Category Archives: Gadgets & Apps

“This call is being recorded”

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When I started working at my hometown radio station in the early ’70’s, recorded phone calls included a “beep” every 10 or 15 seconds, to let the person on the other end of the call know it was being recorded. Not sure when that stopped but for a long time we made sure we recorded the permission of the person being recorded. As for the audio quality of the calls? Think transmission from Apollo 13.

The most recent update to iOS includes the ability to easily record a phone call… and gives you an automatic transcription of the call. 

Vines

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(Wikipedia) “Vine was an American short-form video hosting service where users could share up to 6-second-long looping video clips. Founded in June 2012 by Rus Yusupov, Dom Hofmann and Colin Kroll, the company was bought by Twitter, Inc. four months later for $30 million. […] Twitter shut down Vine on January 17, 2017, and the app was discontinued a few months later.”

During its brief life I created a couple of dozen vines.

  1. Renfield
  2. All work and no play
  3. Ben Hur galley ship
  4. Blipverts
  5. Teletype
  6. North Korean applause
  7. Chinese music
  8. Dancing Santa
  9. Traintracks
  10. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
  11. In the Money
  12. W.C. Fields
  13. VEEP shotgun scene
  14. Hand Music
  15. Cellblock
  16. We serve the law!
  17. Rotary dial telephone
  18. Coffee Zone time lapse
  19. Taisir does Elvis
  20. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington #2
  21. Office scene from Brazil
  22. Wizard of Oz
  23. Night Snow

“Capturing Life’s Moments”

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When Apple introduced the Journal app in December, 2023, I played with it for a day or so and decided it didn’t do anything I couldn’t do with this blog. But around the time I got a new iPhone the app showed up again and I decided to give it another go. The video above is a brief (8 min?) look at how I’ve been using the app.

I’m comfortable posting personal stuff here but there’s a lot of things I find interesting but nobody else would care about. I’ve been putting some of that in the Journal app. I’m finding it a much more personal experience.

Apple Watch continues to amaze

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It took me ten years to take the Apple Watch plunge but after five weeks I can’t imagine how I got by without it. Can’t recall a single day during the past month that I didn’t find myself staring at my wrist in amazement.

While sitting on the couch with my morning coffee I heard a tiny ping and felt a gentle vibration on my wrist letting me know I had received a message. With little/no thought I voiced a reply.

You have to understand, this is big juju for one who remembers a time before mobile phones (and fax machines and ATM’s and credit cards!) And I’m probably using 2% of the watch’s capabilities. It’s like rummaging around in a magician’s closet. “Ooh! Look at this!”

As hoped, I am leaving the iPhone at home or in the other room more often. Marginally less screen time. And it turns out the health and fitness hype is not hype, at least not for me. I’m exercising daily and getting more sleep.

I still have high hopes for “Apple Intelligence” and what it might be able to do with all the data my watch is collecting and has access to.

The sound of silence

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I have breakfast most mornings at a local diner which can be a little noisy. Shouted orders, bussing tables, lots of conversation. What you’d expect from a busy diner.

As I do every morning, I inserted my AirPods to listen/watch a video… and the room became dead silent. I don’t know how else to describe it. For a split second I thought something might be wrong with my hearing but when I removed my AirPods all the normal sounds came flooding back.

Let’s jump back a couple of weeks to when I got my new AirPods 4 (with Adaptive Noise feature). I played with that for a minute or two then turned it off with the intention of experimenting later.

Apple pushed an update to iOS a couple of days ago and I’m guessing the “noise control” feature got reset. Here are the four settings:

1. Off: This disables any noise control, meaning you won’t get any additional noise isolation or transparency. You hear everything around you naturally.

2. Transparency: This setting allows external sounds to pass through so you can hear what’s happening around you while still listening to audio. It’s useful for staying aware of your environment.

3. Adaptive: This new setting automatically adjusts the level of noise cancellation and transparency in response to your surroundings. It tailors the experience based on the noise levels and movements around you.

4. Noise Cancellation: This mode blocks out external sounds by using microphones to pick up ambient noise and counter it with anti-noise signals. It’s great for immersive listening in noisy environments.

I wear ear protectors when I shooting a gun, and I’ve stuck little rubber plugs in my ears when trying to sleep in a noisy hotel room. And I’ve recently started wearing big over-the-ears protectors when driving the Land Rover. But I’ve experienced this kind of near-silence. Almost eerie.

Another run at Apple’s Journal app

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I played with this app –briefly– when it cam out late last year. Couldn’t convince myself it was something I needed or would use. I mean, I’ve got this blog, right? And I’m putting more stuff on my calendar, too.

After taking another look I’m going to give it another go. Might be a place where I can put stuff that doesn’t rise to the level of a blog post or is too personal for this space. And it sees –with my permission– pretty much everything that happens on my iPhone and Apple Watch (music, photos, workouts, messages, etc) which makes it pretty easy make an entry.

Jury is out. I’ll let you know in a week or two.

ChatGPT as fitness trainer

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As I understand it, the Apple Watch needs some initial fitness data to establish a baseline. It suggested I take a 20 minute walk on a flat surface with good access to GPS. I did three miles and noticed the watch was showing a heart rate just over 100 for most of the walk. I couldn’t remember the formula for calculating my target heart rate so I asked ChatGPT when I finished my walk. My pace was on the money and qualified as “vigorous exercise” for a person my age.

She asked if I was starting an exercise program and I explained I had purchased an Apple Watch and was exploring the health and fitness features.

It’ll be interesting to see how your heart rate responds to different activities. The Apple Watch’s trends over time should give you a clearer picture of your fitness progress. It’s a good way to get insight into your cardiovascular health and adjust workouts as needed. If you’re curious later on, I’d be happy to help you interpret any of the data or trends you notice!

I’m going to need a lot of help interpreting data and had not thought about getting it from ChatGPT. And I have a feeling that will get much easier, and more useful, when ChatGPT is fully integrated with iOS.

I left my new phone in the truck so I could try making a call and sending a message with the watch. Worked as advertised. Turns out I don’t have to do the “Hey, Siri” thing. The watch gently pointed out that I can simply bring the watch up toward my face and talk to it. In the immortal words of Gomer Pyle, “Shazam!”