Tech Journal

Winding down

Wed, 12 Feb 2025 19:01:51 GMT

With the announcement that Feedland servers will be shutting down soon, I've started unwinding things here.

I've removed the blogroll. I'll leave the links tab for now, but since it has lost its formatting and that feed will go away when Feedland closes, I likely won't post to it again.

I like the links I've collected, so I'm working on a new blog to keep posting them.

Apple Report Card

Tue, 04 Feb 2025 02:50:23 GMT

Jason Snell at Six Colors compiles an annual look at Apple's performance. It partially inspired collecting the feeds in my Apple category, but I haven't found all the respondents yet (limiting it to blogs, not social media feeds).

Michael Tsai, Nick Heer and Stephen Hackett have added their own posts.

Links rolling in

Thu, 14 Nov 2024 20:51:43 GMT

Success getting the feeds in, except for a couple that reported errors.

You can, of course, see all the feeds in the Links category at Feedland.org or read the latest headlines via the river.

They're also in the Links tab of the news product, but I haven't found a way to link directly to that view.

New MacOS Sequoia features

Sun, 22 Sep 2024 01:29:01 GMT

Summarizing the features at Wired: All the Top New Features in MacOS Sequoia and MacRumors: 50 New macOS Sequoia Features and Changes

macOS Sequoia comes with a new Passwords app that allows you to access all your passwords (Wi-Fi passwords included), passkeys, and verification codes in one place with end-to-end encryption. If you want to make access to the new Passwords app a lot more convenient, go to Passwords ➝ Settings... and check the box next to "Show Passwords in Menu Bar."

A few new Messages features are coming to macOS Sequoia—and by extension, to iOS 18 and iPadOS 18. You'll have the ability to add animated effects to a specific word within a text. For some phrases and words, you'll also see suggestions appear as you type. Apple added new Tapbacks too—instead of using the traditional heart, thumbs up, thumbs down, question mark, or exclamation point, you'll also see options to use emoji and stickers.

Within the Calendar app, you can see both events and tasks from the Reminders app. There's also an updated Month View that's meant to make it easier to see all your appointments at a glance

Photos: A new Collections feature within the Photo app will automatically organize your library by topics including Trips, Recent Days, and People & Pets.

As part of Apple's Continuity features, iPhone Mirroring gives you the ability to both access and interact with your iPhone wirelessly using your Mac, via an application in the dock.

With apps like FaceTime and Zoom, you'll have access to a new presenter preview capability that allows you to see what you're about to share before actually sharing it. Meanwhile, the built-in backgrounds feature allows you to apply system wallpapers, color gradients, or your own photos as a backdrop for video calls.

In the Notes app, you can now collapse headings. Any section header can be collapsed, including headings, subheadings, and titles. Click on a heading and then click on the down arrow to collapse it. Click the arrow again to expand it.

The new audio recording tool in Notes offers more than just simple voice capture. As users record, the app automatically generates a real-time transcript

In System Settings ➝ Accessibility ➝ Hover Text, there's a new Hover Typing option that when enabled will enlarge any input field that you're typing into so that it's displayed more clearly across the center of the screen.

In System Settings ➝ Accessibility, there's an option to set up the new Vocal Shortcuts feature, which allows you to teach your Mac to recognize a custom phrase that you can say to quickly perform an action.

A new "Move & Resize" option in the Window menu allows you to easily manage and arrange windows on your screen by offering various tiling and resizing options.

In Safari

If you are tired of pop-ups and banners interrupting your web browsing experience, it's worth getting to know Distraction Control.

To nix a distracting item on a webpage, click the Page menu icon in the address bar and select Hide Distracting Items. Then simply hover your pointer over the item. With another click, the distraction will disintegrate. When you're finished, click Done in the address bar.
If you're on a webpage where you've hidden items, a crossed out eye icon will appear in the address bar, indicating that you can make them visible again by revisiting the Page menu and selecting Show Hidden Items.

When watching a video in Safari, click the menu icon in the left-hand side of the address bar and select the new Video Viewer option. This makes the playing video expand within the Safari window into a kind of theater mode.

Articles and tips about iOS 18

Tue, 17 Sep 2024 13:57:37 GMT

This post is a test of linking methods. See yesterday's post for more links.

Six Colors: In iOS 18, Photos brings Collections to the fore

The new version of Photos contains some pretty major interface changes—especially on the iPhone and iPad.

