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The Anxiety-Spiral Edition Tuesday, September 27, 2022

iPad Pro Is Revolutionizing How Archaeologists Preserve The Ancient History Of Pompeii, by Apple

Amid the tools used by archaeologists for centuries — trowels, buckets, brushes, and pickaxes — there’s a new piece of equipment: iPad Pro.

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This summer, Dr. Emmerson — whose work focuses on ancient Roman communities that have largely been excluded from study, such as women, the poor, and the enslaved — has made iPad Pro the center of her team’s workflow. She believes it will once again reshape the field, thanks to capabilities like enhanced processing speed and battery life, the LiDAR Scanner, and the versatility of Apple Pencil.

I Wore AirPods Pro 2 To A Loud Concert – And You Should Too, by Al Griffin, TechRadar

With Adaptive Transparency active, all sound above 85 dB is fully attenuated. At the show, this created a comfortable listening level that still retained bass power and allowed for treble details like shimmering cymbals, squealing guitars, and shrill crowd whistles to come through. There was an occasional sense of volume pumping – most likely the effect of Adaptive Transparency tracking the fast and frequent changes in level and dynamics that accompany a musical performance, but it wasn’t so bad that I was going to switch it off, or completely unplug.

Wait, Are You Guys Bringing Your Phones Into The Shower?, by Allison Johnson, The Verge

There’s one last place in my life where the alerts, texts, pings, and emails, emails, emails! can’t find me: the shower. It is a sacred space where I process information, brainstorm, and sometimes, as a treat, anxiety-spiral over something dumb I said 15 years ago. But it has come to my attention that some of you are violating the sanctity of Shower Thought Time by actually inviting your phones into the shower. When this came to my attention, I did some digging and discovered dozens — dozens! — of waterproof phone mounts designed for the shower. Truly, I am shocked. You guys are bringing your phones into the shower?

On App Stores

Outdated Vs. Complete, by Vivian Qu

And still, I was surprised to receive an App Review message. I hadn’t submitted a new update for WorldAnimals. The app was still working well, with zero crashes and a handful of new downloads every month. My boss had even shown me last week that he had downloaded my app on his phone for his daughter–we played the game together during a work meeting and laughed at the silly animal sounds. In my mind, there was no reason I should be receiving a vaguely threatening message from Apple’s App Review system.

Well, it turns out, Apple’s problem with my app was the fact that I wasn’t updating it.

Tim Cook in London

Apple Boss Tim Cook Makes First Visit To New London Battersea HQ, by Jonathan Prynn, London Evening Standard

Mr Cook, who is due to stay in London for several days, said: “Apple has been part of the London community for more than 40 years, and we’re thrilled to soon bring some of our teams together in the historic Battersea Power Station.

Apple Launches App Store Development Program Focusing On UK Women, by William Gallagher, AppleInsider

Tim Cook has launched a new UK-based App Store Foundations Program, saying it's part of addressing the lack of women in technology.

Tim Cook: 'No Good Excuse' For Lack Of Women In Tech, by Zoe Kleinman, BBC

"I think the the essence of technology and its effect on humanity depends upon women being at the table," Mr Cook says.

"Technology's a great thing that will accomplish many things, but unless you have diverse views at the table that are working on it, you don't wind up with great solutions."

Stuff

I Put The Apple Watch Ultra Through The Ultimate Endurance Test: Here's How It Held Up, by Matthew Miller, ZDNet

I was pretty nervous about taking my $800 Apple Watch Ultra out on this grueling Tough Mudder event, given all of the crawling, climbing, and other physical obstacles I had to tackle. To my surprise, it held up really well and I still cannot believe that the display is flawless. I tip my hat off to Apple for making a rugged device with premium materials that actually does hold up well under tough conditions.

iOS 16 Seems To Break Support For Cinematic Videos In iMovie And Final Cut Pro, by Filipe Espósito, 9to5Mac

As reported by users on the Apple Support forums and also on Reddit, Apple’s video editors iMovie and Final Cut Pro can no longer open Cinematic videos recorded with an iPhone running iOS 16. The reason behind the bug is unclear, but reports are consistent in pointing out that these apps show an error when users try to edit a Cinematic video.

iFixit Teardown Looks At The Guts Of The Apple Watch Ultra, by Alice Newcome-Beill, The Verge

iFixit’s breakdown exposed some vulnerabilities in the Apple Watch Ultra, not only in terms of its repairability but also its durability. The raised lip of the Ultra, which is intended to protect the screen, only really works against side-on impacts. As the video points out, any kind of head-on collision with the screen still risks a screen replacement.

Notes

Experts Say The iPhone 14’s Satellite Feature May Have A Dangerous Side Effect, by Sascha Brodsky, Digital Trends

“There will always be a group of novice or untrained outdoor recreation participants that will misplace their trust in the technology as a safety net that they really don’t understand,” Christopher Boyer, the executive director of the National Association for Search and Rescue, told Digital Trends in an interview. “There will also be others that abuse the technology out of ignorance, entitlement, or negative intent.”

Live Activity Guidelines, by Nick Heer, Pixel Envy

A Live Activity would be the perfect way for an app like Doordash to update users’ on a delivery’s progress. Based on the company’s abuse of push notifications, I could not see myself enabling it.

These Awesome Photos Of The Milky Way Were Taken On An iPhone 14 Pro, by Tim Hardwick, MacRumors

One iPhone 14 rumor that never panned out was some sort of astrophotography feature, but that hasn’t stopped users from showcasing just what the camera on iPhone 14 Pro models can do when pointed at the night sky.

Bottom of the Page

I do, occasionally, bring my iPhone into my shower just to listen to podcasts. I do keep a very small list of apps that are allowed to beeps and bloops into my notification center -- and that list is even smaller later in the night as my Focus mode kicks in. So far, I don't think I have been disturbed yet.

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Thanks for reading.