We all know that an iPhone passcode is supposed to remain private. However, Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal recently published an alarming story, and accompanying video, that highlights just how critical this is. In this post, I want to describe the problem, then discuss some steps you can take to protect yourself.
The scam
Stern’s investigation revealed...
Monday, February 27, 2023
Saturday, February 25, 2023
Podcast episode 88: Tracking Medications and Shaking Your Moose Face
After taking a week off, Brett Burney and I are back this week to discuss a large variety of interesting topics. We start by taking the long view towards technology, then shift completely to discuss some of the interesting new Emoji coming soon to your iPhone, including a Moose and a Shaking Face. We discuss lots of different Siri commands that you probably did...
In the News
This week, longtime tech journalist Harry McCracken showed on Twitter the remarkable difference between a picture taken by a Palm Treo in 2005 and a picture taken by an Apple iPhone 14 in 2023. John Gruber links to that post and correctly remarks: "One of tech’s truisms that has no exceptions: We overestimate how much progress we can make in a year, and underestimate...
Tuesday, February 21, 2023
Review: CovoBox: hide your electronics behind real books
One of the unfortunate consequences of our increasingly digital lives is a need for more plugs, cords, routers, hubs, etc. And as they accumulate, they become more unsightly. I have a set of shelves in my living room, and on one shelf I have a lot of electronics: an eero Pro to provide great Wi-Fi in my living room, the cords for a HomePod mini, a hub for my Lutron...
Saturday, February 11, 2023
Podcast episode 87: Reliable Report Cards and Mysty Watercolor Memories
Many of the topics in the latest episode of the In the News podcast address putting new things in historical perspective. Brett and I discuss the new Apple website and how much it has changed over the decades. We talk about the new Apple financial report and explain how the iPad can be doing better than ever right now at the same time that it is disappointing...
Friday, February 10, 2023
In the News
This week, Apple debuted a new look for the Apple website. There are still tabs at the top devoted to topics like iPhone, iPad, and Mac, but now you can hover your computer mouse over each tab, or tap once on a tab on an iPad, to see a large list of pages associated with that tab. There is a somewhat similar layout for the iPhone, but it is based on a menu button at...
