The Essential Apple Podcas‪t‬ Essential Apple Crew

Recorded 21st February 2021

Glenn Fleishmann joins Simon and Steve from Geeks Corner to talk about his new book Take Control of Securing Your Mac, Macs, Malware, Betas, Bugs and more.

GIVEAWAYS & OFFERS

Glenn Fleishman’s book Take Control of Securing Your Mac can be found at takecontrolbooks.com along with many other titles by him, Joe Kissell, Jeff Carlson and others.
Steve at Geeks Corner has a podcast which is a 5-15 min show of his thoughts on tech. Also keep an eye on his site or follow him on Twitter @GeekCorner_uk to watch for regular giveaways.

Why not come and join the Slack community? You can now just click on this Slackroom Link to sign up and join in the chatter!

Slacker @MacJim has a family friendly Flickr group for listeners to share photos because the Darkroom channel in the Slack has become so popular - if you're interested head over to to the Essential Apple Flickr and request an invitation.


On this week's show
GLENN FLEISHMAN

Glenn Fleishman is a veteran technology writer who has contributed to dozens of publications across his career, including Macworld, Fast Company, and Increment. He has also written dozens of editions of books in the Take Control series. He is currently building 100 tiny type museums full of real printing artifacts.
Glenn’s Tiny Type Museum (https://tinytypemuseum.com/)
@GlennF (https://twitter.com/GlennF) on Twitter

STEVE DURBIN

Runs the Geeks Corner website
Produces the Geeks Corner podcast
@GeekCorner_uk on Twitter

APPLE

Apple fixes macOS Big Sur bug that caused irretrievable data loss – IT Pro
Apple’s M1 is already the target of Apple Silicon malware – Slash Gear
Apple to support winter storm relief efforts in Texas, other US states – Apple Insider
New malware found on 30,000 Macs has security pros stumped — Ars Technica
Chromecast with Google TV now supports Apple TV app, Apple TV+ – Apple Insider
annoying bug in my Safari Technology Preview - it doesn’t retain the pinned tabs, every time I close the window or quit the browser my pinned tabs vanish - I don’t have loads thankfully but even so
the update of the Parallels Tech Preview (or whtever they call it - Beta anyway) broke my VM - the VM runs fine but now it can’t see any network (I tried all the modes)
@Dougee sent me a terminal command 'sudo netplan set ethernets.eth0.dhcp4=true' ran it in Terminal, restarted the VM and ran it again, changed the network to bridged and then back to Shared and that did the trick.


Apple Issues Bold Blow To Google With This Brilliant New Security Move – Forbes
Lily Hay Newman on the Security Guide - Wired



TECHNOLOGY

The Bizarre Reaction To Facebook's Decision To Get Out Of The News Business In Australia – Tech Dirt

SECURITY & PRIVACY

LastPass free restricts users to one device type in March – 9to5Google
Six free alternatives to the LastPass password manager – The Verge


'Spy pixels in emails have become endemic' — BBC News
New browser-tracking hack works even when you flush caches or go incognito – Ars Technica

WORTH A CHIRP / ESSENTIAL TIPS

OWC unveils truly universal Thunderbolt 4/USB-C cable – Apple Insider

NEMO’S HARDWARE STORE (48:39)

Tribit Quiet Plus 78 ANC Headphones $80 US direct– Amazon £70 UKP / Currently unavailable via Amazon US


Essential Apple Recommended Services:

Pixel Privacy – a fabulous resource full of excellent articles and advice on how to protect yourself online.
Doug.ee Blog for Andy J’s security tips.
Ghostery – protect yourself from trackers, scripts and ads while browsing.
Simple Login – Email anonymisation and disposable emails for login/registering with
33mail.com – Never give out your real email address online again.
AnonAddy – Disposable email addresses
Sudo – get up to 9 “avatars” with email addresses, phone numbers and more to mask your online identity. Free for the first year an

Recorded 14th February 2021

Nick and Simon get together again to take a look at the news stories that caught their eye this week, including an insane looking 7 screen laptop, some disappointing aspects of the App Stores, and Nick has an interesting discovery about his Alexa...

GIVEAWAYS & OFFERS

Glenn Fleishman’s Working From Home book is completely FREE and can be downloaded here and now he has also released Take Control of Zoom Essentials free as well.
Steve at Geeks Corner has restarted his podcast which is a 5-15 min show of his thoughts on tech. Also keep an eye on his site or follow him on Twitter @GeekCorner_uk to watch for regular giveaways.

