I prepared a few simple WWDC-themed wallpapers for 2020, based on the assets Apple is using this year. Every wallpaper is in 6K and is Pro Display XDR Ready™️. Feel free to convert them to JPG is you’d like smaller files — they’re around 33 MB each.
News
The 2020 Porsche 718 Boxster Spyder and 718 Cayman GT4 [gallery & wallpapers]
420 PS. 4.4 seconds 0-100 km/h and 9 seconds 0-160 km/h. 304 km/h top speed. Manual gearbox. Speed is expensive, how fast can you afford to go?
May the 4th Be With You
Star Wars has been a part of my life for over 30 years and there are some characters I always loved more than others. Chewbacca was one of them. Tragically, Peter Mayhew passed away a few days ago…
The family of Peter Mayhew, with deep love and sadness, regrets to share the news that Peter has passed away. He left us the evening of April 30, 2019 with his family by his side in his North Texas home. pic.twitter.com/YZ5VLyuK0u
— Peter Mayhew (@TheWookieeRoars) May 2, 2019
Star Wars wouldn’t have been the same without him.
@gruber because we all agree pic.twitter.com/szdx2dHB7W
— Kev Hamm (@kevhamm) May 4, 2019
But he should have gotten that damned medal though.
Six Years
I’ve slowed down in the past year or so. I will need to rectify this. In the meantime, six years have passed since my first post here on Infinite Diaries.
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Apple to 2019 WWDC June 3-7 in San Jose →
Apple:
Apple today announced it will host its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose from June 3 through June 7 at the McEnery Convention Center.
Apple Pay Launches in Poland
Apple Pay officially launched in Poland this morning, around 3 hours ago. Eight banks are supporting it already — Alior Bank, BGŻ BNP Paribas, BZ WBK, Getin, mBank, Nest Bank, Pekao, Raiffeisen Polbank, and T-Mobile Banking Services — with PKO BP joining them in the near future.
There still appear to be some bugs to iron out, since Apple Pay Cash shows up in Apple’s Wallet in Poland, but since it requires a US social security number, it’s not possible to activate. Apple’s website needs an update too — Poland is not yet officially on the support page listing available banks.
Update
PKO BP just confirmed that they’ll support Apple Pay in Q3 2018, which isn’t as “near in the future” as I expected.
HomePod Now Available in Canada, France, and Germany
You can now buy the HomePod in:
- Canada [Apple Store]
- France [Apple Store]
- Germany [Apple Store]
I’m tempted to get one more for my living room…
2018 Apple Design Awards Winners
WWDC wouldn’t be the same without the Apple Design Awards and they’re back this year with some great finalists:
- Agenda — A new take on notes — Mac — free
- BANDIMAL — iOS — $3.99
- Calzy — Mac / iOS — $1.99
- iTranslate Converse — iPhone — free
- Triton Sponge — iPad — free
- Florence — iOS — $2.99
- Playdead’s INSIDE — iOS / Apple TV — free
- Alto’s Odyssey — iOS / Apple TV — $4.99
- Frost — iOS — $4.99
- Oddmar — iOS — $4.99
I especially recommend getting Alto’s Odyssey if you haven’t played it yet — it’s an aural and visual masterpiece.
The Talk Show Live From WWDC 2018 with Greg Joswiak and Mike Rockwell
This is one of the high points of WWDC for me – Gruber’s Talk Show Live. Greg Joswiak (VP of Marketing) and Mike Rockwell (VP of AR/VR Engineering) join John on stage to talk about the stuff announced by Apple.
Watch the whole thing — it’s definitely worth it (the show starts around the 21:30 mark).
My Pride Edition Woven Nylon Band Just Arrived!
My 42 mm Pride Edition woven nylon band arrived today. Naturally I immediately attached it to my Space Black Series 0 Apple Watch and I love it!
See more photos after the break →
macOS Mojave Wallpaper Download Links
Apple demoed macOS Mojave at the WWDC 2018 keynote yesterday and the new wallpapers are — as usual — fantastic. There are two this time, displaying a sand dune in the Mojave desert at two different points in time.
1Blocker X for iOS — New App, More Rules
The guys behind 1Blocker for iOS and macOS are launching 1Blocker X tomorrow, with support for many more rules by combining several content blockers into one app — this rewrite took them 6 months, which is why I completely understand their need to make back their investment. Salavat Khanov wrote up all the new features of 1Blocker X on their blog — it’s an interesting read — and now that I finally understand how it works under the hood, I’m upgrading tomorrow, when the app goes live. You can pre-order it today though…
5 Years
I started writing in English exactly five years ago, lest I forget all the words.
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All of Apple’s OSes Should Get Comprehensive Instruction Manuals
IOS TIP: Did you ever think: I’m glad my iPhone’s back to 80%, but I still want to keep it in Lower Power mode? Do a Force Touch on the notification: pic.twitter.com/teE1dtX7ft
— Greg Maletic (@gregmaletic) April 8, 2018
This is but one example of the hundreds, if not thousands, of hidden features inside iOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and Siri. There are so many of these right now, that I don’t know a single person who would be aware of all of them. I read one of my own tips, which I published a few years ago, and was amazed that something like that was possible, and that I did not remember it1.
