MobileViews Blog

First, apologies for the audio quality (low volume) on my side of the discussion.

In this podcast, Jon Westfall and I discuss:

1. Microsoft BUILD: Linux GUI Apps Coming to Windows 10
2. Krita is a professional FREE and open source painting program. It is made by artists that want to see affordable art tools for everyone.: For Linux, MacOS, Windows
3. Still no notification about moving music from Google Play Music to YouTube Music. But, I was notified about moving this podcast to the new Google Podcast Manager
4. Jon’s been buying some Fitness gizmos and they will be arriving in the next few weeks. Let’s talk about what they are, and then over the next few weeks we’ll get reviews. Jon’s also been out walking these few days: Some thoughts on Apple Watch + Airpods (As you can see, something changed around May 12). Also means that I’m on track to pick up some Apple Activity “medals / badges” that I’ve never gotten – only took me over 5 years for a perfect week in exercise and perfect week closing all of my rings.

   Aura Strap – an apple watch band that includes a built-in sensor that measures bioimpedance analysis – fat/muscle and hydration. Syncs with Apple Health (a must for me). Mostly interested to see if it matches up with what my smart scale tells me. Ships in late June. $99
   Oura Ring – a smart ring that measures sleep quality, heart rate variability, and respiratory rate. Great for times when I’m not wearing my watch (sleeping) and could be a replacement for my wedding band (which is getting a bit loose). Pricey ($299), but if it gives me good sleep tracking and more info, might be worth it. Also helps me have another measure of things my Apple Watch tracks. Sizing kit comes this week, then I select my size and they ship out the ring the next day.
   Lumen – by far the craziest one – hack your metabolism by analyzing Co2 output. Claims that it will tell you what your body is running on that day – carbs or protein. Then gives nutritional guidelines for that day to help lose weight by eating what your body is processing. I’ve always noticed some strange things about my weight loss over the past 2 years and I’ve wondered if it’s due to differences in what I’m eating day to day. $299, ordered on Feb 17, arrives on Thursday.

5. Jon’s R tip of the week
   Cleaning up others mistakes: In a perfect world, data would always be in the way we need it, so dollar amounts would be “12.32” to mean $12.32. However when you let others enter data, sometimes they do annoying things with the best of intentions: “$ 12.32” or “12.32 USD” or “$12.32 USD” or “12 dollars” etc… However we can use the string manipulation commands in R to help us:

   y <- c("14.95","25.62","35.50"); sum(as.numeric(y)) z <- c("14.95 USD","25.62 USD","35.50 USD","103.52 USD"); sum(as.numeric(substr(z,1,(nchar(z)-4)))) b <- c("$14.95", "$25.62","$35.50") sum(as.numeric(substr(b,2,(nchar(b)))))

Available via Google Music Podcasts and Apple iTunes.

In this podcast Jon Westfall and I discuss:

1. iPad Pro 11-inch replaced. No more spontaneous shutdowns and reboots
2. Google Play Music going away. Forced to switch to YouTube Music. But, no sign of the “transfer button” on YouTube Music for iPadOS.
3. How much credence should I give to browser speed tests like Speedometer 2.0? I began wondering about this as I debate whether to buy the new Lenovo Chromebook Duet when it is available somewhere (other than in reviewers’ hands). AboutChromebook’s Kevin Tofel noted that he is not a fan of benchmarks. However, people always ask (like me). So, he provided a set of results from multiple tests and the Duet clocked in at 46.07. Being too lazy to run the full set myself, I choose Speedometer 2.0 as a representative test to compare against a couple of devices I have for testing. Note that results appear to vary because Kevin’s Speedometer 2.0 result for the Acer Chromebook Spin 13 was 104 while mine is 61.80. I checked and we have the same model (CPU, memory, etc.).
4. Jon’s Using his Apple Watch to its full potential.
5. iOS text messages & multiple devices – notifications problem
6. Still struggling with URL Schemes with Microsoft Office (why doesn’t ms-excel:// always open in office or Excel – WHY would it open Onedrive?!?)
7. Revisiting the Microsoft Whiteboard app
8. Microsoft Office app for iOS and Android
9. Jon’s Struggle to use a Apple 27’’ Cinema Display (2010, not thunderbolt, Mini-Displayport) with USB C. Cost of my desired refresh.
10. Jon’s R tip
    Web Scraping with rvest package – example code below. Basically if you can read HTML and understand CSS classes, you can find information and download it.

    install.packages(“rvest”);
    library(“rvest”);
    addr <- "https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?s=MS&pg=2&id=175616" page <- read_html(addr); nodes <- html_nodes(page,".tabular td"); totfaculty <- html_text(nodes)[2] paste("The total number of faculty are",totfaculty); What about pages that use Javascript to pull in the data though? Well then… PhantomJS browser! Chapter 9 in my book shows that.

