Cult of Mac

Back at the end of May I wrote about a great Kickstarter project which updated the Camera Lucida. The Neo Lucida is a prism on a bendy stick that you can use to superimpose the scene in front of you onto a sheet of paper so you can “trace” around real objects.

In the post I wondered if there was an app that would use your iPhone’s camera to do the same thing, but then – as usual – I didn’t read any comments. Reader Golan pointed out that the app is called Camera Lucida, and as of this weekend it has updated to v7.0.

Wunderlist v2.2 adds two big new features to the rather beautiful cross-platform todo app; one great improvement and a slew of fixes. And it might even change how you use the app.

Veteran Apple executive Bob Mansfield is no longer a member of the company’s executive team. But that doesn’t mean he has left altogether. Mansfield is still working in an unknown capacity on “special projects” for Tim Cook. He was previously responsible for leading the new Technologies group that was formed during the big executive shakeup last year.

The above photo shows what is allegedly Apple packaging for an unreleased “iPhone 5C.” The packaging comes from the supply chain overseas and was first posted on the Chinese forum WeiPhone. It’s important to note up front that there is no way of confirming the packaging’s authenticity, but if it’s real, it has most likely revealed the name for the rumored budget iPhone.

The best argument for funding the space program is: “Because space, that’s why!!”

But for many this argument is pointless. They would prefer the money be spent to help people on Earth. And for those folks, the best argument is: “Space missions always invent numerous technologies that make life better for everybody.” NASA even maintains an online database/magazine called Spinoff to keep track of these technologies, which average about 50 per year.

A similar phenomenon is likely to happen with Google Glass, which is not only a wearable computing hardware device, but also a development platform.

I’m predicting that Google’s massively well funded moonshot, the beta product formerly known as the Google Glass Project, will bring to Android phone and tablet users incredible technologies, ideas, apps and content originally developed for Glass.

The summer season isn’t traditionally associated with productivity. It’s a time where we relax, go on holidays, and spend more time in the great outdoors. But this is also a great time of year where you can make your Mac more efficient through the use of apps that can take your productivity to a new level.

That’s why Cult of Mac Deals has assembled The Summer 2013 Mac Bundle, featuring Parallels and 9 other killer Mac apps – and you can get it for only $49.99 for a limited time.

I’ve written a lot about Apple’s ability to create new markets, which may be among its chief contributions to the world.

In several cases, from media players to multi-touch phones to tablets, others in the industry have tried to get a market going without success.Then Apple came along with a bold, killer information appliance and not only dominated the market, but created it.

I’ve notice a new trend lately: Now markets are being created based substantially on nothing more than the expectation that Apple will enter it with a killer product.

Your Mac is an amazing machine, and like a sports car, requires regular maintenance to keep it running at peak efficiency. Take all the hassle and guesswork out of cleaning up your system with CleanMyMac 2.

And with this exclusive Double Pack promotion from Cult of Mac Deals a single license will keep two of your Macs clean and clutter-free – and it’ll do that for only $34.95!

I’ve just spent the last several hours knee-deep in the drek of post-magic Seattle, mixing and fighting with dwarves, trolls, mages, and deckers, and I’m here to tell you it’s utterly wiz.

Shadowrun Returns is out now on Steam for Mac and PC and should be headed to iPad and Android soon, as well. In my short time with the game, I’ve got to say that I’m deeply impressed.

Every written line, all the dialogue, the visuals, are pure Shadowrun, down to the totem poles on the corners of downtown Seattle and the angry patois of the citizen characters running in the shadows beneath the megacorps who care only about nuyen, the currency of the age.

The music and the visuals are fantastic, conveying a sense of dread and decay in every environment, but, honestly, Shadowrun Returns shines due to its fictional setting and attention to storytelling.

I’m hooked, and can’t wait to find out what happens next.

This week on the ‘ol CultCast: why Google’s new Chromecast is great for us Apple fans; the 5S might be the biggest S-upgrade ever; Apple’s earnings make a low-cost iPhone look likely; how to best connect your iDevice to your car stereo; the Dev Center gets hacked; and then, Tim Cook sings Barbie Girl!

Have a few laughs and get caught up on this week’s best Apple stories. Stream or download new and past episodes of The CultCast now on your Mac or iDevice by subscribing on iTunes, or hit play below and let the audio adventure begin.

Thanks to Bitcasa for sponsoring this episode. Show notes up next.

After being offline since last Thursday, Apple’s Developer Center is back and operational. Certain parts of the portal are still coming back online, but Apple’s system status page reveals that several services are accessible again, including the centers where developers can download iOS and OS X betas.

