Page 6 of 21

Essential Apple Podcast 221: Epic, Music, Betas and Ads…

Currently Apple’s Podcast app doesn’t seem to render links properly so if you are listening in the Podcasts app go to www.essentialapple.com for full shownotes and links.

This week the Apple v Epic trial came to the end o the grilling stage and ended with the judge putting Tim Cook on the spot and he was surprisingly frank about Apple’s position. Rumours of a new iPod Touch surfaced, and Apple put out an ad promoting its App Tracking Transparency in an amusing (if fairly hard hitting) manner. Apple Music will get lossless audio and spatial audio (but it wont work with your AirPods (Max or not). Siimon, Nick and Steve from Geeks Corner get together to mull over all of this and more.

NOTE: In the section where we talking about spatial audio and AirPods I was not 100% correct – seems the messaging is somewhat confused and Apple seem to use “spatial audio” and Dolby Atmos almost interchangeably – however basically not all of the new features work with Bluetooth headphones.

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 usually 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.

Continue reading → Essential Apple Podcast 221: Epic, Music, Betas and Ads…

Essential Apple Podcast 220: Geekiest Essential Apple Ever

Essential Apple and the Geekiest Show Ever go off the rails for The Geekiest Essential Apple Ever! Elisa, Melissa, and Simon discuss new Apple product announcements, tracking concerns, email aliases, medieval lingerie, and just where would YOU put an AirTag?

We are now available on a bucket more services including Amazon Music – just ask Alexa to play Essential Apple Podcast on Amazon Music…

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 usually 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.

Continue reading → Essential Apple Podcast 220: Geekiest Essential Apple Ever

Essential Apple Podcast 219: Meandering Madness

 

Jim and Simon and Nick get together again to meander around the news and some other stuff – this is an extra long show because somehow we ended up with 4 hours of audio! Anyway with some of the more off topic and meandering bits removed its down to a “mere” just over 2 hours (oops sorry about that). Also after such a massive edit the effort of making the show notes quite as tidy as usual was too much to face! So sorry, but all the links should still work even if it isn’t in the usual tidy format… Oh and I don’t mention it on the show but we are now available on a bucket more services including Amazon Music – just ask Alexa to play Essential Apple Podcast on Amazon Music…

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 usually 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.

Continue reading → Essential Apple Podcast 219: Meandering Madness

How to Teach Your Kids to Code with Apple’s ‘Swift’ Language

A guest posting by The Coder School

Coding is increasingly becoming an essential skill, and one of the best ways to introduce kids to coding is by teaching them to code with Apple’s Swift. Swift is a programming language used in Apple products like iPhone, Mac, IPads, and Apple TVs. It is an excellent way for kids to learn to code as it allows them to learn and apply their knowledge in a fun and engaging way by creating apps and games.

The open nature of the Swift programming language gives developers the freedom to actualize their ideas. It is also similar to other programming languages, meaning kids who learn to code with Swift can apply it to other platforms. Besides instilling technical skills in kids, Swift is a valuable addition to childhood education as it can improve educational outcomes for kids. Here are some practical tips to help your kids learn to code with Apple’s Swift.

Teaching Kids How to Code

You can help your kids learn to code with Swift using the available coding resources by Apple. Apple has a Swift coding curriculum known as Everyone Can Code that facilitates coding as part of childhood education and enhances learning. Continue reading for the various ways you can use to get your child to learn Swift.

Continue reading → How to Teach Your Kids to Code with Apple’s ‘Swift’ Language

Essential Apple Podcast 218: All the Colours of the Rainbow

This week, of course, is all about the Spring Loaded event, and yes those who said it meant exactly that were right! We have a full house with. Simon Mark, Jim, GazMaz from the MyMac Podcast, and Steve Durbin from Geeks Corner to go over the announcements and give our own views on what we thought of it all.

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 usually 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.

Continue reading → Essential Apple Podcast 218: All the Colours of the Rainbow

The Legal Side of BYOD Policies at Work

A guest posting by
HKM Employment Attorneys LLP

Photo by rawpixel.com from PxHere

The bring your own device (BYOD) business trend has become increasingly popular with employers and employees at all levels using their personal devices (think laptops, tablets, or smartphones) for work or to access company resources via the cloud.
Millennials, mostly in white-collar positions, have primarily driven the BYOD trend because they have come to rely on personal technology for work and play.
Almost all professionals send and receive work emails on either a company-owned or personal mobile device away from the office or when working remotely. An increasing number are also accessing company data, documents, and other resources using personal mobile devices.

Why Embrace BYOD Policies?

BYOD can significantly increase efficiency because it allows businesses to provide flexibility and 24/7 access to company resources. It can also lower operating costs and improve effectiveness and employee morale. However, it raises security, compliance, and legal concerns. Fortunately, a well-crafted BYOD policy can address most of these concerns.
IT and legal Experts advise companies against the outright prohibition of the use of employee-owned devices for work. Employees have proven to circumvent IT restrictions and ignore such policies to access company resources when they want.
Therefore, adopting a BYOD policy may be the better option for businesses since it allows them to define the access parameters, ensure the security of their information and resources by using appropriate technical infrastructure, and comply with existing industry regulations and legal requirements. Hence, the need to consult IT experts and legal counsel such as employment lawyers.

