amid labour shortages that are also related to the virus.
Demand had been rising strongly since January when Beijing began insisting on quarantine in response to the coronavirus outbreak, sources have told the Nikkei Asian Review. One source with direct knowledge of the matter said Apple recently ordered a 20% increase in production of the latest version of the iPad for the first half of this year, compared with the production forecast the company gave to its suppliers in January before the outbreak.
This is a real good news/bad news situation for Apple – sales are up but they can’t meet demand for the same reason sales are up.
Representatives from Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon and Twitter are expected to visit the White House on Wednesday, FOX Business has learned. These executives will be joined by officials from government agencies including Health and Human Services, the National Institute of Health and the U.S. Labor Department, to name a few.
White House Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios will lead the meeting.
These Silicon Valley companies are set to discuss coordination efforts and information sharing between their industry and the U.S. government involving CO-VID19. Most of these tech giants are among the companies advising select employees to work from home.
Hopefully, real action can come out of this meeting and not just photo ops.
Apple today is rolling out a dedicated section within its Apple News app that will help readers stay updated on the coronavirus outbreak. The special coverage will include informative, fact-based stories from reputable publishers, says Apple, which are curated by Apple News’ team of editors.
The launch of the section comes at a time when social media platforms are struggling to reign in misinformation around the coronavirus outbreak, ranging from conspiracy theories about the virus’s origins to bogus medicines, preventatives and treatments — including those as bizarre as drinking bleach, and more. Facebook, Twitter and Google have been working with the World Health Organization to remove misinformation and to direct users to trusted resources, but the inaccurate and often dangerous information continues to spread.
With Apple News, Apple has the ability to reach millions of people through the built-in app on iPhone, iPad and Mac devices. On desktop and on mobile, users will now see a banner at the top of the Apple News homepage (the “Today” section) directing them to the special coverage on COVID-19.
Is this only for US-based users of Apple News (not Apple News+)? I don’t see any such banner at the top of my News app on the desktop or on iOS.
When other kids were blowing soap bubbles, Christine Roeger and her sisters were blowing glass bubbles. The bubbles would expand, big and shimmering, until they popped, sending tissues of glass as light as cling wrap floating to the ground. Typical childhood stuff — at least for the kids of a scientific glassblower.
Roeger still takes a certain destructive joy in blowing glass bubbles, but now, she’s a scientific glassblower in her own right, heating and shaping glass into custom scientific instruments. Roeger represents the third generation of her family to take up the career, following both her father and grandfather into a tight-knit community of science and glass.
“Most people that don’t grow up in the scientific glassblowing world don’t even know scientific glassblowing exists,” Roeger says. It’s highly skilled, intense work to bend over flames and handle hot glass that can easily shatter. It’s a challenging calling, but it’s also a passion for people who are drawn to the combination of art and science in their work.
I’ve always loved watching glassblowing but had never thought about the need for specialty scientific glass.
A worker at Apple Computer’s European headquarters in Cork has tested positive for coronavirus. The worker was tested for the virus after leaving the office as soon as they felt unwell last week.
In an email to workers, the company said they are working closely with the HSE (Health Service Executive) who have reviewed the case and believe the risk to other employees is low but some fellow Apple workers have been told to self-isolate as a precaution.
In a statement to the Irish Examiner, the company said: “One of our employees in Cork has been confirmed to have covid-19. We are closely coordinating with the local health authorities who feel the risk to others is low, and the individual remains in self-isolation. As a precaution, we have asked some of our team members to stay at home while we work with the Health and Safety Executive to assess the situation.”
This is the tip of a global iceberg. More bad news will come.
Take a look at some of these live cam shots of Italian tourist hotspots. The Roman Colosseum, the Piazza San Marco in Venice, Florence’s Piazza della Signoria, the Trevi Fountain. Tourist locations that are normally packed, even in late winter, are almost empty. All of Italy is on lockdown. This summer may well become known as “The Summer without Tourists.”
I am very happy to be able to write to you and to be still alive at the moment after having avoided a few crazy bikers by a few centimeters!
As a motorcyclist, this is an event we would say had a “very high pucker factor”! The rider filming was going more than 96mph when he saw the oncoming bikes. The oncoming bikes were likely at that speed or higher. All were very lucky to get through it alive.
Trees are good for the planet, good for all of us. We need more of them. Much more.
