MyAppleMenu

The Crushing-Benchmarks Edition Monday, January 21, 2019

The Most Powerful Mac Is 6 Years Old And Not Sold By Apple, by Jason Koebler, Motherboard

There is a small but growing community of creative professionals—video editors, audio engineers, software developers, 3D modelers, and graphic artists—who are modifying their circa 2009-2012 Mac Pros to be even more powerful than the ones Apple sells today. Because those computers can use top-of-the-line graphics cards that aren't compatible with the iMac Pro or the 2013-and-onward Mac Pro, these modded computers are crushing the benchmarks of even brand new new computers.

The Mac Pro 4.1 and 5.1 are known in the community as the “cheese grater” Mac Pro towers. These are the last highly upgradeable and modifiable desktop computer that Apple sold before moving to the much-maligned “black trash can” design that is sold today and hasn’t changed significantly since 2013. Upgraded versions of the 4.1 and 5.1 are, in many cases, the fastest Apple computers you can buy today.

Researcher: As Tech Firms Grow Rapidly, Privacy Violations Must Be Intentional, by Cyrus Farivar, Ars Technica

"Historically, if you wanted to govern airbags, there was a model year, you would recall a certain version, and you would hold a company liable," he said. "Software, particularly Web apps and cloud-based software, is constantly changing. It's not the same for you or [me]. You might be in a test group that I'm not in. To know this version versus that version and [how] the law should affect in this way is incredibly difficult."

It's impossible, he explained, for most people to keep track of the ins and outs of APIs and other data-sharing practices.

Good For Your Soul

It’s Time To Rethink iMessage Notifications, by Bradley Chambers, 9to5Mac

In a world where Apple is promoting screen time on iOS to help us curb technology addiction, I think rethinking iMessage notifications could help a lot.

Every Gadget And App Should Have A Dark Mode, by David Pierce, Wall Street Journal

Dark mode is good for my battery, it’s good for my eyes, and I’m convinced it’s good for my soul. I live in the dark now, and it’s awfully nice.

Stuff

Apple's New iPhone Case Will Give You About An Extra Day Of Battery Life, But It's Quite Bulky, by Todd Haselton, CNBC

It's expensive for what amounts to a clunky way to extend your iPhone's battery life.

Apple Shares New ‘Shot On iPhone’ Short Film About Teenage Athlete In American Samoa, by Chance Miller, 9to5Mac

This time, it’s a 3-minute video that showcases American Samoa, a U.S. territory located the south pacific ocean, and specifically focuses on Eddie Siaumau, a 17-year-old athlete on the island.

Develop

Apple’s Everyone Can Create Curriculum Now Available In Four More Languages, by Ben Lovejoy, 9to5Mac

Although primarily aimed at schools, the four guides are also freely available to consumers and parents.

Notes

Apple Exploits Mobile Carriers: FTC, by The Korea Herald

Apple is exploiting local telecom companies for profit by unfairly collecting advertising funds, economists representing South Korea’s antitrust watchdog said last week during a second hearing on the matter.

Shouldn’t We All Have Seamless Micropayments By Now?, by Zeynep Tufekci, Wired

That’s right: The web’s founders fully expected some form of digital payment to be integral to its functioning, just as integral as links, web pages, and passwords. After all, without a way to quickly and smoothly exchange money, how would a new economy be able to flourish online? Of course there ought to be a way to integrate digital cash into browsing and other activities. Of course.

Yet after almost three decades, that 402 error code is still “reserved for future use.” So I still have to ask: Where are my digital micropayments? Where are those frictionless, integrated ways of exchanging money online—cryptographically protected to allow commerce but not surveillance?

Bottom of the Page

A red flag always goes off in my head whenever I read or hear someone refers to an old program -- for example, a Mac game from the 1990s, or a desktop publication program from the 1980s -- as an app.

In my mind, the usage of the word 'app' to refer to an application on a computer platform has always been associated with iPhone-era smart phones. Even though, probably in all technical senses, the use of the word 'app' to describe Marathon or QuarkXpress is right, it simply doesn't gel with my idea of what an app is.

Although, if one is to use the word 'program' or 'application' to describe these apps -- will there be many people who do not understand what is being discussed here?

~

Thanks for reading.