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MacOS Sierra PDF Problems Get Worse in 10.12.2

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Adam Engst, writing for TidBITS:

It pains me to say this, speaking as the co-author of “Take Control of Preview”, but I have to recommend that Sierra users avoid using Preview to edit PDF documents until Apple fixes these bugs. If editing a PDF in Preview in unavoidable, be sure to work only on a copy of the file and retain the original in case editing introduces corruption of any sort. Smile’s PDFpen is the obvious alternative for PDF manipulation of all sorts (and for documentation, we have “Take Control of PDFpen 8” too), although Adobe’s Acrobat DC is also an option, albeit an expensive one.

What went wrong? Engst quotes developer Christian Grunenberg:

Apple wants to use a common foundation for both iOS and macOS. However, it was released way too early, and for the first time (at least in my experience) Apple deprecated several features without caring about compatibility. And to make things worse, lots of former features are now broken or not implemented at all, meaning that we had to add lots of workarounds or implement stuff on our own. And there’s still work left to be done.

In other words, parity with iOS took priority.

On the bright side, when this happened with the iWork suite, the Mac apps eventually gained back most of the functionality that was removed for parity with iOS. But it sure seems like Apple pulled the trigger on this at least a year before it was ready.

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habeebhashim
2892 days ago
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iWorks on Mac gained most of the features back? Since when? Still a damn pain to use Numbers with subtotals etc.
here and there...
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sirshannon
2890 days ago
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"it was released way too early, and for the first time (at least in my experience) Apple deprecated several features without caring about compatibility. And to make things worse, lots of former features are now broken or not implemented at all, meaning that we had to add lots of workarounds or implement stuff on our own. And there’s still work left to be done." I am a Mac noob but have some experience with Apple products. Windows iTunes in 2004 (2003?), iPhone from 2007 on, and Mac from 2012 on. This sounds like every new Apple software product and most major Apple software upgrades.

Jacob Kastrenakes Reviews the MacBook Pro With Touch Bar

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Jacob Kastrenakes, writing for The Verge:

I know a lot of people are concerned about how shallow the new keyboard’s keys are — I was, too; I’m pretty picky about keyboards — but this keyboard isn’t a problem at all. I don’t even mean that in an “it’s an acceptable compromise for the size” kind of way; this is simply a great keyboard with nice, clicky keys. I didn’t need to adjust to it at all, and in the moments I’ve gone back to type on my old Pro, I’ve found myself missing the new one. (The keyboard is also much improved from the similar one introduced on the 12-inch MacBook last year.)

After reading a slew of these reviews, Kastrenakes seems to be a bit of an outlier in terms of just how much he likes the keyboard. But the consensus seems to be “I don’t like it as much as the old MacBook Pro keyboard, but it’s not bad”.

I’m hearing from friends and DF readers who’ve already gotten theirs that they do think the keyboard is too loud. And one friend who thinks the clicking sounds “cheap”. Obviously a lot of subjectiveness involved.

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habeebhashim
2940 days ago
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I used a 2012 15" rMBP till two weeks ago and sold it expecting to buy new hardware. I'm currently using a 2009 13" alu. MBP because none of the new hardware or price is appealing. Going back to the 2009 keyboard after all these years... I can tell you... the amount of travel in the keys are brilliant! If after using this, my much loved 2012 rMBP keys felt shallow... I shudder to think what the new 2016 keys will feel like
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aleksaxyz
2939 days ago
I enjoyed the keys of the 2015 MB, so the improvements made by the Butterfly 2.0 should feel even better. But of course it's subjective!
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Reaction to the ‘New’ 13-Inch MacBook Pro

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MacRumors forum member, in the first comment after the announcement of new MacBook Pros:

Well, I’m sure I’ll be attacked for this, but I’m gonna say it anyway:

Tiny harddrive, barely enough RAM (and not upgradable to the “enough” level), no dedicated graphics, only dual-core processors. It certainly isn’t bad, but Apple just took the “pro” out of the 13-inch line. And come on - it’s freaking expensive. […]

The 13” is NOT a pro device in my opinion. It’s more like a beefed-up and slightly heavier MacBook Air. For that, it just costs way too much.

This isn’t a new comment. This was posted 4 years ago, in response to the last major MacBook Pro redesign. Déjà vu. (Via.)

