Kibbles & Bytes Blog
Apple news, tech tips, and more…
Apple news, tech tips, and more…
Somewhere along the line, even basic devices started becoming loaded with sensors. iPhones (and indeed many smartphones) now come with a pretty wide array of sensors. This includes things like basic light sensors, proximity sensors, accelerometers, barometers, magnetometers, and of course, the Touch ID fingerprint sensor. Some of these sensors are pretty interesting and easy to explain, but others are complex in design and operation.
One sensor that is typically very easy to use, even in analog circuits, is an ambient light sensor. Some types of light sensors use semiconductors and are more complicated, but one basic type of light sensor has been around for decades. It’s called a photoresistor. I took a basic electrical engineering course in college and one of our projects was to design a build a circuit with two LEDs and an op-amp. The circuit needed to show one LED when the room was bright, and flip to the other LED when the room was dark. There are actually at least two simple ways to use an op-amp for this, but the actual sensor used to gather information about the ambient light was a photoresistor. As the name might imply, the device simply changes its resistance based on how much light it is exposed to. More light means less resistance and less light means more resistance. Even simple circuits can be designed to accomplish complex tasks based on changing resistance like this.
An accelerometer sensor is much more complex than a light sensor, especially in terms of physical construction. The ones used in something like an iPhone are extremely small, but the basic construction is the same. They use a mass that is dampened by some type of spring device. When the sensor is accelerated, the mass, which is free to move independently, lags behind the initial movement. This lag in movement is what we measure and how the accelerometer measures acceleration. The lag can be measured in a number of ways, but one of the simplest is by using a piezoelectric crystal. When the mass resists the initial movement, it exerts pressure on the piezoelectric crystal. I’ve talked about piezoelectric crystals before, but just to refresh, when a piezoelectric crystal is compressed or pulled it will create a voltage. This voltage can then be measured and the magnitude can be converted into some amount of acceleration. By using three independent masses locked into three axes a single sensor can measure acceleration in any direction.
Proximity sensors can vary wildly in their construction and size. In high school I remember we used ultrasonic range finders in a number of our basic physics lab experiments. These devices emit an ultrasonic sound wave that propagates away from the device. When the sound wave hits an object, it bounces off of it and returns to the sensor. The internal circuitry is then able to determine the difference in time from the time the wave was sent to when it returned since the speed of sound is known. This allows it to compute the distance. A laser rangefinder works the same way, except it uses light (visible or infrared) instead of sound. Since light travels so much faster than sound, the circuitry must be capable of operating fast enough to measure the extremely short amount of time it may take for the light to be reflected back. Even a simple photoresistor could technically be used to create a kind of crude proximity sensor under certain conditions. If an object got close enough to the photoresistor, the ambient light would probably be reduced. This type of sensor wouldn’t really be able to determine distance, but it would be able to answer if something was close or not.
A barometric sensor is basically a specific type of pressure sensor. Pressure sensors are actually not too complex because once again, they often use piezoelectric crystals. In fact, this is pretty much the most basic property of piezoelectric crystals. When they come under pressure, they produce a voltage, which can be easily measured. Depending on what kind of pressure you’re looking to measure, the sensor can be set up to respond to that type of pressure. For example, a barometric air pressure sensor would need to have some way to have a sealed, known quantity of fluid or gas (air in this case) and then be able to pressurize or depressurize that fluid based on the environmental trigger.
In most cases, sensors are fundamentally simple, but engineers have come up with ingenious ways to miniaturize them so that we can enjoy the benefits of a large array of sensors in something as small as our phones. I eagerly await the day when Tim Cook announces that the iPhone will come with sensors able to detect Klingon warships under cloak. “One more thing” indeed!
