Who Has Your Back?

Posted on June 21, 2015 by SGVAUG BlogMaster

Apple.

EFF (the Electronic Frontier Foundation) recently released its Who Has Your Back? 2015: Protecting Your Data From Government Requests report. Apple, among others, received five out of five stars this year.

It’s a very interesting chart, but even more interesting are the explanations of each listed company’s performance, and you really need to read the explanations, rather than just stop at the graphic.

Credit where credit is due: I got the link to this page from Mikey Campbell at AppleInsider: Apple nets perfect score in privacy group’s consumer data protection assessment

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Stronger Passcode Security on iDevices

Posted on June 20, 2015 by SGVAUG BlogMaster

As Cyrus Farivar noted on Ars Technica recently:

As part of its iOS 9 announcement on Monday, Apple revealed that all newer iDevices equipped with TouchID and running the newer version of the operating system will be required to upgrade from a four-digit to a six-digit passcode. Passcodes remain optional, and users can create a more complex alphanumeric password, but six digits will be the minimum. After 10 failed attempts to type in the code, the device will erase itself.

According to Apple (and math), this will vastly expand the effort required to crack a four-digit passcode. Instead of 10,000 possible combinations, newer iOS devices will soon have one million. This change affects the iPhone 5S, 6, 6 Plus, iPad Air 2, and iPad Mini 3.…

For all of the gory details, including touching on the politics, PYBT: Apple to require 6-digit passcodes on newer iPhones, iPads under iOS 9

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The Saviour of the World

Posted on June 19, 2015 by SGVAUG BlogMaster

duct tape

Yeah, I know it has nothing to do with computers and related things, but it’s too cool not to post!!

On Wired, the other day, Jonathan Keats noted:

IN 1943, VESTA Stoudt had a job in a munitions factory where ammo cases were sealed with paper tape and melted wax. Worried the cases were too hard to open on the battlefield, Stoudt proposed a fix:…

PYBT for the story: Duct Tape: Saving Soldiers and Astronaurs for 70 Years

Graphic from the article

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Who are you and what do you do?

Posted on June 15, 2015 by SGVAUG BlogMaster

At The Sweet Setup:

Every week we try to post a new interview with someone about what software they use on their Mac, iPhone, or iPad. We do these interviews because not only are they fun, but a glimpse into what tools someone uses and how they use those tools can spark our imagination and give us an idea or insight into how we can do things better.

Today’s victim, er, interviewee:

I’m Mark, and I co-own a software company. The primary software product I work on is a PHP-based content management system that schedules release of photos / videos, as well as convert between several different formats. For example, if a client uploads a 1080p WMV source file, the system will create several different MP4 and HLS variants, ranging from 144p to 1080p.

In my free time, I’ve been getting familiarized with Swift when I’m not playing Binding of Isaac: Rebirth.

My friend Richard and I have a podcast called Aliens Land Here, which we plan on getting back to shortly. We like talking tech, programming, Apple, and cars when we get around to it.

You can catch Mark’s complete story here: Mark El-Wakil’s Mac and iOS setup.

“Back issues” can be found here: Sweet Setup Interviews.

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Reminder: Mac Class at Di-No

Posted on June 15, 2015 by SGVAUG BlogMaster

Tomorrow, at 2:00p, is the Mac Work class, subject TBA, at Di-No Computers.

Di-No Computers
2817 E. Foothill Blvd.
Pasadena, CA  91107
(626) 795-6674

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June 15th General Meeting

Posted on June 14, 2015 by SGVAUG BlogMaster

 

Join us on Monday, June 15, for the next meeting of the San Gabriel Valley Apple Users Group. The meeting will include our usual presentations covering Apps and Traps; Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math apps for iOS and OS X (appleSTEMs); and a Q&A session to address any of your questions about your Apple devices.

This will be followed up with a report from Warren James about the Apple World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) that started Monday, June 8. This conference is where Apple gives their developer community the latest updates on the software and devices that they’ll be using to bring you cutting-edge apps and software over the next year. Warren’s report will give you a “hot off the press” look at what’s coming your way this year from Apple.