P.S. If you’re on macOS and don’t know the following keyboard shortcuts, make sure to memorise them — they’re really useful:
Finder
⌘C — Copy Item
⌥⌘C — Copy Path to Item⌘V — Paste Item
⌥⌘V — Move Copied Item— Wojtek Pietrusiewicz (@morid1n) February 4, 2017
- I have since forgotten it again. ↩
Solo: A Star Wars Story Official Trailer
Han Solo is Harrison Ford. Harrison Ford is Han Solo. He is the character of the original Star Wars trilogy. I watched and rewatched the movies because of him and for him. I might have shed a tear or ten when he died in The Force Awakens. I truly hope this newest Star Wars Story doesn’t ruin him for me and I’m half-tempted to not watch it at all.
Fuck Cancer — A Very Special Message from Deadpool
Westworld Season 2 — Official Trailer
I can’t take the wait anymore! This has to be one of the best shows ever created.
Falcon Heavy Test Flight (Sending a Tesla Roadster Into Space)
Westworld — Season 2 Trailer
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom — Official Trailer No. 2
iMac Pro — Available for Order From 14/12/2017
I tweeted the following yesterday, thinking it would go the way of the HomePod and be delayed…
macOS High Sierra Has a Huge Vulnerability — Change Your Root Password ASAP
Lemi Orhan Erhin disclosed a huge vulnerability in macOS High Sierra yesterday, allowing anyone to log onto a Mac with root access.
Dear @AppleSupport, we noticed a *HUGE* security issue at MacOS High Sierra. Anyone can login as "root" with empty password after clicking on login button several times. Are you aware of it @Apple?
— Lemi Orhan Ergin (@lemiorhan) November 28, 2017
Please follow the instructions here to enable the root account and set its password to something complicated1, which you should safely save in 1Password (or whatever password manager you’re using).
- Please don’t use
passwordor123456. ↩
The 2017 Porsche 718 Cayman & Boxster GTS [gallery]
BBEdit 12 — It (Still) Doesn’t Suck®
Version 12 was released yesterday and Bare Bones Software published info on how to upgrade, depending on which version you’re on — you can find it here. It’s probably easiest to just upgrade when they ask you to — completely worth it in my opinion. They also published a complete change log:
BBEdit 12.0 contains many new features, enhancements, and refinements to existing features. It also includes fixes for reported issues. This document describes changes in BBEdit since the previous update (11.6.8).
BBEdit also has a wonderful manual which is totally worth reading. It’s probably the first software manual that I have read in my life.
Apple Special Event — 12 September 2017 →
What I expect:
- “iPhone 8/Pro/X/Edition”
- “iPhone 7S & 7S Plus”
- iOS 11, tvOS 11, macOS 10.13 High Sierra, watchOS 4
- Apple Watch Series 3 with LTE
- Apple TV 4K
- software (iTunes Next?)
September 12, 2017. 10:00 PDT / 17:00 GMT / 19:00 CET.
No More DISQUS Comments (And Typography Changes)
DISQUS have informed me that they will be introducing ads to their commenting system on my site in the following week or so, hence I have chosen to remove their service from Infinite Diaries. They do offer an ad-free experience, but I would have to pay for their pro tier, which makes no sense whatsoever in this case.
In the meantime, I have also modified the typography used on Infinite Diaries, settling on Lato and Noto Serif.
Update
You can additionally login via WordPress, Twitter, and Facebook to leave a comment.
Update 2
I turned Noto Serif off. It didn’t fit.
iPhone 8 Code Name and Image Found in Homepod Firmware
Steven did a little sleuthing over the weekend, poking around the HomePod firmware…
I can confirm reports that HomePod’s firmware reveals the existence of upcoming iPhone’s infra-red face unlock in BiometricKit and elsewhere pic.twitter.com/yLsgCx7OTZ
— Steve T-S (@stroughtonsmith) July 31, 2017
Pearl ID and BiometricKit found, but still no word whether the iPhone 8/Pro (or whatever else Apple will call it) will have Touch ID along facial recognition.
Me too. New bezel-less form factor as well pic.twitter.com/Y0RrSOk2OO
— Guilherme Rambo (@_inside) July 31, 2017
Guilherme Rambo also found an image representing the new iPhone, which Steven confirmed, along with its D22 code name.
Someone at Apple is going to have an angry phone call today…
Tesla Model 3 Photos and Specs
The Model 3, according to what Elon Musk said, will come in two variants. The standard model will cost $35,000, accelerate from 0 to 60 mph (0-96 km/h) in 5.6 seconds , and have a range of 220 miles (352 km). The long range model will be more expensive at $44,000, accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 5.1 seconds, and have a range of 310 miles (496 km). Still no word on the “D” models, with AWD.
A Look Inside the Tesla Model 3
A look inside Model 3 pic.twitter.com/hIhAZn4Sdj
— Tesla (@TeslaMotors) July 29, 2017
This is completely insane. On one hand, I love it. On the other… with all the other distractions that drivers have to face, this could potentially be a nightmare.
iPod Nano and Shuffle Removed from Apple.com
Sadly, the iPod Nano and Shuffle were both removed from Apple.com. The iPod brand still lives on, in the form of the iPod touch in 32 GB and 128 GB flavours. I kept hoping Apple would release an iPod Nano with Apple Music support in some form, even if it didn’t have a modem — it appears that those dreams won’t come true.