Okay this article is admittedly partially a soapbox but I think most of you will agree. I believe that our congress sold out to the large internet providers like Comcast, AT&T, Verizon and others when both houses passed legislation to strip away internet privacy rules that prevented these same internet providers from SELLING your personal browsing history and personal information to anyone that wants to pay for it. And who might want it? All those guys with pop-ups and advertisements that mysteriously try to sell you whatever you might have been looking up on the internet. How did they know I was looking at Chicken shoes for Grace?
Our elected representatives are charged with looking out for our best interests. In this case, they abandoned that and sold out to these companies. It is no accident that the same congress-people that voted for this bill, which btw, was written by those same internet company lobbyists, received huge campaign contributions from these companies. So, rest assured, it was not a big national emergency that required a new law to allow them to sell your information, nope, it was, as usual, money. There is no reason whatsoever that these companies should be selling your data, it is not in your interest and not in the national interest. It was a complete sell-out.
But this is going to be the law and you need to be informed about how it may impact your internet usage and what you can do to protect your data.
When I learned about this, one of the first things I did was to contact my internet service provider in Vermont, Green Mountain Access. I got an immediate response from my friends there saying not only were they not ever going to sell my data but that they reiterated their long standing privacy policy. They even posted a notice on their web site:
??Recent news has prompted many to reach out regarding changes in Internet privacy protection. Please be assured that Waitsfield and Champlain Valley Telecom/Green Mountain Access has stood for customer privacy from the beginning. We have no intention of selling or freely distributing private information.??
So, one of the best ways to prevent your browsing history from being sold is to know your ISP and check into their privacy policy. If they do not explicitly say they will not sell your information, assume that they will.
Okay, so I have Comcast down here in Key West so I am pretty sure they are on the other side of this discussion and would love to sell my boring web browsing history. Well, I don’t want them to regardless of how boring it is because, well it is mine, not theirs to sell. So, one way is to use a VPN connection. Fortunately, Small Dog Electronics maintains a VPN network and our ISP believes in privacy so using VPN makes sense. Even if you do not have a company VPN network there are many VPN networks that will give you access for a monthly fee. Do NOT use free VPN services — there really is not a free lunch!
There are more secure browsers to try if you do not want to use a VPN network, such as Opera or Tor but they come with trade-offs in terms of ease of use and speed.
Those are really the only options I can think of besides making your internet browsing really really boring. But the most important thing you can do is to write or phone your congressperson and express your outrage that they would sell you out and remind them that they work for you. This is not a little minor hiccup it is a major shift in privacy that certainly reminds me of Orwell’s 1984.
Apple just released new versions of all its operating systems–iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS–fixing bugs, plugging security holes, and, best of all, adding a few new features. Here are four things you can do once you’ve updated.
1: *Sleep better after using your Mac late at night*
macOS 10.12.4 Sierra has gained Night Shift, a feature from iOS that automatically shifts the colors of the screen to the warmer end of the spectrum after dark. Night Shift may help you sleep better by reducing the amount of blue light that tricks your body into thinking it’s earlier than it is. Drinking less coffee late in the day works better for me.
To set up Night Shift, open System Preferences > Displays > Night Shift and choose Sunset to Sunrise from the Schedule pop-up menu. Night Shift knows when the sun rises and sets wherever you are, but if you prefer, you can also set custom on and off times. (If you don’t see the Night Shift button in the Displays preference pane after upgrading to 10.12.4, your Mac is unfortunately too old to support Night Shift.)
If you’re working with graphics at night, or if video looks odd, you can to turn off Night Shift manually. Do that either in the Displays preference pane or by scrolling down in Notification Center (click it in the upper-right corner of the screen) to see the Night Shift switch.
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2: *Find the AirPod that fell between the couch cushions*
Apple’s wireless AirPods earbuds are cute, but they’re also easy to misplace. If you can’t find yours, iOS 10.3’s Find My iPhone app can help. Bring it up, tap the AirPods icon in the display, and then tap the Play Sound button to make them play a locator sound. If you’ve lost only one AirPod, you can mute the other so it’s easier to hear where the sound is coming from. Make sure to grab all that loose change from the couch cushions while you are at it!
