A spy pixel is embedded into the newsletter that the receiver of the email can’t see. Most email apps can’t see a spy pixel either. This little spy pixel sends information back to MailChimp or ConstantContact.

During WWDC2021 Apple announced Mail Privacy Protection that basically kills spy pixels. According to Apple:

Mail Privacy Protection works by hiding your IP address and loading remote content privately in the background, even when you don’t open the message. This makes it harder for senders to follow your Mail activity.

Most Apple Mail users should opt in to protect themselves against snooping. I will be opting into Mail Privacy Protection as soon as it becomes available on my iPhone and Mac this fall.

With the changes we’ve made to the Siri Remote — including making it a bit thicker so it won’t fall in your couch cushions as much — that need to have all these other network devices find it seems a little bit lower.

This is the answer Twerdahl gave as to why the new “a bit thicker” Siri Remote can’t be found using Apple’s AirTag and its Find My app. Some people.

Let’s parse what Twerdahl said. A device that is a little thicker will not fall in your couch cushions as much. That is true. If the previous slightly thinner Siri Remote fell into your couch cushion 100 times in 2020, the new thicker Siri Remote will fall into your couch cushion less often; I’d say… 99 times in 2021? Technically, what Twerdahl is saying is probably true.

Let’s move from the world of pure logic (maybe Twerdahl is an A.I.?) to the world of real people. There are some of us that are very good at and very consistent at putting things back where they belong. I’d like to think I’m one of those people. And, there are people who are not very good at putting things back where they belong. Sometimes they put the remote control back and sometimes they don’t. Then there are people who, shall I say, suck at putting things back where they belong. They are always, I mean always, searching for things. Their car keys. Their smartphones. Their eyeglasses. Their wallets. Their remote controls. Pretty much everything that’s small enough to take with you and put down somewhere, anywhere.

일 The first group of people: “What? Why would you need an AirTag on your Siri Remote???” Sometimes, not always, people in the first group are kind of… limited in their ability to empathize with others who are not exactly like them. But they are good at putting things back where they belong and I appreciate them. Their environments are tidy, clean, organized; you can actually find things, like Siri Remotes.

이 The second group of people: “AirTags. That would’ve been nice on the Siri Remote.” Yeah, this group is the chill group. Doesn’t really care much. They don’t mind looking for the Siri Remote from time to time. They don’t mind not watching whatever they originally wanted to watch. And if they did end up finding the Siri Remote, they’d be cool watching what they originally wanted to watch. They sometimes put things back, and that’s cool too. Everything’s cool. No big deal.

삼 The third group of people: “Apple is so stupid! No AirTags in the Siri Remote?!? What were they thinking!” The Siri Remote is always being swallowed up by couch cushions. This group is always hunting for the Siri Remote. Always. But I’m gonna guess this group is just as often searching for their iPhones. So, even if the Siri Remote had AirTag, they would first need to find their iPhones. “DID ANYONE SEE MY IPHONE???” “Now where did I put my iPhone…” Walking around with their heads scanning everything (think submarine periscope). But that’s not that hard to find iPhones if you have a Mac: launch the Find My app, click on the Devices tab, click on your iPhone, and then Play Sound. There you go. (But this won’t work, if for some reason you forgot your iCloud password and have not been able to log into your iCloud account on your Mac or your iPhone.) After the iPhone is found, an AirTag-equipped Siri Remote can be found. But no, the new Siri Remote doesn’t have AirTag. And thus the uproar. First. World. Problems.

I think it would have been smart for Apple to have included AirTag-capability into the new Siri Remote. People don’t always (meaning 100%) put remotes back where they belong, not even people from the first group, because people are not robots. (Twerdahl? Maybe? Who knows.) Yeah, that would probably eat up some battery. Make it more expensive. Heavier. But even if the new Siri Remote was even more thick, heavier, more expensive I think the benefits would have outweighed the cons.

The simple conclusion: Apple blew it.

Again, first world problems. It’s not the end of the world. Apple probably has been designing the next Siri Remote for several months, with AirTag technology. Might come out next year or the next (or way later), but it’s probably coming. But until then, try to put things back where they belong. But if the couch cushion monster attacks and swallows up your new Siri Remote, chill. Go read a good book.

I needed a neater way to charge an iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods. So when I saw that Studio Neat was having a sale for its Material Dock with Wireless (Qi) + Watch + Lightning for $40 from its original price of $95, I jumped on it. It arrived today.

Let’s just get down to the bottom line: there are three compromises you need to be comfortable with. If you’re okay with them, it’s a pretty good deal at $40.

1 The wireless portion of the Material Dock has a micro USB connector. And the micro USB cable is not thick enough to stay put in the grooves underneath. I think a little more thought should have been gone into matching the thickness of the grooves to the cable. Qi-certified, yes, but at just 7.5W¹. It works, but you’ll be waiting a while to charge your iPhone. And it has to be positioned just so. Not a deal-breaker, but still, it’s 2021. Let’s get to USB-C already, and have an additional coil or two so you’re not fiddling to perfectly positioning your iPhone. By the way, the iPhone is a 2020 SE with a Spigen case.