Why not come and join the Slack community? You can now just click on this Slackroom Link to sign up and join in the chatter!

Slacker @MacJim has a family friendly Flickr group for listeners to share photos because the Darkroom channel in the Slack has become so popular - if you're interested head over to to the Essential Apple Flickr and request an invitation.


On this week's show
NICK RILEY

@spligosh on Twitter very occasionally.
Sometimes appears on Bart Busschots' Let's Talk Apple
Sutton Park Circuit church worship on YouTube

APPLE

Apple Adds Activation Lock Webpage With Tools for Users – The Mac Observer
Anyone can hack your Mac unless you patch it now — here's how – Toms Guide
New Study Suggests Apple Watch Heart Rate Sensor Can Predict COVID-19 Up to a Week Before a Swab Test – Mac Rumors
A European company is pioneering diabetes monitoring without the needle – Axios


Apple offering free battery replacement for 2016/2017 MacBook Pro that won’t charge past 1% – 9to5 Mac
Apple and Prepear reach an agreement on pear-shaped logo trademark – 9to5 Mac
Scam iOS Apps Still Raking in Millions in Revenue on App Store – Mac Rumors
Developer reveals how fake reviews and ratings play a major role in App Store scam apps – 9to5 Mac


Introducing the first extensible iOS browser – Insight
Stop using Safari and try this breakthrough iPhone browser instead – Fast Company


Security researcher hacks Apple, Tesla, Paypal, more, in clever open-source software attack – 9to5 Mac

TECHNOLOGY

Welcome to Affinity 1.9 – Serif
It's No Surprise This Obscene 7-Screen Laptop Has 1-Hour Battery Life – Gizmodo
Facebook Working on Smart Watch to Compete With Apple Watch – Mac Rumors

SECURITY & PRIVACY

Barcode Scanner app w/ 10M installs turns out to be adware – 9to5 Google
Browsers are rushing to stop shadowy ‘supercookies’ that spy on your activity – Fast Company

WORTH A CHIRP / ESSENTIAL TIPS

Hubble for iPad – Fledgling


Essential Apple Recommended Services:

Pixel Privacy – a fabulous resource full of excellent articles and advice on how to protect yourself online.
Doug.ee Blog for Andy J’s security tips.
Ghostery – protect yourself from trackers, scripts and ads while browsing.
Simple Login – Email anonymisation and disposable emails for login/registering with
33mail.com – Never give out your real email address online again.
AnonAddy – Disposable email addresses
Sudo – get up to 9 “avatars” with email addresses, phone numbers and more to mask your online identity. Free for the first year and priced from $0.99 US / £2.50 UK per month thereafter... You get to keep 2 free avatars though.
ProtonMail – end to end encrypted, open source, based in Switzerland. Prices start from FREE... what more can you ask?
ProtonVPN – a VPN to go with it perhaps? Prices also starting from nothing!
Comparitech DNS Leak Test – simple to use and understand VPN leak test.
Fake Name Generator – so much more than names! Create whole identities (for free) with all the information you could ever need.
Wire – free for personal use, open source and end to end encryted messenger and VoIP.
Pinecast – a fabulous podcast hosting service with costs th

Recorded 7th February 2021

We are back - sorry there wasn’t a show last week but I hurt my back and was laid up... Anyway we are back again and Nick and I go over some of the stories of the last week or so, including the array of rumours about Apple’s alleged car, Apple wanting their DTKs back, a newly discovered iMessage security feature and more...

GIVEAWAYS & OFFERS

Glenn Fleishman’s Working From Home book is completely FREE and can be downloaded here and now he has also released Take Control of Zoom Essentials free as well.
Steve at Geeks Corner has restarted his podcast which is a 5-15 min show of his thoughts on tech. Also keep an eye on his site or follow him on Twitter @GeekCorner_uk to watch for regular giveaways.

Why not come and join the Slack community? You can now just click on this Slackroom Link to sign up and join in the chatter!

Slacker @MacJim has a family friendly Flickr group for listeners to share photos because the Darkroom channel in the Slack has become so popular - if you're interested head over to to the Essential Apple Flickr and request an invitation.