Note that Find My AirPods works only when in range of a paired iOS device, so it may not help if you lose an AirPod while running.
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3: *Don’t be “that person with the Apple Watch” at the theater*
You’re in a darkened theater, at a movie or a play, and when you move in your seat or cover your mouth to cough, your Apple Watch’s screen turns on, annoying the people around you. Even worse is when a notification rolls in, causing the watch to make a sound. Embarrassing, we know. Happily, watchOS 3.2 adds Theater Mode, which turns on Silent mode and keeps the screen dark by disabling its standard “raise to wake” behavior.
To enable Theater mode, open Control Center by swiping up from the bottom of the screen. Then tap the Theater Mode button, which is emblazoned with theater masks. After the performance, you’ll need to disable Theater mode manually by tapping its button again.
If you do need to check the time surreptitiously (who knew this performance would go so long!), tap your Apple Watch’s screen, or press the Digital Crown or side button.
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4: *Ask Siri to find your car in a humongous parking lot*
We’ve all been there. You parked at the stadium or mall, but got turned around while you were inside, and now you can’t find your car in the sea of automobiles. In iOS 10.3, you can now search for “parked car” in Maps, or just ask Siri, “Where did I park?”
And if you ever lose your car at a place like Disney World, this feature alone will be worth the price of the iPhone.
_Dear Friends,_
Another snowstorm is in the forecast for Vermont where Spring is just an abstract concept. I haven’t seen any pictures of daffodils yet. Meanwhile, we are enjoying the boring sunshine down here in Key West.
I like the fact that sunset is around 7:45 so that I can finish work and still have time to take the dogs over to the dog park or to Fort Zachary Taylor. Jezebel loves the dog park and while she has learned not to pull on the leash when walking her it is a different story when she sees we are heading to the dog park. There she just cannot wait to run and play with her buds.
Apple had some system software updates for Mac, iOS, TV and Watch all come out this week and we have a run-down of some of the more prominent changes. I like the new theater mode for the watch – which makes it so your watch does not come on for notifications or anything while in the movies.
We will also talk a bit about internet privacy in my partially soapbox commentary on the legislation passed by congress this week.
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I’m lucky enough to be in Key West this week work on some improvements at our store here. The temperatures are a bit…
Hobbies/Interests: Snowboarding, Overland Travel, Land Rovers, Airsoft, Movie Props Favorite Book: House of Leaves Favorite Bands: Beastie Boys, The Smashing Pumpkins, Chemical Brothers,…
I bought a bunch of stuff for the motorcycles to get ready for your trip to New Orleans next month. Mostly maintenance items so I will be changing oil and plugs and running through the maintenance checklists. I also bought a RAM iPhone mount and USB charging port so I can add GPS to my antique Victory.
We are still very frustrated tropical gardeners. None of my citrus (oranges, grapefruits, lemons or limes) seem to want to flower or set fruit and while my banana tree seems healthy no bananas. Oh well, we will just keep watering and fertilizing and hope for the best.
Thank you so much for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!
Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,
_Don, Emily & Hadley_
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I’m going to date myself a little bit here, but it’s for a good cause, so I think it’s ok. When I was a kid (at least until the early 2000s) digital cameras still weren’t very prolific. Most of the cameras I had used 35mm film though my parents did give me a little blue toy camera when I was very little that used something called a 110 cartridge. I would also occasionally get disposable cameras at parties and things. One of the things I remember about the disposable cameras was the warning labels about not disassembling the camera because of electric shock risk. Actually, disassembling any camera with a flash will have this risk, but I think people might’ve been more prone to disassembling disposable cameras in an attempt to reuse them. What is the risk though?