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habeebhashim
2948 days ago
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Well played Gruber. He got me there. But fact is, I'm typing this on a 2009 13" MBP after selling my 2012 15" rMBP (in anticipation of new MBPs). Reason why I didn't get the 13" rMBP then was for all the reasons the comments made. So for the same reasons, I'd rather use a 7 yr old MBP instead of the newer models. In two years, maybe I'll be looking at the Razer or XPS or Spectre instead.
here and there...
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Samsung Acquires Viv, a Next-Gen AI Assistant Built by Creators of Apple’s Siri

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Matthew Panzarino, reporting for TechCrunch:

Samsung has agreed to acquire Viv, an AI and assistant system co-founded by Dag Kittlaus, Adam Cheyer and Chris Brigham — who created Siri, which was acquired by Apple in 2010. The three left Apple in the years after the acquisition and founded Viv in 2012. Pricing information was not available, but we’ll check around.

Viv has been billed as a more extensible, powerful version of Siri.

Viv will continue to operate as an independent company that will provide serves to Samsung and its platforms.

Huge score for Samsung. Does anyone disagree that AI assistant technology is table stakes for the next decade?

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habeebhashim
2980 days ago
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@ laza - I've tried it a few times on my iMac at home. Mostly to look for files or search the web for images. Worked well enough for that. But nothing that a CMD-space couldn't have handled. But at work, sitting on my rMBP... no way can I use Siri. I'd look silly talking to my computer when the monotony of the office is broken by my voice
here and there...
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duerig
2981 days ago
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I disagree. I suppose that some people might find them useful rather than as gimmicks. But give me a good interface any day over a return to a command line interface that lacks consistency, man pages, and a -h flag.
2981 days ago
This times a thousand. These stupid AI assistant things are (so far at least) absolutely a gimmick and nearly worthless in real life.
skivvie
2981 days ago
Right now... yes. In 10 years, they will have been the first steps towards AI that will actually work. The big players are shuffling hard to get there first.
2981 days ago
If you believe in AI that will actually work... sure.
laza
2981 days ago
I have not yet tried Siri in macOS Sierra
duerig
2980 days ago
I think part of the problem comes down to the slippery nature of AI. Siri and the other voice assistants seem closer to AI because they are like useful chatbots. But there have been a lot of AI successes in fields that are no longer considered AI. Search, image processing, voice recognition, OCR, and many others. Sometimes I think that AI is just a catchall term for 'unsolved problems'.

Safari 10 Will No Longer Load Legacy Plugins By Default

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Ricky Mondello, on the WebKit blog:

By default, Safari no longer tells websites that common plug-ins are installed. It does this by not including information about Flash, Java, Silverlight, and QuickTime in navigator.plugins and navigator.mimeTypes. This convinces websites with both plug-in and HTML5-based media implementations to use their HTML5 implementation.

Of these plug-ins, the most widely-used is Flash. Most websites that detect that Flash isn’t available, but don’t have an HTML5 fallback, display a “Flash isn’t installed” message with a link to download Flash from Adobe. If a user clicks on one of those links, Safari will inform them that the plug-in is already installed and offer to activate it just one time or every time the website is visited. The default option is to activate it only once. We have similar handling for the other common plug-ins.

The worst is when a site that could serve you HTML5 media content instead sends you the Flash version, just because you have Flash installed. This should fix that problem for Safari users.

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habeebhashim
3093 days ago
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This is true of BBC. Their videos play with no issues on any iOS device... but with OSX, it throws up a install flash dialogue. The very same video will play correctly if I change the user agent to Safari/iOS.
here and there...
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satadru
3090 days ago
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Excellent.
New York, NY

Sundar Pichai on the Apple/FBI Encryption Fight

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Sundar Pichai, in a series of tweets:

Important post by @tim_cook. Forcing companies to enable hacking could compromise users’ privacy.

Could?

We know that law enforcement and intelligence agencies face significant challenges in protecting the public against crime and terrorism.

We build secure products to keep your information safe and we give law enforcement access to data based on valid legal orders.

But that’s wholly different than requiring companies to enable hacking of customer devices & data. Could be a troubling precedent.

Could be?

Looking forward to a thoughtful and open discussion on this important issue.

Could Pichai’s response be any more lukewarm? He’s not really taking a stand, and the things he’s posing as questions aren’t actually in question. I’m glad he chimed in at all, and that he seems to be leaning toward Apple’s side, but this could be a lot stronger.

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habeebhashim
3212 days ago
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again "could"? Maybe Gruber should have written "Pichai's response should be a lot stronger" :P
here and there...
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peelman
3209 days ago
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This guy said it best:

"congrats @sundarpichai. in true google fashion, google's ceo saw what apple produced and replied with an uninspired, shittier version of it"


http://twitter.com/fart/status/700130890412756992
Seymour, Indiana
MotherHydra
3206 days ago
Excellent response ha!
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