2023-03-27 MUGOO Zoom iMeeting

[AdminMan]

We still cannot have in-person meetings at the library, so the following Zoom details apply.

Date: Monday March 27, 2023
Time: 7:30 PM ET  You can join the Zoom meeting starting at 7:20.
Venue: A Zoom meeting that you can join on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

Although Zoom works in many browsers we STRONGLY recommend using the dedicated app on your device with the largest screen for the best experience.
You do NOT need a Zoom account to join a meeting!
If you need instructions, go here: https://mugoo.com/index.php/Main/UsingZOOM


Agenda:

0 - Group chin-wag during log on  7:20 - 7:30                                                                                         

1 - News and Views - interesting products/services that members
                                   recently bought or discovered                                                                 15 minutes

2 - I prefer my iPad Pro to my Mac - A journey                            with Lynda Matsumoto          30 minutes   

3  - "What the f***!!! -  I only touched the corner of my
      iPhone screen and now I'm dictating into Messages?" 
      New Features we've discovered accidentally                          round-table discussion           30 minutes                                 
 
4 - Presidential Sign Off                                                                with Wally Kuzmicz                25 seconds                                                                                                                     
         
Unfortunately, no after meeting wings or desserts at the Royal Oak, but feel free to prepare your own snacks and share them with us on screen!

Did you miss a meeting?
Sign up for emailed meeting notices! https://mugoo.com/index.php/Main/MeetingReminders

Don't forget the Ottawa Public Library!
Even though we are unable to meet in person at the library, the OPL still offers a wealth of services you can access online. Go to https://biblioottawalibrary.ca/en

[DavidR]

1 - News and Views - interesting products/services that members recently bought or discovered
Apple has just launched the Apple Music Classical app which provides enhanced searching capability and higher fidelity/spatial audio.  You can even compare every recording made of a particular piece.  The app requires iOS 15.4 or later and any Apple Music subscription. https://appleinsider.com/articles/23/03/09/apple-launches-apple-music-classical-app

Amazon will be shutting down DPReview, the trusted and comprehensive camera reviews website, as part of the layoffs  announced in January. https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/21/23650286/amazon-dpreview-camera-site-shutdown-layoffs.  As a friendly competitor alternative, Ross prefers Petapixel. https://petapixel.com

Both Ross and Laurence have received their Fjorden Grips.  David has one on order.  This product and associated app was launched as a Kickstarter project and gives you a better hold on your iPhone, as well as physical controls for shutter, zoom, and exposure, making it feel more like a DSLR camera.  It works with Moment lenses, which so far are among the best for iPhones. https://shop.fjorden.co/en-ca There will be a presentation on both the hardware and software at a future meeting.  The product is a good way there, but Ross feels that there are still some kinks to be ironed out.
                                                               
2 - I prefer my iPad Pro to my Mac - A journey with Lynda Matsumoto
Lynda has recently upgraded to an M2 chip iPad Pro, a big performance improvement over the fourth generation. It has a single Thunderbolt / USB 4 port with support for Charging, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 3, USB 4 and USB 3.1.

At the same time she is becoming a "MacGyver" in the Apple universe. MacGyver is a verb meaning "to make, form, or repair (something) with what is conveniently on hand."

Lynda has a large Cintiq monitor but prefers the flexibility and portability that she can get with the iPad Pro.  By means of a D-link hub she has been able to transform her iPad into a "desktop computer" with an old wired mouse and wired keyboard.  This can be moved to anywhere in the house and can also connect to the large Cintiq monitor and an associated sound system.  You can view Lynda's setup in her presentation https://mugoo.com/bigfiles/2023-03-27_Journey.pdf.

Lynda no longer uses PhotoShop and prefers ClipStudio Pro.  You can rent or purchase the software outright at a reasonable price.  Originally aimed at comic artists, it's great for illustrations with excellent layer capability and animation.

Lynda uses Apple Stage Manager to share the much larger Cintiq screen with her adjacent iPad screen, keeping some apps on one screen and the rest on the other.  She even uses this setup for Zoom meetings.

This may be the way that Apple is evolving ... from desktop computer to iPad Pro with accessories! 

3  - New Features we've discovered accidentally - round-table discussion
This was a roundtable discussion with various iOS and macOS features that you may have stumbled across by accident.  Here are some of the items that came up.

LeRoy has always been impressed by Apple Notes.  As a professional engineer, he used to employ outline programs in his consulting practice.  Notes can do similar outlining with bullet formats and sub-headings.  Apple Mail now has this capability as well.

If you are typing in a message and pick up your iPhone from the bottom corner it activates the microphone button and and records all spoken audio from the room.  It's quick way of putting audio into a message.  Siri is actually very good at dictation.  Ross switches between English and Italian keyboards, with the appropriate spell check.

Wally mentioned that he is sometimes annoyed when all of the tab items in a program suddenly flip to small window overview mode (likely caused by a three finger gesture going upward on the trackpad).  The fastest way out of this view is by pressing the upper left escape (esc) key.

Wally recently rediscovered how to activate the Character Viewer with his M1 computer.  This is sometimes useful for currency and math symbols.  Press Ctrl+Cmd+Space.

David likes the new ability to insert rich links within the text of an email. Rich links provide a preview of the URL you'll including, so instead of a string of text, your recipients get a thumbnail of the website and a short description. That way, the people you're messaging will have a better idea of what awaits them when they click on a link.

He is also a fan of Notes.  Both macOS and iPadOS now offer a Quick Note feature for quickly jotting down thoughts as they occur. You can start a Quick Note through an icon on the Command Center screen of your iPhone.  Or when you're in another app like Safari or Photos, you can tap the Share icon. On the subsequent Share Sheet, a new Add to Quick Note command appears, which lets you create a new note or amend an existing one.

Maybe you've saved the same photo multiple times or downloaded a video more than once, resulting in duplicates littering up your photo album. It may not be a problem if you've got storage to spare, but you're running out of space, you can now remove every single duplicate easily with iOS 16.  In Photos > Albums, you should see a new Duplicates album under Utilities. Apple scans through all of your photos and shows you any photo or video you've saved more than once in that album.  From there, you can either delete any duplicates, or simply press Merge, which will keep the photo with the highest quality (and relevant data) and then move the others to the trash.  Although you'll probably want to go through each set of duplicates, to ensure that they're actually exact copies and not similar photos, you can also hit Select > Select All > Merge to remove every single photo and video that Apple thinks is a duplicate, all at once.

Gilian's flashlight has been turning on "by itself." The ever-present flashlight icon is located at the bottom left-hand corner of your iPhone lock screen, so when you grip the phone face-up with your right hand, your thumb can easily come in contact with the shortcut, whether intentionally or not.  If this happens you can say "Hey Siri, turn off the flashlight", half swipe left on the lock screen, or hold down the icon until the flashlight turns itself off.

Ian walks around the house with his AirPods.  He was quite surprised and impressed when prompted "Would you like to play this on your Home Pod?" when walking by.  It will do the same thing in your car.

Ferriss likes the Bluetooth feature of his hearing aids which allows a direct wireless connection to audio equipment that is quite satisfying.