Ecosia was launched in 2009. It donates 80% of its advertising profits to tree-planting schemes. It publishes monthly financial reports to show the world what it’s doing. So far: 82.5 million trees across 22 projects and 17 countries. Now THAT’S environmental action.
Ecosia is a search engine like Google, but very different: we use our ad revenue to plant trees where nature and people need them most. The Ecosia community has already planted millions of trees in Ethiopia, Brazil, Indonesia, Spain, as well as many other biodiversity hotspots.
They have browser plugins for Chrome and Safari. I’m going to give it a try for a while.
An order issuing “new, stronger guidance” about coronavirus bans any gathering of 1,000 or more people, effective March 9, for at least three weeks. The ban comes just a few hours after the county experienced its first death from the virus, and 43 confirmed cases in the area.
This is a critical moment in the growing outbreak of COVID-19 in Santa Clara County. The strong measures we are taking today are designed to slow the spread of disease,” said Dr. Sara Cody, Santa Clara County Health Officer. “Today’s order and new recommendations will reduce the number of people who develop severe illness and will help prevent our healthcare system from becoming overwhelmed. This is critically important for anyone with healthcare needs, not just those most vulnerable to serious illness from COVID-19.”
WWDC is typically scheduled for the beginning of June. While technically not banned yet, a three-week delay is not a promising sign for the live event to happen on-schedule.
Last week, the county recommended this step. Things have gotten so much worse so fast, they feel the need now to actually ban the activities. While WWDC isn’t technically affected by this three-week ban, it may have a chilling effect on those wanting to attend.
BuzzFeed News: >Sensor Tower, a popular analytics platform for tech developers and investors, has been secretly collecting data from millions of people who have installed popular VPN services like cubik.com.tw and ad-blocking apps for Android and iOS, a BuzzFeed News investigation has found. These apps, which don’t disclose their connection to the company or reveal that they feed user data to Sensor Tower’s products, have more than 35 million downloads. > >Since 2015, Sensor Tower has owned at least 20 Android and iOS apps. Four of these — Free and Unlimited VPN, Luna VPN, Mobile Data, and Adblock Focus — were recently available in the Google Play store. Adblock Focus and Luna VPN were in Apple’s App Store. Apple removed Adblock Focus and Google removed Mobile Data after being contacted by BuzzFeed News. The companies said they continue to investigate.
Experience a 5 hr 19 min 28 sec cinematic journey through one of the world’s biggest museums in St. Petersburg, Russia. Take in 45 galleries, 588 masterpieces, and live performances, shot in 4K on iPhone 11 Pro in one continuous take.
This might be the most ambitious “shot on iPhone” video ever undertaken.
Last night the Duke and Duchess Of Sussex made their first official appearance together in Britain, since the announcement in January that they are stepping back as senior working royals.
As the rain relentlessly beat down, outside London’s Mansion House, a photo of the couple started taking off on social media at the Endeavour Fund Awards.
The photograph, taken by Samir Hussein, looked like a movie still from a Hollywood romcom. The pouring rain managed to glisten triumphantly, rather than paint the usual bleak portrait of British weather – it captured a moment between the two of them, smiling warmly at each other like newlyweds. With background personnel blurred out, it was a snapshot of solidarity for a couple who, after months of social media backlash, had returned to the public eye once more.
I love stories of these kinds of shots. They often include the skill of the photographer, great timing and not just a little bit of luck.
The game between the Carolina Thunderbirds and Columbus River Dragons on March 8th, 2020 became very interesting as the River Dragons coach began to yell at the Home team coach and then starts to climb into their bench. Both coaches are ejected and as they were escorted off the ice Columbus head coach Jerome Bechard shrugged off his jacket in an attempt to get Carolina head coach Andre Niec to fight him. This leads to a Columbus player dropping his gloves after being challenged by Niec. After this all hell breaks loose.
I like a good hockey fight as much as any other red-blooded Canadian but this was mayhem.
Americans drove 40 percent more miles in 2019 than they did in 1994, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. More driving means more congested traffic. So to reduce congestion, it makes sense to build more highway lanes so that more cars can fit. Right? Actually, no. A new report from the policy organization Transportation for America shows that doesn’t work at all.
That’s because when you build more highways, people start driving more and filling up the lanes in a matter of years. From 1993 to 2017, according to a study by A1 Auto Transport, the average person drove 20 percent more miles. Right after a highway is widened, traffic does speed up, and drivers take advantage of that by “switching from other routes, driving further distances or traveling during the busiest time of the day,” the report, which looked at federal and state data on traffic and freeway growth, says. “People who had previously avoided congestion—whether by riding transit, carpooling, traveling during less congested times of day, or foregoing the trip altogether—start driving on that route more because it has become more convenient.”
