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The Apple Genius Training Manual Says You Can’t Use These Words

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What does it take to become an Apple Genius? You’d think the biggest requirement would be a lot of technical knowledge, but really it’s empathy and knowing how to talk to people. Geniuses are the face of the company when customers are the most pissed off at Apple, so great customer service skills are key.

Gizmodo just unearthed Apple’s official Genius Training Student Workbook and it’s oozing with secrets, like words a Genius can’t use to describe a problem.

Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Now Has His Very Own Baseball Card

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When I was a kid, baseball cards pretty much only featured athletes. I don’t even think the President of the United States could get a baseball card unless he also had a stint in the minor leagues before taking office.

Apparently, times have changed, and Upper Deck — the biggest baseball company in the world — now creates cards for famous people who had an impact on society. Like Steve Wozniak, who is now featured in the 2012 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions set.

Jury Foreman Reveals How Apple Was Awarded A Landslide Victory Over Samsung

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Despite siding with Apple, not one member of the jury owned an iPhone.
Despite siding with Apple, not one member of the jury owned an iPhone.

It isn’t too difficult to understand why the jury involved in the Apple versus Samsung case made the verdict it did last Friday, awarding Apple a landslide victory and more than $1 billion in damages. But what isn’t clear is how the jury came to its decision. Thanks to Jury Foreman Vel Hogan, we now have a fascinating insight into what it was like to be part of that panel.

In his first TV appearance since the billion dollar patent trial came to an end, Hogan reveals how he made up his own mind, how the jury decided on the damages Samsung must pay Apple, whether feelings and emotions influenced the jury’s decision, and more.

Now Samsung Is Ripping Off Apple’s OS X Dock For Their Windows 8 Machines

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Samsung just doesn’t get it. They just got brutally dominated in the Apple vs Samsung trial for copying a ton of Apple UI elements, so what do they do? Go out and copy OS X for their Windows 8 machines.

Samsung has a cool new feature for Windows 8 called the “S Launcher” that looks and functions just like the Dock in OS X. They copied it so well, it even has a 3D semi-opaque tray that reflects the icons contained therein.

Want To Use Your iPhone Or iPad During Takeoff? The FAA Wants To Hear From You

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The FAA forces us to turn off our electronics during takeoff and landing. Tell them you want that rule changed.
The FAA forces us to turn off our electronics during takeoff and landing. Tell them you want that rule changed.

No one likes turning off their portable electronics on a flight during takeoff and landing, especially if they’re as harmless as an iPod or an e-reader. And the rule if often the subject of debate as we all become more reliant on these devices on a daily basis.

Thankfully, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is now ready to reconsider the rule, and it’s asking passengers, flight attendants, airlines, and the makers of electronic devices for their opinion. Tell the FAA you think the rule is silly and you could help towards getting it abolished.

$299 iPad mini Could Cost Apple Just $189.32 To Build

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It's looking increasingly likely the iPad mini will get its own launch event in October.
It's looking increasingly likely the iPad mini will get its own launch event in October.

Take the back-of-the-envelope scribblings of a tech blogger with the appropriate degree of skepticism, but according to this breakdown of what the build-of-materials (BOM) cost of the upcoming iPad mini could be, Apple will sell their 7.85-inch tablet for $299 when it debuts later this year… and still make over $100 in profit on each unit sold.

Why Do Apple Customers Love The Genius Bar? It’s Free

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Apple-Genius-Bar
"I got this."

If you’ve owned an Apple device for any extended period of time — whether it’s a Mac or iOS device — you’ve most likely encountered the Genius Bar at the back of every Apple retail store, where friendly, fresh-faced youths in blue t-shirts diagnose your problems and quickly provide a fix. Apple is one of a small few companies that offers such a terrific service, and according to a recent study, 90% of its customers love it.

Neatomo Turns Your iPhone Into A Weather Station

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When I was a cub scout, I made my own backyard weather station. It was to get my science badge, or weather nerd badge, or whatever, and it mainly consisted of counting the millimeters of rain in a jamjar with an oversized plastic funnel perched on the top. And there was always rain: This was England.

If I’d had access to the wonderful technology of today, though, I could have stayed in watching TV and let the Netatmo do the work for me. The Netatmo is a weather station for both indoors and outdoors, and is sold as something that will stop you from worrying about your children and — therefore — the future.

