Which one? You don’t use an ad blocker? I agonized for the headline for this article because most NoodleMac readers do not use an ad blocker. How do I know? A couple of years ago, in conjunction with a number of websites in the Applesphere, I installed a little detector to determine how many … Read More »
Archives for February 2018
Lies, Damned Lies, And HomePods
HomePod is home. HomePod sounds great. No, really. Forget about those few reviewers who employ negativity bias, or your tone deaf neighbor who can’t tell the difference between music on MP3, on a CD, or lossless audio, let alone a vinyl record, HomePod sounds good. My opinion may not mean much and you may … Read More »
On Breaking Digital Addictions
Humans are interesting creatures in that we can make choices other creatures on planet earth cannot, but we often make choices we should not. Rampant obesity in the U.S. should tell us something about our dietary choices. How much time we devote to Facebook, YouTube, et al, should say something about the dopamine effect … Read More »
Why I Cannot Afford The Mac I Want
Online privacy and security has gone to hell in a hand basket recently so I’ll take a break and write about something else near and dear to my impoverished heart. The Mac. Specifically a Mac I cannot afford. Why not? The iMac Pro in 2018 dollars is just too expensive, even at the $4,999 … Read More »
Apple vs. Facebook, Google, Amazon, Etc.
Technology companies are both partners and competitors. Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft all have a growing number of applications that run on Apple’s macOS and iOS; Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Yet, each company is different from the other, with Apple the outlier among the group because most of Apple’s revenue and profits come from … Read More »
Apple’s Artificial Intelligence Isn’t Real
Are you afraid of artificial intelligence? There seems to be three schools of thought regarding AI in our modern technology-centric lives. First, AI is dangerous and needs to be curbed. Second, AI is little more than a tool to improve our lives. Third, what’s AI? Ian Pearson at the World Government Summit: The fact … Read More »
Chicken Little Techie: ‘Dump iPhones’
Do you have an older iPhone or iPad that runs iOS 9? It’s time to throw it away because Chicken Little says the sky is falling and you are in danger. Here’s the story. Last week someone released Apple’s iBoot source code for iOS. That’s the iOS bootloader, one component in an iPhone or … Read More »
‘Dear Apple, Is Anything Safe Anymore?’
Color me a bit paranoid these days, but it seems as if everything technological and political is going to hell in a hand basket (not sure exactly what that last part means but my grandfather and father used it in similar locations). The latest is yet another long string of security problems at… not … Read More »
Why Cops And Businesses Love iPhone
iPhone for business is a no brainer. Apple’s popular phone has everything businesses want. Privacy. Security. App selection. An option for custom made apps for employees. Steady iOS security releases. An easily defined distinction between price and cost (ToC; total cost of ownership). Those combine to make iPhone the smartphone of choice in most … Read More »
Mac Privacy & Security: Chrome vs. Firefox
Who do you trust when you’re browsing the interwebs on your Mac? Safari? More so than Google’s Chrome, even though Apple remains complicit with Google’s spying efforts by making Google Safari’s default search engine. What about Mozilla’s new Firefox versions? A quick comparison of the Mac’s top three most popular browsers indicates two things. … Read More »
Who Do You Trust? Apple? Or, China?
Of all the techno-gadget makers in the world, which one has your back for privacy and security? At the consumer and enterprise level, I like to think Apple is doing a good job because only Apple makes money the old fashioned way. It sells hardware. Yet, Apple manufactures the iPhone in China, a country … Read More »