As the article explains, solving our traffic congestion issues by building more roads won’t work. We’ve got to find ways to get cars off the road, not make it easier/better for them.
The COVID-19 coronavirus strain continues to rip through communities around the globe, with new cases reported daily in the US and beyond. It has prompted businesses to cancel conferences, restrict travel, and encourage people to work from home, particularly in the Seattle area, which is home to tech giants Amazon and Microsoft.
One thing you probably don’t have to worry about is catching the virus from a device shipped to the US from China. PCMag spoke with several doctors, who said the chances of the virus surviving on the surface of a box during the overseas journey is low.
If you’re trying to keep up with the day-to-day announcements regarding tech giants like Google, Apple, and Facebook, though, read on for the latest updates. And sign up for our What’s New Now newsletter to get the news delivered directly to your inbox.
The tracker keeps up with developments and announcements from Amazon, Microsoft, Foxconn, Facebook, Google, Samsung, and Apple.
On the 11th of January 1982 twenty-two computer scientists met to discuss an issue with ‘computer mail’ (now known as email). Attendees included the guy who would create Sun Microsystems, the guy who made Zork, the NTP guy, and the guy who convinced the government to pay for Unix. The problem was simple: there were 455 hosts on the ARPANET and the situation was getting out of control.
In the original ARPANET design, a central Network Information Center (NIC) was responsible for maintaining a file listing every host on the network. The file was known as the HOSTS.TXT file, similar to the /etc/hosts file on a Linux or OS X system today. Every network change would require the NIC to FTP (a protocol invented in 1971) to every host on the network, a significant load on their infrastructure.
Having a single file list every host on the Internet would, of course, not scale indefinitely. The priority was email, however, as it was the predominant addressing challenge of the day. Their ultimate conclusion was to create a hierarchical system in which you could query an external system for just the domain or set of domains you needed. In their words: “The conclusion in this area was that the current ‘user@host’ mailbox identifier should be extended to ‘[email protected]’ where ‘domain’ could be a hierarchy of domains.” And the domain was born.
In addition to offering many of its employees the ability to work from home this week, Apple is also taking steps to ensure the well-being of its retail workers. 9to5Mac has learned that Apple hourly employees, including retail workers, are getting unlimited sick leave if they experience COVID-19 symptoms.
Apple retail workers are not required to submit a doctor’s note for this time off. This means that if they’re experiencing the COVID-19 symptoms, they can take the time that they need without having to worry about running out of sick days or providing a note to management.
One of the big issues with the “advice” of “just stay home,” is that many people, especially in retail, can’t afford to. This is a big gesture on Apple’s part and shows a lot of trust in their employees.
Coca-Cola’s brand of bottled water, Dasani, was a flop in the UK after the public realised it was just filtered tap water. But the story’s a bit more complicated than it might seem.
I love Scott’s video channel. When I drank bottled water years ago, I always chose Dasani. I knew it was just tap water but didn’t care. I didn’t know it wasn’t available in Britain.
Apple has canceled all of its Today at Apple sessions in Apple retail locations in Seattle and the San Francisco Bay Area, two of the places in the United States that are seeing some of the worst coronavirus outbreaks.
Searching for Today at Apple sessions in the SF Bay Area or around Seattle provides results that say there are currently no classes available. Apple has also canceled all Field Trip programs, which allowed teachers to take students to Apple Stores.
Apple sent out notices to stores in these areas asking them to cancel all sessions from March 8 to March 29, according to an Apple retail source that spoke with MacRumors.
I won’t be surprised if these cancellations spread to other areas or last into April and May.
Using a 70 percent isopropyl alcohol wipe or Clorox Disinfecting Wipes, you may gently wipe the hard, nonporous surfaces of your Apple product, such as the display, keyboard, or other exterior surfaces. Don’t use bleach. Avoid getting moisture in any opening, and don’t submerge your Apple product in any cleaning agents. Don’t use on fabric or leather surfaces.
This is an updated support article from Apple but I’ve always used Clorox Wipes on my water-resistant iPhones.
Pirating content is making a comeback (again) thanks to the streaming wars.
