Apple has just reissued the OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.2 supplemental update for late-2012 Macs, including the 21.5-inch new iMac and Mac mini, as well as the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro. There aren’t any reasons given for the original retraction of the update, and no noticeable changes in the list of fixes that are included in it.
Is Apple running out of room in Cupertino proper? Perhaps, as new details have emerged that show Apple planning to occupy a new site that could contain 1,200 workers or more in Santa Clara, CA. Developer Peery Arrillaga has made a deal with the Cupertino-based tech company to custom tailor a two-building office campus, currently under construction at the north side of Stevens Creek Boulevard, just a few minutes from Cupertino city limits.
Sure, you could use the calculator, or any one of a dozen-odd apps that allow you to tap the screen and calculate the tip in a restaurant, but why even bother? iOS and Siri can meet your needs just by talking to your iPhone–or iPad, but won’t that get meatloaf gravy all over it?
Regardless, here’s how to ask Siri the right way to calculate the tip for the super-helpful server or bartender in your life.
Recording the audio source from your Mac isn’t as easy ast it would seem. When recording a podcast, for example, many Mac podcasters use third party apps like Soundflower or external mixers to record both the audio in and the audio out of an interview, for example. Other apps, like Audio Hijack, also exist to record any sound you have occuring on your Mac, but those can be pricey, as they include many features beyond simple recording.
If you want a free, simple to use Mac audio recording software, you might want to check out WavTap.
Bill Nye “The Science Guy!” is working with developer Gamedesk to create a game for the iPad to teach kids all about aerodynamics, and they’re funding it on Kickstarter. The tagline? “Help Us Teach Difficult Science Concepts Through a Beautifully Engaging 3D Bird Flying Game.” How can it go wrong?
Ever wanted to remove all those recently contacted emails from the drop down list in your Mail app on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad? The lists gets kind of long, and maybe you just want to narrow it down to the folks in your list of contacts, rather than all the folks you’ve contacted recently.
You can do this fairly easily on your iOS device, provided you don’t mind removing one address at a time. The address also has to not be in your Contacts on the device, either.
It would seem as if Apple could make it easy to import Facebook calendars to the built-in Calendar app in OS X Mountain Lion, would’t it? I mean, you can totally import Facebook contacts into the Contacts app. Why not Facebook calendars into the Calendar app?
Well, I wouldn’t even bring it up unless I had found a solution. Here’s how to bring your Facebook calendars to your Mac.
So, I sold my iPad mini WiFi today, in hopes I could head to my local Apple retail store and pick one up. My friend was headed down to the store to pick hers up, so I figured there were plenty in stock. Just to be safe, I gave them a call to check on the availability of the 16G model LTE that I wanted to purchase.
The local Apple rep that picked up the phone said that they were out of stock, and did not know when new ones would be available.
I hopped onto the Apple Store app, in hopes I could fool the system, and order one for store pickup, anyway. Sadly, I was unable to get the app to allow me to buy one for in-store pickup; I could only get it to send me one via mail, with a 2 week shipping date.
Then I got crafty.
Want to make like Elton John and Billy Joel, dueling across from each other on two pianos, playing the hits from both of your huge ouvre of pop tunes? Well, except for the whole you’re-not-either-one-of-those-guys part, you can play two piano-like keyboards across from another friend on your iPad, with new free app, Duette.
So, if you’re in the market for a silly, fun little app that will let you mix photos, videos and sound on your iPhone, Artsy Head may be the one to grab. It’s free for the rest of November to celebrate Cyber Monday week as well as the end of Movember. Apparently, one of the fun things folks do with Artsy Head is add mustaches to their photos and videos, making it thematically appropriate, don’t ya know.
There are quite a few apps out there that share your location data and allow you to check in at a place, like Foursquare, Facebook, etc. They’re pretty fantastic, and they let your friends see where you are at, and then come meet you.
But what if you want to share where you are going to be in a little while? What about letting your friends know that you’re on your way, and letting them track where you are, how far away you are, and when you’ll arrive at a certain location? Glympse has got your back for that very thing, and some other great stuff.
If you’re anything like me, you use the Messages app in OS X Mountain Lion to keep chatting with those iMessage-happy iOS users in your group of friends when you’re at your computer. Nothing’s more annoying than having to pick up my iPhone while I’m on my Mac, just to text someone back.
With the OS X Messages app, I can just chat with them as if they were on any other instant message client, using the full keyboard on my app instead of the tiny one on my iPhone. Sometimes, though, friends might send along a web link. When I don’t want to have to click through to see it in Safari or Chrome, I preview it right in Messages.
BetaDwarf definitely walks the walk, instead of just talking the talk. In their Kickstarter video, the indie developer team from Copenhagen, Denmark talk about how sleeping over at the university while learning game development got a bit silly, so they all moved out of their apartments and into a house to finish development on their game, Forced, which will play like a cooperative version of Diablo crossed with Left 4 Dead, according to the developers.
The guys worked and worked on their game, which if funded will be coming soon for Mac, Windows, Linux, Xbox360, PS3 and Ouya. Then they realized they needed some money to finish, so that they could pay, like rent and stuff. The idea for a Kickstarter campaign was born.
Good news, everyone! Barnes & Noble’s Nook app for iOS has just been updated with support for Apple’s fantastic VoiceOVer accessibility feature, as well as the zoom functionality. This brings the Nook iOS app up to parity with iBooks, the only other iOS e-reader app that can be used by folks with a visual impairment or learning disability to have books read out loud.