On this week's show
NICK RILEY

@spligosh on Twitter very occasionally.
Sometimes appears on Bart Busschots' Let's Talk Apple
Sutton Park Circuit church worship on YouTube

APPLE

New Betas 11.3, 14.5 and 7.4 for Mac, iOS and Watch
iOS 14.5 adds support for unlocking your iPhone with Apple Watch while wearing a face mask – 9to5Mac
What's new in iOS 14.5? Podcasts app redesign, Reminders sorting features, more – 9to5Mac


Apple requests return of Apple Silicon Developer Transition Kits, offers $200 toward purchase of M1 Mac – AppleInsider
Apple increases Apple Silicon DTK return credit from $200 to $500 – 9to5Mac


Researcher discovers hidden iOS 14 ‘BlastDoor’ security mechanism – IT Pro
Apple hardware boss steps down to focus on mysterious, secret project – The Independent
Apple launches iCloud Passwords extension for Chrome on Windows – iMore
Here's why you can't trust App Store 'nutrition labels' ... yet – Cult of Mac
Hyundai Executives Said to Be 'Divided' Over Prospect of Apple Car Partnership – MacRumors
Apple to Invest $3.6 Billion in Kia Motors for Apple Car Production – Mac Rumors


Apple poaches Porsche VP of chassis development for Apple Car development – AppleInsider

SECURITY & PRIVACY

Lawmakers take aim at insidious digital “dark patterns” – Ars Technica
Chrome for Mac security flaw: You'll want to update today – 9to5Mac

NEMO’S HARDWARE STORE (36:02)

Sketchboard Pro 18“ x 17.5” iPad Holder/Easel - 30 different iPad models supported – $119 direct

Essential Apple Recommended Services:

Pixel Privacy – a fabulous resource full of excellent articles and advice on how to protect yourself online.
Doug.ee Blog for Andy J’s security tips.
Ghostery – protect yourself from trackers, scripts and ads while browsing.
Simple Login – Email anonymisation and disposable emails for login/registering with
33mail.com – Never give out your real email address online again.
AnonAddy – Disposable email addresses
Sudo – get up to 9 “avatars” with email addresses, phone numbers and more to mask your online identity. Free for the first year and priced from $0.99 US / £2.50 UK per month thereafter... You get to keep 2 free avatars though.
ProtonMail – end to end encrypted, open source, based in Switzerland. Prices start from FREE... what more can you ask?
ProtonVPN – a VPN to go with it perhaps? Prices also starting from nothing!
Comparitech DNS Leak Test – simple to use and understand VPN leak test.
Fake Name Generator – so much more than names! Create whole identities (for free) with all the information you could ever need.
Wire – free for personal use, open source and end to end encryted messenger and VoIP.
Pinecast – a fabulous podcast hosting service with costs that start

Recorded 22nd January 2021

This week Nick and I have another guest - this time it is Nick Furneaux of CSI Tech a specialist in investigating crimes involving cryptocurrrency and author of the only book on the subject Investigating Cryptocurrencies. After that we wander off into a bit of reminiscing and after Nick has to leave @spligosh and I ramble on a bit about messaging apps...

GIVEAWAYS & OFFERS

Glenn Fleishman’s Working From Home book is completely FREE and can be downloaded here and now he has also released Take Control of Zoom Essentials free as well.
Steve at Geeks Corner has restarted his podcast which is a 5-15 min show of his thoughts on tech. Also keep an eye on his site or follow him on Twitter @GeekCorner_uk to watch for regular giveaways.

Why not come and join the Slack community? You can now just click on this Slackroom Link to sign up and join in the chatter!

Slacker @MacJim has a family friendly Flickr group for listeners to share photos because the Darkroom channel in the Slack has become so popular - if you're interested head over to to the Essential Apple Flickr and request an invitation.

On this week's show
NICK FURNEAUX

@NickFX on Twitter
Web: csitech.co.uk (https://www.csitech.co.uk/)
Nick’s Book Investigating Cryptocurrencies on Amazon
Christopher Hadnagy - Social Engineer

NICK RILEY

@spligosh on Twitter very occasionally.
Sometimes appears on Bart Busschots' Let's Talk Apple
Sutton Park Circuit church worship on YouTube

MENTIONS

Signal Vs Telegram—3 Things You Need To Know Before You Quit WhatsApp
Sinclair ZX81
Oric 1
Dragon 32
Raspberry Pi
Software Fix for M1 Mac Bluetooth Connectivity Issues Reportedly On the Way

Essential Apple Recommended Services:

