tech

∞ Apple Support: How to watch together on your Apple TV during a FaceTime call

∞ Apple Support: How to watch together on your Apple TV during a FaceTime call:

Another excellent Apple Support video. This one walks through the process of syncing your Apple TV watching experience with other folks on a FaceTime call.

Interesting that the Mac is not mentioned, even though SharePlay via FaceTime was introduced in macOS Monterey 12.1, as described here.

No matter, good to see the SharePlay process in action. Well done.

[Great vids!]

Source: The Loop

Dolby Atmos’ role in better digital experiences – Scobleizer

Dolby Atmos’ role in better digital experiences – Scobleizer:

What about the future?

The holy grail is to “fool” the listener into thinking she/he is at a concert, where sound is coming from all around you, particularly when you are at something like Coachella. There they have dozens of speakers in front, above, and behind you, and that sound is bouncing off of everything else.

We aren’t there yet.

[Inside out for me. I’m trying to understand how placement can enhance the value as a musician. Can I get more valuable separation to make a part standout without turning it into a parlor trick?]

Essays: Letter to the US Senate Judiciary Committee on App Stores – Schneier on Security

Essays: Letter to the US Senate Judiciary Committee on App Stores – Schneier on Security:

I would like to address some of the unfounded security concerns raised about these bills. It’s simply not true that this legislation puts user privacy and security at risk. In fact, it’s fairer to say that this legislation puts those companies’ extractive business-models at risk. Their claims about risks to privacy and security are both false and disingenuous, and motivated by their own self-interest and not the public interest. App store monopolies cannot protect users from every risk, and they frequently prevent the distribution of important tools that actually enhance security. Furthermore, the alleged risks of third-party app stores and “side-loading” apps pale in comparison to their benefits. These bills will encourage competition, prevent monopolist extortion, and guarantee users a new right to digital self-determination.

[I think this will break both ways. There will be stores filled with spyware and crap, and none of these folks will be there to help you when that happens. But Apple could have moved in many directions to forestall all of this and instead they were greedy and prideful. So it goes.]

Two short AirPods “Find My” stories

Two short AirPods “Find My” stories:

The first one is about finding an AirPod in the snow. Follow the headline link to read.

But the second one is down in the comments, quoted here:

Their pods + case would always stay hidden away in their car, hidden from view and wirelessly charging for whatever place they were going to.

One day they went missing and that was that …until he was told about the Find My function.

Lo and behold, it registered in the app! And they went on to search for it.

It was at a car wash. When they told the boss about what they were doing on the premises, he went and rooted around for it himself and eventually found an employee wearing them.

Find My is brilliant.

∞ Read this on The Loop

[There is reasonable security in that you get notifications if someone leaves their AirPods near you, whether accidentally or as a spur of the moment attempt to track someone.]

Source: The Loop

Twitter Announces NFT Profile Pictures

Twitter Announces NFT Profile Pictures:

Twitter Blue:

You asked (a lot), so we made it. Now rolling out in Labs: NFT
Profile Pictures on iOS.

Such profile pictures will be identifiable by being hexagonal. (Android and web users are still locked out of Twitter Blue.)

Sam Biddle:

I predict a browser extension that auto-blocks people with
hexagonal avatars would become very popular very fast.

NFTBlocker:

This is a browser plugin that blocks people who use Twitter’s NFT
integration.

See also: This.

Link: twitter.com/twitterblue/status/1484226494708662273

[Yuck on them all.]

Source: Daring Fireball

Gig Performer | Optimize your Mac for a Gig

Gig Performer | Optimize your Mac for a Gig:

Apple computers running macOS have great support for real-time audio and MIDI and typically do not require much optimization – however you may still want to make sure that your performance is neither impacted nor interrupted by other running processes. We have compiled a list of tips to help you get the best experience out of your Mac for your live performance.

All tips and screenshots were made using macOS Monterey 12.1, the latest version of macOS available at the time of writing

[It might be easier to have a operate account for live gigs… unless the computer is dedicated to live performance. That’s a lot of stuff to switch on and off.]

Custom 3D Landmarks in Apple Maps — Pixel Envy

Custom 3D Landmarks in Apple Maps:

I often wonder if it makes sense that there are basically two major efforts in digitizing the world’s cartography for commercial purposes, and both are fronted by companies based in the same part of the United States. The expense of such a wide-reaching project is surely a hurdle, but it would be great if others could offer a more local solution. Perhaps one reason there is not as much competition in this space is, in part, because iOS users cannot change their default maps app. I am not sure it makes sense to modernize the in-car GPS systems that required a different disc for each region, but I also have to wonder if Apple or Google can deliver worldwide cartography that is accurate and not encumbered by their myriad other business interests.

[It would be nice if there were more efforts to help the world and not monetize all the things, all the time.]