MyAppleMenu - Mon, May 11, 2015

Mon, May 11, 2015The Net-Zero-Impact Edition

Mummy Dearest

Messages Left By Mum Who Made Ultimate Sacrifice For Daughter, by New York Post

“We said our goodbyes,” Max said. “It was like something out of a movie. We sat there and cried. We tried to tell stories, talk about all the great things.”

Lily was born on Jan. 23.

Joice died on March 9, her family by her side.

But her spirit lives on in Lily — and in the iPad. Thanks to her involvement in 40 Weeks, director Henze shot around 60 hours of footage of Liz — from her strolling on the beach to her announcing Lily was a girl, along with sweet footage of the tiny family cuddled up together.

Hey Siri. Hey Siri. Hey Siri.

"Hey Siri, Send", by David Sparks, MacSparky

However, saying "Hey Siri, Send" does. In fact, for any confirmation button that shows up while dictating into the watch, all you have to do do is say "Hey Siri" and then the name of the button.

As Mr David Sparks noted, this behavior on the Apple Watch is different from the behavior on the iPhone. I've never (seriously) used Siri before, so I don't know anything, but this reminds me of the differences between stateful and stateless interactions. If I have to guess, it probably boils down to having to save battery life on the Watch.

Trees In China

Apple Announces New Environmental Initiatives In China, by Apple

Apple® today announced an expansion of its renewable energy and environmental protection initiatives in China, including a new multi-year project with World Wildlife Fund to significantly increase responsibly managed forests across China. The new forestland program aims to protect as much as 1 million acres of responsibly managed working forests which provide fiber for pulp, paper and wood products.

Apple’s goal is to achieve a net-zero impact on the world’s supply of sustainable virgin fiber and power all its operations worldwide on 100 percent renewable energy.

Tim Cook Goes Viral In China With 'Save The Forests' Plan, by CNN

Cook published his first post on Weibo -- China's version of Twitter -- on Monday, using his iPhone 6.

Just three hours later, @TimCook had 301,628 followers, and the numbers were continuing to climb rapidly. Cook isn't yet following others on Weibo, and hasn't posted anything else.

Stuff.

Can I Legally Use An Apple Watch While Driving?, by Jason Tchir, The Globe And Mail

“It could be considered careless driving in Ontario, but right now the specific distracted driving legislation only speaks to the holding of a hand-held communication device,” wrote OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt in an e-mail. “Because you are wearing it, this would be difficult to get a conviction in court.”

The New York Times Reboots NYT Now As A Free App With A New Look, by Martin Bryant, The Next Web

Pomodoro Time Review: Elegant Productivity Timer Finds A Home On Your Mac's Menu Bar, by Michael Simon, Macworld

Embracing The New MacBook Lifestyle: It Works, Adapters And All, by Glenn Fleishman, Macworld

Develop.

Swift Vs. Objective-C: 10 Reasons The Future Favors Swift, by Paul Solt, InfoWorld

Apple appears to have big goals for Swift. It has optimized the compiler for performance and the language for development, and it alludes to Swift being “designed to scale from ‘hello, world’ to an entire operating system” in Swift’s documentation. While Apple hasn’t stated all its goals for the language yet, the launches of Xcode 6, Playgrounds, and Swift together signal Apple’s intent to make app development easier and more approachable than with any other development tool chain.

Making it as an Indie Developer, by Gabriel Hauber

Rather than dampen my enthusiasm for getting my feet wet in publishing apps for the Mac sometime down the track, I am actually energised after reading Sam Soffe’s story and Dan Counsell’s follow-up.

Quote.

David Hilbert: To new concepts correspond, necessarily, new signs. These we choose in such a way that they remind us of the phenomena which were the occasion for the formation of the new concepts.

Parting Words

New Quiz for #MothersDay: Who would your mom be in a galaxy far, far away? http://t.co/pbQN6S94BM

— Star Wars (@starwars) May 10, 2015

@starwars Natalie Portman

— Carrie Fisher (@carrieffisher) May 11, 2015

Thanks for reading.