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The In-The-Zone Edition Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Hands-On With Sound Therapy On Apple Music, by Devon Dundee, MacStories

The aspect of Sound Therapy that I found most convincing, though, was the section dedicated to focus. I really didn’t think I’d listen to much of it because I get so easily distracted by music while I work, but I queued up a selection of songs, hit play, and got to work. To my surprise, I didn’t find my attention being pulled away by what I was hearing. I was actually able to focus on the work I was doing and enjoy some nice music at the same time. I can’t say for sure that it was any particular frequency or rhythm that did it, but it felt like the songs actually were helping me stay in the zone. That’s an experience I’ve never had before.

Governments Continue Losing Efforts To Gain Backdoor Access To Secure Communications, by Richard Forno, The Conversation

From a cybersecurity perspective, it is nearly impossible to create a backdoor to a communications product that is only accessible for certain purposes or under certain conditions. If a passageway exists, it’s only a matter of time before it is exploited for nefarious purposes. In other words, creating what is essentially a software vulnerability to help the good guys will inevitably end up helping the bad guys, too.

Often overlooked in this debate is that if encryption is weakened to improve surveillance for governmental purposes, it will drive criminals and terrorists further underground. Using different or homegrown technologies, they will still be able to exchange information in ways that governments can’t readily access. But everyone else’s digital security will be needlessly diminished.

Stuff

Apple Sports App Updated With Improved Access To Standings And NHL Goal Scorers, New Sports Newsletter, by Eric Slivka, MacRumors

Apple today updated its Apple Sports app with several tweaks to improve the user experience, including at-a-glance standings on league pages, highlighting of goal scorers at the top of NHL game pages, and support for the upcoming Relegation Playoff in the German Bundesliga.

How I Combat Motion Sickness With My iPhone - And You Can Too, by Lance Whitney, ZDNet

Your results may vary. But if you experience motion sickness the way I do, this is one feature that's certainly worth a try.

HoudahGeo 7.0.4, by Agen Schmitz, TidBITS

With a refreshed, modern user interface, HoudahGeo 7 now enables you to geotag videos as well as photos.

If You're An Ableton Live User, SoundFlow Could Save You Hours Of Time By Replacing Complex Workflows With The Touch Of A Button, by Matt Mullen, MusicRadar

A workflow automation platform for DAWs and music software, SoundFlow is already available for programs such as Pro Tools, Logic Pro and Sibelius, and has just launched a public beta version of its Ableton Live integration.

You Can Now Purchase Audiobooks In Spotify’s iOS App, by Marcus Mendes, 9to5Mac

Starting today, U.S. iOS users can purchase individual audiobooks and Spotify subscriptions directly from within the app using external payment links.

Notes

Judge Pressures Apple To Approve Fortnite Or Return To Court, by Sarah Perez, TechCrunch

Reading between the lines, the demand for the name of the Apple official in the new filing suggests that Gonzalez Rogers is not above considering contempt charges for failing to comply with the court’s injunction.

Bottom of the Page

I'm pretty sure I am not the only one who wishes my iPhone and/or earphones can detect when I've fallen asleep and stop the audio. So far, I've discovred just one podcast player app that makes it super-easy to fall asleep with. (One of the settings to always assume I want to pause the audio after a specific number of minutes during specific hours in the middle of the night.) I don't want to set a timer to fall asleep every time I press the play button.

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Thanks for reading.