In a normal year, we would now be starting the second weekend of Jazz Fest in New Orleans, one of my favorite times of year in this city. The live music is varied and excellent, there is fantastic food, and there is an interesting art market. Of course, none of that can happen right now (although they are trying to do it this October instead). But in the meantime, the New Orleans radio station associated with Jazz Fest, WWOZ, is doing its second year of Jazz Festing in Place, in which they are playing recordings of some of the best live performances at Jazz Fest from 1970 to 2019. Artists include Dr. John, Henry Butler, Miles Davis, The Meters, Carole King, James, Taylor, Trombone Shorty, Richie Havens, Joe Cocker, Irma Thomas, Al Hirt, Kermit Ruggins, Willie Nelson, Allen Toussaint, and so many more. Click here for a PDF grid showing who is playing and when. Jazz Festing in Place started a week ago, but that doesn’t matter because WWOZ always offers a two-week archive, so you still have time to listen to any of it that you may have missed. Or if you want to listen to the main stream as it is happening, you can do so from the WWOZ website or the WWOZ iPhone app. If you are looking for something good to listen to this weekend, WWOZ has you covered. And now, the news of note from the past week.
- It is hard to believe it, but we are getting close to the end of the school year for many students. It’s been a school year in which mobile technology has been more important than ever — much like the last year of many law practices. Jade Cunningham of WWL reports on a viral video showing how students at Loyola Law School in New Orleans thanked their environmental law professor, Rob Verchick, for making it through this difficult year.
- Illinois attorney John Voorhees of MacStories reviews the latest version of 1Blocker, which adds a firewall feature to block even more obnoxious ads.
- Today, Apple has started to sell the 2021 version of the iPad Pro. After I wrote about this latest iPad, I heard from several of you who were upset that the Magic Keyboard for iPad wasn’t going to work with this newest iPad. Not to worry; Jason Snell of Six Colors reports that the previous version of the Magic Keyboard for iPad will work with the new iPad Pro, but it will be a snug fit — especially if you use a screen cover. The new version of the Magic Keyboard for iPad has slightly more space to accommodate for the slightly more thick new iPad Pro, but if you bought the prior version, it looks like your keyboard will still work with the new iPad Pro.
- If you ordered an AirTag when that product first went on sale last week, you should be getting Apple’s latest product at some point today. And starting today, you can also buy them on Amazon, either a single AirTag for $29, or a four-pack for $99. I ordered a four-pack.
- Harry McCracken of Fast Company reviewed the AirTag.
- Although the AirTag is not very expensive, if you feel the need to spend more on the product, Parker Ortolani of 9to5Mac discusses the $699 AirTag travel tag from Hermès. When you are using a travel tag that is more expensive than the suitcase to which it is attached, you won’t want to lose it. Good thing it works with AirTag.
- What might you want to track with an AirTag? Kirk McElhearn of Intego came up with a pretty good list of 23 items.
- In an article for Macworld, Snell discusses how it was that Apple made so much money in its most recent financial quarter. (Yesterday, I provided my report on that incredibly impressive quarter.)
- One of the new additions in iOS 14.5 that I did not mention earlier this week is that users can now report hazards, speed checks, accidents in Apple Maps, just like you can with other maps apps such as Waze. Michael Potuck of 9to5Mac describes the new features in Maps. I presume that when enough people report something, an alert will show up in the Maps app for other folks, but I haven’t seen this yet myself.
- Ed Hardy of Cult of Mac reviews the SanDisk 2-in-1 flash drive, which lets you transfer large files between an iPhone, computer, and iPad because it features both Lighting and USB-C.
- Juli Clover of MacRumors reports on a new HomeKit-compatible device called the Eve Energy Smart Plug, which can not only control a device (like a lamp) that it plugged in to it, but which also can act as a Thread router. A HomeKit mini can also act like a Thread router. My hope is that, in a few years, the cross-platform Thread standard will really take off, improving the capabilities of lots of different smart home products that you might use.
- Just in case you are curious, yes, there are Apple Watches in space right now.
- In an article for Macworld, Dan Moren speculates on some of the upcoming products that Apple may be working on.
- And finally, one of the features of iOS 14.5 that has been getting a lot of press is the App Tracking Transparency. Here is a video from Apple that explains how it works and why you may want to take advantage of it to protect your privacy.