11. App Tip of the Week: Garageband How-To Videos.iSongs’ version of Gangstas’ paradise
    iPianoDude

Available via Google Music Podcasts and Apple iTunes.

In this podcast we discuss:

1. RIP Ricky Li.
   MobileViews podcasts 216, 217, 232, 237 (the post missile crisis cast), 256, 277, 281
   MIni-podcast 30 – recorded with Paul Lawler in person sitting around an outdoor table during lunch
2. iPad Pro 11-inch 2020 frequent spontaneous shutdowns and restarts
3. Old news that was news to me: Autodesk Sketchbook full edition became free two years ago! This includes desktop and mobile views. Ref: All3DP.com
4. After 16 years, Inkscape 1.0 was released on May 4. Introducing Inkscape 1.0. Open Source vector graphics for Linux, MacOS, and Windows.
5. How to Scan and Import Text Into Google Chrome With Google Lens
6. Jon signed up for Apple Arcade. Seems worth it for $4.99 a month with family sharing. Mini Motorways is awesomely addicting (Mini Metro was the developer’s first game, also awesome and very similar, and a 1 time purchase no ads).
7. Tip from Jon’s Practical R 4 book
   The Input Method – reminds me of SAS’ cards command:

   OurData = (”
   Student Pretest Posttest
   A 25 27
   B 23 23
   C 21 22
   D 23 29
   E 23 24
   F 21 19
   “)
   Data = read.table(textConnection(OurData),header=T)

8. Installed R & R Studio on my Chromebook. Excellent step-by-step by Francis L. Huang

Available via Google Music Podcasts and Apple iTunes.

Happy 5th birthday to the Apple Watch (April 24, 2015). Jon can talk a little bit about how it feels to have had one for 5 years now! Listened to some of Mobileviews 115 when I gave my first impressions. (Mobileviews 111 is when we first discussed it after it had been announced; Mobileviews 95 also included some Apple Watch news in Sept 2014)

Microsoft Word now flags double spaces as errors, ending the great space debate

Are You Charging Your MacBook on the Wrong Side?

Fintie Ultrathin 4mm Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard with Built-in Multi-Touch Touchpad: Using one with an iPad Pro running iPadOS 13.4.

Jon just finished a new book titled: Practical R 4. Look for it to be available this summer!

Available via Google Music Podcasts and Apple iTunes.

In this podcast, Jon Westfall and I discuss mostly about Apple products and services.

1. Apple TV+ widens free access as Disney+ passes 50 million subscribers

   Apple TV+ offering 8 free series. Does anyone care? I am still in my free year period and haven’t found anything compelling to watch.

   “To lure these prospective viewers, Apple is widening access to three adult dramas (For All Mankind, Little America, Servant) and four kid- or teen-friendly shows (Dickinson, Ghostwriter, Helpsters, Snoopy in Space), plus The Elephant Queen documentary.”

2. Modern Family – all seasons for $100 from Apple

   iPad launch in 2010

   Modern Family Episodes with technology: Season 1, Episode 19: Game Changer (The iPad launch). Season 6, Episode 16: Connection Lost (episode that is based on a macbook), shot with iPhones/iPads

3. What does the iPhone’s “Set Up for an Alternate Appearance” do? It does not allow for Face ID with a facemask on.

   Macrumors said: With iOS 12, you can add a second face to Face ID, which is useful if you have a job where your face dramatically changes, such as with a surgeon’s mask or protective goggles.
   However, that didn’t work for me. And, you can see from the screenshot here that iOS’s Face ID does not allow facial “obstructions.”

4. Jon’s ordered parts to bring his Apple 27’’ Cinema Displays into the modern world – they connect over MiniDisplay port, so a MiniDP – HDMI output, a USB C hub with passthrough charging, and a charger. Point would be to eventually support a new Macbook, but before that, interested to try it with the iPad Pro. Also raises an interesting question – would I benefit from simplifying my life down to 1 laptop that I took everywhere, plugging it into 1 port at each of my 3 primary workspaces?

Available via Google Music Podcasts and Apple iTunes.

Todd Ogasawara and Jon Westfall discuss:Microsoft 365 rebranding from Office 365 on April 21; Microsoft Teams for Home; Microsoft Editor, Grammarly like service available; and Jon’s broken AirPod Pro adventure.

1. Microsoft 365 rebranding from Office 365 on April 21 – dumb idea. Ref The Verge
2. Microsoft Teams for Home in Office 365
   Introducing a free version of Microsoft Teams
3. Microsoft Editor
   Introducing Microsoft Editor – Bring out your best writer wherever you write
4. Jon had an Airpod speaker go bad this week (Right ear, high-end). Apple Warranty covered it – 24 hour turn around time on both to me, and back to Apple).
5. 2020 iPad Pro 11 spontaneously rebooting now and then

Available via Google Music Podcasts and Apple iTunes.