Zoom lets those with low vision see the screen at much higher magnification than just increasing the font size, allowing them to use the buttons, icons, and other visual interface systems that they can’t see at the standard size on the iPad or iPhone screen.
The original Air Display is a great way to add a temporary second screen to any laptop or desktop Macintosh. It’s also super easy to set up and use, as we told you in an iOS tip a while back.
Unfortunately, it’s also a bit on the spendy side. While $10 really isn’t that much to spend for quality software that lets your Mac use an iPad as a second monitor, some folks might not want to spend that much without giving it a good try first.
Wow, I could have used this tip last week when I was getting constant iMessage errors, having to tap the “please try again” icon again and again to send some messages along to my friends. There have been a few iMessage service outages lately, and when that happens, there’s the potential for some upset.
Luckily, there is a way to easily turn that frown upside down as well as turning that iMessage into a regular SMS text message. Here’s how to do just that.
Ah, Reminders. They’re boring, but essential. Keeping track of the crazy number of things I have to do on a daily, weekly, even hourly basis relies on my remembering them, first of all, and a reminder now and then is essential.
One of the cool things about Apple’s Reminders app is that it allows you to set due dates and times with each task you enter. You can set these times and dates manually, or you can use natural language expressions with the app to set up your time-sensitive tasks a lot more quickly.
Here’s how to do it.
Editor’s Note: We will be updating this post with more deals as we find them, so make sure to check back later. Also, if you see a deal we missed, let us know in the comments and we’ll add it!
Here we go again – the big retailers are starting to preview their Black Friday sales to whip us all into a frenzy. Target, Best Buy, Amazon, and Walmart, so far, have stepped up early to let potential shoppers know what, exactly, they can expect to find at each respective online or brick and mortar store this holiday season. Here’s what’s in store (pun totally intended) for you. We’ve also started rounding up the online store specials for this most festive retail season of the year, as well.
Check this video out – it’s a developer who’s used a Siri development plugin to control his Phillips Hue IP-controllable light bulbs. While the video is short, the guy who did it, Brandon Evans, has posted the code and instructions needed to make it happen on your own iPad, assuming you know what he’s talking about.
Evan has this to say about the project:
The Philips Hue hardware was first intriguing to me because they explicitly mention that it’s a ZigBee certified product on the packaging and labels. ZigBee is a wireless technology that is different from WiFi in a few important ways: Low power, equivalent range and intended for light data mesh networks. It’s popular with DIY hardware makers (think Arduinos) for this reason, as well as that it’s much cheaper than WiFi modules. It seems like it may be the wireless standards of choice for consumer home automation systems that are coming to market. As an example, the Nest thermostat was also found to have ZigBee hardware inside, although it isn’t supported in software yet. Because of all this I wanted to see exactly what hardware Philips was using, and if it would be possible to replicate the Hue system.
Looks like a great first step to using off-the-shelf technology to control home systems. Bravo, Mr. Evans!
Source: Brandon Evans
Via: Loop Insight
Podcasts can be great fun, but they tend to have long segments of audio that you may or may not want to listen to. Which is fine, if you could sip through it easily. And, let’s face it, you might not be fully paying attention to them when they’re on, so you might miss things. Things you want to back up to hear, for example.
Well, guess what? You can do both with iOS 6, in the Podcast app.
Keyboard shortcuts are great. They let you do things on your Mac faster, letting you get to more stuff in less time. In Safari, for example, Command-1, -2, -3, and so on will open the sites in the Bookmarks Bar in order, from left to right.
There’s a Favorites Bar in the OS X Mail app that works similarly. You can drag Mailboxes that you use often to it. To show it, go to the View menu in Mail and choose Show Favorites Bar.
“Clementine, are you alright? Where are you!?”
These whispered words, uttered by series protagonist Lee Everett to his lost young friend, Clementine, begin the trailer for the final episode of Walking Dead The Game, available for iOS and Mac starting tomorrow. Of course, if you’re a PlayStation Network member, you can get the game today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xHquhlr45w
The golden tones of Jeff Daniels once again grace Apple’s iPhone 5 ad campaign in two new commercials on the official Apple YouTube channel tonight.
The first ad, titled Turkey, is all about Photo Streams and how they’re easily shared with just the people you want to. It’s a fun little commercial, just in time for the US holiday of Thanksgiving, with plenty of puns and, of course, pie.
The second video takes a different tack.
Twitter has rapidly become a great way to stay informed, keep in touch with friends, and generally faff about on the internet. Sometimes, however, that very same sense of humor that has brought you hundreds of Twitter followers can be the cause of folks un-following you. Whether they don’t get the joke or you actually said somethign offensive isn’t hte point here. Tracking who leaves your Twitter-sphere is.
Enter Sayonara, a new app by Nacho Soto that will alert you every time your Twitter stream loses a follower.
As you open applications on your Mac, you may notice your Dock getting a little crowded. That’s because OS X adds an icon for each running app to your Dock as soon as you launch it, to let you know that it’s actually doing something. It’s one of the many great visual reminders built into the operating system.
Sometimes, though, your Dock might get a little too crowded. In which case, you can do a couple of different things to get rid of the Dock icon while the app in question is running, though it’s not without its downsides.