The risk specifically comes from how the camera flash is generated. In order to create such a brief, bright flash, a normal battery source cannot be used. Instead a large voltage build up must be created and then quickly dumped into the light source. Batteries of all chemistries are pretty versatile at delivering consistent, controlled power at relatively low voltages. AA cylinder batteries for example are 1.5 volts, 9V block batteries are obviously 9 volts and even big car batteries are only 12 volts. These batteries are so common because they are safe for pretty much anybody.
One of the things that makes batteries so safe is that they cannot deliver large amounts of power quickly. When a battery is part of a circuit it acts not only as a voltage source, but also as a resistor. All batteries have some amount of what’s called “internal resistance”. This puts a hard limit on how much power (voltage x amps) that a battery can deliver without self-consuming due to resistive heating. So what do we do if we need a lot of voltage delivered rapidly?
Typically, and in our example of camera flashes, this is accomplished with capacitors. I’ve talked about capacitors here before and while they’re not as glamorous and exciting as some other electrical stuff, they are very useful and powerful. A capacitor is a bit like a battery in the sense that it stores electrical charges. They can also be charged and discharged thousands of times with little change in capacity. Compared to batteries, capacitors have a very low internal resistance, and ideally, they have none, though in the real world this isn’t the case because all electrical components have some internal resistance. Unlike batteries, capacitors can be charged almost instantly and also unlike batteries the amount of available charge is extremely low. This means that batteries cannot just be swapped out for most types of capacitors, even if it would be cool to fully charge your iPhone from 0% to 100% in 30 seconds.
Capacitors are usually rated for their capacity and maximum voltage. The capacity is measured in farads where one farad is one coulomb of charge stored across a potential of one volt. Typical capacitors are not measured in whole farad units though, because one coulomb of charge across one volt is ??a lot?? of charge. Most consumer-grade capacitors are measured in microfarads (millionths of a farad). A “large” capacitor you could easily buy (not specialized) would be 1000 microfarads. I have some of these at home. Smaller capacity capacitors are typically able to charge to higher voltages. A camera flash mechanism is typically a 100-200 microfarad capacitor charged to between 200 and 300 volts. How dangerous is that?
This is a difficult question to answer, because we’re talking about different units and there are all kinds of conflating factors, but let’s make some assumptions and see what we can learn. Let’s start easy. The typical human body has enough resistance that anything below 50V won’t be able to create enough current in you. At 200V, we’re well above that, but as I said, capacitors don’t store much electrical potential. Stored energy in a capacitor is measured in joules and is defined as 1/2CV^2. 200 squared is 40,000, times our capacitance which is 0.0002 farads equals 8, and finally, divide all that by 2 and you get 4 joules of stored energy. Is this enough to kill?
A defibrillator can deliver up to 360 joules of energy, so our little capacitor is going to be handing out a fraction of that. This probably won’t kill, but it is going to hurt. Notice though that the biggest factor in how much energy a capacitor has is the voltage since the energy stored is a function of the voltage ??squared??. Doubling the voltage to 400V and leaving everything else the same produces a four-fold increase in energy. Increases in voltage, even on low capacity capacitors can quickly increase the potential death factor, especially since increased voltages represent more potential to push current, no matter what the resistance. When dealing with capacitors, always, always, always short them out with a screwdriver or other heavy-duty metal before working near them. Capacitors can stay charged for a long time so your junkyard find of an old stereo, or CRT monitor might still have the power to kill.
Be safe and be knowledgeable!
Apple often adjusts its iPad and iPhone lineup in March, and this year’s changes make the selection more attractive and affordable while adding a new way to support the (RED) international charity. Let’s take a closer look at what Apple has done and what it means for you.
*New iPad replaces iPad Air 2*
We haven’t quite figured out how to refer to the new 9.7-inch iPad other than “the new 9.7-inch iPad”. The most significant of Apple’s changes is the replacement of the iPad Air 2 with a new 9.7-inch iPad model called simply “iPad.” This latest iPad is extremely similar to the iPad Air 2, and although most of the changes are for the better, Apple cut a few features so as to reduce the price to the lowest ever for a 9.7-inch iPad.