Given the influx of streaming services created to compete with Netflix, such as Disney+, Apple TV Plus, and Peacock, people are now turning back to torrenting their favorite shows instead of paying multiple subscription fees.
All the Streams claims to be a “private radio for streaming,” and does work as such. You can “turn the dial” and go to channels of the main streaming services, from Hulu to Netflix to Amazon Prime. Like actual pirate radio, you cannot choose what’s playing — you just sit back and enjoy.
Pirating content may be popular again, but it’s still not legal.
They’re hard to remember, hackers exploit their weaknesses and fixes often bring their own problems. Dashlane, LastPass, 1Password and other password managers generate strong and unique passwords for every account you have, but the software is complex. Services from Google, Facebook and Apple allow you to use your passwords for their services at other sites, but you have to give them even more power over your life online. Two-factor authentication, which requires a second passcode sent by text message or retrieved from a special app each time you log in, boosts security dramatically but can still be defeated.
A big change, however, could eliminate passwords altogether. The technology, called FIDO, overhauls the log-in process, combining your phone; face and fingerprint recognition; and new gadgets called hardware security keys. If it delivers on its promise, FIDO will make cringeworthy passwords like “123456” relics of a bygone age.
“A password is something you know. A device is something you have. Biometrics is something you are,” said Stephen Cox, chief security architect of SecureAuth. “We’re moving to something you have and something you are.”
It’s only a matter of time before FIDO happens but it won’t be a quick or easy fix.
In the early days at Mei Mei, success was measured by having enough dumplings to get through the day and confirming that the bank account wasn’t empty. Today, every single staff member, from the dishwasher to the line cook, can interpret and speak to the restaurant’s entire profit-and-loss statement because, for two years now, Mei Mei has been opening its books to its staff.
This means all staff are able to see every line item associated with money coming in the door and all of the expenses the restaurant takes on — from paying its employees to keeping the lights on. Not only that, each employee actually plays a hand in working to move the bottom line, working on teams tasked with the goal of reducing costs and increasing profits for the business. If the team wants to research and vet new vendors, they have that power. If they want to change the menu prices for a fixed period of time, they’re able to do that too.
Now, it’s no longer enough for Li to share the nitty-gritty financial info with her team. She wants the public to understand it, too.
Really interesting article, whether enjoy Denver food or whether you want to run a restaurant or not.
NetNewsWire, which was relaunched on the Mac last August, is now available on iOS and iPadOS. Like its Mac counterpart, the iOS and iPadOS version is built on a foundation of fast syncing and sensible, bug-free design. As with any 1.0 app, there are additional features and refinements I hope to see in future releases. Unlike most 1.0 releases, though, you won’t find lots of rough edges and bugs. NetNewsWire is ready to be your primary RSS client today.
One of the strengths of NetNewsWire is that if you’ve used the Mac app, the iOS and iPadOS version is immediately familiar, while also feeling right at home on an iPhone or iPad. I wish I could say the same about most apps, but I can’t. Whether it’s an iOS or iPadOS app moving to the Mac or the other direction, too often the core experience of an app is replicated without accounting for the unique qualities of the platform to which it’s being added.
That isn’t the case with NetNewsWire. The app benefits from the same careful attention to detail that the Mac app does, but adapted for the iOS/iPadOS environment.
While reports of its death are greatly exaggerated, RSS isn’t a particularly popular piece of tech. But NetNewsWire is well done and well thought out. If you need a full-featured RSS reader on the Mac or your iOS device, you won’t find a better one than NetNewsWire.
Today’s lighter fare will be another go at a now well-aged rumor — or prediction — that Apple’s home-grown ARM processors will replace x86 Intel chips as the main CPU of our Macs, a prophecy that was reinvigorated last week when notorious and prolific analyst Ming-Chi Kuo added a timeline to the prediction: Apple will make the move in the next 12 to 18 months.
This isn’t wild speculation. The iPhone and iPad have run on Apple-designed ARM chips since birth, and while early entries into the Axx line were underpowered, the latest chips created by Apple’s silicon design teams have yielded laptop- or even desktop-class performance. Couple that with Apple’s well-established drive towards vertical integration and control over its products’ key technologies, and the “rumor” seems inevitable.
Last year, I concluded that a move to the ARM processor created two serious challenges for the Macintosh line, two forks in the product line.
I’m not really much of a “where there’s smoke, there’s fire” kind of guy so I ignore most of the rumours but this switch seems inevitable.
