We kick off this week’s TidBITS with a look at Meerkat, the Twitter-powered video-streaming app that could democratize live broadcasting — if Twitter doesn’t kill it first. Michael Cohen takes a look at Apple’s open-source ResearchKit and finds out what doctors have to say about it. Michael also contributes an overview of Fountain, a markup language that makes it easy to write a properly formatted screenplay. In a pair of editorials, Adam Engst posits that how you see the Apple Watch says more about you than it, and Rich Mogull explains why it’s a good thing that the CIA is trying to hack Apple products. Finally, we have the latest chapticle of Joe Kissell’s “Take Control of Security for Mac Users,” in which he explains how to surf the Web safely. Notable software releases this week include Security Update 2015-002 (Mountain Lion, Mavericks, and Yosemite), DEVONthink/DEVONnote 2.8.4, iMovie 10.0.7, Evernote 6.0.7, GraphicConverter 9.6, and Mailplane 3.4.1.
The place where your Mac most intersects with the outside world is via your Web browser, so Joe Kissell devotes an entire chapter of “Take Control of Security for Mac Users” to explaining how you can surf the Web safely.
Meerkat makes it easy to stream live video to your Twitter followers. Josh Centers explains how it works.
Apple devoted a segment of its recent “Spring Forward” event to the introduction of ResearchKit, a software framework for collecting medical research data within iOS. Like many 1.0 products, it has both great promise and some growing up to do.
Aspiring screenwriters have enough on their plates without having to figure out how to make their word processors handle screenplay format, but with Fountain markup they don’t have to.
Will the Apple Watch be the next must-have technology gadget or a complete flop? Is it reasonably priced or expensive beyond any rational calculation? Will it be the sort of device that can be upgraded over time or will it join your old iPod in a drawer in a few years? No one knows the answers to these questions, but Adam Engst suggests that how you answer them says more about you than the Apple Watch itself.
The latest revelation from Edward Snowden’s trove of confidential documents shows that the CIA has long been targeting Apple, along with other major technology companies. Security analyst Rich Mogull explains why average users don’t need to worry, and why this news is actually good.
Notable software releases this week include Security Update 2015-002 (Mountain Lion, Mavericks, and Yosemite), DEVONthink/DEVONnote 2.8.4, iMovie 10.0.7, Evernote 6.0.7, GraphicConverter 9.6, and Mailplane 3.4.1.
In this week’s collection of links, Adam Engst discussed Apple’s latest announcements on The Tech Night Owl podcast, Google revealed a new Chromebook Pixel, we found out if Apple’s switch from MagSafe to USB-C will endanger the 12-inch MacBook, product designer Greg Koenig examined the Apple Watch’s manufacturing process, the Wall Street Journal explained how Apple is taking over your local mall, and Josh Centers spoke about the CIA hacking Apple on The Dan Benjamin Hour.