9to5Mac: iOS 18 is here, and it’s Apple’s most personal iPhone update yet

With major new Home Screen customization features, a completely redesigned Photos app, and more, iOS 18 is Apple’s most customizable update for iPhone users yet.

Notes on Mac OS 15 Sequoia

Tue, 17 Sep 2024 02:39:11 GMT

Wired: All the Top New Features in MacOS Sequoia

Six Colors: macOS Sequoia 15.0 review: The opening act

Michael Tsai: macOS 15 Sequoia

macOS 15 Sequoia: The Ars Technica review

Eclectic Light Company: Sequoia introduces pinning to iCloud Drive

Notes on iOS and iPadOS

Tue, 17 Sep 2024 02:19:41 GMT

iOS and iPadOS 18: The MacStories Review

Wired: The Top New Features in Apple’s iOS 18 and iPadOS 18

Six Colors: iOS 18 Review: Your iPhone, your way

Six Colors: iPadOS 18 Review (ish): Math notes, calculator, and weird tab bars

Ars Technica: iOS 18 brings RCS to major carrier iPhones

Six Colors: In iOS 18, Photos brings Collections to the fore

9to5Mac: iOS 18 is here, and it’s Apple’s most personal iPhone update yet

Apple Sports adds Live Activities in iOS 18 for easy score tracking

iOS 18’s new home screen features are a win for flexibility

With iOS 18, Apple offers new options and much greater flexibility for home screen customization.

Michael Tsai: iOS 18

Michael Tsai: iPadOS 18

One last piece of wisdom

Tue, 17 Sep 2024 03:06:24 GMT

Apple has released the initial versions of its 2024 operating systems—macOS 15 Sequoia, iOS 18, iPadOS 18, watchOS 11, visionOS 2, tvOS 18, and HomePod Software 18. You might want to upgrade immediately, but Adam Engst recommends that most people wait at least a bit. Or even longer, for macOS.

Adding more items

Thu, 27 Jun 2024 21:41:27 GMT

Mostly just another test post, but we also now have likes from the .org and .com installs of Feedland.

At the moment, the .org account has most of the computing and Apple feeds, because many of them were already in the system. On the .com side, which I do notice is faster, I'm keeping track of other subjects.

All the links together

Tue, 25 Jun 2024 01:07:49 GMT

Now there's a News Product page that displays all the feeds from my likes, link blogs and this blog.

Video test

Tue, 18 Jun 2024 03:00:05 GMT

Just to see how video embedding works. This is the way to do it, but I would like this kind of block to be expanded by default.

WWDC Keynote in 18 minutes

Customize your iPhone

Mon, 17 Jun 2024 02:47:41 GMT

Tips from 9 to 5 Mac

iOS 18 will let you personalize your iPhone like never before. There are new tools for arranging apps and widgets, changing app icon colors, customizing Control Center, replacing the flashlight and camera buttons, and more.
For your home screen and apps, instead of the grid that fills from top left to bottom right, you can leave empty space anywhere on the screen.
You can also apply a tint to all your app icons so they look uniform. By long-pressing on your Home Screen then pressing Edit, you’ll be able to select the color that all your app icons are tinted with.
This is the same place you can choose to make all your app icons larger and hide their names from being displayed.
Apple’s individual apps also gain new customization powers.

Photos in iOS 18 lets you customize what types of collections it displays and how your library is sorted and filtered.
Reminders is being integrated into the Calendar app. You can also reorder the sections in your Today list, such as moving overdue reminders to the bottom.

Success

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 22:33:31 GMT

It's built out with the blogroll of everything in my Apple category and a tab of links, powered by Feedland's personal feed, which I'll use for articles I want to refer to.

The writing will become compilations of tips and other ways to help people use technology.

Helpful pages

In addition to the Blogging with Drummer page, there are useful tips and hints on these pages:

The GitHub page: Blogging in Drummer. It's got a list of options for the header image
And the page about Adding a FeedLand blogroll to a Drummer blog
Using the FeedLand feed as your Drummer linkblog

For more about setting up your FeedLand feed, start with the Feed docs page

Hello World

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 14:30:45 GMT

I was considering a blog here as a way to gather tech hints. I also wanted to try out new tools and uses for Feedland when it comes to following my favorite sources.

So, this is a test.