Physically, the new iPad is almost identical to the iPad Air 2, apart from being 1.4 mm thicker (which might cause problems for some existing cases). More interesting is that Apple swapped the iPad Air 2’s A8X processor for the faster A9 chip, which should improve performance. The cameras remain mostly the same too, though photos taken with the rear-facing camera should be somewhat better, thanks to two improvements over the iPad Air 2’s camera: auto image stabilization to help avoid blurry images and a hybrid infrared filter to improve color accuracy and sharpness.
On the downside, the new iPad lacks the iPad Air 2’s laminated display and anti-reflective coating, which combined to increase screen clarity, particularly in bright light. You’d have to compare the new iPad against the more expensive iPad mini 4 or the much more expensive 9.7-inch iPad Pro to see if the screen change is a major problem for you.
The big win with the new iPad is price, which has dropped $70: it’s now only $329 for the Wi-Fi-only 32 GB model or $429 for 128 GB. The cellular models cost $459 for 32 GB and $559 for 128 GB. It’s now the least expensive iPad and what Apple expects most new buyers to purchase. It’s available starting today!
*Apple reduces iPad mini 4 price, drops iPad mini 2*
The new iPad takes over the entry-level iPad spot from the iPad mini because Apple simultaneously dropped both the iPad mini 2, which had been priced at $269, and the 32 GB model of the iPad mini 4, which previously sold for $399. That leaves just the 128 GB iPad mini 4, and Apple slashed $100 off its price to bring it down to $399. Now I am a big fan of the iPad mini and use my iPad mini 4 all the time. I prefer the size for reading and traveling. Making the choice between the iPad mini 4 and the new 9.7-inch iPad will come down to your preference for size and screen clarity. Both are amazing new price points!
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*Paint the town (RED) with new iPhone 7 models*
For more than 10 years, Apple has partnered with the international (RED) charity to raise money for the Global Fund to combat AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. By offering products in the licensed PRODUCT(RED) color and donating a portion of the proceeds, Apple has raised over $130 million for (RED), making it the charity’s largest corporate donor. We applaud Apple for this continued commitment!
On March 24th, Apple will start selling the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus PRODUCT(RED) Special Edition models in 128 GB and 256 GB capacities. They’re functionally identical to the existing iPhone 7 and 7 Plus models, and are priced the same too, but they come in what Apple calls “a vibrant red aluminum finish.” It’s a strong color that’s a far cry from Apple’s almost pastel rose gold color choice and I definitely would have have opted for red but I’ll have to be happy with my boring space gray.
If you’d like a PRODUCT(RED) iPhone, but have a perfectly serviceable iPhone right now that you don’t want to replace, Apple now has silicone and leather cases in the (RED) color–they’re not quite as snazzy as the red aluminum finish, but they’re similarly bright.
*iPhone SE now holds twice as much*
Last, but far from least, Apple has doubled the storage tiers for the 4-inch iPhone SE, so you can now purchase a 32 GB model for $399 or a 128 GB model for $499. This minor change is welcome for two types of iPhone users.
First, if you’re looking for the least expensive iPhone, the 32 GB iPhone SE at $399 is $150 cheaper than the 32 GB iPhone 6s at $549. And second, some people with smaller hands or pockets don’t like the extra bulk of even the 4.7-inch iPhone 6s/7, much less the 5.5-inch iPhone 6s/7 Plus. For them, the svelte iPhone SE is a perfect size, and it’s helpful that buying it no longer requires living with only 16 GB or 64 GB of storage.
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*One More Thing…*
Hidden in all these announcements was the fact that Apple has now made its Swift Playground app available in Simple Chinese. This is Apple’s app for school kids that teaches them to program in Swift, Apple’s new coding language released in 2014. Seems like a minor announcement but coupled with Tim Cook’s statement about Apple’s commitment to China this is Apple thinking ahead or as my driver’s education teacher would say “aim high in steering!”. While iPad growth has stagnated in the US, in China and India there is still double-digit growth.
