When I was in Sixth Grade, my English teacher had our class memorize an Emily Dickinson poem, and somehow the whole thing is still in my brain all these years later. It begins: “There is no Frigate like a Book / To take us Lands away …” Perhaps I remember the words because I love to read books for pleasure; a good book really can transport you to a different place. And yet, I never seem to have time to do it, so thank goodness for audiobooks which allow me to fit in the time to read a book while I am doing something else. I mention this because I just finished an audiobook that I loved: All Souls Lost by Dan Moren. I link to Dan Moren’s tech stories frequently in these Friday posts—Dan is part of the Six Colors website (along with Jason Snell)—so it won’t surprise you that this book has a technology angle. But primarily, the book is a noir private eye tale set in our modern world except that the supernatural is real. Yes, that is a bizarre mashup, but it works well in this book, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. There is even quite a bit of humor in this book. As you think about your next book to read or listen to, I recommend that you give this one a try. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- The big solar eclipse is coming up in a few weeks on April 8, 2024. My son and I are planning to travel to Dallas to see the total eclipse. Phil Ryan of Wirecutter offers advice for taking a photograph of the eclipse, and he recommends getting an inexpensive camera filter for the iPhone called the Solar Snap Eclipse App Kit (Amazon link). I ordered one, and hopefully, it will be fun to use.
- Do not, I repeat, do not copy what iJustine is doing and wear an Apple Vision Pro in the pool.
- As I am thinking of ways to enhance my legal practice with an Apple Vision Pro, doctors are doing the same thing. Hiyah Zaidi of Metro reports that the device was used during a recent surgery in London. A scrub nurse wore a Vision Pro so that she could assist the surgeons and ensure that they were using the right tools. She told the reporter that the device was a “gamechanger” because it “eliminates human error. It eliminates the guesswork.” The app used by the nurse compared the surgery to similar procedures performed in the past by other surgeons, and as a result, it was like the nurse had tons of experience with the surgical procedure.
- Hugo Barra, former head of Oculus at Meta, knows what he is talking about when it comes to AR/VR headsets, so it is not surprising that he offers an interesting and in-depth analysis of the Apple Vision Pro. I disagree with some of what he says, but he definitely has a well-informed perspective.
- Speaking of Apple and health, Apple and others have been running a heart and movement study using the Apple Watch and, as reported by Laura Rosenberg of 9to5Mac, recently revealed which states in the U.S. exercise the most and the least. The best states for staying active are Massachusetts, New York, and Connecticut. The worst states are Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Mississippi. OK, I get the message Apple, and I’ll get back on my treadmill.
- If you are looking for a good show to watch on Apple TV+, this week I started watching Constellation and it is really good. The story starts on the International Space Station and then tells the story of an astronaut for whom some bizarre things start happening.
- I used to subscribe to HBO (now Max) through my TV service provider (DirecTV) because of a promotion that made the service free. But then Max removed the ability to watch shows in 4K, which defeated some of the purpose of my Apple TV 4K and my 4K television, so I started subscribing to the $20/month package directly through Max. Amy Skorheim reports that Max is currently running a big discount if you subscribe for a year instead of a month, and both new and some current customers can take advantage of it. I just did. With the discount, I’ll pay $140 for a year, which works out to less than $12 a month, a 40% discount off of the $20 per month that I had been paying. If you are also interested in HBO/Max, consider taking advantage of this deal while you can.
- If you want to watch some soccer games this weekend, Benjamin Mayo of 9to5Mac reports that all matches this weekend will be free—no MLS Season Pass required. There are fourteen games this weekend. Saturday’s match between D.C. United and Inter Miami should have been a good opportunity to see Lionel Messi in action, but I see that Michelle Kaufman of the Miami Herald is reporting that Messi may miss the game on Saturday due to a hamstring injury. Well, good news if you are a fan of D.C. United.
- William Gallagher of AppleInsider shares the tale of a man whose SUV in England was stolen after he left his keys on the dash (yikes!) but because there was an AirTag in it, the police were able to help him recover his car.
- And finally, Apple released a funny video last month called New Driver. I had intended to link to it here, but apparently, I forgot, and I didn’t realize the omission until Brett Burney mentioned it during last week’s episode of the In the News podcast. As someone with a daughter who will soon be getting her driver’s license, this one hits pretty close to home for me.