Continue reading → The Legal Side of BYOD Policies at Work

Essential Apple Podcast 217: When Siri Sprung Spring Loaded

This week Siri sprung their Spring Loaded event announcement before they sent out the invites, the inventor of PDF passed away, we talk hacks and scams and of course Nick and Simon talk to guest Jeff Gamet about all of that, Jeff’s new MacVoices string “Up to Speed with Jeff Gamet” 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 usually 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.

Continue reading → Essential Apple Podcast 217: When Siri Sprung Spring Loaded

Essential Apple Podcast 216: Liquorice Allsorts Edition

This week was a bit of a grab bag of stories: Nick Jim and Simon talk about everything from Chinese engineers upgrading an M1 Mac, to Intel shooting itself in the foot with an ad (again), Epic claiming Apple locks in users with iMessage, while Apple objecst to a water bottle company logo trademark filing. Lot’s of going ons with people terrified that Apple’s ATT is going to destroy their “surveillance capitalism” business models while Apple tell them attempts to circumvent ATT will not be tolerated. Meanwhile we find out about trees that can bleed metal and a really creepy webcam.

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 usually 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.

Continue reading → Essential Apple Podcast 216: Liquorice Allsorts Edition

Essential Apple Podcast 215: WWDC & Simon’s Silly Siri

This week Simon’s Siri goes weird, Jim returned. his Onyx Boox Note Air, Nick found some helpful software, Apple turned 45, ARM announced their v9 architecture, Facebook details of 553million users appeared online, new Beta 6 has surprise new features and WWDC 2021 was announced and we chat about all of that 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 usually 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.

Continue reading → Essential Apple Podcast 215: WWDC & Simon’s Silly Siri

Essential Apple Podcast 214: What a bunch of bananas!

There never was a “March Event”, Brazil fined Apple over lack of chargers – but it’s pocket change, Apple lets Russia install apps, Intel goes on the offensive (and self pwns), and Jim installs an update! Join Simon, Nick and Jim as they discuss this and more and find out just what the bananas are all about!

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 usually 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.

Continue reading → Essential Apple Podcast 214: What a bunch of bananas!

Essential Apple Podcast 213: HomePod gets the Boot!

Apple axe the HomePod in a surprise move – and Guy Serle of the MyMac podcast joins Simon and Nick to talk about that, March Event rumours 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 usually 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.

Continue reading → Essential Apple Podcast 213: HomePod gets the Boot!

Ransomware, Phishing and Cyberattacks Scare Business

A guest post from Glen Lowe

In today’s business world, hackers and cyberattacks threats are now considered one of the leading risks for any business around the world. According to a survey, business CEOs, brokers, insurance experts and risk managers list cyber-attacks as their biggest worry today compared to 15 years ago when cyber-attacks ranked 15th as a business risk.

The cost of ransomware is one of the greatest concern for business executives today. These costs have rapidly increased and so have business email attacks, also referred to as phishing attacks. Once the hackers gain access to business websites and files, customer data and investor details most at risk. This results in expensive litigation fees from clients and investors affected by the attack. For this reason, businesses are advised to ensure their cybersecurity measures are up to date.

Mergers and acquisitions can also cause possible security threats. This is especially common when a company invests in a business that has poor cyber security measures or existing vulnerabilities. The investing company becomes liable to any data breach that occurs before the merger or compromises its own system from merging with the bought business.

Today, ransomware, phishing and cyber-attacks are increasingly targeting large companies using sophisticated attacks and expensive extorting demands. Today, a typical ransomware demand can run in the tunes of millions of dollars, which is enough to bankrupt some companies.

Cyber-attacks are a growing concern for small and large businesses in the U.S. economy. In 2018, the cost of cybercrime had reached 2.7 billion dollars. There is a need for companies and businesses to invest their time and resources in protecting their businesses.

Continue reading → Ransomware, Phishing and Cyberattacks Scare Business

Essential Apple Podcast 212: So long iMac Pro

This week Simon is joined by Nick, Jim and Steve (of Geeks Corner) to ponder the demise of the iMac Pro, names that break computer stuff, a surprising silver nano wire discovery, the Microsoft Exchange Server hack and several other stories that caught their attention during the week.

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 usually 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.

Continue reading → Essential Apple Podcast 212: So long iMac Pro

Essential Apple Podcast 211: Steve Jobs’ 66th Birthday and we chat with Adam Engst of TidBITS

Nick and Simon get together again with guest Adam Engst of TidBits to talk about a variety of things that came up as they chatted because to be fair there really was very little news of note except the fact that Steve Jobs would have been 66.

Also a couple of apologies – sorry this episode is really late being released – quite a lot of “real life stuff” happened this week that got in the way. Also sorry that this week’s audio isn’t up to the usual standard, due to a “cock up on the recording front” (totally my fault) everyone ended up on the same track and Adam was a little hot – I have done what I can to level it out but it isn’t as good as usual.

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 usually 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.

Continue reading → Essential Apple Podcast 211: Steve Jobs’ 66th Birthday and we chat with Adam Engst of TidBITS

Essential Apple Podcast 210: Glenn Fleishman (and miserable malware news)

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

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.

Continue reading → Essential Apple Podcast 210: Glenn Fleishman (and miserable malware news)