Pixel Privacy – a fabulous resource full of excellent articles and advice on how to protect yourself online.
Doug.ee Blog for Andy J’s security tips.
Ghostery – protect yourself from trackers, scripts and ads while browsing.
Simple Login – Email anonymisation and disposable emails for login/registering with
33mail.com – Never give out your real email address online again.
AnonAddy – Disposable email addresses
Sudo – get up to 9 “avatars” with email addresses, phone numbers and more to mask your online identity. Free for the first year and priced from $0.99 US / £2.50 UK per month thereafter... You get to keep 2 free avatars though.
ProtonMail – end to end encrypted, open source, based in Switzerland. Prices start from FREE... what more can you ask?
ProtonVPN – a VPN to go with it perhaps? Prices also starting from nothing!
Comparitech DNS Leak Test – simple to use and understand VPN leak test.
Fake Name Generator – so much more than names! Create whole identities (for free) with all the information you could ever need.
Wire – free for personal use, open source and end to end encryted messenger and VoIP.
Pinecast – a fabulous podcast hosting service with costs that start from nothing.

Essential Apple is not affiliated with or paid to promote any of these services... We recommend services that we use ourselves and feel are either unique or outstanding in their field, or in some cases are just the best value for money in our opinion.

Social Media and Slack
You can follow us on:
Twitter / Slack / EssentialApple.com / Soundcloud / Facebook / Pinecast

Also a big SHOUT OUT to the members of the Slack room without whom we wouldn't have half the stories we actually do – we thank you all for your contributions and engagement.
You can always help us out with a few pennies by using our Amazon Affiliate Link so we get a tiny kickback on anything you buy after using it.
If you really like the show that much and would like to make a regular donation then please consider joining our Patreon or using the Pinecast Tips Jar (which accepts one off or regular donations)
And a HUGE thank you to the patrons who already

Recorded 17th January 2021

This week there was a virtual CES, somewhat reduced in size but still with its array of prototypes, new products and as ever a few oddities. Apple announced what it is actually doing with its REJI and is apparently going to extend free Apple TV+ again. Also today we are joined by Jasper Hauser of Darkroom photo and video editor for Mac and iOS (the winner of an Apple Design Award in 2020).

GIVEAWAYS & OFFERS

Glenn Fleishman’s Working From Home book is completely FREE and can be downloaded here and now he has also released Take Control of Zoom Essentials free as well.
Steve at Geeks Corner has restarted his podcast which is a 5-15 min show of his thoughts on tech. Also keep an eye on his site or follow him on Twitter @GeekCorner_uk to watch for regular giveaways.

Why not come and join the Slack community? You can now just click on this Slackroom Link to sign up and join in the chatter!

Slacker @MacJim has a family friendly Flickr group for listeners to share photos because the Darkroom channel in the Slack has become so popular - if you're interested head over to to the Essential Apple Flickr and request an invitation.


On this week's show
JASPER HAUSER

Web
@usedarkroom on Twitter
Instagram
YouTube
Reddit

APPLE

M1 Mac Bluetooth problems finally set to be resolved, says Apple – 9to5Mac
Apple begins blocking M1 Mac users from side loading iPhone and iPad applications – 9to5Mac
Apple Launches New Nationwide Racial Equity and Justice Initiative Projects – Mac Rumors
Apple suspends Parler from App Store – CNN
Apple CEO Tim Cook Says Parler Can Return to App Store If It Ups Moderation – Newsweek


Apple is extending Apple TV+ trials again — TechCrunch

TECHNOLOGY / CES

The LG Rollable phone with expandable display is real, and coming in 2021 – CNet
LG's transparent TV concept rolls up from foot of bed – Mashable UK
Video of the transparent TV – Digital Trends


The best foldables (and rollables) of CES 2021 – Digital Trends
Masks, sanitizers, and social distancing gadgets: The COVID tech that dominated CES 2021 – Mashable
Accessibility devices at CES 2021 reflect growing focus on inclusive tech – CNet

SECURITY & PRIVACY

Google Analytics opt out browser extension – Google
Available for Microsoft Internet Explorer 11, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari and Opera.


Son from Simple Login replied to my suggestion of a Menubar App – go upvote it if you would like to see this (you have to register to vote)
That's a good idea indeed! (and I would use it personally obviously :)). Just created https://trello.com/c/6S3WmqLP/152-create-mac-menubar-for-simplelogin, feel free to upvote it to make it happen sooner!