Supermechanical, the startup behind Twine, has a new Kickstarter campaign for a smart kitchen thermometer called Range. The device plugs into the iPhone’s headphone jack and helps you cook by telling the temperature and creating recipe graphs. It looks like a cool product, and it has 34 more days to reach its $90,000 goal.

You can’t get Altec Lansing’s new The Jacket iMW455 Bluetooth speaker/speakerphone from anyone other than Verizon, which explains the red and black skins the Jacket comes with.

Don’t like red or black? No problem — because, like a moulting lobster, The Jacket’s special trick is its ability to swap skins. The speaker comes with the two free skins, with more colors available for a price — though we’re not yet sure which colors or how much.

Not only has Apple updated Siri’s default (in the US, at least) female voice to something a bit more natural, a little less arrogant sounding, but it’s also included a new male voice, as well. While a male-gendered voice has been available for a while in other regions, this is the first time Siri’s voice gender has been a choice we can enable on iOS.

Here’s how to switch Siri from a female to a male voice (and back again).

Buying a $35 dongle to magically stream all the video of the internet to your TV sounds pretty awesome, and based on early impressions Chromecast does a decent job, but how does its content stack up against the Apple TV and Roku?

Danny Sullivan created the chart above to break down the content you’ll find on Chromecast, Apple TV and Roku. If you only care about streaming video off Netflix and YouTube, then Chromecast is the best bang for your buck. But if you want to watch HBO Go, Hulu, or pull content from iTunes or Amazon, Apple TV or Roku have more content options.

Source: Marketingland

Via: Twitter

Just in time for beach season, Griffin’s ruggedized, waterproof iPhone case – the Survivor+Catalyst – arrived at CoM’s Spanish HQ (aka my apartment). And after a month or so of using it and abusing it, I can say its the best rugged case I have used. For the iPhone anyway.

Let’s see why.

Apple has opened a new office in Boston that is working on beefing up Siri… and probably means that Cupertino wants to move away from relying on Nuance to provide Siri’s voice-recognition technology.

We’ve seen tons of leaked photos claiming to be the rear shell of the budget iPhone, and here’s the latest one we can add to the pile. The photo was posted on Weibo and looks pretty similar to images we posted two days ago.

The summer season isn’t traditionally associated with productivity. It’s a time where we relax, go on holidays, and spend more time in the great outdoors. But this is also a great time of year where you can make your Mac more efficient through the use of apps that can take your productivity to a new level.

That’s why Cult of Mac Deals has assembled The Summer 2013 Mac Bundle, featuring Parallels and 9 other killer Mac apps – and you can get it for only $49.99 for a limited time.

Why does Apple put all kinds of weird screws on your Mac and iPhone that take an Apple Genius to unlock?

Because a little guy lives inside there doing all the work! HaaHAa! *rimshot*

Microsoft commissioned Eldon Dedini to make the comic above and a couple others back in 1985 to poke fun at the Macintosh. The comics were made for Microsoft’s marketing team, but weren’t distributed. To Microsoft’s credit, opening the original Mac was difficult as hell, and it took more tools than just a screw driver – and Apple certainly hasn’t made it any easier since then.

Source: Reddit

It’s no secret that Microsoft’s would-be iPad-killer has been a complete disappointment, but now Steve Ballmer, the company’s ever-optimistic CEO, is admitting to employees that the Surface is a flop.

Ballmer held a “rally the troops” event on the Microsoft campus yesterday to go over the company’s quarterly earnings and boost morale, but according to people at the event, Ballmer dove into how disappointing it has been trying to make Surface a success.

T-Mobile’s new summer smartphone promotion is a scorcher: The carrier has eliminated down payments entirely and dropped the price of all devices to $0. Even the latest handsets like the iPhone 5, the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the Sony Xperia Z are included in the hot new deal, which the company announced today.

But there is a catch.

Apple’s next-generation Retina MacBook Pros, which will be equipped with Intel’s latest Haswell processor, may not arrive until October, according to a new report from China Times. The machines were expected to make their debut in September, but due to yield issues affecting its high-resolution Retina display, Apple has had to delay the launch.

The iPhone 5S and the new low-cost iPhone are expected to launch on Friday, September 6, according to a “very credible” source. That’s roughly two weeks earlier than the iPhone 5 went on sale last year, and it suggests Apple will announce the devices in late August.

Picture this scenario: you’ve got a flash drive and there are files on it. There are also files on it that are in its Trash folder. You also have a Mac with files on it, and files in the Trash. When the USB flash drive is plugged into your Mac, OSX treats those files in the different Trashes as one big Trash folder.

What if you want to delete the files from one Trash, but not the other?

That’s where Trash Without comes in.