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The Data-Free Edition Saturday, October 17, 2020

Can Sleep Tracking In iOS 14/watchOS 7 Help You Sleep Better?, by Adam Engst, TidBITS

At best, it can help provide data that you can combine with further introspection to identify and change the well-known lifestyle factors that hamper sleep. At worst, it could cause additional stress about aspects of your body over which you have little direct control, like heart rate variability. You don’t want your sleep tracking technology to keep you up at night.

Personally, I’m going back to data-free sleeping. All the technology I need at night is 15 minutes of an audiobook when falling asleep and the occasional hour of middle-of-the-night reading to quiet the voices in my head.

An Apple Watch With Family Setup Is An Expensive Electronic Child Leash, by Dan Seifert, The Verge

For the past few weeks, I’ve strapped an Apple Watch SE to my eight-year-old child to see what the new Family Setup service is like to use in the real world (or at least as real of an experience as I can get in the middle of pandemic lockdown). Here’s what I’ve learned.

Thoughts And Observations On Apple’s ‘Hi, Speed’ iPhone 12 Event, by John Gruber, Daring Fireball

Our long national off-center Lighting port nightmare is over.

Stuff

(PRODUCT)RED Solo Loop, Braided Solo Loop Now Available, by Andrew O'Hara, AppleInsider

On top of Apple's iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPad Air sales, (PRODUCT)RED variants of the Apple Watch Solo Loop and Braided Solo Loop bands are now available to order.

Pixelmator 2.6 Review: Making Your iPad Feel More Like A MacBook, by Greg Pugh, iMore

Pixelmator, available from the App Store, is a full-featured photo editor for iOS that also allows you to sketch and paint your own artwork. Version 2.6 introduces 73 keyboard shortcuts that, when paired with the Magic Keyboard, closes the gap between editing photos on an iPad versus on a laptop.

GraphicConverter 11.3, by Agen Schmitz, TidBITS

Lemkesoft has released GraphicConverter 11.3, adding several new features and enhancements to the (German-made) Swiss Army knife of graphics programs.

5 Apps That Let Kids Make Their Own Story, by Simon Books, Moms

Whether your child is working on a school project or is simply interested in writing, you can find a suitable writing app. Book-making and writing apps are fun and easy to use.

Notes

MPs To Investigate Whether Artists Are Paid Fairly For Streaming Music, by mark Savage, BBC

DCMS committee chair Julian Knight MP said the growth of the streaming market "cannot come at the expense of talented and lesser-known artists".

The inquiry will begin in November, and is seeking evidence from industry experts, artists and record labels as well as streaming platforms themselves.

Steve Jobs Vs Me On My Bicycle, by Chris Hynes, Tech Reflect

I’ve heard stories of Steve remembering faces well. I know of at least one story of him recalling a face years later that he had only seen once. At the time this bicycle incident happened, I was wearing sunglasses and a helmet, so it seemed unlikely he’d remember my face the next time he saw me.

Bottom of the Page

I have a Podcast playlist just for podcasts that I find interesting enough to listen to, but not interesting enough that I'm okay to miss portions when I do manage to fall asleep while listening.

No, I'm not telling the names of these podcasts, so that I don't make anyone sad.

~

Thanks for reading.