2 The support cork that supports the AirPods case is, well, made of cork. You have to screw that in with, er, screws. Screws and cork don’t go well together. The female bits in the cork that take the screws don’t have enough bite so they just rotate with the screws. I tried a few times, but I gave up. The AirPods case doesn’t have support, but I think it looks cleaner that way. You’ll definitely want the support if you’re intending to charge another iPhone. (Don’t get this if that’s what you want to do. Full stop.) I don’t think these guys tested this cork & screw combo all that much. If they did, they would have known it should have been made of wood, not cork. I’m afraid that one day, a sharp tap to the AirPods case might mess up the Lightning cable. Guess I’ll need to be extra careful. Speaking of which, the Lightning cable has to be bent quite a bit to get the cable installed underneath. Again, not a deal-breaker, but just something I didn’t want to have had to deal with or compromise on.

3 The cork that holds the Apple Watch charging puck is, let’s just say, not quite symmetric. Mine tilts to the right a bit. No, it’s not a deal-breaker. But it kind of messes up the neat look. And there are three white cables coming out the back. Guess I’ll need to get some kind of cable sleeve to tidy ’em up a little neater.

It’s not all bad. The wood seems to be of decent quality (a little on the light side: moves around a little even on a glass top). All three of my Apple gadgets can be charged in one neat spot. I like the wood, the cork, the felt. All natural materials. And at $40 these compromises might be worth it for you.

The whole point of getting the Material Dock was to tidy up my desktop. It did accomplish that, but it’s not the sleek experience I expected from the neat marketing photos on the website. But there isn’t a whole lot of options to neatly charge all three devices without adding more plastic to your environment. Nomad’s Base Station looks good (it’s aluminum/wood and leather), but it’s $150, and I’ll need to buy the wirelessly charging case for the AirPods to make it work. That’s a bit rich for me. Am I comfortable with these compromises? Would I buy the Material Dock (with Wireless (Qi) + Watch + Lightning) again? Mmm… maybe, for $40.

¹. Qi wireless charging up to 7.5W is standard for iPhone 11 Pro, 11, XS Max, XS, XR, X, 8 Plus, 8, SE (2020), and iPhone 12 mini, 12, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max. With MagSafe 12-series iPhones can be wirelessly charged up to 15W. So it is slow, but that’s normal.

Apple Support called right away, but of course, because the number was not a registered number it went straight to voicemail. That’s what happens when we try to use “smart” technology to thwart immoral human beings and their robots from spamming us with incessant calls day and night about some auto warranty that’s about to expire. Apple Support said they’d call in another 10-15 minutes. In the meantime I added the 800 number to my contact list. I’m expecting the call will be from another 800 number and it will go straight to voicemail. But maybe I’ll get lucky.

Nope, no luck. They called from another 800 number so it went straight to voicemail. And they said, “This was our last attempt.” Oh well. There are two options going forward. One, always disconnect the power cable when I want to have a phone conversation. Two, get rid of the iPhone SE 2020, on CL or upgrade. I’m leaning toward option #2.

PS: The iPhone SE 2020 also makes this weird popping sound once in a while.

Do you really want to support these services? Do you really want these types of services to grow more powerful in our world? Do you really want our next generations to be glued to their screens, scrolling endlessly through garbage data laced with garbage advertisements?

Let me give you some alternatives. I was looking through some children’s books and found some gems (these links are not affiliate links; these links are clean). Even if you’re not a child, you can still enjoy these marvelous books:

• Mary Poppins by Dr. P. L. Travers: Hardcover, beautiful illustrations.
• Stuart Little by E. B White: Hardcover
• Charlotte’s Web by E. B White: Hardcover
• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Other Stories by Lewis Carroll: Leather bound with illustrations.
• The Little House Books by Laura Ingalls Wilder: Hardcover, complete set.
• Anne of Green Gables Collection by L. M. Montgomery: Hardcover, six books box set.

Instead of mindlessly rummaging through Facebook or Instagram, pick up a book, a good book, a good quality book, and fill your mind with wonder, imagination, and goodness.

PS: Sometimes I get confused between mini LED and micro LED. And whether or not to use uppercase Mini for Mini LED and Micro for Micro LED, and whether or not to put micro and LED together like MicroLED. These things can be so complicated. Anyway, I’m sticking to mini LED and micro LED: lower case and separate.

PPS: The difference between the two is that mini LED is just smaller LEDs that go behind a LCD. Think more local dimming areas. micro LED has nothing to do with LCD and is like OLED, but lasts a whole lot longer.

[ Ford ] Filson teamed up with Ford to create a custom Ford Bronco — the Bronco + Filson Wildland Fire Rig concept — to celebrate wildland firefighters and support the National Forest Foundation. The Bronco + Filson Wildland Fire Rig concept combines firefighting equipment with Filson-crafted rugged materials. Ford and Bronco Wild Fund will donate two Broncos outfitted with firefighting equipment to help wildland fire personnel protect our communities and natural resources.

Check out Filson’s merch (Filson affiliate link) to go along with the Bronco.