T-Mobile Basically Tells Staff They Aren’t Getting The iPhone Again This Year

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Go to T-Mobile for an iPhone 5 and you could be coming away with an Android.
Go to T-Mobile for an iPhone 5 and you could be coming away with an Android.

If you’re a T-Mobile customer who was hoping that the iPhone 5 would be the first iPhone to gain official support for your carrier, then look away now. A leaked T-Mobile memo reveals the company is instructing its staff to sell “against the iPhone” from September 21, and it looks like they’ll be trained to help customers choose alternative smartphones instead.

Show As Many Or As Few Days As You Like In Mountain Lion Calendar [OS X Tips]

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The Beatles got nothing on us - FIFTY days a week.
The Beatles got nothing on us - FIFTY days a week.

Remember that tip we gave you about showing more than seven days in a week in iCal? It’s been a while, but there used to be a way to enable a Debug menu in iCal to allow you to open multiple iCal windows, change the number of weeks that appear before and after the start date in Day View, and even show more than just seven days in a week.

Well, that debug menu has gone away in Mountain Lion, but we found a cool Terminal command that does something similar.

Spotify For iOS Gets Playlist Sorting & Improvements In Latest Update

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Spotify's latest update brings a
Spotify's latest update brings a "friendlier" login screen to iPhone.

Spotify’s official iOS app has received a new update that introduces a number of new features and improvements. In addition to playlist sorting on the iPad, Spotify promises “friendlier” login for first-time users on iPhone, a new settings menu that’s now arranged by category, faster radio, and more.

iPhone 5 Rumor Breakdown: What You Can Expect [Infographic]

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You’ve read plenty of rumors surrounding the iPhone 5 on Cult of Mac by now, but what about the big picture?

Our friends at Nowhereelse.fr have put together a handy infographic detailing all of the marquee iPhone 5 rumors and the likelihood of each one actually making its way into the phone next month. Some big tech and Apple blogs were consulted for the making of this graphic, including Cult of Mac. Here’s the results:

Broken Sword Sequel Blasts Past The Halfway Point on Kickstarter In Only 4 Days

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Fan favorite (and BAFTA award-winning) point and click adventure game series Broken Sword is getting a sequel, called The Serpent’s Curse, and it’s being funded in part via Kickstarter. It’s a new adventure for Mac (and PC) starring series regulars George and Nico being developed by series creator, Charles Cecil, and his company Revolution Software.

Dropbox Now Offering Two-Step Verification For Enhanced Security

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Popular cloud storage service Dropbox has introduced two-step verification in order to provide greater security for its users. After the ‘epic’ hacking of Wired’s Mat Honan digital life, online security has become a hot topic once again in the tech community.

Like Google, Dropbox now allows all of its users to login with a password and additional code sent via text. An authenticator app can also be used on the web or mobile devices like the iPhone for the second step.

How The VA Eliminated Data Breaches On iPhones And Other Mobile Devices

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The VA's mobile security chief offers IT leaders five excellent tips for securing mobile devices.
The VA's mobile security chief offers IT leaders five excellent tips for securing mobile devices.

Like many federal agencies, the Department of Veterans Affairs has embarked on the journey of integrating iPhones and iPads as mobile solutions. The agency currently has 20,000 mobile devices that includes iPhones and iPads along with some BlackBerries and a small number of Android devices. Despite the range of devices, the VA has been very active in trying to eliminate mobile data breaches and, according to the VA’s director of Mobile and Security Assurance Donald Kachman, the agency’s campaign has been extremely successful.

Kachman credits encryption technologies with as a major factor in that success – 99% of all VA data is now secured around the clock on mobile devices and desktop PCs. The security approach is one that can be a model for any organization.

So-Called “Dropbox For Enterprise” Service kitedrive Adds Mac Support

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Secure enterprise file sharing and sync service kitedrive comes to the Mac.
Secure enterprise file sharing and sync service kitedrive comes to the Mac.

Secure enterprise file sharing and file management vendor Accellion has added Mac support to its file sync system for mobile workers known as kitedrive. As we noted earlier this year in covering the launch of kitedrive for iOS, Accellion describes kitedrive as “Dropbox for the enterprise.” That’s a pretty good description. kitedrive syncs content for offline access to business documents, which are securely encrypted during transmission and while stored on the a mobile device, PC, or Mac.