_Dear Friends,_
Emily got to stay an extra day in Key West since there was some sort of computer glitch that cancelled her flight home. She got a lot done here and the store is looking great. I am sorry to report that our store manager here in Key West will be leaving to move up to Georgia to help with his family and take care of his health. Joe has been a fixture here for the whole time we have had this store and we will miss him dearly.
It is March and we are down the Sweet Sixteen, basketball playoffs are just ahead with my Boston Celtics pushing Cleveland for first in the east and baseball season is about to get underway. Ah, spring, gotta love it. Of course, other than sports it is hard to tell what season it is down here. Back in the Green Mountains they still have a bunch of snow and probably some more mud to deal with.
I have written many times about how Apple and technology can make our lives better but there was a story out of the UK that really brought that home to me. A 4-year old found his mother unconscious and used her thumb to unlock her iPhone. He then proceeded to ask Siri to call emergency services. That all worked and emergency services arrived are revived his mom. I know it is annoying to see everyone always starring into their devices. I am as guilty as most, maybe more guilty, but there are a lot of good things happening because of this increased ability to communicate instantaneously. Ten years ago, there was no iPhone and this would have been impossible. I still want my flying car but I am impressed with how fast technology changes our lives.
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I’m lucky enough to be in Key West this week work on some improvements at our store here. The temperatures are a bit cool for Key West this week, but at least I wasn’t around for the blizzard that hit Vermont earlier in the week.
While I’ve been down in Key West I’ve been mixing up work and play, and have been taking advantage once again of some amazing features on my iPhone. I continue to be amazed with the quality of photos I can take with this phone. As I’ve been using my phones camera feature more than usual over the last month with my travels I thought now is a great time to talk about panorama mode in the iPhone. This feature has been around for several generations of phones so it’s not new, but until you try to fit in a photo of a breathtaking sunset or try to capture in a photo of just how vast the water around you is you probably haven’t needed to capture on camera more than what’s just directly in front of you.
Since iOS 6 phones have been able to use panorama, so I’ll start with a few tips. First you’ll want to hold your iPhone in portrait orientation. Open the Camera app and swipe left three times on the viewfinder to switch to panoramic mode. This is same process you use to switch from photo to portrait. You’ll want to start with the left side of the image in the view finder, hit the round start button (same button you hit to take a photo) and move the iPhone smoothly and slowly continuously to the right to capture the scene. If you move your hands too fast you will get a blurred image, alternatively if you happen to bounce your hand or wiggle your hands too much you will also get a distorted image. If you move up and down too much during the shot you will get black jagged lines in the image. Sometimes it takes a few attempts to get the image right, so hang in there!
Here are a few tips. Your iPhone will stop taking the panorama automatically when the arrow reaches the end of the line, but you can stop taking the panorama photo at any time before then. So if you don’t want an unsightly tree or the group of people taking photos next to you in your shot you can easily cut them out.
While we generally think of panoramas as wide vistas, you can also use the iPhone’s panorama mode to capture vertical panoramas as well like a large tree, skyscrapers and more. You can take the photo the same way you did with the phone in portrait mode, the only difference is that you simply hold the phone horizontally.
Panorama mode works by combining a lot of separate photos into a single image. You can take advantage of that fact by creating some interesting effects:
You can have someone appear in both the left and right sides of a panorama. After you have panned past the person on the left side, have them run around behind you and have them jump to the right side of the scene! If your in the passenger sear of a car, try capturing a panorama of an interesting screen by taking advantage of the cars motion… the photos come out pretty cool!
Not every panorama photo comes out the way you might envision, sometimes that’s the fun and frustration of photos! I’ve gotten some pretty silly photos just from accidentally jostling my phone unexpectedly or having someone or something suddenly jump into a photo.