Encrypted Messaging App Signal Sees Surge in Popularity Following WhatsApp Privacy Policy Update – Ultimate Pocket
WhatsApp's New Privacy Policy Is Exactly Why No One Trusts Facebook – Inc


Johns Hopkins security researchers 'shocked' at Android and iOS vulnerabilities – 9to5Mac

WORTH A CHIRP / ESSENTIAL TIPS

Fonts: Install New Fonts – App Shopper
App Store


Bufferi.ng: Create lag and buffering on video chats like Zoom, Skype and Microsoft teams

JUST A SNIPPET
For things that are not worth more than a flypast


SmartDot radiation-protection phone stickers 'have no effect' — BBC News
“They are supposed to use “scalar energy” (aka Undetectable Magic Powers) - brought to you by the same loons who will sell you a Faraday cage for your router… “ – Simon




Essential Apple Recommended Services:

Pixel Privacy – a fabulous resource full of excellent articles and advice on how to protect yourself online.
Doug.ee Blog for Andy J’s security tips.
Ghostery – protect yourself from trackers, scripts and ads while browsing.
Simple Login – Email anonymisation and disposable emails for login/registering with
33mail.com – Never give o

Recorded 11th January 2021

A very special show this week as we are humbled to have a giant of the tech industry as our guest. He is an alumni of Hewlett Packard, a major figure at Apple during the John Sculley years, the founder of BeOS, ex-chairman of Palm, and now, well known industry watcher and commentator and regular contributor on the The Monday Note I am of course talking about the one and only Jean-Louis Gassée.

GIVEAWAYS & OFFERS

Glenn Fleishman’s Working From Home book is completely FREE and can be downloaded here and now he has also released Take Control of Zoom Essentials free as well.
Steve at Geeks Corner has restarted his podcast which is a 5-15 min show of his thoughts on tech. Also keep an eye on his site or follow him on Twitter @GeekCorner_uk to watch for regular giveaways.

Why not come and join the Slack community? You can now just click on this Slackroom Link to sign up and join in the chatter!

Slacker @MacJim has a family friendly Flickr group for listeners to share photos because the Darkroom channel in the Slack has become so popular - if you're interested head over to to the Essential Apple Flickr and request an invitation.

On this week's show
JEAN-LOUIS GASSÉE

@gassee on Twitter
Writer on the The Monday Note
50 years in Tech

TOPICS

Working at Apple
Steve Jobs
Building Macs on stage
Macintosh Portable – YouTube
IIcx – YouTube


Newton


BeOS
Concept
BeBox
Going up against Steve and NeXT Step
Haiku


Palm
Newton’s Heir?
Killed by the iPhone?


State of current tech
M1 and its possible ramifications for the PC industry
Apple Glasses
Apple Car



NEMO’S HARDWARE STORE (1:06:41)

Spigen PowerArc ArcStation™ Pro Wall Charger – Amazon $20 US Currently no international versions.
Airpop Active Face Mask – $60 US direct (currenlty unavailable via Amazon)

Essential Apple Recommended Services:

Pixel Privacy – a fabulous resource full of excellent articles and advice on how to protect yourself online.
Doug.ee Blog for Andy J’s security tips.
Ghostery – protect yourself from trackers, scripts and ads while browsing.
Simple Login – Email anonymisation and disposable emails for login/registering with
33mail.com – Never give out your real email address online again.
AnonAddy – Disposable email addresses
Sudo – get up to 9 “avatars” with email addresses, phone numbers and more to mask your online identity. Free for the first year and priced from $0.99 US / £2.50 UK per month thereafter... You get to keep 2 free avatars though.
ProtonMail – end to end encrypted, open source, based in Switzerland. Prices start from FREE... what more can you ask?
ProtonVPN – a VPN to go with it perhaps? Prices also starting from nothing!
Comparitech DNS Leak Test – simple to use and understand VPN leak test.
Fake Name Generator – so much more than names! Create whole identities (for free) with all the information you could ever need.
Wire – free for personal use, open source and end to end encryted messenger and VoIP.
Pinecast – a fabulous podcast hosting service with costs that start from nothing.

Essential Apple is not affiliated with or paid to promote any of these services... We recommend services that we use ourselves and feel are either unique or outstanding in their field, or in some cases are just the best value for money in our opinion.

Social Media and Slack
You can follow us on:
Twitter / Slack / EssentialApple.com / Soundcloud / Facebook / Pinecast

Also a big SHOUT OUT to the members of the Slack room without whom we wouldn't have half the stories we actually do – we thank you all for your contributions and engagement.
You can always help us out with a few pennies by using our Amazon Affiliate Link so we get a tiny kickback on anything you buy after using it.
If you really like the show that much and would like to make a regular donation then please consider joi