Also included in this week’s meeting will be a report from Andrew Zima discussing the new computers and other hardware that Apple has recently announced, has been quietly releasing over the last few weeks, and that the rumor mill has been speculating on.

And, as always, there’s the meeting after the meeting, where we join up for some late-night food, drink, and conversation about anything and everything that interests us.

Everyone is welcome.

Our rewarding Monthly Prize Drawing includes MYBAT iPhone 5/5S Case, Gear head Dual Cool II Notebook Cooling Pad, Innergie Duo USB Charging Kit, and Quirky Power Curl For MBP 15″ and 17″. Don’t forget: members receive one free ticket for our drawing. Bring a guest and get another free ticket! Support our group and increase your chances of winning some goodies – drawing tickets are $1.00 each or six for $5.00. The odds are great that you can be a winner!

The meeting will be held in the Donald Wright Auditorium, at the Pasadena Public Library Main Branch at 7:00 p.m. Following the general meeting, we have our informal Meeting after the Meeting at Coco’s Restaurant, 77 N. Lake Ave. (between Union St. and Colorado Blvd., at the southwest corner of Union and Lake).

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Reminder: iPad Class at Di-No

Posted on June 14, 2015 by SGVAUG BlogMaster

Tomorrow, at 2:00p, is the iPad Basics class, focusing on Mail, Contacts, and Calendar, at Di-No Computers.

Di-No Computers
2817 E. Foothill Blvd.
Pasadena, CA  91107
(626) 795-6674

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Who are you and what do you do?

Posted on June 8, 2015 by SGVAUG BlogMaster

At The Sweet Setup:

Every week we try to post a new interview with someone about what software they use on their Mac, iPhone, or iPad. We do these interviews because not only are they fun, but a glimpse into what tools someone uses and how they use those tools can spark our imagination and give us an idea or insight into how we can do things better.

Today’s victim, er, interviewee:

I spend my life trying to figure out how the world works, both as a senior research leader at RAND Europe and as the father of two small boys. I’m based in Cambridge UK and my job is to help improve policy-making using research, which at the broadest level helps improve how society works. I specialise in medical research: how best to organise it, and how to estimate what benefits society can expect from it. I co-direct the Policy Research In Science and Medicine unit, and I’ve also done bits of research on electric cars and mapping organised crime. My research is available free from the RAND website. My more digestible thoughts are on Twitter.

My New Year’s resolution was to write about taking a researcher’s approach to life in general at ThinkingItThrough. It’s June and there are two posts. I’m counting that as success.

You can catch Steven’s complete story here: Steven Wooding’s Mac and iOS setup.

“Back issues” can be found here: Sweet Setup Interviews.

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Reminder: Mac Class at Di-No

Posted on June 8, 2015 by SGVAUG BlogMaster

Tomorrow, at 2:00p, is the Navigating the Interface class, at Di-No Computers.

Di-No Computers
2817 E. Foothill Blvd.
Pasadena, CA  91107
(626) 795-6674

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There’s an App for That

Posted on June 7, 2015 by SGVAUG BlogMaster

What kind of bird is that, mom? (she goes to grab the Audubon book and the bird flies away)

I saw a bird the other day… it was medium-size (I think), dark grey (what I think of as grey on a bird, mom sees as tan-ish), and speckles on the wings (which were actually splorps on the window from the dog’s having tried to dig under the fence)…

Truth be told, my mom is fantastic when it comes to identifying birds. I, OTOH, as you might have guessed, stink, which is why my attention was immediately grabbed by the following headline this morning:

New bird identification app perfect for avian watchers and lovers

Jeff Riley continues (on Daily Times Gazette):

Researchers from Cornell University developed a program that helps birdwatchers determine the species of birds they encounter from submitted photographs.

The Merlin Bird Identification app created by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, in partnership with Visipedia research project, aims to help avian enthusiasts identify birds they see quickly.

According to its website, “Merlin is designed to be a birding coach for beginning and intermediate bird watchers.” It asks the users where and when the bird was seen, what it looks like, and what the bird is doing.

I was more than convinced by the end of the article and the app is downloading even as we speak. Click on the headline link above and check it out!

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